Mad About the Earl (37 page)

Lowering to admit that the crowning misery of the evening had been walking into the library after everyone had gone to find Jacqueline locked in Anthony Maddox’s embrace.

They’d been totally oblivious of her, of course. Shock had made her freeze as she watched Maddox’s dark head angle over Jacqueline’s. They made a striking couple, she thought with a hard wrench in her chest and a welling sob in her throat.

As Jacqueline’s chaperone, she ought to put a stop to this at once. As Griffin’s wife, she should demand to know what they meant by it.

On the other hand, Griffin was so adamant against the match that he would not wish her to make a scene that might force Maddox to declare himself.

Above all, her aching heart urged her to leave them be. True joy happened so rarely in life, and passion such as she witnessed between them was precious. They loved each other. Their love might never exist within the sanctity of marriage. Let them have tonight.

As she slipped from the library unnoticed, her mouth was set with determination. She would not let Jacqueline throw this love away out of a desire to please her guardian and brother’s arbitrary notions of a good match.

She would present Maddox and Jacqueline’s marriage to Griffin as a fait accompli. All she had to do was obtain deVere’s consent. She suspected that if she enlisted Lady Arden’s aid in that endeavor, the two of them could annihilate deVere’s objections. Failing that, she would ask the Duke of Montford for help.

On that resolve, she climbed the stairs and took her weary self to a cold, lonely bed.

*   *   *

“But I cannot marry him! I
cannot
!” Jacqueline wrung her hands, looking as if she might burst into tears at any moment.

“You should have thought of that before you kissed Mr. Maddox in the library,” said Rosamund severely. She glanced at Maddox, who was white to the lips.

She’d summoned him here after breakfast, having no notion of when he’d left the house that morning and even less of a clue why she herself had been rash enough to allow him to remain. She trusted he had not crossed the line here last night, but knew that she ought to have seen to it personally that he did not.

What had she been thinking?

Maddox, of course, offered for Jacqueline at once, saving Rosamund the necessity of raising the subject. That made her think well of him, on the whole.

She was not so sanguine about Jacqueline’s attitude. The girl could not possibly believe she’d escape marriage now that she’d been compromised.

Rosamund winced as another shard of pain lanced through her head. She felt as if she’d drunk too much champagne the night before, although in fact, she’d drunk very little.

“Why can you not marry him?” she demanded. “The truth now, Jacqueline. I think you owe it to both of us, don’t you?”

“Oh! Oh, yes, but … but it is all such a mess, and I…” She turned stricken eyes on Maddox. “Oh, you will hate me when I tell you, Tony. I swore to Griffin I would not tell anyone. And now I’ve ruined everything!”

Jacqueline burst into long, noisy sobs.

His face like granite, Maddox put one arm around her and hugged her hard to his chest. “I cannot conceive of hating you, Jacqueline.

He looked down at her bent head with such tenderness, it made Rosamund want to join the weeping. “I think I know what this terrible secret is,” he said softly. “Griffin killed my cousin Allbright, didn’t he?”

Rosamund gasped and sat down abruptly. Her head swam with shock, but she kept her gaze fixed on her sister-in-law. “No,” she whispered. “No. He didn’t do it. He didn’t.”

A shudder ran through Jacqueline. Vehemently, she shook her head. “It was all my fault! If I’d simply told him I did not want music lessons anymore and left it at that, it would never have happened.”

She dragged the back of her hand over her eyes.

Maddox led her to sit on the couch. “What happened?” he asked hoarsely. “What did my cousin do to you?”

“It was all very subtle at first. I didn’t realize what he was about.” She swallowed, lifting her tear-filled gaze to the ceiling. “A touch on the hand, you know, or on the arm, or a brush on my breast. All of them could have been accidental.”

Maddox’s arm dropped from Jacqueline’s waist. His mouth had flattened to a grim line, and his up-cut nostrils flared. From the dangerous light in his eyes, Rosamund could not help thinking it a good thing for Allbright that he was already deceased.

“And then?” he prompted.

Jacqueline struggled for command over her voice. “One day, he kissed me. But it wasn’t a nice kiss. He pawed at me and tore at my clothes and told me I’d been wanting this, I just didn’t know it. And oh, I was so ashamed! That I’d somehow invited his attentions. He did not … have relations with me. Looking back, I think he was working toward that, but perhaps he sensed if he did it too soon, I might cry out or be impelled to tell Griffin. Oh, I used to
dread
going to my lesson each week.”

Rosamund turned cold, listening to this speech. She wanted to put her arms around Jacqueline and hold her tight, and she wondered why Maddox kept a careful distance between them. Out of concern for the proprieties, or was he angry with her? Surely not angry. Perhaps he felt Jacqueline wouldn’t welcome his touch when she spoke of another man’s assault.

“And Griffin found you,” Rosamund said softly.

“Yes, and he … he hauled Mr. Allbright off me and beat him to within an inch of his life. I was not supposed to be there, but I stayed.” Her face darkened. “It helped to watch that, you know. I think if my lessons with Allbright had gone on much longer, I would have run mad.”

“That was when Tregarth threatened my cousin’s life,” said Maddox.

Jacqueline nodded. “And Allbright made sure everyone in the county knew about it. He went away, we thought for good. But a week or so later, he came back.”

She put a shaking hand up to her hair. “There was a place. A sort of cave on the cliff.” She glanced at Rosamund. “Near where I showed you that day, Rosie. I used to go there alone to think.”

She drew a deep breath, and finally, Maddox put his hand over hers and squeezed it.

“I was heading there one evening. H-he followed me and caught me on the top of the cliff, and told me he was going to … rape me.
That
would teach my brother, he said.” She blinked rapidly. “And I fought him, tooth and nail. Oh, I was in a frenzy, as you can imagine! So furious at myself for never having the courage to fight back before.”

Maddox frowned. “Where was Griffin?”

“He wasn’t there. Somehow, in the struggle, Allbright lost his footing and lost his grip on me. I did not even look to see what had happened to him. I just ran.”

Maddox squeezed his eyes shut. He opened them and dragged in a breath. “And you told Griffin, who searched for him and found him at the bottom of the cliff.”

Jacqueline nodded. “He has been protecting
me
all this time. He took the brunt of the gossip and shame. Our indoor servants deserted us. The neighbors reviled him. Only you and the vicar stood by us, Tony.”

She made a valiant attempt to smile. Tentatively, she turned her hand in his to grip his fingers. He returned her clasp.

She looked up at him in wonder. “You are not angry with me? Allbright was your cousin. I thought—”

“
Angry
with you?” He shook his head. “God! No, darling. I’m livid with
him
and with myself for recommending him to you. If I’d had the least suspicion, I’d never have suggested it.”

“Griffin forbade me to tell you. I think he wanted to believe you’d stand by us, but he was so very hurt at the reaction of everyone around us, I don’t think he knew whom to trust. Allbright was so personable and charming. He had them all wrapped around his little finger.”

Slowly, Rosamund said, “So all this time, Griffin has been content to let suspicion rest on him to deflect attention from you.”

“Yes, and it has been killing me! But he would not let me put it right. The feeling against our family was so strong because of our grandfather’s harshness, you see, that he was afraid of the outcome if I confessed. He was taken in for questioning, but there was no evidence he’d been anywhere near the cliff that night. It was only hearsay that Griffin had threatened Allbright’s life. No one actually heard Griffin make those threats. The coroner found that the death was accidental, and it has been some time since anyone has questioned Griffin over it. But something has occurred lately to put him on edge again. I am sure of it.”

Maddox straightened. “There was a rumor in the village of a witness. Good God, Jacqueline, if there was, he might be able to clear your name. What you have described was not murder, I am sure of it. The man was trying to rape you, and all you did was defend yourself. You did not even push him.”

“But to a witness, it might have looked as if I
did,
” said Jacqueline. “And why come forward now? Besides, it is all rumor and conjecture. Whoever this witness is, he has not even made an official statement to the local justice of the peace. I think it is some idle, malicious person trying to hoax us.”

Rosamund clutched the arm of her chair in alarm. “Do you think Griffin has discovered the nature of this witness’s testimony? Do you think he is going to do something rash?”

“What, confess, you mean?” Maddox shook his head. “He’d be a fool to do that. If it were me, I’d wait until I knew Jacks was to be arrested for murder. I’d try every possible alternative before that.”

Letting out a long breath, Rosamund said, “We must go down there. There is not a moment to lose! Or, no, Jacqueline, perhaps you ought to stay here. I shall send you to Montford House and—”

“You will not send me away this time,” said Jacqueline with that stubborn set to her chin Rosamund knew only too well. “Besides, Tony will protect me, won’t you, Tony? If things get hairy, we can escape justice on the next smugglers’ boat to France.”

Jacqueline’s pathetic attempt at humor could not raise a smile from anyone.

“Smugglers?” said Rosamund. “Are there smugglers operating in the bay?”

“Oh, yes. It is rife in that area, led by a man named Crane,” said Maddox. “Before the war, such practices were tolerated, even condoned. It is a different matter now, with information traveling those same channels and into the hands of the enemy. But Crane and his bullies intimidate the populace. No one will inform against them for fear of retribution. Even the local justice of the peace turns a blind eye.”

Rosamund said, “Might it be one of the smugglers who saw what happened between you and Allbright, Jacqueline?”

“It was dusk. A little early for them, I should say. But I don’t know. It’s possible.”

Rosamund stood, shaking out her skirts. “I’m afraid, my dears, your wedding must wait. I need to make arrangements for the journey. You will escort us, Mr. Maddox?”

He bowed. “Of course, my lady.”

As she hurried from the room, she heard him say, “And now for that proposal, my love…”

Tired and anxious though she was, Rosamund gave a weary smile.

She did not even reach the stairs before she heard Maddox’s distressed shout.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

The breeze whipped off the ocean in cold gusts, and dark clouds blanketed the moon. A perfect night for smugglers to shift their cargo. Or so Griffin hoped.

He and Oliphant lay prone in a natural hollow in the cliff face, the perfect vantage point from which to spy illicit doings on the beach below. Each of them had a shotgun and two pistols. More men were stationed about the area. The vicar had been instrumental in rallying their neighbors to the cause. Since the justice of the peace would not intervene in the smugglers’ nefarious activities, the people of Pendon would.

And Griffin would thereby be rid of Crane and his malicious blackmail forever.

“What if Crane isn’t there?” said the vicar softly.

“Then we come back again and again until he is. I don’t want the decent lads he’s led astray, nor do I want the small fish. He’s the one. Everyone knows it. And I’m going to take him.”

The wait was a long one, but eventually, Griffin sighted movement. A large, dark figure led a trail of pack ponies slowly, quietly down the winding path along the cliff face. If Griffin had not possessed field glasses as well as excellent night vision, he might have missed them.

“Let’s move.”

He and Oliphant picked their way silently down the rocky cliff.

Wet sand sucked at Griffin’s boots as he finished the descent. The sea spray whipped into his face. He heard nothing above the low roar of the ocean, but he knew the direction the ponies were headed.

There was a cave on that side of the cliff, where he and Jacks and Timothy used to play.

The sole of his boot crunched on something—shells?

The next instant, a bird called. But it was not a bird, of course. It was a sentry.

“Damn,” muttered Griffin.

A shot rang out from the direction of the cave.