Page 40 of Betrayal from Beyond
“Exactly what a married statesman with his own family might do with a natural-born daughter, isn’t it?” suggested Stayme.
Kara sat, blinking at the possibility. She looked to Niall. “So do you think he knows? What she has become?”
Stayme answered before Niall could speak. “Of course he knows, but he damned well doesn’t want anyone else to know it. If he knew you suspected the truth, he’d likely already be moving against you.”
“The man hasn’t held any political power in years,” Niall objected.
“That doesn’t make him any less dangerous. Brougham was drummed out of his positionbecausehe was arrogant and dangerous. He’s not afraid to burn bridges. He stood in the House of Lords and threatened to expose George’s illegal marriage to Maria Fitzherbert. You and your mother would have been exposed as well, Niall.” Stayme shook his head. “Brougham backed them all down. He also made an enemy of Byron and of Wellington, for God’s sake. A few years ago, he tried to apply for French citizenship and a seat in the French National Assembly. If he would abandon the country he once led, do you think he would hesitate to ruin a fledgling duke of dubious origins and his slightly scandalous wife? The pair of you are particularly vulnerable to his sort of enmity.”
“He’s vulnerable, too,” Niall insisted. “If it becomes known what Petra has done to undermine the throne and the nation, and his connection to her is exposed…”
“It’s a dangerous game,” Stayme warned. “And he’s a ruthless opponent. Listen, allow me to send out a few feelers. Gauge his current mood. Discover if he is even in the country. He spends much of his time on the French coast. In the meantime, the pair of you think about whether you want to enter a war like this. And try like hell to find another path to Petra Scot.”
Niall agreed, and they all stood and started to disperse. He was weighing Stayme’s arguments in his mind. His mentor wielded a hidden power that made him a man to be reckoned with, the sort that came from knowing everyone’s secrets and where all the bodies were buried. The fact that he urged caution with Brougham meant something.
“Wait.” Kara paused in the doorway. “Perhaps we do have another thread to follow. Turner, what was the name of the manyou interviewed for footman? If Petra sent him, perhaps he can lead us back to her.”
Turner brightened, but it only lasted a moment. “If we can find him.”
“His name?”
“Jamie Horton. At least, that was the name he gave me.”
“He’s not a local, then?”
“No. He said he came in on the early train from London.”
“Well, then, perhaps he stopped in the village. Or he might have spoken to someone on the train. We could ask about, discover which locals might have ridden with him.”
“It’s a long shot,” mused Niall.
“It is,” Kara said. “But I cannot just sit and wait. It will give me something todo. Something to make me feel as if we are getting closer.”
Niall understood. “Then let’s go.”
Chapter Ten
Kara woke earlythe next morning. Beside her, Niall slept on, so she merely rolled over and eyed the gradually lightening sky. They hadn’t found anything to lead them to Jamie Horton yesterday. She racked her brain and watched the clouds moving in, low and heavy. They matched her mood.
“I can hear you thinking,” Niall said softly, sometime later.
“I didn’t mean to be so loud.”
Laughing, he pulled her over onto her back and kissed her. “Good morning, Duchess.”
“Good morning, love.”
“What gears are turning so relentlessly in your brain?”
Solemnly, she regarded his handsome face for a moment before running a finger along the bristly, hard line of his jaw. “Perhaps we should heed Stayme. Maybe it is not a good idea to take on Brougham.”
He sighed. “We will, if we must. You said it yourself. We cannot merely sit and wait for Petra to come at us again.”
“Neither do we wish to fight a war on two fronts.” She rose up on an elbow. “Nor do I wish for you to suffer the lasting consequences of making an enemy like that.”
He scoffed. “What consequences? People being what they are, the commissions for my art have risen along with my notoriety.”
She brushed a lock of his dark hair, longer than was fashionable, from his brow. “You know what I mean, Niall. Yourtitle is an opportunity. You could accomplish real good with it. Far-reaching benefits. I don’t want anything to keep you from that.”
