Free Margo Maguire by Brazen Page B

would want to travel to Plymouth and retrace Lang’s steps.
    It was the last thing Gavin wanted to do.
    He drank again, the liquor helping to dull the uncertainty of his mission. Of finding out what a blackmailer could possibly say about Lieutenant Jameson, of moving into Weybrook Manor and farming his land for the rest of his days . . .
    He told himself he could leave Hampshire if life as a gentleman farmer did not suit him. He could hire an estate agent to manage things while Eleanor stayed and ran the house. His payment from Windermere would give him plenty of money to live on until the estate produced an income, so his sister and her daughter would be well provided for.
    Luckily, Gavin had insisted on being paid whether or not the duke was still alive when his granddaughters came to Windermere Park. He’d had it put down in writing, and duly witnessed.
    All he had to do was get Christina back to the Lake District. But he’d learned—with some difficulty—that she was not an easily manipulated woman.
    Contrary to what Christina believed, Gavin had no experience with blackmailers. Of course, he had dealt with any number of villainous men, but Gavin himself was the most dangerous one he knew. Christina had no idea whom she was dealing with, and it was far better that way. He hoped no one ever learned of his wartime missions.
    He shuddered at the thought of Christina trying to deal with the blackmailer herself. The situation could quickly become hazardous, especially if she confronted the man with that pistol she’d found at Sweethope. She could easily find herself in Newgate, awaiting trial for murder. Of an innocent bystander.
    Gavin finished his last swallow of whiskey and put down his glass for more. The barkeep accommodated him.
    He did not believe events at All Hallows Church would play out well. Christina’s expectations were naïve and unrealistic. She was mad even to have considered taking a gun into London and threatening the blackmailer with it. And Gavin doubted they would learn anything of her brother from him. The blighter had to be lying about what he knew.
    In Gavin’s opinion, this was a wasted trip. Christina should just ignore the blackmailer and let the dice fall as they may. Lang Jameson was a grown man and an officer in His Majesty’s navy. If he was not already dead, then the consequences of his actions should be his own to deal with.
    But Gavin would never convince Christina of that, no more than he could leave Eleanor to her own devices after she’d been tossed out by their bastard of a father. Gavin had to do what he could for her, just as Christina was doing for Lang.
    Of course she hoped her brother was still alive, in spite of the fact that his actions might jeopardize another brother’s betrothal. Which meant Gavin was stuck on his present course, and there was nothing he could do about it.
    Though he was not usually much of a drinking man, he decided his present situation warranted it.
    He gestured for the barkeep to refill his glass a third time.
    I mmediately upon her arrival at the inn, Christina started for her room, but caught sight of Captain Briggs through the doorway of the adjacent taproom.
    He remained silent, tossing her a solemn glance while saluting her with a glass that held a small amount of rich amber liquid. Then he turned away and downed it in one long gulp.
    Christina swallowed hard, too, as she watched his throat move. But she turned away quickly and followed Jenny to the staircase. She did not care to speak to Captain Briggs anyway, as his behavior that morning had bordered upon rude. Besides, there was nothing further to say.
    Christina was not a seasoned traveler. She’d spent most of her youth at the Sunderland home in Edinburgh, only going to London for the season when she turned twenty. In spite of her excitement at experiencing her first season, she’d missed her younger brothers, who’d stayed home. She’d missed riding out to the country with them,