Surrender (61 page)

me that you would not be able to tolerate

the sight of me."

In spite of himself, he felt his mouth

twitch in a small grin.
 
Having led up to

the grand revelation with a remark such as

that, you most certainly will have to tell

me the whole truth now. If you don't, I

shall expire of curiosity."

 
This is no joke. Lucas, you have no

idea of what I have done."

He walked over to her and drew her

tense body back against his chest.
 
I assure

you that it is very unlikely you could tell

me anything about yourself that would

make me unable to tolerate the sight of

you. I doubt there is anything to which

you could confess that could compare with

some of the small slices of hell I have seen

on a battlefield. Tell me everything, my

sweet."

 
Very well, Lucas." Her voice was tragic.

 
But never say I did not warn you."

I will never say it."

 
I killed him." She went perfectly still in

his arms, obviously bracing herself for his

shock and disgust.
 
I murdered Samuel

Whitlock."

 
Hmmm," Lucas murmured.
 
I did rather

wonder about that."

She jerked her head back to stare up at

him.
 
You did? But what made you think

such a thing? I have kept the secret to

myself all these months. Even my aunt

has no notion of what I did."

 
It was nothing specific that you said or

did. Just a few simple things that made me

mildly curious."

 
What simple things, for heaven's sake?"

 
Well, there was the timing of Whitlock's

death so soon after your mother's, and

the fact that you were convinced he had

killed her and would never hang for it.

In addition to those two points, I have

had occasion to get to know you rather

well. Not as well as I would like, I will

admit, but well enough to predict with

some certainty that you would not let your

mother's murder go unavenged."

There was a distinct pause and then

Victoria spoke in a very small voice.
 
You

do not sound particularly upset about this,

my lord."

Lucas considered her words.
 
The only

thing that upsets me is the thought of the

risks you must have taken to get the job

done."

She sighed.
 
I did not actually set out to

kill him, you know. All I wanted from him

was a confession. But I will admit I was

not sorry when I realized he was dead. In

fact, I experienced the most amazing sense

of relief."

 
I hate to be indelicate, but you did

actually witness his death?"

Victoria buried her face in Lucas's chest.

 
Oh, yes. I witnessed it. And almost

witnessed my own in the process."

 
Good God. What happened?"

 
Tis a long story. Are you quite certain

you want to hear it?"

 
I assure you I am prepared to listen all

day and all night, if necessary." He eased

her down into her armchair and resumed

the seat across from her.
 
Talk, Vicky. Tell

me everything."

She was twisting the handkerchief in her

lap, but she met his eyes unflinchingly.

 
You must understand that my stepfather

drank heavily. Sometimes he turned vio

lent. His habits were no secret and I

decided to make use of his weakness."

 
Strategy," Lucas said approvingly.

She frowned.
 
Yes, well, I could not

think of anything else, you see. I knew

the house well because I had lived there

for a few years before my mother sent me

to my aunt's. It was a huge, old place

with hidden passages and long halls with

unexpected openings into certain rooms.

I used that information to haunt my

stepfather."

 
You haunted him?"

She blew her nose.
 
Yes."

 
Amazing."

 
Really, Lucas, I'm sure you should not

be looking quite so fascinated by all this.

 
Tis rather reprehensible when you think

about it."

 
Let's just say I find it intellectually

interesting. What's wrong with that? Surely

no worse than trying to reanimate dead

bodies. Pray, continue, sweetheart."

 
I arranged to stay with friends who

happened to live in a neighboring house

for a week. Everyone knew I did not

feel comfortable around my stepfather and

these people had been friends of my

mother's, so they were sympathetic to

me. Several times during that week I

slipped out of the house in the middle

of the night and walked through the

woods to my stepfather's house. I wore

the dress in which my mother had been

married and I began haunting Samuel

Whitlock."

 
You hoped that in his drunken stupors

he would think he was seeing the ghost of

his dead wife?

Victoria nodded.
 
At first he thought he

was having nightmares. Then he began

talking to me. It was eerie, Lucas. He

ordered me to go away and leave him in

peace. Then he told me about how he had

never wanted to marry in the first place

but he had to have the money and why

could I not understand that? He pleaded

with me to leave him alone. Finally, one

night his nerve broke entirely. He came

after me with a knife, saying he would kill

me again and this time he would make

certain of the job."

Lucas shut his eyes for a second, trying

not to think of how close she had come

to her own death.
 
That is when he had

his accident on the stairs?"

 
Yes. I was fleeing from him down the

hall. I started down the stairs. He was

directly behind me, holding the knife high

in his hand and screaming about how he

was going to kill me. He lost his footing

about a third of the way down and fell all

the way to the bottom."

 
The servants," Lucas murmured.
 
Where

were they?"

 
There were only two in the house, an

elderly couple with rooms far removed at

the back. They were in the habit of retiring

early and staying out of their master's way

until morning. The screaming they may

have heard that night was certainly not

the first time they had heard such noises

in that house. They had learned to mind

their own business."

 
I see. Did you check to see if your

stepfather was truly dead?"

 
No. I was so frightened that I ran.

Perhaps the fall didn't kill him." She

looked at the newspaper clippings.
 
Lucas,

I do not know what to believe. Do you

think he might have merely engineered

his burial to haunt me as I once haunted

him?"

 
It is a possibility."

Victoria chewed her lip.
 
What has he

been doing all these months if he is still

alive?"

 
Hiding, perhaps? Waiting to see if you

would go to the authorities with your

report?"

 
He was dead. I know he was dead. I

killed him," she said.

 
You did not murder him, Vicky. You

tried in a very clever fashion to extract a

confession and you got it. In the process,

you almost got yourself killed, and that

is all there is to the matter," Lucas said

very firmly.
 
As to whether or not he is

actually dead, that remains to be seen.

This business with the pamphlet and the

note certainly indicate there are some loose

ends that need tying up."

 
Such as who sent me this note and the

pamphlet and clipping."

 
Yes," Lucas agreed.
 
That is one of

several questions I think we should get

answered as soon as possible. There is

also the little matter of that carriage that

nearly ran you down and the footpad who

assaulted me the night before you found

the snuffbox."

 
Lucas, this is making my head spin.

I cannot go on like this. I must have

answers."

 
I could not agree more wholeheartedly.

As I said, there are several questions

that now must be answered as quickly

as possible. I think the best place to

begin is in Town, where this all started."

He smiled.
 
Now we have an excellent

reason to go to London in addition to

the invitation to Lady Atherton's ball,

don't we?"

Victoria gave a weak laugh.
 
Lucas, I

swear you are impossible. Even at a time

like this, you are still plotting to get me

to do precisely as you wish,"

 
Strategy, my dear. I'm known for it.

Now, while this will no doubt seem

anticlimactic, I have a small surprise for

you. Remember that picture of Strelitzia

reginae?"

 
Yes, of course. What about it?"

Lucas flashed her an easy grin.
 
The vicar

would like half a dozen more watercolors

on similar subjects for his book on flower

gardening."

The expression of shock on Victoria's

face was extremely gratifying, Lucas thought.

Naturally Lucas had taken her horrendous

revelation as calmly as if she had merely

told him what Cook was preparing for

dinner. What had she expected? Victoria

was still asking herself that question a few

days later as she stood with Annabella and

Aunt Cleo in the shop of a fashionable

London modiste.

Had she actually assumed, even for a

moment, that he would have reacted as one

would have expected any normal husband

to react to such shocking news?

If there was one thing she had learned

about Lucas by now, it was that he was