Risking the Detective (The Bluestocking Scandals Book 6) Read online

  “I see,” he said, lifting a brow. “Well, it seems much has happened in my time away — here, and in Bath. I know its late, but what do you say we have dinner?”

  “I think that sounds like a fine idea,” Madeline said as Castleton turned away. As Madeline went to follow him, however, Drake raised his hand.

  “Goodbye, Madeline.”

  “Goodbye?” She turned around to face him. “Just where do you think you are going?”

  “Well, I… ” his voice broke and he cleared his throat, “I know you forgive me and everything, but I figured that after all that happened, we would go our separate ways.”

  “Is that what you want?” she asked defiantly, fighting her inclination to lower her head and instead lifting her chin, challenging him.

  “No,” he shook his head, unable to hold back his emotion any longer. He didn’t care if she knew how he felt — in fact, he needed her to. “I want you, Madeline. I want you in my life. In fact, I need you in it. If you will have me.”

  She sucked in a breath, her eyes once again glistening but she said nothing as his own tears welled, and he blinked them away as rapidly as he could. He didn’t cry. He never cried. He hadn’t felt the sensation of tears since the day he found out his parents were gone.

  He would not cry now.

  Or maybe he would.

  As Madeline reached up and wiped the tear away, he took a shaky breath.

  “Madeline,” he said, cupping her face in his hands, “you are the woman I never knew I needed. I know that I may not be the man you ever thought you would end up with but I love you to the point it hurts. You’ve broken down all of the walls I had built up around myself — torn them down with such ferocity. If you don’t want me, I understand, truly I do. But I need to know now, before I lose my heart to you any further.”

  “Drake,” she whispered, “you haven’t lost your heart.”

  “Oh, but I have.”

  “No,” she shook her head. “You’ve lost nothing. You’ve only gained a heart — mine. We share ours now with one another. I love you, too. More than I can possibly explain with words. You believe in me. You see strength within me that I didn’t even know I had. I may not be like Georgie, or like Alice, and I doubted myself for so long, but you helped prove to me that I can look out for myself, that I can have you support me and still stand on my own feet. The thought of not having you in my life, however… that is more than I can bear.”

  “Oh, Madeline,” he said, tilting his head and resting his forehead upon hers. “You are the most amazing woman I have ever met and I am so blessed to know you. Will you…” He swallowed hard, “will you be my wife?”

  “Absolutely,” she said, her lips curling before she leaned in and kissed him with such promise that it took his breath away.

  When they finally broke apart, he took her hand in his. “It seems your father and I have something to discuss tonight.”

  “That you do,” she said with a laugh. “That you do.”

  Chapter 25

  Madeline had trouble letting Drake go even for the short hour until dinner at her father’s house.

  Despite the fact that Drake had just spoken the most wonderful words she had ever heard in her entire life — those asking her to be his wife — she was still concerned about the outcome of all that had occurred tonight.

  What if Fowler did die from the wounds she had inflicted upon him? He was a most despicable human being, of course, but the thought of actually killing another person by her own hand… it was more than she could bear.

  “Is everything all right, Sweetling?”

  She looked up, forcing a smile at her father’s use of the nickname from her childhood.

  “Hopefully it will be,” she said with a sigh. “I’m sorry I didn’t write to you earlier.”

  She’d told him, briefly, all that had occurred while he had been gone — the smuggling ring, Bennett’s involvement and his attempts to control the business, and how she had asked Drake for help.

  Ezra had been shocked, but he had held in his thoughts about it all until she had finished speaking.

  He stroked his beard now as he eyed her.

  “You know, Madeline, I’m not sure I know a man who would entrust his business to his daughter.”

  “I know, Father.”

  “I do not trust you with the business because you are my daughter.”

  “You don’t?” She looked up at that.

  “No,” he shook his head. “I entrust the business with you because you are the most capable person I have ever met in my life. Sure, I may have a bit of a bias, but I also know you better than I know anyone else. And if the past year has proven anything, it is that you are capable of taking whatever life throws at you and overcoming it. No, I do not like to hear that you had to face such adversity once more, especially in my absence. That most certainly was never my intention. But… at the same time, I am proud of you for how you handled it. You understood who you could trust.”

  “I thought I could trust Bennett,” she said bitterly.

  “Well, so did I,” Ezra said.

  “Why did you ask him to watch over me? You didn’t… quite think I could do it? I understand but—”

  “I never asked him that,” Ezra said, shaking his head. “I asked him to help you. I see now that was wrong. But you never did trust him — not completely.”

  “No,” she said, tilting her head in consideration, “not completely.”

  “You see?” her father said, lifting a hand toward her, “Your intuition isn’t that far off, after all.”

  She slightly smiled for him. “I guess you are right. Now, tell me, how was Bath?”

  “Wonderful,” he said, his smile widening farther than she thought she had ever seen it before. “I have much to share.”

  The carriage came to a stop just then, and Madeline began to ask him more, but he shook his head. “I am not going to share it with you alone, however.” He tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow. “Let’s go inside and get you freshened up. Then I’ll share all once Drake arrives for supper. We are to have a few other guests as well.”

  “Oh?” she asked, eyeing him mischievously. “Would one of those guests happen to be Lady Susan?”

  He threw back his head and laughed, long and loud. How she had missed that laugh.

  “Yes, she will be in attendance. As will Alice and her husband, and a friend who is in London.”

  “Oh, that must be Rose,” Madeline said. “Would you mind overly if I invited one more?”

  He shook his head. “The more the merrier,” he said, “but you had better hurry as the dinner hour will be upon us soon.”

  She nodded and rushed off to write a note to Georgie before she did as her father suggested and changed. Her father was back, and her friends and the man who loved her would be joining them soon.

  The worst night of her life had turned into one of the best.

  Drake was surprised when Georgie received a message to join the late dinner at the Castleton household. She told him she didn’t have to come, but if Madeline had asked for her presence, then she must want her there.

  The two of them finished their business at Bow Street as quickly as possible before making their way there.

  “Well, Drake,” Georgie asked as they approached the red brick townhouse, “what’s it like?”

  “What’s what like?”

  “Finishing work and having someone to go home to?” she raised an eyebrow at him.

  “I suppose I never really thought of it like that,” he said as they knocked on the door, “but I think I rather like the idea.”

  She smiled at him before the door opened and they stepped through to the foyer, and Drake was shocked to find that a chorus of voices from a room beyond greeted them. They entered to find that in addition to Madeline and her father, an elderly woman who must be her aunt accompanied them, as well as Benjamin and Alice Luxington, Lady Susan, and Rose Ellis.

  “Good evening,” he sa
id, nodding to them all, and they responded in turn.

  “What happened?” Madeline asked, standing to greet as they entered.

  Drake sighed as he took her arm and settled himself into the chesterfield next to her, enjoying her touch and the knowledge that he had a partner who would always be there at the end of the day — no matter how badly it had gone.

  “Well, Maxfeld is dead,” he said, as the entire room focused their attention on him. “He will never bother you again,” he said, looking at Madeline, taking her hand within his, uncaring what anyone might think by his show of affection. “Fowler is alive still, but with all of his crimes — as well as those who are willing to speak against him — he will hang in Newgate, sooner rather than later.”

  Madeline nodded and squeezed his hand.

  “I must say I am glad that I wasn’t the one to kill him,” she said quietly. “I know he murdered your parents, Drake, and I hate him for that, but I’m not sure if I could have lived with myself if I had.”

  He returned the pressure of her fingers and nodded. “I know. And I’m glad that it wasn’t at your hand either, although I will always be grateful that you saved me.” He paused. “As for your cousin… ” he looked from Madeline to her father with a shrug, “that is somewhat up to you. We can throw him in the stocks if you’d like.”

  “No,” Ezra Castleton said grimly. “I’ll handle Bennett.”

  “What are you going to do?” Madeline asked her father, looking up at him with curiosity and Ezra smirked.

  “I am going to show him exactly what happens when you go against your family — against those who have trusted you and looked after you your entire life. I am going to show him what it means to be alone, without money. He will have to look after himself from now on. And if he ever — and I mean ever — comes near Castleton Stone again, I will have him thrown out on his arse.”

  “Where I will pick him up and take him off to prison,” Drake said with a nod.

  “Well, this has all been quite thrilling,” Alice said from her place on the sofa across the room. “Adventure follows you wherever you go, Madeline!”

  Madeline laughed lightly. “And I am sure your next question will be just when you can begin writing about it.”

  “Madeline!” Alice exclaimed before she laughed. “All right, yes. But only if you don’t mind. And when you are ready.”

  “We’ll talk about that,” Madeline said, rolling her eyes.

  It wasn’t long before they filed into the dining room, and no sooner had they taken their seats than Alice and Madeline were eying their parents with a look of much interest.

  “So,” Madeline said, taking a sip of the well-earned drink in front of her, “are the two of you going to tell us anything about Bath?”

  Lady Susan blushed as pink as a young debutante at her first ball, and Ezra choked slightly on his whiskey.

  “There’s not much to tell,” Lady Susan said primly, although a smile played on her lips, “although it was most interesting that we both happened to be visiting at the same time.”

  “Oh, so very interesting,” Alice said sarcastically, and then she and Madeline began laughing.

  Ezra sighed dramatically before his lips began to curve up at the edges.

  “Oh, very well,” he said. “Lady Susan and I… are going to be married.”

  Madeline and Alice exchanged a look before they began talking at the same time, as a cheer resounded around the table.

  “It’s a night for celebration!” Alice said, raising her glass, and soon they all began to do the same.

  Drake sat back in his chair and stared round at all of them, awed that he was so suddenly part of this — of a family, a group of friends who cared for one another, who were excited about moments in one another’s lives.

  He supposed that was what it meant to love someone.

  After the dishes had finally be cleared away and the party stood to retire to the drawing room, Drake approached Castleton.

  “Ah, Mr. Castleton,” he said, shocked at the nerves that began flying around his stomach. He was a grown man, one who had faced down bullets and the nastiest of criminals that London had to offer. Why was he nervous about speaking with a stone maker? “Do you think we could have a moment to ourselves?”

  “Of course, Son,” Castleton said, placing a meaty hand on Drake’s shoulder, and for a moment he was returned to his uncle. His stomach began to sink as he thought of their last conversation.

  What must his uncle be thinking right now? Drake had been so terrible to him, and all Andrew had been trying to do was protect him. Drake’s first order of business would be to pay them a visit — but first, time for one of the most important conversations he would ever have.

  Chapter 26

  Madeline stared up at the wooden house which was clearly in need of repairs. The fact that Drake had invited her here meant more than she could have explained to him. He had always been so closed off about his past that to show her this building, to introduce her to his aunt and uncle… it seemed to be his way of sharing with her who he was, where his life began, and how he became the man he was today.

  “Are you ready?” she asked him. It was mid-afternoon the day following the final showdown at the factory and the night of revelations at her father’s house. When Drake had told her about his plans to visit his aunt and uncle, she had asked if she could come along and had been pleasantly surprised when he had agreed.

  She could only hope her meeting with them would go as well as that of her father and Drake apparently had last night.

  When she had asked Drake what had been said, he had only pulled her in tight, placed a kiss on her forehead, and promised her that he would always take care of her.

  She had returned in kind, and he had burst into laughter.

  “Do you always knock?” she asked when he did, and he shrugged.

  “Yes,” he said, seemingly surprised at her question. “They always tell me not to, but somehow I never felt it was my place to just… enter.”

  “Of course it is your place,” she said lifting an eyebrow. “You are like a son to them. It’s what they would want.”

  He nodded and placed his hand on the doorknob, turning and opening the door, surprising his uncle, who was just walking toward it down the hall.

  “Drake,” he said, his brows lifting, and Madeline was surprised by how much Drake looked like his uncle. It wasn’t so much their physical features, but more so, the way he carried himself as he waved them in. “And who is this lovely woman?”

  “This is Madeline,” he said, reaching an arm around her and tucking her into his side. “She… she’s going to be my wife. Madeline, this is my Uncle Andrew and my Aunt—”

  Before he could continue, there was a shriek from the kitchen, and a woman who must be his aunt came running around the corner. “Your wife! Oh, Drake.”

  The woman Madeline knew must be his Aunt Mabel pulled first Drake into an embrace and then Madeline, who returned it warmly while Drake looked on with wide eyes. It seemed that stifling one’s emotions was typically an entire family trait. Except for today.

  His aunt was already wiping her eyes as she pulled them into the sitting room.

  Before they could ask any further questions about Madeline or how their relationship had come to be, Drake took a breath and looked his uncle square in the eye.

  “Uncle Andrew,” he said, “I’ve also come to apologize for yesterday. For the things I said, for how I treated you. I was angry and looking for someone to blame everything on. It shouldn’t have been you. You’ve done nothing but provide a home for me, protect me, and support me in every way possible. I’m sorry.”

  His uncle was silent for a moment, simply regarding Drake, before reaching out slowly and placing a hand on Drake’s knee.

  “You have nothing to be sorry for, Son,” he said, his voice low and rough. “I understand what you meant and I’m sorry you had to find out the way you did. I would have been angry, too. I have been angry ab
out your parents’ death for so long now. I just… I always promised that I would watch out for you. That we would watch out for you. We never wanted to see you hurt.”

  “And I thank you for that,” Drake said, releasing a breath. “It’s done now. It’s over.”

  “What happened?” his uncle said, and then Drake sat back and explained all.

  Madeline watched him speak, her heart melting when she saw the emotions he allowed to cross his face, how he got choked up when he told of her part in the scene, how he actually admitted how scared he had been and how, finally, it had all worked out in the end.

  He let out a breath when he finished, and his uncle only blinked at him. “My God,” he breathed. “It’s done, then.”

  “It’s done.” Drake nodded. “I understand why you didn’t want me involved, but I must say, to know that it’s over, that justice has been served to those who murdered my parents… it does bring a sense of closure.”

  “That it does,” his uncle said with a heavy sigh. “That it does.”

  After his aunt insisted on feeding them, Drake and Madeline left the house hand-in-hand, with a promise to visit again soon — and to be married in only a few weeks.

  “Are you sure?” Drake asked, stopping in the street and tilting Madeline’s face up to look at him. “Are you still sure you want to be married to me?”

  “I have never been more sure of anything in my entire life,” Madeline said, a smile spreading across her face. “Now,” she said, “I have a suggestion.”

  “Let’s hear it.”

  “You live close to here.”

  “I do.”

  “If I will be living there soon, then I think I had better come see what can be done with your place. There is much to do to prepare it.”

  Drake laughed dryly. “There is no denying that.”

  “And…” she leaned in to his ear and whispered, “perhaps we best start with the bedroom.”

  He grinned. “A fine idea.”