“You did well, Ilar. Very well indeed. You fought, called for help, and then used what you had to to make certain you did not get dragged out of reach of the help you needed.” She smiled at him. “You also sent for me and began to clean up your mess.”
“With a lot of kind help,” he said and smiled at both Tessa and Antigone with a sweet charm that had her aching to pick him up and hug him as she always used to when he was small. She frowned and tensed as she heard a noise coming from outside the room. “Now what has happened?” Just as she stood up to go and look, Jones Two walked in, his hand behind his back. “Jones Two? Is something wrong?”
“We were tending to your luggage, m’lady, and m’lord. I believe you may have had vermin get inside.”
“Vermin?”
Jones Two drew his hand from behind his back and held it out. Dangling from his hand and trying to look fierce was a small golden cat. “Vermin.”
“Lure!” She hurried over and took the cat from her butler. “How did she get in my bag? I was certain she was not even in my bedchamber last night.” Olympia recalled why the cat had not been in her bedchamber and fiercely held back the blush she felt stirring.
“If m’lady does find out how that creature got in your bag, then it may explain the other one.” He held his hand up and snapped his fingers and a lanky, grinning footman walked in carrying Dinner. “This was in his lordship’s bag.” He looked at Brant.
“I have one of the lads already brushing the fur from your clothes, my lord.”
“M’lady?” asked the footman and held out Dinner.
“Just put her down, Morris,” Olympia said, struggling not to laugh. “I will arrange something for them in my bedchamber after I have finished eating.” She sighed when the kitten wriggled free of her hold, climbed up on her shoulder, and then up to sit on her head. “There goes my dignity.” She joined in with her family and Brant who started laughing. “Someone take this foolish creature off my head, please.” Once her son took the kitten down, she returned to her seat as the servants left, shutting the door behind them.
“More cats,” muttered Antigone but Olympia saw her aunt surreptitiously drop a small piece of ham down to Dinner.
“They must have gotten out of Enid and Pawl’s room while we were running around packing things,” Olympia said and then frowned at Brant. “That does not explain how Dinner got into your bag, however.”
“I set it down in the hall as I waited for you and it was open,” he answered. “I did not notice that until we were in the carriage. I am surprised I did not see a cat that large, however.”
“A cat is a master of the art of hiding, m’lord,” said Antigone. “And, Olympia, m’dear, why are the cats called Lure and Dinner?”
Olympia decided to explain Dinner’s name first and then, taking a deep breath, told them how Lure got her name. She put an arm around her son when he quickly moved to sit by her side. It was still a horror new enough to make her shiver in remembrance.
“So as we rode here, it occurred to me that what has just happened to Ilar could be a part of what is happening to me. It really would not take long for anyone to discover I have a son and where he might be. I just wonder how they knew I would never be able to leave that poor cat stranded there.”
“That would not be so difficult, either, m’dear. Anyone just needs to speak to someone here or in the village. Even the Warren has its fair share of animals you have collected. Not only animals but many are the sort of animals most people would simply kill or toss away.”
“That was what I feared. The moment Lady Mallam decided I was Brant’s ally she went hunting for anything she could find on me. She discovered a weakness before she set her men on me and, I strongly suspect, she then discovered you, Ilar.” She lightly smoothed her hand over his hair. “If she had found you first, I think we would have seen this attack much earlier. I am just not all that sure of what she hoped to accomplish by getting her hands on you.”
“Use him to tame you,” said Brant. “Who can be certain what she would decide was the best way to use your child against you? She saw the possibility of a good, heavy club to beat you into service for her and reached out to grab it.”
“The first thing we need to do is get some more men here to guard the house,” said Olympia. “Having never had any trouble, it is too easy to get in here, as we now know. So, some guards. Then, back to London to stop this woman.”
Ignoring the people sharing the table with them, Brant reached out and patted her hand where she rested it on the table, her fist so tightly clenched that her knuckles shown white. He could see a lingering fear in her eyes. This was a true mother, he thought. This was a woman who cared for the child she had borne, would fight for that child, and comfort that child if he needed it. This was a woman such as his mother had never been.