Radiance (Diamonds of the First Water #3)

Chapter Thirty-One

R adiance couldn’t do it alone. No matter that Edward had brushed her off like lint from his sleeve and she’d returned the favor in kind. She had to contact him. Again! And with little time to waste, she sent for one of her father’s carriages as soon as Mr. Sully’s cab disappeared from her doorstep.

While the horses were being harnessed, Radiance hurried upstairs to remove most of her jewelry and make any changes to her appearance. Meeting with Mr. Sully was one thing, but having Edward see her was quite another.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve been here, m’lady,” Sarah pointed out after descending from the carriage and approaching Edward’s front door.

Radiance wasn’t sure of her welcome. She cleared her throat and nodded to Sarah, who lifted and let loose the heavy door knocker. Once, twice, thrice. They looked at one another.

“They must all be out, m’lady.”

“Blast!” Radiance exclaimed. It had been hard enough to swallow her pride and come knocking upon Edward’s door. Yet knowing she was in the suds over her head, she had done so.

Faced with him being absent from his home, she couldn’t deny the crushing disappointment. Most certainly it was because of her desire to do her duty to Crown and country. It couldn’t be because she’d wasted precious time making sure she looked her best in a peach-cream-and-navy tartan day dress of the softest, lightest cotton.

But she had been anticipating seeing his golden-topaz eyes take her in.

Drat and double drat!

“Let us try once more,” she suggested to Sarah, who raised and lowered the knocker again.

Suddenly, the door flew open. It was Mrs. McSabby.

“Oh, m’lady. My apologies. I was in the back and wasn’t sure I heard the knocker. I thought the master would answer in any case, as he often does.” She stood back so Radiance could enter. “It’s a good thing you’re here. Mr. Lockwood is in a right state, and no mistake.”

Alarmed, Radiance asked, “Is he well?”

Mrs. McSabby sighed. “I fear he isn’t. He’s not sleeping nor eating properly. Just working on his rocks and his book, which is also about rocks, I believe. Too many rocks, I say. He’s going to end up with rocks in his head and a painful ulcus from neglecting his health!”

With those ominous words, the housekeeper turned heel, leaving them in the front hall like the most negligent head of staff Radiance could possibly imagine.

Sarah exclaimed aloud, “Blimey!”

“Well said,” Radiance agreed. “But I believe we’ve at least been invited in. Would you like to go to the kitchen for a cup of tea? You said they had very good biscuits.”

“Yes, m’lady.” Sarah wandered off, already drawing her latest reading material from her pocket.

Radiance didn’t hesitate. She followed behind her maid but stopped at Edward’s study. Knowing she was being rude, she tapped softly, then pushed open the door.

Edward’s back was to her — his bare, magnificently sculpted back — and it bore a long, raised, horizontal scar that disappeared around his ribcage to the front of him. He seemed to be applying an unguent to its puckered edges by trying to look at his reflection in a window pane.

“Blimey!” she echoed Sarah.

Edward whirled around. “What the devil!”

Radiance was not the type to gasp or faint, but she did bite her lip. His chest was splendid, if such a word applied. Set off by broad shoulders and muscled arms, his torso tapered down to a narrow waist that was hidden by the top of his worsted wool trousers.

In the middle of all the maleness were pale tawny nipples, set wide, and a dusting of hair. Smooth, yet rippling muscles over his stomach caught her attention before it returned to his scar.

Edward snatched up his shirt from the nearby table and yanked it over his head before fastening two of the four buttons. He glanced around wildly.

“Where is my necktie?”

Radiance wasn’t sure whether he was asking her or perhaps Monty, who was stretched out on the table in the sunshine.

In any case, he flipped up his collar at his throat and left it.

“Lady Radiance,” he greeted sharply while tucking his shirt into his waistband and pulling the boxcloth braces up over his shoulders. “To what do I owe the pleasure ?”

“My sincere apologies for barging in. Mrs. McSabby didn’t say you were in a state of undress.”

“She probably didn’t know. Besides, she would have knocked, and I would have put on my shirt in private.”

“I did tap upon your door.” Radiance was extremely glad he hadn’t heard her. If she never saw it again, she wouldn’t forget his naked body or the scar.

Could she ask him about it? Purity would say no, but Clarity would say he might wish to speak of it. Unburdening himself so could ease his mind and make him happy.

“I suppose you’re wondering about my disfigurement.”

“Your what?” she asked. Radiance hadn’t seen anything that would be ... “Do you refer to your scar?”

“Naturally.”

“Hardly a disfigurement, sir. If you wish to tell me, then I should be interested to learn its origin.”

“How I received it is not interesting at all. I can assure you. It was a stupid mistake on my part. You know that I occasionally venture to where the gemstones are mined. I was in Ceylon, to be exact.”

“How exciting,” she murmured.

He nodded. “It was. It’s thrilling to see the stones coming out of the ground or being extracted from the water. To me, they are more beautiful when having the dirt washed off them just after they’ve been sifted from the earth than when they are set in gold or silver.”

“I do not doubt there is a moment of intense exhilaration upon seeing a stone freshly mined, but I disagree about its beauty,” Radiance said. “I have seen many uncut gemstones, and they were universally dull and without shine. I like to see how light glimmers through a jewel.”

Edward nodded. “I understand, and Sir Brewster would agree. But there is a moment of intense satisfaction when a gemstone, unrecognized at first, is discovered in a basket of ordinary rocks.”

“In the rough, as they say,” Radiance said. “I would like to see that for myself. But you haven’t told me yet what caused the scar you bear.”

Edward approached the table and absently stroked Monty’s head.

“People become animals over certain issues,” he said, “such as wealth or jealousy.”

His eyes flickered to her face.

“And gemstones?” she prompted.

He nodded. “Gemstones represent wealth, do they not? The person who wanted them was jealous that I had them and needed the money they represented. In the darkness while I slept, naively thinking myself safely guarded by my guide, my hut was broken into. I awakened during the ransacking, and the thief didn’t take kindly to my suggestion that he put my gemstones back where he found them. We fought, and I was left with this. It has nearly healed, but today, it was bothering me, feeling tight and itchy.”

“You were treating it with something,” she surmised.

“Yes. Mrs. McSabby disregarded my wishes to leave it alone when I returned home with an angry-looking red wound. She secured a military doctor who produced a useful balm. I keep it here in the workroom, so I won’t forget to use it.”

He paused and pursed his lips with annoyance. “And now you know all my secrets.”

She doubted that.

“Why do you call yourself na?ve? How could you know you would be robbed?”

“I hired a native when I should have kept my eyes open or hired a fellow Englishman. Even a mercenary would have been more loyal.”

“And thus, you lost your bounty.”

To her surprise, Edward’s handsome face broke out into a smile, familiarly lopsided with a single dimple, making her heart clench. He turned away, going to a bureau that had many drawers. Opening one, he withdrew a velvet pouch and brought it over to her.

“Hold out your hand,” he directed.

With a small shiver running up her spine, Radiance did. He emptied the contents onto her palm. Two uncut sapphires, an uncut ruby, and three uncut emeralds.

She gasped.

“I did not lose my bounty. The thief turned on me, managed a single impressive slice, and then I dispatched him.”

“How?” She was staring at his mouth while he told his tale, but she was thinking of his impressive physique now hidden by his white shirt.

“With my fists,” Edward said, “until I could reach my pistol. When I brandished it, he ran away.”

She imagined him in a fight for his life, alone in the darkness, and felt ill. And to learn he carried a pistol made him seem far different from the mild geologist she thought she knew.

“I am glad you didn’t lose them.” Or your life, she added silently.

Radiance closed her fingers over the stones for a second. When he held the bag open, she funneled them back inside.

“I do like a happy ending,” she quipped, trying to lighten the moment and ease her own belated concern for his well-being.

“And I like to keep what’s mine,” he said, holding her gaze.

She cleared her throat, realizing she hadn’t told him why she was there, and he’d been too polite to ask.

Also, she noted the effects of what Mrs. McSabby had mentioned. He had circles under those striking eyes of his, and fatigue hollowed his cheeks.

“I say, sir, are you well?”

“Yes,” he said tightly. “Perfectly.”

“Sleeping soundly, are you? And eating proper meals?” Radiance looked around, immediately spying not one but two platters containing uneaten food, one a sandwich and one a slice of meat pie.

“Neither is of your concern,” he said.

“I suppose not. As long as your distraction isn’t due to some turn of events with the jewel thief or the Koh-i-Noor.”

“Then you may rest at ease, my lady. Any distraction I may be experiencing is over my work and my book.”

“I hope the latter is coming along smoothly.”

He looked as if he wished he hadn’t said anything. Finally, he nodded stiffly.

“How wonderful,” she said, wishing he would soften toward her again. “I shall certainly buy a copy and read it cover to cover.”

“That’s all very well, and I shall gift a copy to you and your husband as a wedding gift. However, I believe you haven’t stated your purpose for barging in.”

So much for him being too polite. He had run with the notion of Lord Castille becoming her fiancé like an Epsom Downs Derby horse toward the finishing line.

“Do you know a jeweler named Sully?” she asked.

“No, but then, I am not in the jeweler’s community as much as you are. Who is he?”

“I am telling you this in confidence. He is the one standing in for Mr. Neble and making his jewelry. Moreover, Mr. Sully wants me to meet him in Houndsditch tomorrow at one of the jewelry markets.”

She lifted her chin as soon as he started to shake his head. “I intend to go.”

“Not without me,” he said.

“Exactly what I hoped you would say.” Radiance released a sigh of relief. “I have been accused occasionally of impulsiveness, which I prefer to think of it as spontaneity. Yet I am neither foolish, nor rash, and I have no wish to disappear without a trace in some teeming marketplace east of the city.”

“You are sensible, and for that, I am grateful.”

Radiance wondered at such a statement. “Are you? Why?”

His cheeks flushed. “Naturally, I don’t wish for anything to happen to you, nor to anyone of my acquaintance.”

She had hoped for more but stopped her foolish thinking.

“I cannot simply take you with me to meet Mr. Sully,” she explained. “I doubt I will learn what I hope to if you are standing beside me, glaring as you are now. However, if you will accompany me discreetly, I will feel immensely better knowing you are merely a shout away.”

“Have you ever been to any of the Houndsditch markets?”

“I have not,” she confessed, knowing only that they existed to sell all manner of goods. The market at Petticoat Lane sold used and new clothing, Moses Square was known for its second-hand hats, shoes, and stockings, and Cutler Street sold everything else, including items for the soldiers and sailors, workmen's tools, and even musical instruments.

Her mother had once taken Clarity and Purity, as well as two footmen for protection, to peruse the gowns of both Indian silk and satin. They came home with Persian shawls and some excellent pieces of lace that was quickly dispatched to their modiste to be added to their gowns for the Season. Radiance had been too young to go, and she’d never been allowed near Houndsditch.

Naturally, as her interest in jewelry grew, she’d become aware that there were markets selling much more than silk and shawls. Not only did they carry finished jewelry but also raw stones. Mr. Bonwit regularly went to purchase these.

Nevertheless, none of these markets were the type of place an earl’s daughter went willy-nilly, being neither a tidy Mayfair shop, nor one of the fashionable arcades or bazaars in London proper.

Apparently, Edward had been to Houndsditch. “It is so busy at certain times,” he said, “your shriek for help would not be heard.”

She shivered. “In that case, I am glad for your assistance and company.”

“I assume you have a name and an address. Within a stone’s throw between Bevis Marks and Cutler Streets, there are many jewelry markets. I can think of five off the top of my head. At which one are you to meet? Barnet's? Mendez's? Levy's on Moses Square, perhaps?”

“No, sir, none of those. It is Fogg’s to the right of the Orange Market, if you are coming from the direction of St. Mary Axe.”

He smiled at her words. “Listen to you, sounding like an East-End moll. I am certain you have never been near the Orange Market, nor traveled the street of St. Mary Axe.”

“No, but those were Mr. Sully’s directions. I shall collect you —”

Again, he shook his head. “I would not recommend taking the earl’s carriage there with his crest emblazoned. In the blink of an eye, you might lose your father’s fine tackle, or even his horses. I will collect you and Sarah. What time are you supposed to meet the jeweler?”

“Tomorrow, at eleven.”