Page 43 of A Proposition for the Comte
‘Good morning, ladies. I have come to say that I’ve purchased your tickets for Italy already, Mrs Hamilton. But before I complete the sale, are you certain you will not also be joining your sister-in-law on holiday, Violet? I would recommend that you do so.’
‘I won’t be. I would, however, like to thank you for the arranging of guards outside our town house.’
‘It was not by my orders.’ He stood still as he said this. ‘I doubt our office could run to such an expense.’
‘Who, then?’ Even as she said it she knew the name that would follow.
‘The Comte de Beaumont asked me for some recommendations yesterday. He is rumoured to be rich beyond any imagination.’
Violet turned to the window. She did not wish for her godfather to see the emotions that would be so readable in her eyes.
Aurelian de la Tomber had not come, but had sent others in his stead. Was this a sign? Would he stand beside her in any practical manners, but no longer in the intimate ones?
‘He is out of London today.’
This brought her attention back into the moment.
‘Who is?’
‘The Comte. He sent word that he had some business to take care of and would not be in the city until the morrow at least.’
‘Do you know what business?’ Amaryllis asked this of Charles and Violet blessed her for it.
‘Yesterday he saved you at the park, Violet, but only just in the nick of time. De la Tomber does not strike me as a man who would enjoy nearly being bested.’
‘What does he strike you as, then?’
‘One whom others tread carefully about. If you listen hard, there are many things said of him.’
‘I know he is a spy for France.’ Violet stated this because she was sure Charles knew he was and because she wanted Amaryllis to know of it, too. ‘What else is he?’
‘A hidden man. A dealer in violence. A soldier of a ministry that would stop at nothing to see that his home country stays intact.’
‘Why did you ask him for his help, then, yesterday?’
‘Because he is a man who does not obey the strict rules of conflict. I was right to ask him. Without his presence...’
‘Violet would be dead.’ Amaryllis stepped forward. ‘I am not certain you buried as many whispers as you might have hoped to, though, Mr Mountford. According to our housekeeper, there was much gossip in the markets this morning about the Comte’s part in the fracas in Hyde Park.’
‘A fact that is worrying.’
‘Because it places him in more danger?’ These words slipped from Violet unbidden. Already she could see the peril in it, for him, for Aurelian de la Tomber, her knight in shining armour. Was this part of why he had left London and put other guards in place here? Had he gone now to try to deal with the assailants by himself without the English knowing, in the hidden and festering underbelly of the criminal world?
Would he be back?
She had offered him her body under the pretext of safety, but after last night she knew next time it would be for a repeat of the feelings that he had engendered. She could not imagine there not being a next time, and lust was only a small part of her yearning for him.
Charles looked concerned.
‘Everything about the attempt on your life yesterday in the park was unusual, Violet, and made no sense whatsoever. Someone set de la Tomber up and yet it was a last-minute decision on my behalf to visit him and plead for his assistance.’
‘Could there be someone in the Home Office who wanted him dealt with, then? Someone with the same information that you had?’
‘I received word of the attack an hour or so before it happened so there was no time to gather up a group of youths unless...’ He tailed-off, clearly amazed he had actually said so much, but Violet was not letting him off so easily.
‘Unless what.’
‘Unless the one who sent the assailant wanted the French Comte to be remarked upon, to be out in the open, so to speak?’
