Wicked Proposition (11 page)

The thought of her future plagued him sorely
when she dozed contentedly in his arms. She did not belong there.
Certainly she did not belong with him. He could not leave her in
the end. Gabriel was eager to get back to her now, he realized in
surprise. He hoped she had come to terms with their arrangement,
for he didn’t look forward to another round of bickering.

Catherine was far younger than any of his other
women. With the proper persuasion, she would get used to the idea
of being his mistress. She could do far worse if she didn’t realize
it. Catherine was stubborn, but he was far more determined, as she
would soon learn.

Gabriel entered his home and nodded to Higgins,
handing off his coat and case. The butler assured him the girl was
still locked in his room resting. He retreated to his study to
review his accounts.

He poured over the expense ledgers and frowned.
Lillianne had gone to a dressmaker she had never used before. Odd,
for she was a creature of habit. Before he could question it, there
was a knock at his door.

He rose behind his desk as Higgins led in the
detective. Mr. Vickers was a very ordinary-looking man. The man’s
nondescript appearance served him well, but he had yet to glean any
credible proof of his wife’s adultery.

“Lord Iverleigh, I regret to say I can find
nothing at all to suggest your wife has a lover,” the man lamented
as he sat before him when the door to the study shut. “She is
either more clever than I thought, or I missed something in my
initial investigation.”

“Then you missed something, because my wife is
exceedingly clever and she always has a lover,” Gabriel informed
him coolly and glared at the man, “and it is quite obvious she
knows you watch her. You may try to not be so bloody obvious,
Vickers! Can you not be so visible? If I can see you sitting at the
curb, it is obvious, so too, can she!”

“She has had numerous visitors over the last
weeks, but none male,” the man continued on in a pained tone, aware
the nobleman was not happy with his work.

“She is not that stupid, Vickers!” Gabriel
exploded finally during the man’s report, losing patience finally.
“She likely meets the man outside the residence. She snuck by you,
but you must stay on her. Hire more men if need be. Just find
something I can use.”

Vickers nodded and went over his weekly report
then. Nothing was new. He looked apologetic as he was shown
out.

Gabriel felt deflated and in sour need of a
drink. He poured a generous draught and cursed the blasted woman.
Leave it to Lillianne to know he hired a man to watch her. Always
one step ahead of him, she was.

Mr. Vickers clearly wasn’t as adept at his job
of sleuthing as Edward promised. He reminded himself to have a word
with Nicholas. His friend knew of men to help him get the
information he required.

Gabriel rose from behind his desk and looked out
the window, a black scowl falling across his face. The thought of
spending the rest of his life with Lillianne as his wife made him
furious. He did all he could. Now it was a matter for the courts.
He retreated from his study in time to see Catherine coming down
the stairs. She was looking refreshed and as lovely as ever, if not
a trifle somber.

When she drew near, she avoided his gaze. He
could see by her red, slightly puffy eyes she had been crying. He
gritted his teeth, feeling like a damned heel for having locked her
in his room. Instead of being regarded as her savior, she thought
him a tyrant.

His lips set in a firm line. He offered her his
elbow, leaning down to whisper. “You go to dinner, not the
gallows.”

“The gallows would be preferable, I think,” she
said with forced politeness. “They have bars instead of doors, my
lord. The prison there is far more obvious.”

Gabriel waited until he seated her to reply. He
took his own chair opposite her. He folded his hands before him as
he looked down the length of the gleaming mahogany table between
them.

“You regard our arrangement like a prison?” he
asked casually. “The way I see it, you have improved your lot. You
have but one man to please, instead of hundreds. I am not that
difficult to get on with. I ask nothing of you but your charming
presence in my bed.”

“What is to become of me when you tire of me?”
she demanded hotly. “Or to use your own words earlier this day;
when I fail to please you anymore? Will you send me back to Clarice
when your game is at an end?”

“Who said this is a game, my dear?” he said with
a frown. “I see it as an opportunity to better your situation.”
Gabriel grew silent as Mrs. Whitley and the maids entered and
dinner was served. His angry dark eyes never left Catherine’s face
as the meal was served. He waited until the servants left before he
spoke again.

“You will learn very quickly; I do not play
games. I am not in the habit of rescuing troubled women either. I
did you a favorable turn. You treat me as though I am the villain.
I did nothing you did not want me to do last night, if I recall.
You are here as long as I wish it. When that is no longer the case,
I will deal with you fairly. Until then, I would not like to force
the issue and lock you in my room.”

Catherine made a scornful noise. She looked at
him in disgust. Her green eyes flashed warningly. “You have made
your point. Your servants only let me out when they knew you to be
home. Is this how I am to live until you allow me to leave?”

Lord Iverleigh sipped at his wine as he
considered her angry question. She squirmed under his dark-eyed
stare.

“If you give me your word that you will not run,
I see no need to lock you up. You can have free run of the house,
even have my driver take you wherever you wish to go.”

“I wish to go home!”

“You owe me three thousand pounds, Catherine.
Instead of blathering on about going home, why don’t you apply
yourself to paying off the debt instead?” he snapped, losing his
patience with her now. “You are likely going to enjoy it, so enough
of this!”

Catherine was fuming. She looked at him like he
was a loathsome insect. She could find no possible retort. “Think
what you wish, my lord.”

“Shall I show you the truth?” he asked harshly,
leaning forward. “Do you want me to toss your skirts right here to
prove it? I am certain the servants would enjoy it, as well as
I.”

Catherine blushed furiously. She knew he would
do it, and wisely stayed silent. Inwardly she was broiling with
anger.

“You needn’t prove your point. Once my debt to
you is paid, you will have no hold on me. I look forward to seeing
that met.”

He smiled knowingly. His virginal little
mistress would learn very quickly that he was going to be very
demanding in the process of repayment.

“You might wish to show me some enthusiasm, my
dear.”

She froze at his words.

He smiled wolfishly, making her feel devoured as
his eyes dipped to her more modest neckline. “You could certainly
dress to entice me more. That gown needs to be tossed into the
nearest rag bag.”

“The only other clothes I have are the ones
bought by Clarice. They are hardly decent.”

“I would like seeing them on you very much.”

She thought of how revealing some of them were.
She avoided his eyes, knowing they would be mocking her
embarrassment. “It is your right to ask for whatever you wish, my
lord. You have paid for that privilege.”

“You will cease to ‘my lord’ me to death as
well. You know my given name. If you have not realized it yet; I do
not stick to the courtesies.”

“Is there anything else you wish of me?”
Catherine asked tightly, refusing to meet his eyes.

“I have found myself in dire need of a
secretary,” he added as an afterthought. “My last one up and left
me. I am buried as a result.”

Her head perked up, green eyes filled with
interest now.

“I can find nothing among my own papers. I
assume you can read and write?”

“As well as you, I’m sure. I handled all of my
father’s matters when his steward was ill.”

“Good, perhaps giving you some task now will
keep you from sulking,” he said dryly and smiled as he saw spots of
color appear in her cheeks.

“Is there anything else you wish?”

“Yes, nightgowns tend to annoy me. You will not
wear one when you come to my bed,” he told her with an infuriating
smile, his dark eyes twinkling with amusement. “They only need to
come off. I see no point of them.”

“You are despicable,” she complained sourly and
reached for her wine.

“Why is that, because I like you naked?”

“Stop, please! You have proved you have no shame
at all, Gabriel!”

“Shame has no place in my bed, Catherine. You
were hardly violated last night. I have done nothing to you at all
to merit your contempt of me, but ask you to honor your debt.”

She said nothing. There seemed no point to
mention the list of crimes against her family.

Catherine nibbled without appetite the braised
pork and asparagus. She could hardly eat. She felt nauseated as she
realized she was now forced into this situation for now. Gabriel
did not fit the image of a heartless cad, despite his continued
baiting of her. He could have left her at Clarice’s. Despite her
knowing the secrets of his marriage already, she questioned
everything she had been told. She was trapped for now and she knew
it. She was relieved when the meal was at an end and begged to be
excused, complaining of a headache.

“You don’t feel well? I will send Mrs. Whitley
up to you. If you have need of anything, you may ask her.”

Catherine rose and fled the dining room, not
seeing the speculative look from him. She raced to his room and
closed the door behind her.

Catherine hugged herself about the middle and
paced before the crackling fire, a pensive expression upon her
face. She may have committed a most grievous error in judgment
believing all her sister’s tales about her husband. Knowing she had
given the man no benefit of the doubt at all made her seethe. She
had been quick to assume the worst of Gabriel without knowing all
of the facts. It was a habit of hers to jump to conclusions and act
rashly.

###

Clarice didn’t wait to be announced as she
pushed past Dunstan. She barged into the Countess’s salon. Dunstan
appeared harassed as he bore down on the woman. He demanded she
leave in his most imperious voice.

Lilly frowned at the intrusion. She rose from
her writing desk. “It is alright, Dunstan, I will handle this,” she
told him sternly.

He bowed and left the room, looking at Clarice
with a dark look for getting past him.

“You have not paid me, Lady Iverleigh,” Clarice
stated in a low menacing voice. “I have come to collect the money
you owe me.”

Lilly eyed the Madame with a sweet smile. She
offered her a cup of tea and bade her sit. The woman huffed angrily
as she sat heavily upon the settee.

“I cannot just go to my husband’s bank and
withdraw that amount, Clarice,” Lilly explained as if she spoke to
a little child. “In fact, I find it very unlikely His Lordship
would ever approve such a transaction. Had you chosen your mark
better, you might have taken the time to have learned he has filed
a writ of divorcement against me. So, it appears you have no
coffers in which to leech off,” she finished smugly at the woman’s
look of outrage. “You made three thousand pounds from my husband’s
desire to acquire my sister. Do not bother to deny it. I have
learned he took her with him when he left this morning. That is
your payment for services rendered. Our current association is
over, Clarice. You will not get another payment from me.”

Clarice looked stunned at her words, then
furious.

“You have tricked me! You knew all along you had
no funds to pay me with. I will go to Lord Iverleigh. I swear I
will,” she threatened hotly.

“Do you really think Gabriel will believe you
after he discovers you blackmail me and half the gentlemen who
frequent your establishment? It is you who will pay, Clarice.” At
Clarice’s look of disbelief, a titter of amusement escaped Lilly.
“Blackmail is such an ugly business. Secrets can and often do kill,
Clarice. Be warned, for they circle you now.”

Clarice grew livid, her eyes growing cold. “You
would dare to threaten me, Lady Iverleigh?”

“I am but warning you, Clarice. Your fate was
sealed when you made that incriminating list of yours. The others
were quite sympathetic to my plight, naturally. They all wish to be
free of you as well.”

“I will tell Lord Iverleigh that Catherine is
your sister!” Clarice rose from her chair and stood shaking in fury
before Lilly. “I will tell him all I know of you as well, Lady
Iverleigh. You have forgotten what I hold in my possession. That
diary has damning evidence in it! Think well before you cross
me.”

“My husband knows me at my very worst, Clarice.
Nothing in that diary threatens me, I assure you.” Lilly shrugged
and smiled even brighter. “As for my poor little sister, she sadly
died and is buried in our family crypt. You have nothing but that
diary to hold over my head. The ramblings of a madwoman who took
her own life prove nothing. Was there anything else you wished,
Madame Devereaux, before you leave here?”

“You will rue the day you betrayed me, Lady
Iverleigh! I will go to your husband! Just see if I don’t!” Clarice
stormed out of the salon and charged past Dunstan, who held the
door aloft as she sailed out.

###

Samuel Vickers took note of the uncouth
red-haired woman seen leaving Iverleigh Manor before. She seemed a
bit obviously out of place. He scribbled into his notebook before
he rapped on the side of the carriage and called out orders to
follow the woman.

###

“Darling, we have such little time together.
Come back to bed,” the woman in his bed purred seductively. She
then rolled over on the burgundy damask comforter, stretching her
nude body upon the bed invitingly. “I want you again, my love. It
has been far too long,” she demanded with a pout in her voice.