To Deceive A Duke

Chapter 17

"I don't think that is what Lewis was meaning." Lestrade excuses quickly, "We worked with your grandfather and there was a trust between us but we haven't dealt with you. We are as new to you as you are to us." His eyes rave over the visible parts of her bare skin and they grow hungry, "A delightful change it is too." 

Trepidation crawls up the back of her neck but she ignores his compliment, "My grandfather trusted you as much as was possible given our line of work, I think you will agree there is mutual trust and I am simply honouring that." 

"You look like him." Baines says bluntly, "You have the same eyes." 

"Thank you." Clarissa murmers, caught off guard, "I hope I am like him in many ways." 

"It is a shame we are meeting in these conditions," Lestrade comments, "I would've hoped to have become acquainted on more pleasurable terms...."

His meaning is not lost on her, but she bites her lip to keep her words in her mouth. His sensual gaze drops to the lip in question and he looks smug. Peter clears his throat. 

"Daniel Cavendish, you know him?" He says, glaring at Lestrade and then addressing Baines. 

"That boy is causing a great shift in our world. He's fighting back." Baines responds, scowling, "He wants what he thinks he's entitled to." 

"His arrogant ass has taken Cuthbert and Alderbridge without mercy," Lestrade states with venom, "He is a poison." 

"I've met him twice. He's coming for us and I don't intend to lie down and wait for him to snap my neck. I want him gone, as I am sure you do." Clarissa says, "But I can't destroy him on my own, and I am not prepared to lose to him, of all people. My family have fought and survived too much to let a rich posh boy take it all away." 

"With all due respect...The Lenoirs have hardly suffered," Baines sneers, "Not like us." 

Clarissa feels Peter stiffen at her side and under the table she places her hand on his knee. He doesn't look at her, content to glare at Baines but he does relax a bit. At this moment Chuck approaches the table with a tray of glasses. He sides the whisky along to Lestrade and slams the bourbon in front of Baines, a little harder than necessary. Chuck hands Peter a glass of port and places a glass of champagne by her elbow, before returning the tray to the bar and retaking his protective position on her left.  She picks up the stem of the glass and takes a sip of the bubbly liquid. It tickles as it runs down her throat, she sets it down. 

"You are right, I don't know what it is to be poor or to go hungry, but I know the pain of being ridiculed. I know what it is like to be hunted down and beaten until you can't stand. My grandfather made certain that I knew where I came from. He ensured that I experienced the pain, the anger and the fear of my ancestors. The Strand wasn't always the beautiful bounty that you see today, it was a terrible lawless place where people came to die, but my family changed that." She smiles with no emotion, "I don't know your suffering but do not presume to know mine." 

Baines considers her words, looking at her with an odd expression. Lestrade remains quiet, almost bashful. Clarissa can't tell whether she's impressed them or amused them. 

"We all want Cavendish gone, that unites us, it gives us a common cause, one we should fight for." She says, "I am not asking for your land or your people. I am simply proposing that we make an alliance, one that will benefit everyone." She glances at Peter who gives her a small jerk of his head, signalling for her to continue. 

She looks into Baines's face, "After me it's you, Cavendish is not the kind of man to stop, he wants everything, he wants what is not his. He wants London. Are you going to let him take it?"