Libertine's Wife (54 page)

Amanda did see. The ruby and diamond
choker and drop earrings once belonged to Lady Therese Spencer. She
would have known them anywhere. They were the lady’s favorite while
she lived. All who were alive during that time period knew why she
was so attached to the set.

The jewels were from her lover, an
Austrian prince who gifted them to her during their love affair. It
was what caused the permanent rift between Garret’s parents. The
marquis never forgave his wife for betraying him with the Austrian
royal. The man was married and it was rumored he took the necklace
set from his family’s vault to give to Lady Therese.

Some speculated much of her vast
collection came from the prince. Lady Therese wore the jewels to
taunt her husband when he forced her to leave Austria and return to
England. She rarely took them off. Amanda had no explanation of why
Garret’s mother’s jewels were being worn by Lady Denham
tonight.

“
You are lucky to have such
a kind husband who gives you such thoughtful gifts, Lady Denham,”
Amanda said in approval.

Lady Denham smiled brightly but her
pale blue eyes filled with unease. “We expect our second child,
Lady Cosgrove.”

Amanda tore her eyes from the notorious
necklace, smiling politely. “My best wishes to you both, Lady
Denham.”

Amanda stalked back to her companions
and dwelled upon the matter. She determined she would see Garret as
soon as possible. He would want to know why his mother’s jewels
were being passed off as Lady Denham’s. Something told her he would
wish to know sooner rather than later.

~ ~ ~

Garret fumed after Amanda left. He
paced within his study. Lady Cosgrove’s memory was faultless. The
jewel case sat on his desk while he waited for Arianne. He’d get to
the bottom of it. She came in and eyed the jewel case
guiltily.

“
Do you wish to explain why
there are pieces missing from the case?” he asked dryly, his eyes
never leaving his wife’s reddening features.

Arianne licked her lips. She sat down,
eyeing her husband apologetically. “Eustace came to me needing
money last year. I gave him the jewels.”

“
And he did what with
them?”

Arianne sighed, meeting her husband’s
gaze sorrowfully. “He intended to give them to Dench to hold him
off, I assume. He was making threats. It bought us time, nothing
more.”

“
When was this?” Garret
asked quickly, his eyes narrowing.

“
It was a few weeks before
Dench took Jaime,” Arianne supplied. Garret’s face grew taut. “I
didn’t know what else to do at the time.”

Garret paced behind his desk. His
expression grew dark. He stopped suddenly. Arianne glanced at him
worriedly. “I think I know Dench’s true identity,” he concluded.
“This proves it without a doubt.”

“
Who is he?” Arianne asked,
sitting forward in her seat.

“
I have to be sure,” her
husband was saying as he rubbed his jaw. “Since Eustace gave the
jewels to Dench; I think we can safely assume he kept them
now.”

Arianne made a frustrated noise. “Are
you planning to tell me who he is?”

Garret grinned at her peevish tone.
“All in due time, my love. It appears you going behind my back to
help your brother might have just caught Dench.”

Arianne looked relieved. “The jewels
have shown up where they shouldn’t be?”

“
Yes, and are worn by one
who shouldn’t have them.”

Arianne looked relieved. “Go to the
authorities at once.”

“
The lady says they were a
gift from her husband. I think she lied. Denham and she hardly
abide one another. The lady has many lovers, Arianne. I mean to
speak with Lady Denham as soon as possible to get to the bottom of
it.” Garret sat back down and looked unconcerned.

“
What will you do if you
find out who the man is?”

“
I already have a fair idea
of who wants me dead,” Garret reflected with a sad look. “I just
don’t know why.”

Arianne could see whatever he knew
tortured him. She knew better than to ask him what he suspected.
“You will get to the bottom of it, Garret.”

He looked at her with little
expression. “Let us hope I am wrong, my love.”

~ ~ ~

“
You are very sure it was
him?” Garret set down his dueling pistols he’d been cleaning the
last hour as his solicitor arrived with the news. “There is no
mistake?”

“
The man was identified by
the man named Grimes as Thaddeus Dench. Several others have also
claimed its Dench who was pulled from the river this morn,” the
solicitor concluded grimly.

“
It’s not him! He’s set up
another to make it look as though he is dead. He planned this when
Eustace turned on him.”

“
Lord Ravensford, the man
was identified by more than just Grimes. Perhaps you are wrong in
your thinking?” he suggested mildly.

Garret seethed as he heard the news
Thaddeus Dench was found dead. He wasn’t convinced at all. He
shouted for Elliot. The butler came running.

“
Yes, my lord?” the man
asked at the door.

“
Find my driver at once,”
Garret said and rose from his chair.

“
What do you intend to do,
my lord?” Helms asked quietly.

“
I will go and see for
myself.”

They arrived at the morgue, led into a
room where a body was laying upon a wooden table, a sheet over it.
The physician pulled back the sheet. Garret gazed at the dead man
and frowned, staring hard at the bloated face. It was swollen and
indistinct from being in the river so long.

Garret looked away from the distorted
face. He took in much of the man’s physique. He appeared heavier
than the man he remembered that night, shorter and stockier, than
the tall, elegantly-dressed Dench.

Garret looked at his hands to be sure.
He picked up one of the stiff limbs and examined the hand closer.
He was grim as he saw the rough, calloused hands and unkempt
nails.

“
It’s not him,” Garret said
to the physician quietly. They tossed the sheet over him. They left
the morgue then and headed back to the manor.

“
How did you know it wasn’t
him, my lord?” Helms asked after a time.

“
His hands are those of a
commoner,” Garret divulged. “The man I saw that night had the hands
of a gentleman. I was close enough to see that much. It isn’t
Dench. I’d stake my life on it.”

“
Why would the man fake his
own death? He’s made a fortune pretending to be this
criminal.”

“
I think it’s obvious he
intends to end the masquerade,” Garret replied and shrugged. “After
my cousin was caught, the man saw a need to end it. Eustace is dead
and can’t identify him. My guess is he cuts his losses while he can
remain undetected. If I’m right, he is done with playing
Dench”

When he arrived home, Arianne waited
for him. Helms took his leave and she followed him to his study.
“It wasn’t him, was it?” She bit her lip at his dark, accusing
look.

“
Are you listening at doors
now too?” She reddened in obvious embarrassment for eavesdropping.
“No, it wasn’t him. He’s staged his death, Arianne.”

“
He goes back to his real
life now,” Arianne said with worried eyes.

“
I’ll not let him get away
with this, Arianne,” he told her grimly. “The man has come after us
for a reason. He latched onto Eustace as soon as he knew we were
married. He learned the truth about Jaime through your brother. If
not for my cousin’s idiocy, and your brother changing sides; I’d be
dead and you would be childless right now.”

“
I’m so afraid to lose you,”
she said softly. “I don’t think I will be able to bear it until I
know you’re safe.”

“
You won’t lose
me.”

“
I won’t be able to breathe
easier until this is all over.”

“
I would have you hear it
from me, my love,” he told her softly, his green eyes filled with
regret. “This man who is after us might have some cause for his
vendetta against me.”

Arianne stared at him, feeling unease.
“Why does he seek your death?”

Garret told her of his indiscretion
with Lord Denham’s wife years before, and the fact he fathered her
four-year old son, Denham’s only heir. His wife stared at him,
reacting quite differently than he thought she would. While he saw
little sympathy in her expression, she accepted he was to blame for
all that happened to them after that, not Eustace as they always
believed.

“
Then when we married, this
man saw a way to get to you through Eustace,” she finished, her
expression thoughtful. “I did warn you that your past is what
stalks us, Garret. Mayhap it is best we leave London before another
enraged husband snaps and seeks your demise?”

Garret glared at her words, sensing the
sarcasm behind them. “It’s not Denham who does this! That’s just
it. I believe one of Lady Clarissa’s lovers is behind this. Denham
is a coward. He backed out of this after you went missing. I wanted
to be honest with you, Arianne. Isn’t that what we decided? I know
I’ve brought much of this on myself with my actions in the past. I
make no apologies for living my life as I did. I hurt no one. I
hardly forced any of these women to come to my bed. You’ll never
get that from me. Everyone has a choice in everything they do,
right or wrong, my dear. It appears I’m to blame for Lady Denham’s
choice.”

“
You could have refused
her.”

Garret chuckled and rolled his eyes.
“The lady made that rather impossible when I woke to find my cock
in her—”

“
Enough! I’d rather not hear
where your manhood was discovered, Garret,” Arianne snapped,
disgusted when he laughed at her reddening features. “I see you
take no accountability for this man’s present course as a
result?”

Garret frowned. “Denham knows his wife
is unfaithful. This isn’t like him to do this over Clarissa.
Whoever her lover is may prove enlightening. The man gave her the
jewels, no doubt.”

“
This man knows there is no
proof of anything against him, Garret. You said so
yourself.”

“
Whoever he is, he murdered
your brother, Arianne.” Garret glared at his wife and shook his
head. “Lady Denham will tell me what I wish to know. If I have to
I’ll threaten to make a claim for the child to get her to tell me
who gave her the jewels, I will.”

Arianne sighed and gazed at him with a
pained look. “What of your son by her? Have you thought of him? Be
careful of what you do.”

“
I think we know the lady
will hardly admit he’s mine, Arianne. I mean only to scare her into
revealing who her lover is.”

“
William could be persuaded
to—”

“
My cousin was killed in his
cell last night,” Garret interrupted her, his look bleak. “It was
Dench. It looked like he hung himself, but we both know who got to
him there.”

Arianne felt her heart plummet. “What
of Lady Bianca? She could help us!”

Garret stood and came around his desk.
He reached out and brought her to his chest. “She knows nothing of
any of this. Her goal was just to spread gossip. She has agreed to
stop such behavior. No, I think we can conclude Lord Denham’s role
in this was minimal from the beginning.”

Arianne buried her face in his chest,
terrified to think some madman was out to silence all those who
knew of his alter identity.

~ ~ ~

Helms arrived before dawn. The man
looked aggrieved as he joined him in his study.

“
What is it now?” Garret
asked with a fond smile. “You look like hell. Have you been up all
night again trying to fix this?”

“
Lady Denham fell down the
stairs last night, my lord. She died in the fall,” Helms said and
sighed. “It appears an accident, but we both know how many
accidents there have been lately.”

Garret looked grim to know Clarissa was
dead too. He was saddened to think of the child that was without a
mother now. The situation was worsening. “How convenient she dies
before she can reveal the name of the man she was seeing? Did you
speak to her maid? The maid always knows, Helms, isn’t that what
you always told me?”

“
The girl said she didn’t
know any of the lady’s lovers. I believe her. Lord Denham has an
alibi. He stayed in town last night. He was at Lord Westcott’s
residence,” Helms explained grimly. “The servants said Lady Denham
was found at the bottom of the stairs. She had no visitors. The
jewels are also missing, according to the maid.”

Garret nodded and felt waves of
helpless rage wash over him to know Dench was killing off everyone
who might incriminate him. “Helms, I need my children moved from
Ravensford Hall at once,” Garret said as he slid into a chair,
looking grim. “Send the children to safety until this is over.
Choose any one of my estates, and don’t tell even me which
one.”

“
What of your sons and Lady
Ravensford?”

Garret flinched to think of Arianne and
the boys falling prey to Dench. “Arianne and the boys stay with
me,” Garret replied. “I’ll not trust anyone with their safety. We
will double the guards and Lady Ravensford goes nowhere until Dench
is dead.”