Page 62 of Better Off Wed

“The same. Evidently your General Scott has taken an interest in my work and sent Captain Addison to discover my identity.”

Why was she telling Millrose this? Not that secrets weren’t safe with the colonel. But it felt as if she had made some determination, some decision about her future, to which Jeremy was not privy.

Not, of course, that he had any right to expect to be consulted. Had he not already, foolishly, foreclosed the possibility of a future together?

“Captain Addison and I soon discovered that we shared an interest in seeing Lord Thornton brought to justice, albeit for different crimes. We decided that, under the circumstances, it would be most beneficial if we…assisted one another.”

Jeremy let himself hesitate only for a moment before blurting out, “Thornton believes—or, believed—that we are married. Lord and Lady Sterling.”

The eyebrows rose higher, though not precisely in disbelief. “Lord and Lady Sterling,” Millrose repeated, looking between them.

“It was, er, General Scott’s suggestion, sir.”

At that, Laura’s pewter gaze bored into Jeremy, all astonishment, but Millrose’s face relaxed. A puff of wry laughter swelled his chest and lifted his shoulders. “Of course it was.”

“Does Thornton know,” Jeremy asked Laura, “what I took from his study?”

“I’m not sure.” She leaned her walking stick against a chair and produced a folded letter from the reticule that dangled from her wrist. “Miss Godfrey says only that he has discovered we were not telling the truth about our—rather, my identity—and followed us to town in a fury.”

“How did he discover this?” Jeremy demanded, while Millrose held out a hand for the letter.

After quickly perusing the contents, the colonel looked up. “What’s this about a card?”

“Oh, God,” Jeremy said, realizing instantly what must have happened. “That calling card I took from Penhurst. Did it fall on the floor with the letter, under the bed? I never saw it—”

Laura dismissed his self-recrimination with a flutter of fingers, then fished once more in the little silk purse and handed the colonel a fresh calling card. “Girls and women in domestic service contact Lady Sterling when their employer feels himself entitled to…more than their labor, shall we say? I steal something of value from him, something that will help to ensure both that the young woman’s material needs—and often those of her child—will be met, and also that the gentleman is not tempted to commit such follies in future. I leave a card like that”—she nodded toward it—“to remind him I know something he would rather no one did.”

Millrose flicked a corner of the stiffened paper with his thumb. “You traffic in secrets.”

“Yes.” Laura’s lips curved in something that wasn’t a smile. “Rather like a spy.”

“Rather,” agreed Millrose, once more looking between them. “It’s not clear from this letter whether Thornton knows what secrets of his you uncovered. We may still have that advantage. Nevertheless,” he went on, folding the letter and returning it to Laura, but keeping her card, “he won’t have much trouble tracking down Addison—or should I say, Lord Sterling? A viscount can’t hide as easily as some might like.”

He wasn’t wrong. Thornton was well-connected. A few questions to the right people, and he would know far too much: the names of those who held Jeremy’s debts, the precise location of a certain cottage in Fulham. “My mother and sister, sir,” he said, stepping toward Millrose. “They could already be in danger. I have to go to them.”

“Only if you take your wife with you.”

Jeremy opened his mouth to protest, but before he had spoken a word, Laura was sputtering. “No, no. I must return to my aunt’s house. I’ve left her servants absolutely defenseless.”

“Write them a note of explanation.” Millrose pointed her to pen and paper. “I’ll send it along with a pair of men to keep an eye on things,” he promised. “But we know where Thornton is most likely to go. When he shows up at Addison’s house, we’ll be ready for him.”

“You can send half the British army to Fulham if you like,” Jeremy said, “but I’m not waiting here to learn whether my mother and sister are safe.”

“By all means, go to them,” Millrose agreed, moving away from the door. “But I want the two of you”—he pointed with the tip of the card, first to Laura and then to him—“to stay together.”

“Why?” Laura asked.

Jeremy thought he knew, and he wanted to damn Millrose for it. “To bait the trap.”

A better trap than Millrose knew. Jeremy could guess exactly what Mama and Julia, neither of whom had ever understood his refusal to marry, would say when he entered Briar Cottage with Laura on his arm and explained that the two of them had been pretending to be wed.

Millrose tipped his head. “Partly, yes. But also because it will be easier to protect you if you’re together. If Thornton were to separate you, he might try to use the threat of harm to one to draw the other out.”

Jeremy wanted to deny that such an attempt would work. But it would be a lie, and Millrose would know it. I make it my business to know my men’s points of vulnerability, he had said.

Where Laura was concerned, Jeremy had made himself vulnerable indeed.

A hint of color rose to her cheeks. “I strove not to leave anyone in the earl’s household with the impression that I care overmuch for Captain Addison.”