Page 70 of The Thorn and the Rose

“The son of a bitch!” Thorn exclaimed furiously as his father took the letter from his hands. “Lord, just wait until I get my hands on him.”

“Not just you,” Pip said grimly. “When I think of the things he said about Jenny and my daughter…”

“I don’t think we are short of people willing and able to do the devil a serious injury,” Montagu said, frowning. “But as there is no clue as to his whereabouts, there is little we can do. We must wait for him to make the next move. Rosemarie and her mother and Mrs Mills are all safe here and at some point, he’s going to have to draw her out.”

“Another letter,” Thorn said grimly.

“With some manner of threat,” Montagu agreed. “Probably against you, Thomas. Something dire enough to induce her to put herself at risk. You must speak frankly to her. We cannot have her putting herself in his hands in some misguided attempt to protect you.”

Thorn nodded, accepting the wisdom of this. “And in the meantime?”

His father looked back at him, his silver eyes glinting. “In the meantime, we wait.”

Chapter 22

Dearest sister,

Have you been seduced with pretty dresses and jewels and promises of a happy ever after? Do you expect to hear wedding bells?

If you think you’ll win so easily, you have another think coming. I am taking a leaf out of your book, dearest Rosemarie. I have written a letter, telling all about Miss Nichols and how she died giving birth to Lord Ashburton’s bastard child. I have included lots of interesting details about Gillmont, telling the world of my misery and shame to discover my own dear sister living there with the cast-off whores of the Sons of Hades after Lord Thomas seduced her and took her from her loving brother’s care.

I will destroy his and his brother’s reputation so thoroughly no decent person will ever receive him again.

If you dare to announce your betrothal, that letter will be sent to every scandal sheet in the country, and you will be forever ruined. If you wish to stop such an eventuality, come to me the night of the Countess of St Clair’s New Year ball. You will bring with you as much money as you can lay your hands on, jewels if you cannot get cash. Surely, he has gifted you some pretty baubles by now in return for the favours you have given so willingly.

I will wait for you in the gardens at midnight. Come to me when everyone goes in for dinner. Do not fail me. You will live to regret it.

―Excerpt of a letter from The Right Hon’ble Everett Branagan, Baron Childe to his half-sister, Miss Rosemarie Fortesque.

6th January 1850, Dern Palace, Sevenoaks, Kent.

Waiting was hard, but Thorn did his best, with his brother’s help, to make Christmas memorable for Rosemarie. It wasn’t easy. The family were not at their best, what with Cat arriving unannounced on Christmas Day. Their parents had been cautiously pleased, praying this meant she had finally come to her senses and decided to divorce Lord Kilbane. His sister’s immediate refusal to consider this option, and her quiet but confident happiness over the festive season, suggested she had reason to hope her husband would come to heel sometime soon. This raised the direst suspicions in his father’s mind. Montagu put nothing past his only daughter. She had a mind quite as Machiavellian as his own and he knew it. Frankly, Thorn wondered if Kilbane knew what he was dealing with, for Cat was determined and formidable when her blood was up.

Yet the days after Christmas passed into the New Year with no word from her husband and Cat’s spirits sank by the day. By turn, their father’s temper became increasingly brittle.

So, when the letter Thorn had awaited so impatiently finally arrived and Rosemarie handed it to him with trembling hands, he decided not to tell his parents, and only to share it with Pip and Cat. His parents had enough to deal with.

“But Thomas, if he carries through with his threat…” Rosemarie said, her eyes wide with anxiety despite his assurances.

“We won’t give him the chance, love. I promise you,” Thorn said, sitting down and taking her hand in his. “Trust me in this.”

Rosemarie nodded, holding on tight, but her eyes were filled with misgiving. “But we had thought to announce our engagement at that very ball. Do you think he knew that? I feel like I am being spied upon,” she said, shivering at the idea.

“There’s no way he knew,” Pip said. “It’s simply the biggest event of the New Year. Everyone who is anyone knows that and so he would assume you would choose such an event to show yourself to society for the first time and announce your betrothal. He’s right, after all.”

“He was,” Thorn said sourly. “We won’t be doing that now. We can’t have Rosemarie there now.”

“Thomas!” Rosemarie exclaimed, glaring at him. “I will be there. If I am not, he may not show up. Besides, I want to face him. I have a few things I wish to say to my brother.”

“No,” Thomas said, the idea of her anywhere near her brother making him feel ill.

“She ought to be there,” Cat said, getting that stubborn glint in her eyes. “She’s earned the right, and you two won’t let anything happen to her. Ash and Leo and everyone will be there as well.”

“That’s true enough,” Pip agreed. “Between us all, we can capture the bast—the fellow and be done with this.”

“He’s my brother, Thomas,” Rosemarie said, her expression fierce, her voice implacable.

Thorn studied her, not liking it one bit, but in the days since she had led Scuttler to his doom, she had found a new confidence. He’d worried at first that the event might prey on her mind, but it seemed only to have strengthened her and given her the courage to face the world, and sadly for his nerves, her brother.