God save him, what if Madeline had planned—
"Then perhaps you should consider doing that first."
He forced himself to attend to the headmistress's words. "Doing what first?"
"Asking Madeline's father for permission. Because you will not be allowed to see her here anymore. I cannot have you paying her court on the grounds of the school. It would rouse all sorts of gossip and speculation."
"I understand."
Oh yes, he began to understand a great deal. And what he understood changed everything he thought about the deceitful Miss Prescott. He felt as if she'd reached in and ripped out his heart by the roots. What fanciful ideas he'd had about them marrying after he gallantly took care of her father's situation.
He would bite off his hands before he'd pay court to her now.
Indeed, it took every ounce of his control not to ask where she lived so he could go right there and corner her
and
her wretched father. But if Mrs. Harris was suspicious because he didn't know where Madeline was from, she'd be doubly suspicious if he asked where she lived now.
It didn't matter. He would simply accost Madeline the moment she left the school today. There was only one road into town, and she had to take it.
Somehow he got through the end of the discussion with Mrs. Harris. They parted on as good terms as could be expected, given that she was still wary of him, and he was reeling from the blow he'd taken to his perception of Madeline.
Because the only explanation for her behavior Saturday night that made any sense was too unsavory to be borne. If his suspicions were correct, she'd kept her secrets not out of a desire to protect him, but because of a truly despicable plan.
How had he let her slip so far under his guard as to accomplish such a scheme?
He knew how. All this talk of changing the way he lived for Tessa had fooled him into believing he could live like other men, that he could have a wife who actually cared for him, who could see him not as the wicked devil he pretended to be but as a man still afraid of being alone after all these years.
Well, he wouldn't be a fool anymore. His uncaring façade had served his purpose admirably all these years. He should never have let it go. But he would don it now with a vengeance.
And pray he hadn't waited too late to prevent the worst of her plans…and his uncle's.
Chapter Twenty-one
Dear Charlotte,
…So you can see from Lord Norcourt's scurrilous attempts to lead poor Miss Prescott down the garden path that my concern over his involvement with the school has naught to do with any personal feelings toward the man. It is always concern for
you
and your teachers, not to mention your pupils, that prompts my interference.
Your disinterested cousin,
Michael
M
adeline hurried from the school at noon, cinching her pelisse tightly about her as a sudden gust of March wind threatened to tug it off. Thank heaven Mrs. Harris had allowed her to leave early. Even after the headmistress's explanation for her cold words and harsh behavior this morning, Madeline was sorely shaken.
Anthony had lied for her. Knowing what he risked for his niece, he'd still lied to save her. And that was without her having confided everything in him, without her trusting him. Well, she trusted him now. But she didn't know how to find him to tell him, especially since Mrs. Harris had banished him from the school.
At least he'd gained Mrs. Harris's agreement to help Tessa. Madeline would have been horrified if his lying to protect her had damaged his niece's chances. Ever since Papa had related what Anthony had endured at the hands of the Bickhams, she'd been unable to think of anything else. It was evil for a child to suffer so. No wonder he loathed any mention of morality. Given the Bickhams' twisted perception of it, how could he not?
The sound of horses' hooves coming slowly along the road behind her made her veer over to stay out of their way. Absorbed in her thoughts, she only noticed that the team had halted when a harsh male voice said, "Get in."
She turned to find Anthony holding open the door to a traveling coach as he threw down the step. He offered a gloved hand to her, but his face was so rigid, and his eyes held such a deep chill that she didn't at first take it.
"Get in!" he demanded. "Before someone sees us."
That jarred her from her surprise. Taking his hand, she let him pull her into the coach. She took a seat opposite him, but hardly recognized the Anthony she knew. His remote and cynical expression fleetingly reminded her of Lord Stoneville, sending a frisson of fear skittering along her nerves.
"So you're from Telford," this new strange Anthony said.
The bald statement took her so off guard that she could only gape at him.
When she didn't answer, he went on in that awful, frigid tone that struck dread in her heart. "Mrs. Harris let it slip that you'd been recommended by a school in Shrewsbury. Apparently she had no idea you were lying about where you were from."
"I never lied, not to her and not to you," she protested, his manner alarming her more by the moment.
He leaned forward, his eyes marble-cold. "You knew damned well what I thought. And you let me think it."
"Yes."
"Was that my uncle's idea?"
She gaped at him. "Why on earth would that be your
uncle's
idea?"
"Because your father is his physician."
"Not anymore!"
"No, of course not. After the scandalous death of that woman you told me of, I'm sure Sir Randolph ended the connection." His eyes narrowed. "Unless your story about your father's fall from grace was a lie, too."
"Certainly not!" His battery of accusations confused her. "I mean, none of the part about Papa and the scandal was a lie…but Sir Randolph— "
"My uncle is the reason you seized on me to help you, isn't he?"
"Only because— "
"I showed up at the school, and you saw a chance to regain your father's position with my uncle."
"No!"
"You knew about the situation with my niece, and you probably guessed that my uncle would give you anything in exchange for evidence of how irredeemable a scoundrel I am. All you need do was drag me back into precisely the sort of behavior that would ruin my chances of gaining Tessa forever."
Madeline gasped.
That's
what he thought? That she'd been trying to help his
uncle
? "Now see here," she said, horrified by his assumptions, "I didn't drag you into anything. We had a bargain."
"A bargain concocted by
you
. I was against it from the beginning, but you told me you would support Tessa's enrollment— "
"And I did! I have. I went to Mrs. Harris this morning to urge her to enroll your niece, but before I could broach the subject, she surprised me with that letter."
The icy quality of his gaze showed he didn't believe her. "Ah yes, Mrs. Harris. You should have included
her
in your machinations if you'd wanted them to turn out right."
"They
did
turn out right." Given what Papa had told her, she understood why he'd leaped to these conclusions, but why couldn't he give her a chance? "You've got this all wrong."
"Have I?" His eyes trailed down her with an insolence he'd never shown before. "I suppose you're going to tell me now that our swiving meant something to you, that you made love to me because you cared about me."
"Yes!"
"Which is why you ran off as soon as I fell asleep."
She groaned. "No…I mean…You can't possibly think after what we shared at Lord Stoneville's that I was only gulling you— "
"You gave me your innocence!" he hissed.
Her mouth dropped open. Obviously men were more observant than she'd given them credit for. And
that
must be why he was behaving so awful. He'd attributed the wrong motives to her.
"Did you think I wouldn't notice until it was too late?" he ground out. "Until you'd gone to my uncle with your pitiful tale of how I'd ruined you, offering to drag me through a scandal if he would restore your father's position?"
"Stop this! You've taken a mad idea into your head that is utterly false!"
She grabbed for his hands, but he snatched them away with a look of sheer horror before he caught himself and regained his remote expression.
Forcing herself not to panic, she said, "You're not making sense. Didn't you notice this morning how terrified I was that I would lose my position over some stupid party? You can't actually believe I'd reveal to
anyone
that I had given myself to a man, just on some chance that Sir Randolph would help my father."
"Why not?" His harsh words dripped acid upon her heart. "Everything else you've done has been on behalf of your father. You misled me into thinking you were a woman of the world, you coaxed me into having that party so you could meet Sir Humphry, you shared my bed…"
"I didn't do that for Papa," she whispered. "I mean…it started out that way, but not for the reasons you think."
When he just stared at her, his gaze still chillingly distant, she realized she had to tell him the truth, even the ugly truth about herself. "I knew if you took my innocence, you'd feel guilty and— "
"I'd offer marriage.
Then
you could use my influence to save your father however you pleased. Never mind that it would materially damage my chances of getting Tessa. Never mind that— "
"Would you please just listen?" she snapped, tired of his determination to believe ill of her. "I never thought you would offer marriage. I'm too far beneath you for that. But I thought you'd feel guilty enough over taking my innocence to introduce me to Sir Humphry. Without my having to reveal I was from Telford."
"You mean, without your having to reveal who your father really was, in case I guessed his connection to my uncle, and thus guessed
your
connection— "
"I have no connection to that horrible devil, unless you count my absolute hatred of him. He's the one who put Papa in his present position, drat you!"
He blinked.
"Yes, your uncle. Surely you know him well enough to realize what he thinks of science. He's the one trying to coax Vicar Crosby to press for a trial. He's the one determined to ruin my father at all costs. I would no more side with him against you than I'd side with Lady Tarley against Mrs. Harris."
That, at last, seemed to punch through his assumptions, for the ice in his eyes melted enough for her to see the Anthony she knew and loved.
Loved? Yes, sometime in the past week she'd fallen in love with him. How, she wasn't sure, except that the seed had been planted from the moment he'd argued on his niece's behalf…and it had bloomed yesterday after she'd heard how a small boy missing his mother had been handed over to a half-mad aunt. How he had, for a brief period, lived a life consisting of one long succession of punishments.
He stared at her now, the cold and logical Anthony clearly warring with the one who'd made love to her. "Why would my uncle try to ruin your father?"
"Why does he do anything he does? Why does he want Tessa?"
"For the money, no doubt. My brother arranged for a handsome allowance for her guardian. That's why they wanted me when I was a boy— because I brought more money into the household."
And because Lady Bickham had needed someone new to bully. Or so it seemed to her after what Papa had said.
"Well, in Papa's case, it's more complicated. Sir Randolph and Papa have been at odds for years. That's what I tried to tell you— Papa hasn't worked for Sir Randolph since I was a girl."
Since you were a boy.
How she wanted to tell him about that, too, but given his hasty retreat from the subject two nights ago and his present feelings for her, the surest way to bring this conversation to a halt was to rip that bandage off. First, she had to make him see she wasn't the enemy.
Which might be difficult given how he was scowling at her. "Why should I believe anything you tell me?" he snapped. "You could have come to me from the beginning to ask my help in fighting my uncle, yet you didn't."
"And if I had? Without knowing me, you would have avoided me like any other leech in society. I only wanted to meet Sir Humphry. I was afraid that if you knew the accusations Sir Randolph had made against Papa, you would refuse to help me because involving yourself might damage your niece's case. After all, you had no reason to believe me, no reason to take Papa's side."
His hard stare unnerved her. "What reason do I have now?"
"None. Except that you know my character. You know I won't hurt you. Until now, I've done my best to keep you and your niece out of my situation."
Some emotion flickered deep in his eyes before he masked it. "Ah yes, your 'situation.'" He settled stiffly against the squabs. "It's time you revealed exactly what that situation is. The truth. All of it."
