Wicked Proposition (19 page)

Catherine looked about his room and sat up. She
clambered off the bed and found her nightgown on the edge of the
chair. She shivered in cold as she donned the garment.

Mrs. Whitley came in a short time later bearing
a tray with tea and fresh scones. Catherine sipped at her tea and
nibbled on a delicious scone as water was brought up to prepare her
bath.

Mrs. Whitley was busily choosing her clothing
for the day. Her clothing arrived from the dressmaker’s finally and
Catherine had to admit Gabriel had exquisite taste. Catherine
dressed in a new pale blue silk gown Gabriel had bought for her. It
was beautiful and complimented her petite figure to perfection.
Gabriel had been quite thorough in buying whatever items a lady
needed.

Mrs. Whitley finished styling her hair and
pinned it up. She took a deep breath and stared at her reflection
in the dressing table mirror. Today was the day she would confess
her part in this mad scheme of hers and Lilly’s. She was pensive as
she thought of how Gabriel would react.

He would be angry, she knew. Catherine was
prepared to be thrown into the streets. She prayed he would listen
to her and understand why she did it. She sincerely hoped he showed
mercy. Lilly had cleverly lied and manipulated her, using her
family’s welfare against her. There was also the document she had,
giving him his freedom. Surely that would appease him for what she
had been doing?

Catherine toyed with the rose he had taken the
time to pick for her that morning. She smiled, sniffing it
appreciatively. Such thoughtful behavior surely signified he had a
heart after all.

###

Gabriel looked at Lord Seaton curiously as he
entered the study. The man looked green. He obviously suffered from
his excesses of the night before. He offered the man a brandy. He
noted how uncomfortable he appeared at once.

Gabriel was wary of Lord Seaton, never caring
for the way the young man behaved when into his cups. He had come
into his title only recently. The young Marquis was not handling
the responsibility well. If he continued on his present path, he
would be dead before he reached thirty.

Seaton’s apparent choices in dabbling in drugs
and illicit pastimes were only rumored, but the faint scent of
opium still clung to him.

His cronies left little to be desired as well.
Lord Dartmouth and his circle of friends were not the types Gabriel
wanted to befriend. The man’s visit was a surprise. When he
approached him at the theatre, Gabriel had not expected him to be
at his door at morning’s first light.

But here he was, looking as though he had been
punched in the stomach. Seaton sat, looking distraught.

“What is this all about, Seaton?” Gabriel asked
quietly as he pushed the drink across the desk top.

“I should ask you the same, Iverleigh! I find I
am now in your debt. I must warn you though, such a sum is
considerably more than Dartmouth can afford. He has asked you give
him time to come up with the funds.”

Lord Seaton finished speaking and his features
reddened. Gabriel digested his words and eyed him
incredulously.

“What in God’s name are you yammering on about,
Seaton?” Gabriel growled. “What debt? What is this about?”

Seaton looked at Gabriel disbelievingly and
shook his head in anger, thumping his hand upon the desk.

“You are blackmailing us! You sent me the note!
Now that the witch is dead; she has passed on her proof to you. You
would bleed us as surely as she has! Don’t bother denying it! We
know she left you her business.” The man took the drink and nearly
downed it, his hand shaking.

“You speak of Clarice?”

“Her house was deeded to you when she died,
Iverleigh! Do not bother denying it. Dartmouth learned of it from
Yvetta. What I wish to know is how long you will give us to come up
with such a large sum? Five thousand pounds each does not grow upon
the trees!” Seaton continued to fume, unmindful of the way Gabriel
grew rigid at his words.

What the devil was going on? Gabriel sat up at
his words. Clarice had been blackmailing him and Dartmouth? Now
that she was dead, Seaton believed Gabriel was now holding
something over them. The damned woman had made him her beneficiary!
Good Lord, he had forgotten that he now owned a brothel.

“You must tell me everything, Seaton. I can
assure you that it is not me who is trying to extort you,” Gabriel
stated coldly and downed his own brandy. “I had no knowledge
Clarice left me anything until the other day when the papers
arrived from her attorney. I know nothing about any of this.”

“If it is not you, then who is it?” Seaton asked
in disgust, his too-pretty face twisted into a scowl.

“Tell me what happened, and we will figure that
out,” Gabriel replied in annoyance.

Seaton didn’t know what to make of his denial.
He hesitated and started his tale. The man recalled the events on a
night months before. They had been paying Clarice ever since.

Seaton engaged Nan for the evening. Dartmouth
watched in the peepholes and tried to join the pair. The girl
demanded he pay first. They argued. Dartmouth attacked her.

Dartmouth took what he wanted while Seaton held
her down. Before Seaton realized it went too far, Dartmouth
commenced to hitting the girl. Seaton tried to pull him off, but
Dartmouth beat the girl to death. Clarice arrived and handled the
matter then, discreetly as always. Seaton and Dartmouth had fallen
neatly into her trap. They had been paying the bawd to keep her
silence ever since. They had believed the matter resolved when she
died, until a note was delivered to Seaton at his club.

Gabriel allowed the man to finish speaking and
leaned forward, his dark eyes filled with contempt. “You may not
have killed Nan, Seaton, but you did very little to help her,”
Gabriel said coldly. He was grim knowing he now knew the
whereabouts of Nicholas’s former favorite. The pretty redhead’s
remains had been weighted down and dumped in the Thames. “You can
be sure the constable would have seen you as Dartmouth’s
accomplice. You would have been charged with murder as well.”

Seaton nodded and hung his head dejectedly. “I
should have stopped him! I tried! Before I knew it, she was dead.
There was blood everywhere! It was all over Dartmouth, all over me,
and he looked crazed. Clarice came in with a pistol. He got off Nan
and she threatened to kill him right then. I didn’t know what to
do. What was I to do?”

“You could have gone to the magistrate, Seaton,”
Gabriel said disdainfully. “Now it is too late. You could have pled
your case. Do not clear your conscience with me. I do not pity a
man who stands by while a woman is beaten to death. As to your
assertion it is I who holds this proof over your head, you are
wrong. Where is this note you mentioned?”

“This was delivered when I left White’s for the
theatre last night.” Seaton retrieved the note from his coat pocket
and handed it to Gabriel.

Gabriel read the note and its cryptic message.
He handed it back, saying nothing as he poured another brandy for
both of them. Seaton looked ill and fidgeted in his chair.

“Who else knew about what happened to Nan,
Seaton?” Gabriel asked calmly.

“Clarice claimed it was to be kept between
us.”

“It appears rather likely someone found this
evidence after she died, and is now blackmailing you both.”

“Dartmouth thinks it is you who blackmails
us.”

“Dartmouth beat a woman half his size to death!”
Gabriel snarled angrily. “Had I known of it at all, I would have
gone to the authorities and seen him hang for it! Blackmail is the
last thing I would have done!”

“What will you do now that you know what we
did?” Seaton asked worriedly, gulping down his brandy. “Do you mean
to go to the magistrate?”

“What would be the point? Nan’s body is missing
and all the witnesses are dead. I ask you to get out of my house,
Seaton, and never darken my door again!” Gabriel growled and
pointed to the door. “Whoever blackmails you has as much of my
contempt as the pair of you.”

Seaton appeared relieved Gabriel would do
nothing to openly accuse them and hastily took his leave.

Gabriel cursed the man under his breath.
Dartmouth would get away with killing the girl. He felt frustrated
to know it. He was contemplating Seaton’s story when he heard a
soft knock at the door.

Catherine entered and he met her gaze warmly,
grateful to think of something else besides the image of Nan in his
mind. She blushed under his heated stare and came to sit at the
edge of his desk.

“Was that Lord Seaton I saw leaving in such a
state?” she asked, wondering why the man had arrived at Gabriel’s
home so early.

“Yes, apparently Lord Seaton had some business
he wished to discuss.”

Catherine knew he didn’t plan on disclosing the
details to her and wisely changed the subject.

“Do you have any objection to me going shopping
today while you are out? I would like to get some books perhaps,
anything to occupy myself. I find your library dreadfully limited
to my tastes.”

“I have no problem with you going to a
bookstore, Catherine,” he replied softly, his dark eyes glinting
with amusement. “You may have use of my driver, anywhere you wish
to go, as long as you come back to me, my dear.”

“I will not be long,” she assured him as he dug
out some coins within a steel box and pushed the pile towards
her.

“Enjoy your shopping trip, my dear. You need not
hurry back,” he replied. His dark eyes noticed the way her eyes
avoided his. Catherine pocketed the coins and turned to leave.

###

Catherine wasted little time in directing the
driver to the bookstore. It was within walking distance of
Thornton’s office. She kept the man waiting on the walk outside the
shop and entered. The bookseller was eager to make a sale and was
delighted to fill her order. She concluded her sale and paid
him.

“I am trying to avoid a man who follows me on
the street, sir,” she said coquettishly. “Might you direct me to a
back door to avoid him?”

The man frowned and seemed to hesitate. When she
batted her eyes, he was all too helpful. He showed her to the rear
exit of his shop.

He directed her to a side alley that reconnected
to the main walk and warned her to be on her guard. Catherine
smiled and wasted little time hurrying across the alley, and on to
her destination. Gabriel’s driver waited for her outside the front
of the book store, and was oblivious.

She found herself in front of Edward’s offices
and went inside.

###

Nicholas watched Catherine enter Thornton’s law
office with an angry look. From his vantage point across the
street, he watched her. He watched her slip out the back of the
bookstore while the driver waited out front. The man was talking to
other drivers on the street as he sat upon the perch.

Nicholas followed her for weeks and watched her
send messages to Gabriel’s wife. Only yesterday he intercepted the
last one, finding documents as well, damning evidence Catherine was
working for the Countess.

Nicholas took no pleasure in being right about
her. He would have wished it otherwise for Gabriel’s sake. His
friend was besotted with her, adoration slow, but steadily growing
in his eyes. Gabriel would not take this well to learn the girl was
playing him for a fool.

Catherine had been the first woman to bring his
friend out of his shell in years. To know she was false released
Nicholas from his guilt for wanting her. Nicholas waited for her to
leave. He wondered what he would tell Gabriel now. He reasoned if
Gabriel knew where his mistress went today he would be furious,
especially when he seemed to have feelings for her. He decided to
keep it to himself, certain he would learn what she was up to.

###

A young, bespectacled man rose behind a desk
when she entered. He smiled and introduced himself as Edgar
Rushton, Thornton’s assistant. Catherine wondered where Thomas
Sullivan was as she looked past the man.

Thomas Sullivan had followed Thornton when he
moved his firm here. All of her correspondence had been transacted
by him. It was most strange to find this unknown man here.

“I wish to see Mister Thornton, and I do not
mind waiting,” she confirmed with a smile. She removed her gloves
and tucked them into her reticule.

“Your name is, miss?” Edgar asked.

She hesitated and decided a false name suited
her purposes. “My name is Emily Dunne.”

“Very well, Miss Dunne, please have a seat. When
his meeting is concluded, I will tell him you wait for him.”

The man gestured to a padded bench in the outer
office and went back to his work. When he rose and left the front
office, she approached Edward’s door and pushed it open a slight
crack. It was enough to see who was within.

Catherine saw Thomas first, sitting behind the
desk. She felt instantly relieved to see the handsome young
assistant. He was speaking with two dapperly dressed men there,
deep in conversation. She gazed at the other occupants in the room,
looking for her father’s former solicitor, and saw him nowhere.

Frowning in confusion, she retreated. She sat
back down on the bench. What was this? Could Edgar have made some
mistake? Thornton was not in the room. She began to feel uneasy.
She rose and paced until Edgar returned.

“I would see Thomas Sullivan, if I may, sir,”
she asked and the young man appeared confused at her words.

“There is no one here by that name, Miss Dunne,”
Edgar said with a frown of confusion.

“I must have the wrong offices, pardon me,
Mister Rushton,” Catherine sputtered nervously. She was out of the
office in seconds.

Fear filled her gaze as she nearly ran from the
office. She was dodging pedestrians as she made her way back to the
book store. Catherine was let into the rear exit by the book
seller. The man appeared decidedly suspicious of her now. She
claimed to have lost something.