Tenacious Trents 03 - A Reluctant Rake (32 page)

The women were still for a moment and
then began laughing. “Trust me, Mr. Wesby; if Jordan Trent wished
to visit my bed, he is the last man on earth I would
reject.”

Angelique nodded her head in
agreement.

Audrey’s face grew hotter.

“In fact, he recently
rejected
my
offer,” Angelique advised.

“As well as mine,” Lady Rothsbury
confirmed.

The two ladies turned to look at
Audrey.

“And I think we know why,” Lady
Rothsbury added.

Was it true? Had Angelique and Lady
Rothsbury both offered themselves and Jordan declined? He said he
was done with that part of his life and it was the past, but there
was still that little gnaw of worry at the back of her
mind.

Audrey shut the thoughts down. Her
first priority was getting him out of Newgate and she would think
about the future later.

“Ladies, thank you for coming,” Wesby
said after a moment. “I appreciate your wanting to help but I deal
in facts and none of you have provided me with any that have
convinced me of Trent’s innocence.”

Lady Rothsbury gasped.

He gestured to the door. Apparently
they were being dismissed. Audrey turned and followed the two women
out. What was she to do? There had to be some way to prove Jordan’s
innocence. She knew he did not do these things.

Grace rose from her seat when Audrey
stepped into the large and busy office of Bow Street. Silently they
walked toward the carriage and entered. It wasn’t until the door
closed that Grace spoke.

“Who was that woman with Lady
Rothsbury?”

“Angelique, I assume.”

“She is the…”

“Yes,” Audrey cut her off.

“Were you able to convince Mr. Wesby
that Jordan couldn’t have done this?”

Audrey sank back against the squabs,
tears forming in her eyes. “Wesby wouldn’t believe any of us. He
needs facts and I don’t have any facts to prove Jordan wasn’t in
any of those places at the time.”

Grace reached over and grabbed her
hand. “His brothers will find what we need and he will be home
before you know it.”

Audrey prayed that was the case. If
not, she would find the proof they needed to free
Jordan.

Jordan picked at the bread left over
from the basket delivered yesterday. He had tried to make the food
last as long as possible, not sure if and when another basket would
be delivered. Most of the water was gone but one bottle of wine
remained. At least he would have that for later. He may need it to
help him sleep. Little had been found the night before. From all
over the prison men had yelled, called out and cursed. Some had
nightmares, others simply talked and he couldn’t block out any of
the noise. He may not have been able to sleep anyway though. Too
many thoughts plagued his mind. What if they didn’t believe his
innocence? What if no proof could be found? What if he had to face
a trial and was found guilty of murdering two gentlemen?

Jordan swallowed and rubbed his neck at
the thought of a noose tightening around it.

Instead of worrying about how he could
prove his innocence perhaps he should concentrate on who could have
committed the crimes. Perhaps if he made a list and asked one of
his brothers to determine the whereabouts of the suspects they
would find the true guilty party.

Across the top of a sheet
of parchment he wrote
Dalton, Everton,
Rothsbury, Angelique
. He sat back and
stared. Dalton and Everton were young bucks of the
ton
. They gambled,
flirted, seduced. They avoided the innocent young ladies, until
Everton had tried to seduce Audrey. He assumed they knew Lady
Rothsbury because they attended the same functions. He also assumed
they knew Angelique because they frequented Lady Devine’s often
enough.

Yet, it wasn’t the question of how they
were connected. Jordan needed to know who knew all four individuals
enough to want to do them harm.

The connection at the moment was him
but he could not be the only one.

Jordan stared at the names and trying
to determine what he knew of each this Season. Lady Lydell had been
flirting and pursuing both Dalton and Everton. She was also
pursuing him. If Jordan hadn’t been arrested would he have been the
next to be attacked? But if the link is Lady Lydell, who would
attack her lovers?

Lord Lydell?

Though Jordan wrote the man’s name
down, he dismissed him as a possibility. Lydell didn’t care about
his wife. Lydell had slipped into bed with her for the sole purpose
of compromising the woman to get his hands on her riches. Jordan
doubted Lydell would care if he came upon his wife in bed with both
Dalton and Everton at the same time. When he had caught them in the
hall, Lydell only appeared disgusted and was fairly certain the
disgust wasn’t directed toward him.

No, Lydell had no reason to kill the
men. And, he certainly had no reason to attack Lady Rothsbury or
Angelique.

He straightened. Why the Runners were
convinced the same man had committed all four crimes?

Because of some damn letter? The
assaults on the ladies weren’t even similar to the murders, unless
it was because a knife was used in each instance. If all crimes
were related because of the same type of weapon, almost every
murder and attack in London would be linked.

They were looking at this wrong. There
had to be two attackers.

But who, and why?

As he was the link to all four, did he
have an enemy that he was unaware of?

Jordan pushed his fingers through his
hair and began to pace inside the small cell. Wouldn’t he know if
he had an enemy? Creighton was the only one who came to mind and
while he may have taken his revenge out of Lady Rothsbury there was
no reason to attack Angelique as well.

He stopped and looked out the small
window. Unless Creighton wanted him to be prosecuted for the
attacks to get him out of the way so he could retain control of
guardianship of his nephew. But simply removing Jordan would not
make the situation disappear. Lady Rothsbury’s brother was now
involved and if necessary, would hire another solicitor. Creighton
couldn’t dispose of every solicitor in London. His nephew would
reach his majority before that happened.

What if someone simply wanted to hurt
him by injuring the ladies in his life? A chill ran down his spine.
Did that mean Audrey was in danger? Their betrothal hadn’t been
announced but surely society had taken notice of his interest in
her. Was she in danger now?

Jordan hoped one of his brothers
visited soon so he could prevail upon them to make sure Audrey was
protected. He would never forgive himself if something happened to
her while he was locked away in here like an animal.

“You have a visitor, Trent.”

He jumped. Jordan had been so lost in
his own thoughts that he had blocked out all noises in the prison
and hadn’t heard the jailer approach. Clayton stood behind the man
and relief shot through Jordan. Hopefully he would have
news.

The door was opened and Clayton slipped
inside, carrying another basket. A moment later the two brothers
were locked inside together. Clayton shuddered at the clang and
click of the door. Jordan understood completely.

“How is Audrey?” was the first question
out of Jordan.

“She is staying with Matthew and Grace
at the moment.”

Jordan blew out a breath. “Thank
goodness, though I almost think John and Elizabeth would be
better.” Of all of his family, those two would be the best
protection given their professions.

Clayton nodded grimly. “It crossed our
minds as well.”

It was a relief to know that he wasn’t
over reacting in thinking Audrey could be in danger. “So you think
she is in danger as well?”

“You were close to Angelique and Lady
Rothsbury at one time and have recently been in their company.” He
set the basket on the floor before leaning back against the bars
and crossed his arms over his chest. “If it is someone who is
jealous, or out to hurt you, Audrey would be an obvious next choice
to harm.”

“Rats,” Jordan muttered as he bent to
pick the basket up off of the floor and place it beside the other.
“Thank you.”

A smile pulled at Clays lips. “The
cooks in each household were arguing about who has the privilege of
sending you meals. They are afraid you will waste away in
here.”

He would too if not for this food.
Jordan would need to thank them for taking care of him.

Jordan thrust his fingers through his
hair. “I can’t imagine who would be jealous enough to do something
like this.”

Clayton shrugged. “The only jealous
person we can think of is Lady Lydell.”

Jordan nodded. “The woman is not right
in her head.”

“Matthew doesn’t think it is her
though,” Clayton added.

“If not Lady Lydell then who?” Jordan
asked as he paced.

“We are at a loss.” Clayton
straightened. “I need you to tell me everything you have done in
the last few days, beginning with the day you encountered Dalton
and he hit you.”

Jordan sank down onto the straw cot and
Clayton took the chair at the desk as Jordan recounted each and
every movement.

“Creighton?” His brother
asked.

“It is clear why he would harm Lady
Rothsbury, but there would be no reason to hurt anyone
else.”

“True,” Clayton agreed, stroking his
chin as he thought. “You haven’t argued with anyone
else?”

Jordan shook his head.

“Are there clients who are not happy
with the work you have done for them?”

“I am sure there are a few, but not
upset enough to commit murder or harm women.” He stood to pace
again. “Besides, what purpose would it serve?”

“Someone did send the letter. Maybe it
was simply to see you behind bars because it was the only revenge
they could get.”

Jordan whipped around. “Then why didn’t
they just come after me?”

“They wanted to make you
suffer?”

The only way he would suffer more is if
something happened to Audrey. He closed his eyes and drew in a deep
breath as panic squeezed his heart.

The carriage passed Grace’s home and
Audrey turned to her.

“I thought we should visit Eleanor.”
Grace shrugged. “Perhaps Bentley has learned something since we
last spoke with him.”

Audrey nodded. As head of the family
and a well-respected earl he was likely to learn any news
first.

Moments later the carriage stopped
before the Bentley Mansion and the footman opened the door for the
ladies to emerge. Audrey had only visited here once last fall and
recalled it being very grand on the inside. The door to the house
opened before they reached the third step and they were ushered
into the foyer.

“I’ll advise Lady Bentley you have come
to call.” The butler bowed and continued up the stairs. He hadn’t
even asked their names. However, Grace was a sister-in-law and
probably visited her often enough that he didn’t need to
inquire.