Janice Preston - Lady Olivia And The Infamous Rake

He shook all thoughts of his family from his head as the hackney rocked to a halt.

‘We’re here.’ Hugo glanced up at Beauchamp House. Belatedly, he realised he should have instructed the jarvey to stop around the corner. ‘Put that mask back on and pull up your hood.’

Olivia stared at him, an unfathomable expression on her face before, with yet another pout, tying her mask in place. Hugo jumped from the hackney. The front door of the house now stood open, a footman silhouetted within the frame. Hugo waved him away.

‘Wrong address,’ he called.

The man raised his hand in acknowledgement and retreated into the house, closing the door behind him. Hugo leaned back inside the carriage.

‘How did you intend to get back inside?’

‘Around the back. There’s a window... Alex makes sure it’s unlocked whenever he goes out at night and doesn’t want anyone to know.’

‘And he told his younger sister about it?’

‘No. Nobody ever tells me anything . But I usually find out anyway.’

The hint of pride in her tone made him smile. Again, he thought of her as an odd mixture of naivety and intuition, but that didn’t mean she was up to snuff when dealing with the darker aspects of life...or of society, for that matter. He held out his hand and she took it to climb down to the pavement. Without volition, his fingers closed around hers and he had to force himself to release her.

‘Wait for me,’ he said to the jarvey. ‘I won’t be long.’ Then to Olivia, he said, ‘Come. Show me. But if your father appears, I’m off.’

‘Papa’s away,’ she replied. ‘He and my stepmother left yesterday, with her grandfather. They’re going to Birmingham to collect his belongings, although...’ She frowned. ‘I think they’re meeting Uncle Vernon somewhere first. He wrote to Papa, only Papa would only tell me it was nothing to worry about.’

Yet again, Hugo found himself biting back a smile—this time at her disgruntled tone. She clearly prided herself on knowing everything that was going on within her family. They had reached the corner and turned into a side street. There was a low bark, the click of claws on the pavement, and an enormous dog launched itself at Olivia. Hugo’s heart thundered as he threw his arms around its neck, dragging it away.

‘Hector!’ A tall, slender man, supporting himself on a crutch, lurched towards them.

‘Hector!’ Far from being petrified, Olivia’s squeal was one of delight.

The dog squirmed, its tail waving, as Hugo held it fast.

‘You know this monster?’ he panted.

‘Of course I do. It’s Hector. My stepmother’s dog and...oh! F-F-Freddie.’

The man had reached them and, with a ferocious scowl at Hugo, he reached out and tugged the hood from Olivia’s head.

‘What do you think you are doing?’ He kept his voice low as he scanned the surrounding street. ‘And who the de—who on earth are you?’

Chapter Four

Olivia clutched at the man’s sleeve. ‘Oh, Freddie! Please. You must not tell anyone you have seen me.’

‘Livvy, how can I keep this a secret? I enjoy my work for your father—he trusts me to be honest with him.’ He pushed her behind him and glared at Hugo. ‘I asked who you are, sir. And you can release the dog. He will not run off. Nor attack you—unless I tell him to.’

Hugo released the huge hound. ‘I’m Alastair. And you, sir?’

‘Frederick Allen. The Duke’s secretary.’

‘Allen? You are connected to the new Duchess?’

‘Her brother.’

‘Well, before you imagine the worst, Allen, let me assure you that I am merely escorting Lady Olivia home from Vauxhall Gardens where, unfortunately, she became separated from her brother, who originally took her there.’

‘It’s true, Freddie. Alex disappeared and I had no money to get home and Lord Hugo very gallantly offered to escort me so I would not come to any harm.’

‘No harm? There will be no end of harm if anyone should spot you.’ Freddie glanced around again. ‘We must get off the street.’ He tugged Olivia towards a flight of steps leading down to the basement area, where a door stood ajar casting a patch of light on to the flagstones. Freddie jerked his head, indicating that Hugo should follow.

Once they were hidden from view, he growled, ‘How can you have come to no harm when you’re out at this time of night, unchaperoned, with a strange man? Does Nell know?’

‘No. I did not wish her to be obliged to lie on my behalf, so I did not tell her. But you must not tell Papa, or Rosalind, or...or... anyone . You know Alex will get the blame and then he will lose Foxbourne, and he will be devastated and then he will disappear again like he did before, and no one will know where he’s gone, and—’

‘Olivia!’

She clamped her mouth shut.

‘You cannot possibly know what might happen in the future, so please stop imagining the worst all the time.’

Olivia stuck her pert little nose in the air again. Freddie caught Hugo’s eye and rolled his eyes and Hugo warmed to the man, who looked to be a similar age to himself.

‘Olivia, if you do not wish me to tell your father about this, I suggest you go inside and get to bed, now . And take Hector with you. If anyone sees you, tell them you came outside with me and Hector but, for goodness’ sake, keep your gown covered and hide that mask. You and I will have further words in the morning, after church.’

Olivia clutched Freddie’s arm. ‘But what about Alex? What if he’s in trouble?’

‘Leave Alex to me. Goodnight, Livvy.’

Her lips firmed. ‘Very well,’ she said, with a pout and a sigh. ‘Goodnight, Freddie. Goodnight, Lord Hugo. And thank you for bringing me home.’

Hugo bowed. ‘It was my pleasure, my lady. Goodnight.’

She stared at him—slightly resentfully, he thought, but he could not fathom why that might be—then she swung around and, with Hector at her heels, she vanished inside the house. Hugo found himself the object of Freddie’s scrutiny.

‘What happened?’

Hugo told the other man how Lady Shelton had persuaded Alex, Olivia and Neville to join them.

‘You have no idea where he went?’

‘No. Only that he wandered off with Lady Shelton on his arm. But that’s not all.’

He revealed Tadlow’s plan to wreak revenge on the Duke through Alex.

Freddie’s brow furrowed. ‘That wretch,’ he said, in disgust. ‘He is my stepsister’s uncle. A nasty piece of work. I must warn Alex to beware of him and just hope he’ll listen to me. Silly young chump,’ he added. ‘Let us hope he’s not courting more trouble than he can handle.’ He sighed. ‘I must away to Vauxhall, then. See if I can find him and warn him. Although if he’s been drinking he may well be in no mood to listen.’

‘Does he not have an incentive to mend his ways now?’

Freddie raised his brows.

‘Lady Olivia told me about Foxbourne and how much it means to Alex.’

Freddie nodded. ‘It means the world to him, but Alex is young and impetuous. A bit like his sister,’ he added with a grin. ‘And with both his father and uncle out of town, it’s too easy for him to fall back into his old habits. If the Duke finds out Alex took Olivia to Vauxhall against his expressed wishes—let alone that he left her alone with such an unsuitable group of people, if you’ll pardon my bluntness—then he will have little choice but to follow up his threat to put a manager into Foxbourne.’

He began to climb the area steps. Laboriously. Sympathy stirred in Hugo’s heart, and also something of a feeling of shame—whatever reasons he’d ever had for self-pity, at least he was fit and able. He followed Freddie up to the street.