Wicked Proposition (49 page)

Oran had never spoken of it again. Nicholas
often pretended that same boy who endured all of that was not the
same person. That never happened to him. He was fearful of his wife
ever finding out about his past. He found it ironic that he hid his
on purpose, while she had no choice in the matter. He now envied
the bullet that released her from her painful memories. He should
only be so lucky.

Nicholas put Lady Mary’s diary back in his
drawer. He opened the list Clarice had used to blackmail so many
nobles with. His blue eyes were inscrutable as he read each damning
charge against the men and women on the list. Lilly’s name was
there.

It told of secrets, lurid things most wouldn’t
want known. It gave all their names, dates of crimes, and even the
locations of victim’s remains. He discovered with a twinge of pain
what had happened to Nan. She had been weighted down and dumped in
the Thames, a victim of Lord Dartmouth and Lord Seaton.

Nicholas whistled in sudden understanding of why
the nobles all wanted this list now that Clarice was dead. What
this list entailed was enough to incriminate some of the highest
ranking peers in Gabriel’s acquaintance.

Nicholas knew such evidence was the true motive
for Clarice’s death. Thomas must have killed her. He broke into her
safe and stole the diary back and took the other evidence with
him.

The nobles united now, determined to find the
list. They had been waiting for their new blackmailer to show his,
or her, hand. His eyes grew thoughtful to recall Gabriel now owned
the brothel. They surrounded him now, thinking one of their own
would turn upon them.

Nicholas could only reason Clarice knew how
honorable Gabriel was when she left her business to him. He would
have turned every last one of them in had he found the list. It was
Clarice’s revenge, knowing if she died they would all pay. The
nobles would expect a new threat. He would not disappoint them.

A grim smile played about his lips as he thought
of his own nemesis listed there. Funny how the years failed to make
those images of his horrific childhood fade. The minute he laid
eyes upon the man in the Billingsley ballroom, he remembered
him.

Nicholas would not risk Catherine’s life or the
life of their child anymore. He had to go to Gabriel. He was in as
much danger as Catherine now. Lilly no longer needed him now that
she had given him an heir. It was only a matter of time before she
sought to rid herself of her husband too.

Tieghan had heard Lilly’s veiled threats to her
husband on the terrace. Knowing Gabriel, he didn’t take them as
serious as he should. Nicholas grimaced to recall the night he was
attacked and nearly died. The men had not been after him, but
Gabriel.

Nicholas recalled it was just after Gabriel
became determined to be free of his wife. He started having her
followed to document her activities. Lilly must have seen it as a
way to keep her place.

Nicholas went cold all over to think of what
Catherine’s reappearance in London must have done to Lilly. He knew
she would not stop until Catherine was dead.

###

Elise hid the gown in the back of her armoire
and her gaze narrowed. She realized she would have to sew another
gown. It would not do to be seen at another ball or party in the
same gown. It had nearly been Madeline’s undoing back in Ireland.
She didn’t relish being arrested as she had been. She bit her lip,
feeling sick about stealing the funds to finance her deception, but
she had no choice. Elise did not make enough money from her service
to the Van Ryker’s to afford the costly items needed to make a ball
gown worthy of the nobility.

Elise thought of Tieghan’s warning if he caught
her stealing again. She decided to fall back upon her previous
guise as a pickpocket on the morrow.

Elise had the day off and she had better use it
wisely. She undid her hair and removed the pins and picked the
topazes out of the wig. She placed it in the satchel in the back of
the armoire when she heard the door open behind her and felt his
presence.

Elise crushed the last topaz in her palm and
turned around.

Tieghan pushed her door shut with a click and
locked it, grinning maddeningly as he sauntered towards her.

Elise listened to him breathing later and
wondered at his unusual behavior. He stayed with her tonight. He
didn’t rush back to his own room as he usually did. She enjoyed the
comfort and warmth of his arms around her and did not want to spoil
the moment.

###

Tieghan rose and dressed while she slept. He
watched her sleep for several moments and frowned as he felt the
softness growing in him towards her. He did not want to feel
anything for Elise. She was making it impossible for him. Each time
he came to her room, he swore it would be the last. But still he
went to her, unable to stay away.

The thought of leaving her in London was making
him uncomfortable. He had made the decision that night when Miss
Hamilton rejected him. All he could think about was getting back to
Elise. Tieghan knew she would fight it when he told her she was
leaving with him. He could hardly leave the little thief at his
friend’s home.

Elise would have a life of comfort in his home
in Norway and wouldn’t need to steal to make her way. He enjoyed
seeing her face in repose.

Nicholas sat stiffly in the newly refurbished
study, looking about and silently appreciating the new changes.
Perhaps the destruction they had created was worth Gabriel breaking
down to redecorate. He grinned despite himself.

“Something amuses you, Nicholas?” Gabriel asked
dryly as he leafed through Lady Mary’s diary while Chumley studied
the other documents.

“Just thinking your decorator should be
commended,” he replied. He could have sworn Gabriel’s lips twitched
at that, but the man was hardly ready to forgive him yet.

Chumley set the documents aside and removed his
spectacles, looking worried. “We still have no proof Sullivan
murdered Lord and Lady Dunleavy. For that, I think we have little
choice but to continue watching him.”

“What of Lilly? Do we wait until she hires an
assassin to kill my wife?” Nicholas said harshly, his blue eyes
narrowed in anger. “I did not come here today to share all I know
for you to continue to ignore Lady Iverleigh’s part in this!”

“Her name is Lillianne!” Gabriel snapped, still
furious to discover his wife had been Nicholas’s mystery lady all
these years.

Nicholas suppressed a chuckle at Gabriel’s
words. “I do apologize, but she was always just Lilly to me, my
lord.”

Gabriel’s eyes grew murderous. He longed to toss
the man out of his house, but he knew he had no choice but to
endure his company. His dark eyes flashed warningly.

“It appears we have the same taste in women
after all, Nicholas,” he said snidely and was gratified to see
Nicholas squirm a bit at that.

“I think Lilly will stop at nothing to keep
these secrets buried,” Nicholas said. “I believe Sullivan knew
that. That is why he kept the diary, even though it incriminated
him far more than her. He isn’t likely to let her know that it was
stolen from him again. She would kill him and have a clear way out
of this.”

“Need I remind you that he likely arranged
Catherine’s parent’s deaths, and how many others, just to cover his
tracks?” Gabriel snapped irately and glared at him. “You ask me to
protect a murderer now, just to implicate my wife? Lillianne has
been far too careful to dirty her own hands in this, Nicholas.
What’s more, she has an alibi for every one of these murders. She
was here in London!”

“If she kills Sullivan, we have no evidence she
had any part in this!” Nicholas replied harshly. “I know she had a
hand in what happened to my wife!”

“Catherine can tell us nothing now, Nicholas,”
Gabriel said sadly and tossed the diary aside. “There is no proof
Lillianne did anything at all.”

“There is something you do not know,” Nicholas
said quietly and met Gabriel’s suddenly tense expression.
“Catherine does not remember at all. It is the only reason I did
not tell her the truth from the beginning. I had no answers for her
then. I still do not.”

“What is it?” Gabriel asked warily, not sure he
wanted to know.

“Tulley took care of Catherine aboard my ship
after we fished her out of the harbor,” Nicholas said gruffly.
“Tulley said there were signs she had a child before she was dumped
there.”

Gabriel stiffened and his eyes grew ominously
dark with fury. He recoiled from Nicholas’s words as if struck, his
face paling dangerously.

“When was your son born, Gabriel?” Nicholas
asked, dreading the answer.

“February seventh,” Gabriel whispered hoarsely,
his dark eyes bleak.

Nicholas took a deep breath. “That is the same
day I found Catherine. I think Lilly stole her child. I think that
is the sole reason she put Catherine up to becoming your mistress.
Catherine would have never agreed to such a thing. You know her as
I do. Spying and stealing documents to stall your divorce is one
thing. Having a child for her sister is another.”

Gabriel was too overwrought at learning
Catherine had possibly born his son to comment. He stood and fixed
a brandy for all of them. He handed the glasses out with trembling
hands. He flung Nicholas a furious look.

“You kept this from her? Why would you do such a
thing?” His look was incredulous.

“She remembered nothing! To tell her then would
have been cruel without knowing what became of the child. I did not
keep it from her for spite! Do not even think it!” Nicholas raged
and fumed. “What manner of a bastard do you take me for?”

“She will not thank you for keeping this from
her, Nicholas!” Gabriel yelled in outrage.

“I knew nothing of what happened to her all
those months, Gabriel. I still do not,” Nicholas argued
defensively. “I couldn’t do that to her. You were not there. You
didn’t see how hard it was for her. She had to learn everything all
over again. I sometimes believed she would never regain her
faculties.”

“It is lucky for her that you were there for
her,” Gabriel admitted grudgingly.

“What of your wife’s physician? Surely she paid
the man off?”

“Doctor Farnham died a year after Giles was
born, Nicholas,” Gabriel said stiffly. “He is the only witness
during the birth of my son. All you say may be true, but what do
you wish me to do about it? We have nothing to prove these
claims.”

“Allow her to see the boy. She has a right to
know her son.”

Gabriel gnashed his teeth, his dark eyes boring
into Nicholas’s. “You go too far! First you come here after weeks
of hiding this evidence from me, and now you insist I allow your
wife to claim my son! Your gall ran out when you came here the last
time!”

“He is her son too, Gabriel.”

“You have no idea what she agreed to back then,
Nicholas!” Gabriel snarled and half rose from his chair. “You
excuse everything she did! For all you know, she was in on all of
this with my wife!”

“I know Catherine! She would have never done
such a thing! You claim to love her still, but you are quick to
condemn her Gabriel, even after knowing what happened to her,”
Nicholas said with a contemptuous sneer. “I am glad she can’t
remember you now! She won’t have to feel foolish for thinking you
cared for her at all!”

Gabriel’s shoulders slumped forward. His dark
eyes were tortured. He couldn’t deny the truth anymore. The doctor
who attended Lillianne after the botched abortion told him years
ago his wife might never conceive. He had wanted a child so badly
he never wished to address those issues. Thinking Catherine had
been used as some sort of brood mare now sickened him.

“What will you tell her?” he asked with a
disgusted sigh.

“The truth is best.”

Gabriel nodded and gazed at the diary bleakly.
He had a difficult time accepting all that had been done to protect
his wife’s secrets. He brooded to know what lengths she would go to
keep that knowledge from getting out.

“Lillianne had much to gain having my heir,”
Gabriel mused wistfully. “My father left an inheritance. She came
into fifty-thousand pounds to deliver me my son. I do not doubt
what you accuse her of.”

“Do you doubt she no longer needs you as well,
my lord?” Chumley commented uneasily. “You will have to be on your
guard, Lord Iverleigh. She stands to acquire your whole fortune if
you die, through your son.”

“Yes, I am more than aware of how much I am
worth to my wife should I die.”

Nicholas was relieved the interview was over
when they were interrupted by the nanny. She entered, gazing at all
three men apologetically, carrying a noisy toddler with her.

One look at the boy’s golden hair and tearful
dark eyes and Nicholas felt acute disappointment. There was no
doubt who fathered the child. He was a mirror image of his
father.

Gabriel took his son from the girl and the boy
immediately quit fussing. Nicholas could see how Gabriel doted on
the boy. He despised himself for the resentment he felt at that
moment. A lingering hope had been there that the child could have
been his.

He took his leave, following Chumley out. The
dwarf shared his coach and Nicholas glared moodily out the
window.

“Do you a favor Nicholas,” Myron advised. “Do
not ever tell Lord Iverleigh or your wife what you told me before
you left London. They have both been through enough, I would
say.”

“He would only have an excuse to keep the boy
from her if he knew,” Nicholas said and shook his head. “It is
enough that he is willing to give her time with the child.
Catherine hardly remembers Gabriel, much less what happened between
us.”

“Your wife must be a very special woman.”