Darling Beast (Maiden Lane #7)(85)

Lily blinked again and looked uncertainly at Apollo. “How—?”

Apollo pulled her into his arms. He was still quite shaken from having nearly lost her, and the warmth of her body was a balm. “Shh. There’s no point in trying to get him to make sense. Best to just let him ramble. I learned that on the carriage ride to London.”

“He was such a lovely pigeon,” Montgomery said mournfully, watching Richard writhe on the ground. “A secret marriage, a hidden heir. I could’ve milked him for years.”

“You were going to blackmail him for money?” Lily asked.

“Money?” The duke looked affronted. “Nothing so crass. Information, knowledge, leverage. That’s the sort of stuff I adore. But”—Montgomery sighed gustily, folding his arms with his pistol dangling from one hand—“my sentimental heart got the better of me. That, and I really do want this garden finished. Kilbourne is the most imaginative gardener I’ve ever encountered.”

Lily’s eyes widened and she turned to Apollo as if only just now realizing something. “You brought him with you to meet me?”

He shrugged. “It seemed like a good precaution. After all, I intended to flee with you from England and I wasn’t sure if you’d be followed here.”

“But I thought you didn’t trust him,” she complained.

“I don’t, mostly.” He grimaced. “But he did help me get away from my uncle’s house.”

“And I shot Ross just now, too,” the duke said brightly. “Shall I shoot Greaves as well? No doubt he deserves it and I’ve another pistol in my pocket.”

At which point Edwin Stump burst from the shrubbery, followed closely by the Duke of Wakefield and Captain Trevillion. All three were holding pistols and breathing rather hard.

Apollo blinked.

“Are we late?” Edwin asked, panting.

“Yes,” Lily replied from Apollo’s arms. She sounded rather querulous.

“Good Lord, His Grace the Ass hiding in the bushes,” Apollo muttered. “Whatever are you doing here?”

“Ah, Kilbourne, you’ve regained your voice,” Wakefield drawled. “Pity, but I presume my wife is thrilled. And you are?” He looked pointedly at Montgomery.

Montgomery bowed mockingly, still holding his pistol. “Montgomery. And you’re Wakefield, yes?”

One of Wakefield’s eyebrows rose. “Quite.” He turned to Apollo. “I was told that we were here to save you. I see that I’ve been sadly misinformed.”

“You would’ve saved him had my brother been on time,” Lily said, glaring at Edwin.

“I’ve been shot,” Ross moaned from the ground.

George merely groaned.

Wakefield turned very slowly to Ross and said gently, “Lord Ross, I believe? Your son from your first marriage is playing with my wife at the moment. She seems to have grown quite fond of him in a very short time. Felicitations on finding him alive and well. It’s not every day that one discovers one’s heir.”

Ross’s lip curled and Apollo wished that Montgomery’s aim had been better. “Then I’ll take him. He’s my son, after all.”

“I think not,” Wakefield murmured. “I’ve heard a rather distressing tale from two upstanding citizens regarding his mother’s death. If you would rather I not investigate the matter further—and I really think you would—I suggest you never attempt to see your heir again.”

For a moment it looked as if Ross would cry, and Apollo really couldn’t find it in himself to care.

“Thank God,” Edwin Stump said, and sat abruptly on a charred log. “That’s over, then. I don’t mind telling you, Lily, that I near had an apoplexy when I got that message from you.”

Apollo frowned. “What message?”

“The message I had to slip to one of the footmen as I left Greaves House with George. I just hoped that Edwin would know what to do.” Lily looked at him in wonder. “And he did—even if he was a bit late.”

Edwin Stump actually looked bashful.

“I don’t understand.” Apollo frowned. “George caught you at the house party after I left?”

She nodded. “And kept a pistol on me practically all the way to London.”

He felt his heart stop. Fool. He should’ve realized he would put her in a position of danger when he fled. “I’m sorry, love. I should’ve never left you there.”

She shook her head. “You weren’t to know he would do that—and had you stayed you’d be in Bedlam right now. You had to run, Apollo.”

He grimaced, still not ready to absolve himself of blame. Things could’ve turned out far, far worse. “So you slipped your brother a message to go to Trevillion?”

“And to go to your sister,” Lily said. “After all, she’s a duchess. I thought that might help.”

Trevillion cleared his throat. “I decided His Grace might, in this case, be more useful.”

“Then why in God’s name did you grab for George’s pistol when you knew help was coming?” Apollo asked.

“They weren’t here yet and he was going to shoot you,” she said, placing her palms on his chest. “I couldn’t let him.”