Libertine's Wife (58 page)

“
Where do you go, Mr. Roth?”
Helms looked around, noticing the music room was packed up as if
for the first time.

“
Circumstances call for a
change in my life, Mr. Helms,” Caspian said as he shrugged on his
frock coat. He then started digging in a nearby crate for weapons,
taking out a half dozen pistols before he found the one he sought.
“I do hope you can refrain from saying you saw me as I’m believed
dead by my peers. It appears a chap like me can only start over by
being born again as someone else.”

“
Lord Ravensford would wish
to know you—”

“
No, he won’t wish to know
anything about me, Helms. Let it be,” the assassin said with an
amused expression. “I’ve waited all my life to meet my brother and
I have. I have no wish to complicate his life further. It appears
I’m to be given a new start in America.”

“
Lord Ravensford owns a
plantation in Virginia, Mr. Roth. Belle Terre is the name. I have a
feeling you will see each other again one day,” Helms offered, his
eyes meeting his meaningfully. “Now that you know where he goes
when this threat is passed, I hope you won’t allow your past to
keep you from approaching him there.”

Caspian shrugged with little hint he
meant to do anything of a kind. He tucked the pistol in his
waistband and eyed Helms without expression. “I can see why they
call you a mean little dog, Helms. You don’t know how to let
anything go.”

“
I’d like to think I’m doing
my job, Mr. Roth.”

Arianne sat in a huge bedroom tied to a
chair in front of the window. The room was devoid of furniture, in
the process of renovations Amanda ordered before her death. Martin
lit a fire and eyed her without expression after they arrived. He
had yet to reveal why he went after Garret. She avoided provoking
him, thinking of the child she carried.

He gagged her finally when she sought
to talk him out of this. Her eyes kept going to the door, expecting
to see her husband enter any moment to save her.

“
He’ll come for you, my
lady, have no fear,” Martin said with a smile as he got up and
approached her. “I knew as soon as I heard of his marriage that he
must have cared for you. If you know Garret at all, you would know
he would have never have married anyone under such circumstances
unless he did.”

Arianne could say nothing in response,
her eyes following him as he paced before her.

“
I thought it fitting I take
you away from him, as he took the one I loved away from me,” Martin
said and glanced at her, seeing her look of surprise. “You thought
it was only money I did all of this for? While I admit playing
Dench has allowed me a sizable income, this thing with Garret had
nothing to do with money.”

She kept looking beyond him to the
door, praying Garret arrived to save her.

“
It was just a coincidence I
found the means to destroy him,” Martin continued. “Your brother
owed me quite a bit of money before your marriage. Then Eustace
married you to Garret. I learned all of your secrets then. He said
whatever he had to then to keep his loans coming. I knew what
Garret would do if he found out about his son. I counted upon it. I
made sure Eustace extorted you for the funds, knowing you would
never give your secret away. You can imagine William’s horror when
you produced another son? After your husband was dead, he meant to
expose your tawdry little secret and take the estate from the boy.
That changed everything.”

Arianne listened with dread, knowing it
was as they thought. Her brother’s sickness was used to get to
Garret from the start, and to her.

“
Then William showed up and
made a mess of things. He dragged Lord Denham into it, and then
Lady Bianca, but both were damned cowards and abandoned him when
they saw the way it was heading. I saw a way to end this to my own
advantage. Then the little worm hired me to kill Garret,” Martin
said with a chuckle. “I planned all very well, until your brother
betrayed us. He paid for that. Then William was close to revealing
my identity to save his own skin. I couldn’t have that. As bad luck
would have it, Clarissa wore my gift to her out in public. My
mother told me she told Garret of the jewels being seen. It was
then I decided Lord Denham would take the blame for all. Now I need
only kill Garret, and the authorities will think Denham did it
all.”

Arianne was wide-eyed during the
telling, dismayed to know how clever he covered himself. Should he
succeed this night, none would believe Lord Denham didn’t do it
all. Then Martin would have Belle Terre, and guardianship of her
sons. She struggled with her bindings behind her back. She’d
loosened them considerably, but he took no chances this time after
she escaped him before.

“
Do you wish to know why I
did all this?” Martin asked her as he stopped pacing, his blue eyes
filled with remote coldness. “I suppose you are entitled to that
much.”

“
Why don’t you tell me,
Martin? This is between you and I; not my wife” Garret said from
the doorway, a pistol in his hand. “All these years, you’ve hated
me. For what, I ask?”

Martin moved quickly behind Arianne and
placed his own gun to her temple, smiling at his friend with
loathing in his eyes. “There you are, late as always, my
friend.”

Garret inclined his head to his wife,
his green eyes noting she was safe. “You were saying? Do go on and
tell us both why you did this? I thought of you as a brother,
Martin, why did you betray me?”

Martin shrugged. “It’s not fit for a
lady’s ears, but she should know what kind of man you are, Garret.
Do you recall a girl you lured behind the school for all our
entertainment? Her name was Lady Amelia Wrenfield?”

Garret never took his eyes off Martin
as he walked farther into the room, his pistol trained on Martin’s
head, sweat breaking out on his brow to see his wife’s hysteria. “I
took many girls into the gardens then, Martin. No, I do not recall
her. What does she have to do with all of this?”

Martin looked outraged, his hand
shaking in ire. “She was to be my wife! We were betrothed since we
were children, even if none knew of it! I watched you defile her in
front of all our classmates. What did you say to us all then when
you told us to hide behind the hedges? You wished to show us how it
was done, did you not?”

Garret said nothing, not even flinching
at his words. “This is over what you saw that night? She was quite
willing, Martin, as you no doubt could see. I never forced her to
do anything against her will.”

“
You lie! You defiled her!
Then you refused to marry her when the talk got back to her
parents! You sent Helms to clean it up as he always did. Then you
paid off her family with no regard for her at all,” Martin shouted,
his eyes going wild. “Did you ever think of what would become of
her? Did you even care?”

Garret’s face was grim as he listened.
“No, I had no regard for her at all. I think that
obvious.”

“
No, you went right on your
way without a thought to her! It might amuse you to know her family
cast her out after they got your money,” Martin raged, pressing the
gun harder into Arianne’s temple. “Did you know what happened to
her after that? Mother refused to tell me anything! It took me
years to find her when she disappeared. She worked as a whore until
she was too riddled with disease to earn her way anymore. She died
cursing your name, and that is when I promised her I would avenge
her honor.”

Garret raised an eyebrow, looking
disbelieving. “You did all this for Amelia? While I don’t question
your feelings for her then, I would tell you I was not her only
lover, Martin. She came to those gardens often, and with whoever
asked her. It’s you who refuses to see the truth. If she died
cursing me, my guess would be I was her last hope for a husband.
You might recall she claimed I forced her. You were there! Did you
see me force her?”

“
You lie! Amelia was good!
She was kind! She was pure until you defiled her!” Martin shouted,
his eyes going wild. “Every woman you ever touched, you destroyed!
Did you care? No, you moved to the next, as you always
did!”

“
What of Clarissa? Why did
you have to kill her? What had she to do with any of
this?”

“
She wore the jewels out in
public after I warned her not to,” Martin explained harshly, his
hand trembling as he pressed the gun harder to her Arianne’s head.
“My mother told me about it when she returned home that night from
the ball. I knew then you would confront Clarissa and learn I’d
given them to her. She fit into my plan to blame all on Denham.
Even now the talk swirls he killed her in a jealous rage, even
though none can prove it.”

“
You don’t have to do this,
Martin,” Garret said calmly as he crept closer. “This is between
you and me. Let my wife go. She has nothing to do with any of it.
It’s me you want.”

“
Drop the gun or I’ll kill
her, Garret,” Martin warned, eyes wild. “I want you to get down on
your knees! I want you to beg me not to kill her!”

Garret shocked Arianne by tossing down
his weapon immediately. “There, I’m unarmed, Martin. Let her go.
She has no part in this.”

“
Get down on your knees and
beg me for your life, beg me for hers,” Martin snarled, his blue
eyes filled with contempt. “Do it, I say! Or I’ll kill her right
now!”

Garret slid to his knees, staring at
his former friend without expression. “There, now let her be,
Martin. Don’t do this. Enough have died already. I’m not worth this
and we both know it. If you wish to kill me then do it now, only
let her go.”

Martin chuckled as he saw him on his
knees, his expression gloating. “Beg me for her life, Garret! Beg
me not to kill her!”

“
Please…please do not kill
her, Martin,” Garret said softly, his eyes never leaving his wife’s
pale features. “If you kill her, you will kill me too, for I’d not
want to live without her.”

Martin laughed as he saw him posturing
before him, his eyes filled with loathing. “All my life I’ve done
what’s expected. I lived my life as a gentleman. Everything I tried
I failed at. I had to become a criminal to be successful. You’ve
done exactly as you wanted, destroying every person you touched,
and everything was handed to you!”

“
You would blame me for your
failures now, Martin?” Garret gazed at his former friend in
anguish. “You had a choice like anyone else. You would blame me for
that too?”

“
The plantation was my
idea!” Martin railed as he glared at him. “Even that was to be
denied me! My own mother couldn’t see fit to allow me to be a man
for once! No, I had to grovel to her for everything!”

“
She intended the shares in
Belle Terre to go to you upon her death, Martin,” Garret said
quietly. “She only wanted to make sure you didn’t squander your
legacy before it was realized.”

“
Even now when I have a gun
in my hand you would see fit to remind me of how bloody stupid all
my investments have been in the past! This was mine! And you took
it from me too!”

“
We’ve all made mistakes,
Martin,” Garret said carefully, his eyes grim as he saw his hand
shaking as it held the gun. “What does it solve by killing innocent
people who have nothing to do with this?”

“
If not for her, you’d be
dead by now!” Martin yelled and glared down at Arianne. “She gave
you a damned heir and ruined it all! You named me your beneficiary
until then! Belle Terre was to have all been mine!”

“
I won’t apologize for my
marriage or my son, Martin,” Garret said and splayed his hands
wide, his green eyes devoid of fear. “If you mean to kill me, than
do it! But let Arianne go.”

“
This is all her fault, as
much as yours!” Martin shouted and laughed as he saw Garret flinch
when he shoved the muzzle harder into her temple, making her sob
under the gag and struggle. “You love her,” Martin said with a
sneer as he cocked his pistol fully. “I will enjoy killing her in
front of you, as you killed my Amelia in front of me years
ago.”

“
You refuse to see Amelia as
she was then, Marty,” Garret argued as his eyes grew stricken. “She
liked men, all men. None of us ever forced her to do any of that.
You would kill another innocent woman for one who wasn’t worth it
from the start?”

“
I loved her!” Martin raged
loudly, his blue eyes filled with loathing. “You took her from me,
and for that you will pay!”

Garret had a too vivid of a
recollection of how Arianne’s brother died recently to doubt he
would pull the trigger. He could see it in Martin’s eyes. Arianne
was sobbing under the gag, her eyes wild as they met his. Garret
broke out in a cold sweat to see he didn’t have a hope in talking
Martin out of his course. He felt fear gnaw at him as he watched
Martin’s hand shake.

Just then, a pistol went off nearby.
Garret jumped to his feet and stared in shock as Martin fell
backward, a bullet hole in the side of his head. He looked to the
right and saw Caspian Roth sitting on the window ledge, a wide grin
on his face. He put away his smoking pistol, smiling apologetically
to Arianne. “I’m glad that’s over. Have you heard enough whining
for one night? I know I have,” the assassin said with a raspy
chuckle. “I hope that answers all your questions. A nice friend you
have there, my lord. I would say our business here is
concluded.”