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Sterling sat up and glared at Alex. “I believe I warned you before you left for your cousin’s wedding. I shan’t ask because I am sure it will end in fisticuffs.”
Alex waved his hand in dismissal. “No, not quite yet, but getting close.”
Sterling took a sip of the coffee that was growing cold on the table in front of them. “If your finances are all in order, we can do it whenever you wish. Am I to assume you will apply for a special license?”
“I already have. I thought if I did that, it would bode well for me receiving a positive answer from Natalie. To answer your question, yes, my finances are all in order and I will bring my man of business and solicitor with me to the meeting.”
“Shall we say tomorrow around two in the afternoon?” Sterling asked.
“That is fine.”
They spent about an hour sharing their thoughts on marriage in general, Sterling’s happy marriage, and the one that Alex was about to enter into. Sterling told a few stories about Annalise that had Alex laughing. Yes, being an instant father to such a charming little girl was quite appealing.
Feeling as though all was right with his world, Alex left the club and headed for home. After sending missives to his solicitor and man of business to meet him at the Sterling townhouse the next afternoon, he planned a quiet evening with a dinner tray in his library, followed by a good book and another brandy to sip on before retiring.
He’d already told his staff that they would soon have a mistress in the house as well as a little girl. Cook was especially thrilled to have a child to bake biscuits and other goodies for. They were all very happy for him, and, were he the pessimistic sort, he would worry that lady fortune would turn her back on him, creating chaos with his plans, but his eternal optimism told him everything would be just fine.
* * *
“I’m goingto snatch the girl today,” Gerard said as he settled into a comfortable chair in Mildred’s drawing room.
“Shh.” She jumped up from her seat and hurried to close the door. “You never know who will be around to hear our conversation.”
“Nonsense. I saw your father leave the house over an hour ago. And you’ve told me many times that your mother spends most of her time in her bedchamber.”
“Walls have ears,” she said. “And there are plenty of staff members around, too.”
Gerard waved his hand in dismissal. “Nevertheless, my plan is to grab the child as she steps out of the carriage that brings her back and forth to school. I’ve watched her for days now and I know exactly what her routine is. The carriage always leaves her at the foot of the steps and then pulls away. It is a very quiet neighborhood with no one ever around at that time. I’ve met the child, so I have no doubt she will speak with me. I will have a small cloth with a dose of chloroform to knock her out. Then I’ll pick her up and wave down a hackney.”
Mildred shook her head back and forth. “No. No. That’s not a good idea.” She stood and began to pace. “Even though it is a quiet neighborhood, someone could see you. And renting a hackney is foolish because you now have a witness.”
“Sit down, Mildred.” He’d spent days working the plan out, and this foolish woman hops up telling him it won’t work. “First of all, I’ve been watching the neighborhood. Yes, someone might come out, but the entire thing will take less than a minute. The hackney driver won’t care a whit when I tell the bloke that I am the father, and the girl is ill. I doubt he would care, anyway. I will be taking the kid to the flat I’ve been renting and believe me when I tell you no one would even notice what I do there—or care if they did—with all their own troubles.”
She studied him for a minute. “If you are sure.”
“I am sure. I must move fast or that’s the end of our plan.”
“And the end of my life as I know it. Father is still constantly badgering me to find a way to get St. John to change his mind. What I don’t understand is why he is so insistent on the man since I’m sure the ten thousand pounds he offered to him would be snatched up by any other man with pockets to let in a minute.”
They both sat in silence for a moment. Then Gerard slapped his thighs and stood. “Write the note to St. John. I will take it with me and, as soon as I have the girl in hand, I will pay one of the urchins hanging around my flat to deliver it.”
“What do you want me to say?”
Again, his stomach muscles tightened in frustration. “I thought we had it all worked out, Mildred. You tell him we have the girl, and she will be returned the morning he marries you. Tell him to get a special license and send word to you the minute he has it in hand. He can arrange for some vicar to marry you.”
She wagged her finger at him. “This better work, or I will be out on the street, and you will have to work for a living.”
He gritted his teeth. “Go write the missive. I’ll wait.”
He paced the room waiting for the note. If moving to one of St. John’s outlying estates that he sends Mildred off to would give him an easier life, then he would do this. But as soon as they were settled, he would begin to look for another way to support himself that didn’t involve work. Or Mildred. He had no doubt—with his looks and charm—he would find another woman. Obviously, taking frequent trips to London would work quite well.
“Here it is.” Mildred returned to the room waving the ink dry on the parchment.
He took it from her hand.
Lord St. John. I have in my possession Mrs. Natalie Shaw’s daughter. She will not be mistreated but will be returned to you after our wedding. I suggest you hurry things up. It would be best if you obtained a special license and send word to me when that has been accomplished. I would prefer a small ceremony at your home. You will provide the vicar. If you have police there, you will not see the girl again.
I await your response.
