Cheryl Holt (34 page)

Their relationship had never had a chance. They’d never had the opportunity to determine if they could have built a lasting foundation, and it was wrenching to admit that he didn’t care to find out if they could have had a future.

Didn’t he recall how fond they’d been of each other? Didn’t he recollect how much passion and joy they’d shared? He’d claimed he loved her. Where had his affection gone? How could it have vanished so swiftly and so completely?

“Oh, Alex,” she murmured, “how could you forsake me?”

She lingered at the window until her eyes were tired and her knees weak; then she went to the wardrobe and began packing her bag.

He’d said that her house was ready, and she couldn’t conceive of a single reason to delay.

  22  

“Wait here for me.” Rebecca gestured to a chair.

“I hate having you speak with Stanton alone,” James complained.

“He doesn’t bite.”

“Not yet.”

She chuckled. Where she was concerned, James fussed over the littlest thing. “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”

“You can’t be certain how he’ll react.”

“He’s my cousin, James. Not some ogre.” She kissed him, making him reach for her. “This will take but a second.”

“I’ll give you five minutes. Then I’m coming to fetch you—whether you’re ready to go or not. I won’t dawdle in this bastard’s house.”

“I understand.”

“You couldn’t possibly.”

“Relax, would you?” She rested her palm on his cheek, knowing she could calm him, that she could get her way. There was one fact she’d learned without reservation:
He was putty in her hands, and he would do whatever she asked.

“Hurry” was his reply, and he smiled.

She smiled, too, and walked down the hall to the library. She’d entered the mansion without knocking, so her presence hadn’t been announced, and she’d have the advantage of surprise. It was Tuesday, and it was two o’clock, so Alex would be at his desk and working on his business papers. He had many bad habits, but he was diligent about his estates and his intricate finances.

With a wink at her handsome husband, she opened the door and waltzed in. Alex was frowning over a large stack of bills, and not bothering to glance up, he said, “Jenkins, leave the tray on the table, then don’t interrupt me again.”

“It isn’t Jenkins.”

At hearing a female voice, the first word out of his mouth was “Ellen?”

He leapt up so quickly that his chair toppled over. On seeing that it wasn’t Ellen but only herself, his joy faded, and he scowled, once more.

“So you’re still lusting after Ellen, are you?” she chided. “Apparently, nothing changed while I was away.”

“Rebecca? Where the devil have you been?”

“Why don’t you just marry the poor woman, as you promised you would, and put yourself out of this misery?”

He rounded the desk and approached. “We’ve been frantic. Are you all right?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Lydia has been beside herself.”

“Oh, I’m sure she has been.” She oozed sarcasm. Of all the eventualities that might have occurred while she
was away, none of them would have involved Lydia fretting over Rebecca’s plight.

“She’s had people searching high and low,” he contended.

“I doubt it,” she responded. “Listen, I’ve constantly been apprised that I’m an heiress, that I have a substantial inheritance from my father. It should be around thirty thousand pounds.”

“That’s true.”

“I want it, but I’ll have to pry it away from my sister. I need you to help me wrest it from her.” She arched a brow. “You owe me a favor.”

“Of course I’ll assist you. But you have to wed before you can have the money.”

“I know.” She grinned, so thrilled to be having the conversation, to be married but not to
him
!

He eyed her suspiciously. “Maybe you’d better tell me where you’ve been.”

“Scotland.”

“Scotland! Whatever for?”

“I eloped.”

He choked on the news. “You . . . you what?”

“Elo-o-o-ped,” she pronounced in an exaggerated fashion as if he were an imbecile. “You must be familiar with the term. It’s when a person runs off and gets married in secret.”

“I’m aware of what it means,” he snapped. “Who would dare such an outrage with you?”

“
I
dared.” She pointed a proud finger at her chest. “I realize you’ll find this difficult to believe, but as opposed to you and your tepid regard, there has always been a man who loved me beyond imagining.”

His jaw dropped. “You . . . had a . . . a beau? While you were engaged to
me
?”

“Hilarious, isn’t it? Considering your horrid behavior, I call it tit for tat.”

“Tit for tat!”

“I’ve forgiven you for tossing me over. You’d sworn I’d be wretched with you, and you were right. I’m much happier now.”

She was having such fun, but he wasn’t taking the news with the same merry humor. He appeared positively weak.

“Cousin Alex, should you sit down? You don’t look well.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I couldn’t.”

“You’re correct: I need to sit.” He plopped into the nearest chair and let out a huge breath. “You’re married?”

She dangled her fingers, showing off her wedding band. “Absolutely.”

“Who is the lucky man? Anyone I know?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Who!”

“Mr. James Drake.”

“James Drake!”

“Is there an echo in here?” She laughed, delighted that she had him so flustered.

“Would this Mr. Drake, by any slim chance, be Ellen’s brother?”

“I told you it was hilarious. Actually, Ellen introduced us, though I hadn’t any notion that he was her—” He held up a hand, and she halted in mid-sentence. “What?”

“Slow down, and let me catch up. I can’t absorb all you’re throwing at me.”

“It sounds crazed, I’m sure.”

“It’s beyond crazed. You’ve wed a convicted felon, who is wanted by the law.”

“And that’s one of the reasons I stopped by to speak with you. He’s not guilty. He was
never
guilty.”

“I know.”

“You
know
?”

“Yes.”

She’d been prepared to argue and fight, to lie and cajole. With his easy concurrence, some of the wind went out of her sails. “We need to figure out a way to clear his name.”

“I’ve already started.”

“You have?”

“My attorney is working on it.”

“My goodness” was the sole comment she could make.

“It may take a while.”

“How long is that exactly?”

“I can’t say.”

“Is it safe for him to be in England with me?”

“I assume it is. As my wife’s brother, and my cousin’s husband, he’s under my protection.”

“So you married Ellen. I was wondering if you’d have the gumption.”

“Rebecca! Despite your low opinion, I’m not a scoundrel.”

“Hah! Time will tell, won’t it? When I fled, I was very upset, but I’ve decided you both did me an enormous favor. I’m so glad she ended up with you! Better her than me!”

“I’m wounded by your insults,” he claimed. “Why don’t I just give you a knife so I can be stabbed all over again?”

“What on earth do you mean?”

He waved away the peculiar remark. “I’m blathering. Don’t mind me.”

“I’ve forgiven Ellen, too. Is she here? I’d like to chat with her.”

“No, she’s not.” He blushed to high heaven.

“Where is she?”

“She’s living in the country.”

“But you two still qualify as newlyweds. Why aren’t you together? How very odd. What’s come over you? You don’t seem yourself, at all.”

“I’ve had a few trying weeks.”

“You look like death warmed over. What happened while I was away?”

“Well. . .”

As he would have commenced his explanation, James stomped in. Pistol drawn, in a furious temper, he stared at Alex and snarled, “What have you done to my sister?”

“Mr. Drake, I presume?” Alex answered, unflappable as ever.

“James!” Rebecca scolded. “I warned you not to bring a gun into the house. Put it away this instant.”

“I’ll put it away,” James replied, aiming more closely, “when I find out what he’s done to Ellen, If he’s hurt her, I’ll shoot a bullet through his black heart.”

At his threat, she scoffed. “You’re being melodramatic, and I abhor this menacing side of your character. You must learn to rein it in when we’re in polite company.”

“Rebecca,” Alex interjected, “you
do
realize that you’ve married a man who goes about armed?”

“Isn’t it thrilling? He’s so much more exciting than stuffy old you!”

Alex sighed. “Come in, Mr. Drake; come in. Obviously, we need to talk.”

“This is your one and only option.”

“Bugger off, Alex,” Nicholas muttered.

As if Nicholas hadn’t spoken, Alex continued. “Whether you choose to exercise it is totally up to you. I couldn’t care less.”

Nicholas glanced around his grim cell—he refused to call it a room—where he’d been detained. There was a bed, a writing desk, a pitcher and basin for washing, as well as an alcove where he could use the chamber pot, but the place was filthy, the smells nauseating, the noises terrifying.

Due to Alex’s position, he’d been quartered in the private wing at Bedlam, rather than the public block at Newgate Prison. Nicholas supposed he should be grateful, but he was having trouble mustering any appreciation.

He glared at Alex, hating him more than ever. Why was it that Alex always landed on his feet? Nicholas had stabbed the knave in the belly, the knife entering to the hilt, yet as usual, he was alive and lording himself over everybody.

Why couldn’t the bastard have died as any ordinary individual would have done? Didn’t anything faze him?

“Go away,” Nicholas grumbled, wanting to be left in peace.

“Not until you make your decision.”

Nicholas nervously rubbed his wound, which occasionally festered. He’d had no contact with anyone on the outside, so he had no notion of what rumors were circulating. He’d been allowed no visitors, though his jailer—or nurse, or whatever the hell the fellow was purported to be—insisted he hadn’t had any.

Where was Suzette? She had to be frantic with worry, and he had to depart the asylum and be with her, but he had no idea how.

He was kept under lock and key, and any release was up to Alex, who maintained that he’d been appointed Nicholas’s guardian, but Nicholas couldn’t imagine why. He wasn’t insane! If Alex had marched into a court of law and alleged as much, how could anyone have believed him?

An eerie scream floated down the hall, and dozens of people took up the lament. The sounds of human agony wafted by, and Nicholas shuddered, relieved that Alex had had the money to separate him from the masses.

Gad! What if Alex hadn’t been rich? What if Nicholas had been lodged with the general population? What then?

He had to escape, had to meet with Suzette, and he’d agree to any strategy to flee his confinement.

“What is it you want of me?” he asked.

“Lydia is still willing to marry you,” Alex said.

“Lydia!” If he never heard of her again, it would be too soon. “You can jump off a cliff. She can join you.”

“Are you positive that ought to be your response?”

“I’m weary of your harangue.”

“Fine.” Alex had brought a stack of papers with him, and he scooped them up, cramming them in a satchel. As he turned toward the door, Nicholas panicked.

“Where are you going?”

“Home.”

“Take me with you.”

“No.”

Nicholas studied his sibling, searching for a hint of affection, of brotherly fondness. At the least, Alex should have felt bound by the ties of family, but Alex stared back as if Nicholas were a stranger.

Nicholas tried for a smile. “You can’t intend to . . . to desert me?”

“Actually, I do.”

“For how long?”

Alex shrugged. “Forever.”

“Forever! And you contend that
I
am mad.”

“I used to think that you were simply spoiled and stupid. However, of late, it’s occurred to me that you’re dangerous.”

“Dangerous? Why . . . why . . . that’s preposterous.”

“You shouldn’t be permitted to walk the streets. There’s no predicting what mischief you might commit, and I won’t risk that anyone else could be injured by you.”