Amanda Quick - Dangerous

Sebastian swung his leg over the windowsill and dropped lightly into the room.

Shocked in spite of herself at this fresh evidence of Sebastian's outrageous boldness, Prudence hastened over to the window. She peered inside.

For an instant she could not comprehend what she was seeing. Then the sight registered. Prudence took an instinctive step back in horror.

A man lay sprawled facedown on the carpet. There was blood all over his head and more blood on the carpet beside him.

Oxenham had committed suicide. Either that or some­one had gone to a great deal of trouble to make it appear that he had.

The pistol lay inches from the dead man's hand. There was no evidence of a struggle.

Sebastian glanced quickly around the library. He could not stay long. He had to get Prudence out of the vicinity. But he wanted to find something that would convince him Oxenham had put the pistol to his own head and pulled the trigger.

Or something that would prove that he had not.

Gold gleamed on the carpet near Oxenham's outflung hand. Se­bastian edged closer, careful to stay clear of the blood. He glanced toward the window and saw Prudence watching him anxiously.

The gold object on the rug was a ring. He crouched down to get a closer look at it, wondering why it seemed familiar. Then he saw the elaborate letter F worked on the top. A Fleetwood ring, much like his own.

"Damnation." Without stopping to think about it, he scooped up the ring and rose quickly to his feet.

He turned toward the window and hesitated once more. He needed to be certain it was Oxenham that Jay in the pool of blood. It was impossible to see the man's face from this angle. He steeled him­self and stepped back toward the body.

"Don't touch him," Prudence whispered urgently. "Sebastian, we must get out of here."

"I know." But he could not leave until he was certain. Sebastian reached down, grasped the body by the shoulder, and turned the dead man over far enough to see what was left of his face.

It was definitely Oxenham.

Sebastian started to lower the limp corpse back into position. Gold gleamed once more, this time from the buttons of Oxenham's waist­coat. Sebastian leaned down and saw the words The Princes of Virtue engraved on them.

He let Oxenham's body fall back onto the carpet.

"For heaven's sake, Sebastian, hurry," Prudence whispered.

"I just want to take a quick look at his desk."

He walked carefully across the carpet to the desk. There were a handful of papers scattered about on top. Sebastian glanced through them quickly, searching to see if the dead man had left a note.

There was no letter explaining the suicide, but someone had, in­deed, left a message. Sebastian read it by the light of the dying lamp. It was short and to the point.

Lillian will be avenged.

Sebastian heard the voices from the front of the house at the same instant that Prudence did. The servants had returned.

"Sebastian, for God's sake, get out of there."

He picked up the note, shoved it into his pocket along with the Fleerwood ring, and ran for the window.

He vaulted over the sill, caught Prudence's hand, and drew her swiftly toward the garden gate.

They reached the lane without incident. Sebastian glanced back over his shoulder and saw no signs of pursuit. He hurried Prudence toward the waiting carriage.

The coachman eyed his passengers with doleful resignation as they emerged out of the fog. "It weren't my fault she took after ye, m'lord. I did me best."

"Home," Sebastian ordered. "We'll discuss your duties later."

"Aye, m'lord. Does this mean I've still got me job?"

"Your position is secure until you get us safely home." Sebastian opened the carriage door and tossed Prudence inside. "After that, the matter is questionable." He got into the cab behind Prudence and closed the door.

"You must not chastise the poor coachman. He did his best to follow your instructions," Prudence said breathlessly.

"He has been with me long enough to know that when I give an order I expect it to be obeyed," Sebastian said. "I pay the best wages in London and in return I demand that every member of my staff carry out my instructions to the letter. You could have been seen."

"Do stop worrying, Sebastian. I am certain we were safe." She struggled to extricate herself from the voluminous folds of the great­coat. "It will most likely be quite some time before someone checks the library and finds Oxenham's body."

"Or no time at all." Sebastian closed the curtains over the windows as the carriage rumbled forward. "Madam, in the future you will not disobey me."

"You may lecture me later, my lord. Tell me what you found."

He had only himself to blame for marrying a woman who shared his enthusiasm for investigation, Sebastian thought. He fumbled with one of the interior lamps until it flared to life. Then he lounged back in the seat and studied Prudence's expressive face. Her eyes were bright with the excitement of the adventure they had just shared. It was difficult to scold her when he was still feeling the same thrill course through his own veins.

He removed the ring and the note from his pocket. Without a word he handed both to her. "I'm not sure yet what I found. By the by, Oxenham's waistcoat was trimmed with buttons that had The Princes of Virtue engraved on them."

"Fascinating." Prudence studied the ring intently for a moment. "This ring is just like yours, my lord."

"Yes."

"What was it doing lying on the floor near Oxenham's body?"

"An excellent question," Sebastian said softly.

"And who is Lillian?"

Sebastian realized she was looking closely at the inside of the ring, not the note. "What do you mean?"

"The ring is inscribed on the inside." Prudence held it closer to the lamp. "To Lillian with love."

"Let me see that." Sebastian plucked the ring out of her fingers and examined the inscription. "Who the devil is Lillian?"

"You have heard the name before?"

"Read the note," he said.

Prudence glanced down at the sheet of foolscap on her lap. "Lil­lian will be avenged. Good grief, Sebastian, what on earth is going on?"

"I don't know, but I am starting to wonder if Lillian is the name of the woman that mad old man at Curling Castle mentioned. The one he said had jumped from the tower room."

"The ghost he thought had come back to cany out her curse?" Prudence nibbled thoughtfully on her lower lip. "Do you think the deaths of Ringcross and Oxenham have anything to do with the tale that he told us?"

"Perhaps." Sebastian gazed at the ring on his palm. "It's possible that someone who cared about the mysterious Lillian has decided that The Princes of Virtue were responsible for her death."

Prudence stared at him. "Do you think her avenger is going after them one by one?"

"It looks that way."

Prudence's eyes rested on the ring. "Sebastian, you said that your ring is a family ring."

"Rings such as this one have been worn by the Fleetwood men for five generations." Sebastian thought of the day he had received his from his father. He had been told to wear it with pride. His father had explained that it was a symbol of his personal honor.

The opinion of the world does not matter, my son. All that matters is that you know in your heart that you have not stained your honor. Honor is a sacred trust and must be treated as such. A man can survive scandal and ruin and worse if he knows that his honor is safe.

Sebastian tightened his fingers around the ring.

"Do you think it possible that a Fleetwood gave that ring to Lil­lian?" Prudence asked.

"Yes, it's possible." More than possible, Sebastian thought. It was highly probable.

Prudence looked at him. "You're thinking that it was Jeremy's snuffbox we found at Curling Castle, aren't you? You're wondering if that ring also belongs to him."

"Yes."

"But Sebastian, I saw Jeremy earlier this evening. He was not wearing gloves and I seem to recall that he had a ring like that one on his finger."

Sebastian looked at her. "It would not be difficult to have a ring such as this duplicated. Assuming one could afford the cost, it would be a simple matter for a good jeweler to create a copy."

Prudence was silent for a long moment. "What do we do next? Are you going to start interviewing jewelers?"

"No." Sebastian made his decision. "I think that I had better have another talk with my cousin. Jeremy's name has come up once too often in the course of this investigation."

"I agree," Prudence said. "I shall help you conduct the interview."

"I'm not so certain that would be a sound notion, madam."

"It will be very useful to have two opinions of his reactions, don't you agree?"

Sebastian hesitated. He would not mind having her observations on Jeremy. There was no denying Prudence was extremely perceptive.

But it was equally true that she tended to be unpredictable, not to mention softhearted where family was concerned.

"Very well, Prue. You may listen while I talk to Jeremy. But you are not to interfere in any way, is that understood?" Prudence smiled cheerfully. "Perfectly, my lord."

Jeremy was shown into the library at eleven-thirty the next morn­ing. Prudence's heart went out to him the moment he appeared. His resentment at being summarily summoned by the head of the family was obvious.