“Good,” he said laconically. “I'll be glad to shake the dust of this place off my feet. And so will the woman. But what of the Penhallan?”
“I think I have to let it go, Gabriel,” she said, keeping her eyes on her plate. “Will you mind?”
His face darkened. “You do what you wish, but I intend to see to those gutter sweepings, lassie. But I'll do it in my own way and in my own time. It won't affect your plans.”
Tamsyn was silent. She knew she couldn't stop him.
For Gabriel it was a sacred obligation, and he'd feel the baron's eyes on him until it was done. But Gabriel's vengeance must not affect her own confrontation with Cedric, and for that reason she would face her uncle alone. Gabriel's temper was too uncertain, and if he came across the twins while he and Tamsyn were visiting with Cedric, there would be no way to prevent him from dealing with them on the spot. And then there would be witnesses to the inevitable bloody mess, and Cedric could lay charges, and Gabriel would probably end up on the scaffold in Bodmin jail.
But he would never permit her to go alone, if he had the faintest inkling of such an intention, so he must believe that her love for Julian St. Simon had superseded the need to exact her parents' vengeance.
“So we'll fetch the woman and be back to Spain, then?” Gabriel resumed, a slight frown in his eye.
Tamsyn nodded and took a gulp of coffee. “But not until the morning. I wish to give the colonel a little present first, something to remember while we're gone.”
Gabriel raised an eyebrow. “Not something requiring my help, I assume.”
Tamsyn smiled. “No, I don't think so, Gabriel.”
“Then I'll bide here. Mine host has a decent enough cellar, and I daresay I'll find some congenial company.”
“Well, will you come with Cesar to Audley Square at daybreak? I'll slip out through the window again and meet you in the mews. We'll ride back to Cornwall, collect our things, and come back with Josefa.”
Gabriel nodded. Such an unorthodox departure didn't strike him as peculiar; it was the way they were accustomed to doing things in the mountains. However, something about this change of plan disturbed him. It wasn't in character for the bairn to abandon a mission with such insouciance.
Tamsyn wiped her plate clean with a hunk of bread, finished her coffee, and stood up. “I need to change and fetch some money, Gabriel.”
He reached into his pocket for the key to his room.
“Top of the stairs, on the left.”
In the bedchamber Tamsyn changed into one of her cambric gowns and swapped her riding boots for a pair of jean half boots that wouldn't be nearly as effective in the rain and the puddles. She shoved her riding clothes into a cloak bag to take with her, put a billfold and a purse of coins into a reticule, examined herself in the spotted looking glass with a critical frown, then returned to the taproom, trying to remember not to stride.
Annie was clearing the table and nearly dropped the tray at the transformation. “Oooo,” she said. “Yer not a bloke!”
“No,” Tamsyn agreed. “But you're still a pretty lass.”
“Oh, wha' a cheek,” Annie said, bridling. “You got no call to play games like that… takin' advantage of an innocent girl.”
“I wasn't taking advantage,” Tamsyn pointed out logically. “Since I'm not a man, how could I have been?”
Annie sniffed and returned to the kitchen with her tray.
Gabriel was still sitting at the table nursing a refilled tankard. “You're away, then?”
“Yes.” She bent to kiss him. “I'll see you at daybreak.”
“I'll be there.”
Tamsyn raised a hand in farewell and went outside into the rain-swept gloom of London Town.
She returned to Audley Square in the early afternoon. Belton opened the door and found himself face-to-face with a conventionally dressed young lady. If it weren't for her distinctive hair, he would never have believed it was the same person who had left that morning. “Please, could you send someone to bring the parcels from the hackney?” she asked, just her eyes visible over the armful of packages she held.
“Let me take those, miss.” Belton moved to relieve her of her burdens.
“No, no,” Tamsyn said, afraid that the old man would drop them onto the wet steps. “But there's more in the coach.”
Belton called over his shoulder, and a stalwart young man in a baize apron and leather britches emerged from the kitchen regions. He glanced curiously at the young woman clutching her packages, then went out to bring in the rest of her purchases.
“Has his lordship returned?”
“Not as yet, miss. I expect he's gone to one of his clubs. Usually does of a morning, when he's in town.”
“Good.” That suited Tamsyn. By the time Julian returned, she would be ready for him. She started up the stairs. “Have those packages brought up to his lordship’s apartments please, Belton, and could you send up two wineglasses and a corkscrew?”
The stalwart young man trotted after her, his arms filled. “Put them on the couch,” she instructed, dropping her own on the coverlet. “Thank you. And could you light the fire, please? It's such a miserable day.” She waited as he raked ashes, laid kindling, and struck flint on tinder. The wood caught, a plume of fragrant smoke arose, and a flame shot up the chimney.
The lad carefully laid on logs, then stood up, wiping his hands on the seat of his britches just as a red-cheeked girl of about thirteen came in through the open door with the glasses and a corkscrew. She, too, couldn't hide her curiosity as she glanced covertly at his lordship's extraordinary visitor. A right lime trollop, no better than she ought to be, old Mrs. Cogg in the kitchen had opined. Maisie had never before met someone who was better than she ought to be.
“Wonderful.” Tamsyn offered a somewhat distracted smile as the lad departed with a jerky bow, followed by the girl; then she flew across the room and locked the door behind them. She stood tapping her front teeth with a fingertip. How long did she have?
It took fifteen minutes to layout her carefully selected picnic. Vintage claret, dainty shrimp barquettes, smoked oysters, dressed crab, strawberry tarts, and fresh figs. Nothing that couldn't be eaten with the fingers.
The fire was crackling nicely now, the candles were lit, and the room, despite its oppressive furnishing, felt quite cozy. She threw off her gown, thrust it into a corner of the armoire together with her half boots, underclothes, and the cloak bag with her riding britches. Then she shook out the gown that had taken her hours to select. The blonde silk lace shimmered, soft and lustrous in the candlelight. She slipped it over her head, and the delicate material, the painstaking work of a dozen Chantilly-Iace-makers, caressed her naked body, as sensuous as a spring breeze.
She stepped up to the cheval glass and examined herself. The gown had cost a small fortune, but the effect was everything she'd aimed for. It was as demure and virginal as a bridal nightgown. The wide, exquisitely edged sleeves reached her elbows, drawing attention to her delicately rounded forearms and tiny wrists. Her neck rose slender and graceful as a swan's from three tiers of lace ruffles, and her almond-shaped eyes were huge and luminous, their deep violet startling against the creamy pallor of her face and gown, the silvery sheen of her hair.
Experimentally, she fastened a band of white velvet ribbon around her hair. The effect was astonishing. It accentuated the air of childlike innocence that was somehow not what it seemed.
Tamsyn turned slowly, examining herself in the mirror. Her bare feet peeped from the embroidered lace hem, and the material drifted down her body, the lace so fine that her skin glimmered beneath.
She felt as she had when she'd planned her Aladdin's cave, as seduced by the game as she knew Julian would be. Her loins were moistening, her nipples hardening, and her spine tingled.