Eight for Losing, One for Loving (Wicked Sons #9)

Chapter 13

Dear Mr Knight,

Forgive me, but I prefer to discuss the matter in person.

In answer to your question, our mutual friend is Lady Catherine Kilbane.

I thank you for the appointment and shall look forward to our meeting on Wednesday next.

―Excerpt of a letter from The Lady Belinda Madox-Brown Mr Felix Knight (son of Mr Gabriel and Lady Helena Knight).

25 th June 1850, The Queen’s Head, Wrestlingworth, the Bedfordshire-Cambridgeshire border.

Leo stared into the pint of ale he’d ordered but had so far remained untouched as he sat in the taproom. He looked up as Reverend Harbottle appeared beside him, hardly daring to hope his talk with Vi had gone well. Yet the reverend was smiling at him, and not with a pitying expression, either.

“You spoke to her?” Leo asked, his heart beating too hard in his chest.

“I did,” the reverend said, eyeing Leo’s glass.

“Oh, would you like one?”

The reverend beamed and nodded. Leo caught the bartender’s attention and ordered another.

“How did it go?” he demanded, striving for patience as Harbottle waited until his pint had been put before him, and then took a large swallow before he replied.

“Ah, just the thing to perk one up after a tiring night,” he said, smacking his lips with approval.

“Sir,” Leo said reproachfully.

Harbottle laughed softly and patted Leo’s arm. “There, there, young man. I believe all will be well. Have faith.”

Leo stared at him, stunned. “What do you mean? You… You think she’ll have me?”

Harbottle’s eyes were twinkling, but he merely shrugged. “That, I cannot say for certain, but I believe your chances have greatly improved.”

“Leo!”

Leo started, almost spilling his pint as the familiar voice rang out across the taproom.

“Good heavens, I’ve been sitting in the parlour next door for close to an hour now. Have you been propping up the bar this entire time?” Lady Trevick demanded, sweeping into the room with a great rustling of emerald green silk and ribbons. The other men in the room gaped, mouths falling open at the impressive sight of the Countess of Trevick entering the male environs of the taproom.

“My lady,” Leo said, surging to his feet. “I beg your pardon, I had no idea you were here.”

“It’s of no matter, though that man of yours, Norton, came back with me. He is outside too, champing at the bit. I wish to see my daughter,” she said pointedly, giving the reverend a look of sudden interest. “Leo, have you something to tell me?” she asked, her eyes lighting up hopefully but unable to say more when they had an audience.

“Not yet,” Leo said with regret, “but it seems the Reverend Harbottle here might have helped things along a little.”

“Reverend Harbottle,” Lady Trevick said, giving him a look of frank appraisal before holding out her hand to him. “If you have done so, I shall be in your debt.”

Harbottle bowing over her hand. “My lady, how wonderful to make your acquaintance, and might I add that your lovely daughter is a credit to you. A delightful girl, and if I have done some good, that is all the reward I require.”

“She is delightful, I agree. Stubborn as a mule, though,” Lady Trevick said with a sigh. “But Leo, where is she? That young woman told me she would be down directly and I’m still waiting.”

Leo frowned, shaking his head. “I’ll go up and see. I can’t think what’s keeping her.”

He hurried up the stairs to their room, knocking briefly before entering.

“Vi, love, your mama is—” he stopped as he realised he was talking to an empty room. Vi and Mau were gone. A cold sensation, akin to being doused with icy water, rushed over him. Had she run away from him? But why take Mau?

Leo scanned the room and suddenly saw the note on the mantelpiece over the fire. Frowning, he unfolded it, reading with astonishment.

Mr Hunt,

If you ever wish to see your cat again – come and get him. Be warned, the ransom is one you will pay for many years to come, for you will be forced to marry a woman long past her prime, but one who has loved you since she was a girl. If this is truly what you desire, you had best find her and bring the means of performing a marriage. There is no time to waste. Be warned, I do not want a dull, well-behaved man of impeccable good sense, but the adventurous, fun-loving, wicked fellow I have needed for so many years.

If you wish to find me, you must cast your mind back to a day, long, long ago, and a girl with braids who followed you where she ought not and got a scolding from her maid when she returned soaked to the bone.

Don’t let me down.

Vi x

Leo let a bark of startled laughter and sat down heavily on the bed, hardly daring to believe his eyes. She had kidnapped Mau!

Before Leo had time to get his befuddled brain around this astonishing information, Lady Trevick came bustling in, with the reverend close behind her.

“Leo, really, I am tired of waiting about when I’ve been in that carriage since early this morning and… and where is Vi?”

“You’d best read this,” Leo said, grinning broadly as he handed the note to Lady Trevick. The countess took the note and read quickly, her face brightening as the words registered.

“Oh! That’s my girl!” Kitty cried in delight, running to Leo and hugging him tightly. “Well, what are you still doing here? Go after her!”

“I… I will, but the means of performing a marriage. How am I to—”

“Leave that to me,” Kitty said firmly. “I shall fly to Doctors’ Commons and demand a special licence. Reverend, I don’t suppose you would care to accompany me? I’m sure things would go easier with you to help things along. If we hurry, we might catch the midday train to town and then we shall be back here in time for supper.”

“I should be delighted to, Lady Trevick,” Harbottle said at once, clearly thrilled by the possibility of further excitement to come.

“Wonderful! Now, don’t you worry about a thing, Leo. Just you bring her back here and then the reverend here will marry you and everything will be perfect!” Kitty said, clapping her hands together in delight.

“That sounds wonderful, ma’am,” Leo said, smiling. “And I think I remember the place she is speaking of, but how—” He fell silent as he considered the question. “Oh, no.”

“What—?” Kitty began, but Leo ran for the door, not waiting to listen.

He took the stairs two at a time, rushing out to the stable yard and getting the attention of the nearest groom.

“Where’s my tilbury?” he demanded, realising at once it was not parked in the corner of the yard where it had spent the night.

“Mrs Huntington took it, sir,” the groom said, his face paling as he realised he might have made an error. “I beg your pardon, but she said you told her to, and she seemed competent with the ribbons, so—”

“Dash it!” Leo muttered, running a hand through his hair in frustration. Vi was a capable whip, but she had never driven a tilbury before, and certainly not with such a strong horse in harness. Plus, the horse would be fresh and excitable after its rest. He only hoped she did not come to any harm.

“Sir! Sir!”

Leo turned to see Norton hurrying back into the yard. “It’s gone, sir!” Norton said in dismay. “The tilbury is gone.”

“Wh-Whatever is the matter?” Kitty asked breathlessly, as she and the reverend arrived beside him.

“My wife has taken my tilbury,” Leo said crossly. “So how the devil she expects me to follow her—”

“Faint heart, Mr Hunt, faint heart,” Harbottle said jovially. “I’m afraid you’ll have to carry on to a bigger place to find a carriage and horses for hire. Tadlow is a sleepy place, but as I am going on a little journey with your delightful mama-in-law, I should be happy to lend you Nipper and my dog cart.” Harbottle gestured to where the fat little pony was chewing contentedly on the hay provided for it and Leo stifled a groan.

“You’re… You’re not thinking of going about the countryside in… in that ?” Norton said in absolute horror.

“I am,” Leo said firmly. “But settle your feathers, Norton, I will not ask you to come along with me.”

Norton managed to look at once indignant and relieved at this information, which Leo quite understood. He’d look utterly ridiculous tooling about the countryside in that getup, but… but Vi had set him a challenge and he was damned if he would back out of it. His goal was in sight, and no matter what he had to do, he would win her.

“Thank you, sir. I appreciate it.” Leo said to Harbottle before turning back to his soon-to-be mother-in-law and colouring a little, as he was forced to admit to being low on funds. “Do you think you could lend me some money, Kitty? I only expected to take Vi on a jaunt around Hyde Park and I’m running short.”

Kitty nodded and rifled in her reticule, pulling out a startling wad of notes. “I thought I might need to bribe people,” she told him confidentially.

Leo laughed and moved to kiss her cheek. “You are a marvel, my lady, and no mistake.”

“Yes, I am,” Kitty said nonchalantly. “But never mind turning me up sweet, tell me where you will go?”

Leo turned back to smile at Kitty as the groom hurried to fetch the ponderous Nipper and put him up to the cart. “The seaside,” he said, and his heart lifted at the realisation he was going to find his wife.

“He’s a bit feisty, Mrs Huntington,” Jenny said anxiously, as the bay horse danced in the traces, shying at a stray bit of paper that blew across the road in front of them.

“He’s fresh yet, Jenny,” Vi said, trying her best to sound confident, when in truth she was wondering what on earth she had been thinking. Driving her little gig with a well-mannered mare up ahead was nothing compared to dealing with Diablo, as she had mentally named the spirited gelding. It was taking every ounce of her skill and attention to keep him under control. Still, he was indeed fresh yet, and now they were out on the open road, he ought to calm down as the miles flew past.

“Jenny,” Vi said, knowing she needed to confess everything before she dragged her too far from home. If Jenny was scandalised and wished to have nothing to do with Vi, things could get very bad indeed. She knew she ought to have told the young woman everything before she had left, but there had been no time, and then controlling the horse had been all she could concentrate on. It was only now that she’d had time to think straight.

“Yes, Mrs Huntington?”

“Jenny, there is something I need to tell you, but before I do, I need you to understand that Lady Trevick is the Countess of Trevick, and my mama.”

“Your mama!” Jenny repeated, eyes wide.

Vi nodded, hoping this might help, though she did not think Jenny was entirely motivated by ambition, she could not blame the girl for wanting to better her circumstances. “Yes, and… and she wants very much for me to marry Mr Leo Hunt.”

Jenny frowned. “But you’re already married to… Oh!”

Vi blushed scarlet, avoiding Jenny’s eyes. “Before you say anything, I wish you to know that Mr Hunt is a perfect gentleman and has done and would do nothing ill-becoming to a man of honour. When Mau was kidnapped, I was with him, you see, and I would not let him put me down, but I did not expect things to go so far.”

“And now you are ruined?” Jenny guessed.

Vi bristled at the words, never having believed her worth had anything to do with her virginity or her reputation. “If anyone discovers I spent the night in a room with him, certainly, though I do not know that it is the case.”

“But you don’t wish to marry him?” Jenny asked sceptically, clearly thinking Vi was queer in her attic if she did not snap up a man as beautiful as Leo.

Vi glanced at Jenny before she answered. “I thought I did not, but… but I do, Jenny. The thing is, I’ve berated him for years for being reckless and foolhardy, for taking nothing seriously and spending too much of his life having fun, but I’ve come to realise those are some of the things I love best about him. I don’t want him to change, but I don’t want him to marry me for any reason other than that he wishes to. And I don’t want him to believe I married him because I had to. Does that make any sense at all?” Vi asked desperately.

“Yes, Mrs—I mean, miss. Yes, it does, and it sounds ever so romantic. But if that’s the case, why are we running away from him and from your mama? Why don’t you go home and get married?”

“Because I want an adventure with Leo. I want him to see that I’m brave enough to take him as he is, that he does not need to change a hair. So I kidnapped Mau,” she explained.

Mau, hearing his name, raised his head, blinked sleepily, and then settled back to his nap across both women’s laps.

“Well, I suppose that makes sense,” Jenny said doubtfully, but she seemed content to go along with it, which was all Vi cared about. “So, where are we going now?”

“To the seaside,” Vi told her, daring to take her eyes off the horse for a moment longer to study Jenny. “Are you terribly shocked?”

“Oh, terribly, yes,” Jenny agreed amiably. “It never occurred to me I would ever have the chance to work for such a dashing and exciting woman. I think it’s going to be wonderful. I’m having a marvellous time.”

Vi laughed, startled and rather delighted to hear herself described in such terms, words she would never have ascribed to herself in a million years until the past twenty-four hours, but suddenly she rather thought they fit. She could be dashing and exciting when the mood took her, and a good deal braver than she had ever imagined.

25 th June 1850, on the road to Newmarket, Suffolk.

Leo had not been sorry to hand Nipper over at the first large coaching inn he’d come to. The pony had been a game little fellow and gone far better than Leo had expected, but in contrast to what he was used to, it was like driving an amiable slug around.

Leaving funds and instructions that Nipper was to be well rested and then returned to the Reverend Harbottle in Tadlow, Leo lost no time in securing the inn’s best cattle. There was no carriage to hire, but he persuaded the local squire’s son to part with his curricle. It looked as old as Leo himself, but the lad clearly sensed he had him over a barrel, and demanded an exorbitant sum that would see him furnished with something far smarter in the days to come. In truth, Leo would have paid double just to be on the road again, and it was with relief that he guided the horses out onto the road.

Though the horses were good goers, his progress was hindered by the need to stop and check at the passing inns for signs that Vi had been there. His confidence waned as he made his way through Cambridge, for there were too many places to check, and he wondered if perhaps he was wrong. He had been so certain he knew where she was going but what if he’d made a mistake? By the time he got to Newmarket he was worried sick in case he’d made an error of judgement, but as he got out of the curricle, tipping the grooms generously to make sure to put the best animals they had in the traces, a young woman ran across the yard towards him.

“Beg pardon, are you Mr Leo Hunt, sir?” she asked him politely.

Leo looked at her clean white apron and guessed she was an upstairs maid in the respectable establishment he’d stopped at.

“I am. Can I help you?”

“Yes, sir, for your wife left a note for you.” She handed it to him, bobbed a quick curtsey, and hurried away before Leo could ask her anything further.

Relieved beyond measure to discover he was on the right track, Leo tore the sealed note open.

Leo,

Jenny turned her ankle at the last change, and though she has been terribly brave, she’s in a deal of pain. I have taken a private parlour here and paid a girl to look out for you. I have told them I am Mrs Hunt. Please come inside. It is not at all the adventure I had hoped for, but I need your help.

Your Vi. X

Leo’s heart gave an erratic thump as he read the words I need your help . Never in all his life had he believed he would hear those words from Vi, who would rather die than admit she needed anything from him, let alone wanted anything. Yet she had signed it your Vi.

With his heart feeling lighter than it ever had before, Leo told the grooms to hold off on the horses and hurried inside. He found someone to help him and lost no time in following their instructions to the parlour. He knocked and, upon hearing a familiar soft voice answer and bid him to come in, pushed open the door.

“Vi!”

“Oh, Leo!” Vi rushed from her seat and ran to him, taking him quite by surprise by hugging him tightly. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

Leo looked down at her, finding a foolish smile curving over his mouth. “Are you really, Vi?”

She blushed, suddenly shy as she looked away from him, but she nodded. “I really am. We’re in a bit of a fix, Leo, for I’ve no luggage, save for what Jenny brought, and the landlady was not very kind. I was terribly embarrassed by the way she spoke to me. I believe she thinks we are no better than we ought to be. I persuaded her to allow us to take tea in a private parlour and to send for a doctor to treat Jenny’s ankle but paying for it all used every penny I had left.”

“Never mind, love. I’ll deal with that.” He squeezed her hands. “Are you all right, Jenny?” he asked the girl, who was looking a little woebegone, her ankle propped up on a stool with a cushion atop it.

Mau sat on the empty chair beside her, an alert look in his eyes, his nose twitching at all the interesting smells that had drifted in when Leo opened the door.

Jenny brightened at his enquiry, returning a game smile. “I’ll mend, sir. Only I’m so s-sorry to spoil Miss Spencer’s splendid plan. It was ever so r-romantic, too,” she said, snivelling and wiping eyes that looked to have already done a fair bit of weeping.

“Now, now, Jenny, none of that,” Vi said severely. “I told you, it’s not your fault in the least. These things happen. Now Leo is here, all will be well. You’ll see.”

Leo felt a foot taller than usual at Vi’s certainty. She had never given him the slightest reason to believe she thought him capable of anything but causing chaos, but now here she was, saying he would make everything right for them.

“Leave it to me, love,” he told her, kissing the back of her hand and holding her gaze as she blushed prettily, looking like an innocent girl. His heart gave an uneven thump. She was going to marry him. She’d said so. He had it in black and white, and he would not give her any reason to back out.

Leaving Vi to comfort Jenny, he went out and asked to speak with the landlady at once. The woman arrived, looking somewhat harassed. She was a skinny creature with a stern face and lines around her mouth that suggested she scowled more than she smiled. Judging at once that a charm offensive would not cut any ice with the formidable dame, Leo kept his tone crisp.

“Are you the landlady?”

“I am, sir. My husband, Mr Rogers, and I run this establishment.”

“Then perhaps you would inform me why my wife and my maid have been treated with less than cordial attention,” he asked coldly. “We were due to meet my mother-in-law, Lady Trevick in Tadlow. Our luggage is already en route to The Queen’s Head, but Mrs Hunt was forced to stop here as her maid has turned her ankle. It is sheer luck that I stopped here myself to change horses, and now I discover that you have had the temerity to put her quite out of countenance.”

The lady paled in the face of his annoyance, more so when she realised the Countess of Trevick was the lady’s mama.

“I-I beg your pardon, sir. I did not know, only it looked a little strange, the two of them alone in the tilbury with no luggage and that great big horse—not the sort of thing you usually see ladies driving, you must admit—and with that peculiar cat too!”

“The cat is mine,” Leo replied dryly. “And my wife is a capable whipster. Now, if you believe propriety has been served, I need two rooms, one for myself and my wife and one for her maid. I understand a doctor is on the way?”

“Yes, sir, indeed, sir,” Mrs Rogers said hurriedly. “I will see to it all at once.”

“Excellent,” Leo said, pressing a more than generous sum into the woman’s hand. “Put that towards our account. In the meantime, where might we go to furnish ourselves with what we will need to spend a night here?”

“Mrs Fanshaw is the closest modiste. Just two streets away. She’s very well regarded in these parts,” Mrs Rogers said, eager now to please. “And the apothecary carries soap and brushes and the like. He’s only a few doors up from her establishment.”

“Very good. Please have someone help my wife’s maid to her room once it’s ready and see she has everything she needs. There is a small valise in my curricle, which I will require as well. I will escort my wife to Mrs Fanshaw.”

“Yes, sir, at once, sir.”

Leo nodded and watched the woman hurry off, content that she would take good care of Jenny now.

“Everything is arranged,” Leo told the two women upon his return. He felt a surge of pleasure at the warmth in Vi’s expression.

“I knew you would make it all right,” she told him with a sigh. “I cannot tell you how glad I am you are here.”

“No more than I am,” he replied softly, and then cleared his throat, aware that Jenny was watching the exchange with obvious delight. “Mrs Rogers will treat you kindly now, Jenny, and if she does not, you be sure to tell me. A room is being prepared for you and you may order tea or a meal or whatever you wish. Someone will come to help you up when all is prepared for you. In the meantime, if you will excuse us, I am going to take my wife here on a little shopping trip.”

“Yes, Mr Hunt,” Jenny said, looking a good deal happier than she had earlier.

“I will check on you when I get back, Jenny,” Vi assured her, but Jenny only grinned and shook her head, a twinkle in her eyes.

“There’s no need, Mis—Mrs Hunt, I’m sure you’ll have other things to think about and I reckon I’ll be well looked after now, like Mr Hunt said.”

Vi blushed and sent Jenny a reproving look but gathered up her bonnet and gloves. Once she was properly attired, Leo led her out of the parlour and onto the busy main street.

Newmarket was a bustling place, and Leo was only glad there were no large race meets or the likelihood of bumping into people he knew would be exceedingly high. As it was, he kept his eyes open, hoping to avoid anyone who might recognise them.

“I suppose you know every tavern and club in the neighbourhood,” Vi remarked as they walked.

Leo glanced down at her, ready to be given a scolding, but there was no censure in her eyes, and her lips quirked a little in amusement.

“I suppose I do,” he replied ruefully. “But all that will stop now, Vi, I—”

To his surprise, she ground to a halt, so suddenly a man walking behind them muttered an oath as he ploughed into Leo’s back before hurrying past.

“No!” Her tone was so imperious he could only gaze at her in consternation.

“No?” he repeated cautiously.

“Did you not read my note?” she demanded, glaring up at him.

“Of course I did,” he replied, indignant. “I not only read it, I intend to have it mounted and framed so I have proof.”

“Well, then, why—”

Leo tugged at her arm. “We can’t discuss this in the middle of the street, love. Everyone will look and I’m too well known in these parts to pass unnoticed for long.”

They walked on in silence for a moment and Leo smiled as he looked down at her. “I’m glad you don’t want me to change, love, but the truth is, I already have. I’m not the madcap fool I was. I’m not pretending I’m capable of being entirely sensible all day and every day, but I don’t want to be rushing about the countryside causing mayhem any longer. I want a home with you, Vi, and if I do go rushing about on an adventure, I want you to come along and join in with it.”

She glanced up at him, her eyes rather too bright. “You really mean that?” she asked, her voice a little unsteady.

“I do,” he told her, covering the hand on his arm with his own. “Most sincerely.”

Vi blinked hard and nodded. “Th-That’s good, then.”

Leo smiled and then looked up as he saw the elegant green painted shop front that proclaimed Mrs Fanshaw, Modiste . “Here we are, love. Now then, before we go in, I should like to remind you that you are Mrs Hunt, and that your husband wishes to dote upon and spoil you, and if he enjoy colours that are brighter than what you usually wear, and fashions that you secretly love but fear are too young for you, I beg you will not be foolish but will hold your tongue and listen to the voice of reason.”

“You mean to bully me, then?” she asked, one blonde eyebrow raised in polite enquiry.

“No, you wretched creature, I mean to show you how young and lovely you really are. Now go inside before you vex me into saying something that causes a row.”

“Yes, Leo,” she said demurely, batting her eyelashes at in him in a provocative manner that made him laugh.