Wicked Proposition (15 page)

The bawd wasted little time in blackmailing
Lilly over what the diary contained. The madam had left him alone
for the moment, aware the diary incriminated him too. Edward met
her menacing stare and winced. Her meaning was clear. He had no
choice. He gripped the cushion of the seat, knuckles turning
white.

“Get the diary back, Edward.” Lilly smiled
venomously at his pained look. “I did warn you things would get
ugly! Had you kept that little worm in your pants, none of this
would have happened!”

“Lilly, there is another matter,” Edward
disclosed, his Adam’s apple bobbing to see her growing fury.

“More of your damned inept bumbling?” she asked
with a scornful laugh.

“Vickers identified Clarice leaving your
residence on two occasions. Iverleigh has seen the reports,” Edward
disclosed, cringing inwardly as those malevolent blue eyes ripped
him to shreds. “Any question of foul play would draw their
notice.”

Lilly raised a brow. “Then you will have to be
creative, Edward. I’m sure you will think of something clever.”

“I am finishing this, Lilly,” Edward said
testily, his brown eyes fuming. “I have everything in place. When I
get you back your dear mother’s diary, I plan my exit.”

“You do not wish to stay to see my success?” The
Countess asked in mock dismay. “I’m rather hurt, Edward. All our
planning…” She clucked in disappointment. “You flee before the end
of the game.”

“This is no blasted game, Lilly!” Edward
whispered furiously, his face florid. “People are dead! You play
rather loosely with both our freedom for your own bloody enjoyment!
I have no choice but leave, my dear. It was time to run when your
sister arrived! She will expose me, Lilly!”

“You give the little droll too much credit,
Edward.”

“Lady Catherine is not an idiot, Lilly!” Edward
replied tightly. “You underestimate your sister, much like
Iverleigh. Your arrogance will see us both to the gallows!”

“My sister knows nothing!” Lilly replied hotly,
her eyes filled with anger. “The little idiot played right into my
hands.”

“And she will play right out of them, unless you
help me finish this, Lilly! Quit enjoying it so bloody much! Your
vanity will cost you, my lady.”

Edward made a move to leave the coach.

Lilly pouted prettily at his words. Her
bejeweled hand came down on Edward’s thigh, gripping him tightly,
keeping him from leaving.

“It pleases me when you act like you have a
backbone, Edward,” she whispered, her eyes darkening in desire, her
hand finding and fondling him boldly. “I would like very much for
you to yell at me like that again, and do it slowly.”

Edward saw the look in her eyes and paused. He
sat obligingly back against the seat cushion. Lilly called up to
the driver to take a drive around the block several times. She
closed the curtains within, smiling in a predatory way.

###

Gabriel stared at the little man, expecting
something more. His dubious expression deepened. Nicholas claimed
this man was the answer to all his problems.

Myron Chumley scratched his balding pate and
adjusted his wire-rimmed spectacles. He adjusted the high stack of
books he sat upon, regarding the nobleman with a look of patient
boredom.

“Forgive me for staring, Mr. Chumley,” Gabriel
offered apologetically to the little man. “Captain Van Ryker says
you are the best, and that is what I find myself needing. Money is
no object, sir.”

Myron adjusted his spectacles, his steely grey
eyes thoughtful. “Let us worry about payment when you tell me what
it is you wish to know, my lord.”

Gabriel gave him a brief accounting of the last
ten years of his marriage, earning a sympathetic gaze from the tiny
man.

“Marital woes are not usually my forte, Lord
Iverleigh. I tend to avoid them. People can be quite unpredictable
when it comes to matters of the heart. It defeats the nature of my
work.”

“I assure you, that is not the case here, Mr.
Chumley,” Gabriel assured him coldly. “I want every speck of dirt
you can find on the Countess since she left the schoolroom.”

Chumley smiled widely, his cherubic face filled
with approval. “To do that, Lord Iverleigh, we must go back to the
beginning.” He dipped his quill and began to take a series of
notes. “I will need your letters of introduction. There will be
travel expenses. I will need to have full access to your papers. I
need the names of all the servants within your household, as well
as the Countess’s. Tell me, my lord, is there a reason you are
going to such lengths to extricate yourself from Lady Iverleigh?
Something you are not telling me?”

Gabriel looked down at his hands, not
comfortable with disclosing such personal matters to a stranger.
With little prompting, he told of Lillianne’s treachery after her
arrival, and the awkward position it put him in with his title.

Chumley nodded sadly in understanding. “You
needn’t worry, Lord Iverleigh. Whatever you tell me stays in my
confidence,” he asserted gently. “Thank you for your candor.”

Catherine went to Gabriel’s desk and wrote a
letter to Lilly, demanding her sister seek her out. She had spent
the whole afternoon questioning every reason she had to do this.
Gabriel was not the man her sister claimed.

Catherine’s expression softened. No, he was not
the cruel, thoughtless cad Lilly labeled him. Whatever their
differences, she could find no cause for her presence here any
longer. More telling of all was his assertion the night before he
had broken off with Mrs. Farrand.

Catherine was disgusted to learn he had severed
his relationship with Mrs. Farrand the very day they met. She was
seething to know there was never any need to steal him away from
the widow. Still, he pursued the divorce. Catherine had to question
whether he had other reasons.

Catherine would seek out Edward if Lilly refused
to aid her. This couldn’t go on. Her conscience wasn’t the only
thing troubling her. The feelings she was having were alarming her.
She was starting to care for the man. Gabriel was wreaking havoc on
her senses. He was breaking down every bit of her defenses with one
look from his dark eyes.

She bit her lip, unwilling to face the fact she
had wronged him so badly. It was there, taunting her. Leaving was
the only thing she could do.

###

Yvetta felt elated as she poured the poison into
Clarice’s nightly tonic. She smiled as she thought of how good it
would feel to have the woman out the way. Edward assured her the
poison would only take minutes, and it would look like Clarice’s
heart had given out.

No more would she have to ply her trade on her
back. She put the glass on the tray and balanced it on her hip as
she made her way to the Madame’s office. Clarice was fuming over
her account books when she arrived.

“I asked for that over an hour ago!” Clarice
complained as she looked up to see Yvetta enter.

Yvetta shrugged as she set the tray down. “Milly
was busy in the kitchens.”

“Lord Dartmouth has asked for you again
tonight,” the woman purred suddenly. Clarice’s cruel eyes enjoyed
seeing Yvetta stiffen to know she would endure a whole night with
the man. “Do not turn up your nose! Business is not what it used to
be. Be glad the man seeks you out.”

“I would not mind avoiding him at all. He left
bruises all over me the last time,” Yvetta complained sourly. She
was not happy to be with the depraved nobleman again that week. He
scared her, all the twisted things he did to her.

“He pays for the privilege,” was the heartless
reply.

“Tell that to Nan,” Yvetta snapped suddenly, and
was silenced by the woman’s cold stare.

“Speak no more of Nan.” Clarice scowled as she
reached for her tonic. “And do you a favor; forget all you know of
that. The man would pay me more if I let him beat you to death. Be
lucky you endure only the bruising. I have heard he continues to
ride them even after they are dead.”

Yvetta looked sickened to hear there had been
more than Nan who had fallen victim to Dartmouth. She felt little
guilt as she watched the older woman drink the tonic. Clarice was
now upbraiding her for a great many things. Yvetta ignored her. She
turned her back on her and smiled, hearing the gurgle and then a
definite thud.

Yvetta turned to see Clarice face down upon her
account book. She stepped near and assured herself the woman was
indeed dead. The prostitute wasted no time in locking the door and
ransacking the room for anything of value.

She looked for the wall safe that Edward spoke
of. Clarice had left it open while she went over her ledgers.
Nothing but packets of papers and books were inside. Yvetta dumped
the contents into a satchel, humming as she left the office, not
sparing her former employer another glance.

###

Nicholas felt like a fool. He used the brass
knocker at Gabriel’s residence, a box of Chinese tea held under his
arm. Gabriel had not been seen in weeks. He was annoyed to think of
why. His imagination ran with what kept him at home these days, and
nights.

Nicholas knew Gabriel was not at home. He had
sat outside and waited for his friend to leave this day, knowing he
was meeting with his barrister. He shouldn’t be here. He had to see
her, to know if this arrangement was what she wanted. More
important, he needed to know what she was up to.

Nicholas debated all his reasons for coming as
Higgins opened the door and let him in. The butler told him
Catherine was out back in the gardens. He walked out the back of
the house and followed the path through the small garden. He saw
her petite form bent over a rose bush, using shears to cut blooms
she placed in a basket draped over her arm.

Nicholas stirred at the sight of her in the
early afternoon sunshine, his mouth suddenly dry. She looked as
beautiful as he remembered, wearing the rose silk gown. He was
disgusted to feel his heart beating erratically the closer he got
to her. Her raven hair was loosely secured at her nape with pins.
She was humming under her breath, he heard, as he drew nearer. He
was quiet as he approached, drinking in her beauty. His eyes had
burned to see her flawless face again, he realized with a lurch
within his chest.

Catherine looked up as she heard his boots
crunch upon the stone path. The big green eyes widened at the sight
of him. His chest tightened as he saw the uneasy expression she
gave him after her initial surprise passed.

“Gabriel is not at home today, Captain Van
Ryker,” she said carefully as she placed the shears in the basket.
“He will not return from his appointments until late this
afternoon.”

“I did not come here to see Gabriel, Catherine.
I came to see you.”

###

Catherine froze at his deliberate words, her
confusion evident in her face. She ducked her chin, aware of those
intent blue eyes. They saw far too much, she remembered. She looked
up at his sun-darkened visage through her lashes, suddenly aware of
the danger in being alone with him.

The handsome sea captain wore a ruffled, white
shirt that was tight across his impossibly-wide shoulders. He wore
snug black buckskins molded to his muscular hips and thighs. Long
ebony curls hung to his shoulders and begged her shears. He looked
every inch the pirate she had thought him. Complete with the high
black boots and the golden earring in his ear.

His eyes were startling, so bright a blue and
heavily lashed, she avoided meeting his knowing gaze. The sheer
animal magnetism he exuded was enough to make her take a step
backward, sensing he was not a man to be toyed with.

Nicholas handed her the small box of tea then,
noting the slight flush to her cheeks as she accepted the
paperbound box. His full lips curved into a smile as he saw her
unease.

“I brought you more tea. Gabriel said you
enjoyed it.”

“Thank you, that was very thoughtful of you,”
she murmured when she found her voice.

Something about Captain Van Ryker disturbed her.
She couldn’t explain it. It was an awareness of him. That awareness
was alarming in light of her relationship with his friend.

Catherine could deny an attraction to the man
all day long, but it was there. She could argue he was crass,
disreputable, uncouth, coarse, and ill-bred. But just looking at
him gave her raw shivers.

He stood there, looking at her with his keen,
bluer than blue gaze, making her insides knot up. Her tongue was
tied, and she was dismayed at the flutters in her stomach.

“Why did you work your wiles upon Gabriel,
Catherine? What do you hope to get out of this arrangement?” he
asked her suddenly, his eyes missing nothing, including her
suddenly wary expression. He waited while she digested his words,
seeing the angry flush that stole across her face. In his mind; it
sealed her guilt.

“I beg your pardon-,” she began in a sputtering
voice.

He laughed then, a low, rich sound that made her
stiffen from the insinuation in his tone.

“Come on Catherine, we both know you were tossed
into my friend’s lap for a purpose,” he said knowingly and smiled
with little humor. He watched her grow slightly rigid at his words.
“Clarice wants something. That much is obvious. She would never
give up a fortune to sell a virgin if she didn’t see something more
in it for herself. What are you up to? Tell me and I swear I will
help you get out of this before it goes any further.”

“I don’t know what you mean!” Catherine denied
hotly and glared up at him. She held the basket protectively
between them and backed away from him slowly.

“Please, save your pretty lies for Gabriel. He
might have lost himself between your eager thighs, but I am not so
fooled,” Nicholas scoffed insultingly. “Clarice gave you to him for
a reason, didn’t she? You would do well to reconsider whatever she
has put you up to.”