Deception (40 page)

Parkerville glared at him. “Is that a fact, sir?”

“Yes, indeed.” Magnus smiled benignly. “She hasn’t danced with anyone all evening, in case you’ve failed to notice.”

“I have not failed to notice,” Parkerville said. “Nor has anyone else in the room.” He gave Olympia a speculative smile. “We are all waiting to see whom she will favor.”

Olympia did not care for the tone of his voice. “Sir, I do not … ”

“Lady Chillhurst.” Lord Aldridge emerged from the crowd and came to a halt in front of Olympia. “Delighted to see you here this evening.”

Magnus assumed a threatening expression. “Do you know this man, my dear?”

“Oh, yes.” Olympia smiled at Aldridge. “How nice to see you, sir. Is your wife with you?”

“She’s about somewhere.” Aldridge smiled hopefully. “I say, can I convince you to dance with me, madam? It would be my great honor to be the first to lead you out onto the floor.”

“No, thank you,” Olympia began. “You see, I do not … ”

“Olympia
. I mean, Lady Chillhurst.” Gifford Seaton made his way through the throng to Olympia’s side. “Heard you were here this evening. Everyone’s talking about it.” He surveyed her with surprise and open admiration. “Allow me to tell you, madam, that you look ravishing.”

Magnus scowled at him. “You’re young Seaton, ain’t you? I recall meeting you when your sister was engaged to my son.”

“Aye, I remember him, too.” Thaddeus bristled. “I doubt that Chillhurst has seen fit to introduce you to Lady Chillhurst, Seaton, and we certainly do not intend to do so. Off with you, now.”

Gifford gave him an annoyed glance. “Lady Chillhurst and I have already met. We have mutual interests.” He turned back to Olympia. “Is that not right, madam?”

“Yes, quite correct.” Olympia could feel the palpable tension in the atmosphere. “Please, gentlemen, do not embarrass me or your son by causing a scene. Mr. Seaton and I are acquainted.”

Magnus and Thaddeus gave her disgruntled looks.

“If you say so,” Magnus muttered. “Surprised Chillhurst allowed the introduction, if you don’t mind my sayin’ so.”

“Chillhurst had nothing to do with it.” Gifford gave Magnus a sarcastic smile. “I told you, Lady Chillhurst
and I have mutual interests. We are both members of the Society for Travel and Exploration.”

Magnus grimaced. Thaddeus continued to glower.

Olympia frowned severely at her new in-laws. “That is quite enough out of both of you. Mr. Seaton has as much right to be here tonight and to speak to me as anyone else.”

Gifford smiled at her. “Thank you, madam. I trust I also have as much right to request a dance as anyone else here tonight.”

Olympia smiled ruefully. “Yes, of course. Unfortunately, I fear I must refuse.” She paused as her eye fell on the elaborate fob of Gifford’s watch. “But I would like to speak to you for a few minutes if I may, sir.”

Seaton’s smile assumed a hint of triumph. “My pleasure, madam. Allow me to escort you to the buffet room.”

Olympia took the arm that Gifford extended. She saw Magnus’s eyes narrow. Thaddeus’s scowl grew more fierce. She quelled them both with a look.

“I shall be back shortly, my lord,” Olympia said to the Earl. “Please excuse me. I wish to discuss something important with Mr. Seaton.”

“Well, well, well,” Parkerville murmured behind the pair. “Now, this is an interesting development, is it not?”

Magnus and Thaddeus turned to him with thunderous expressions.

Olympia ignored them all and urged Gifford forward. “Come, sir, I have been most anxious to speak with you. I have a few questions I must ask you.”

“What sort of questions?” Gifford guided her through the crush of brilliantly dressed people.

“About your watch.”

Gifford gave her a startled glance. “What in blazes does my watch have to do with anything?”

“I’m not certain yet, but I would very much like to know why you chose the motif of a sea serpent for the decoration.”

“Damnation.” Gifford came to an abrupt halt near the open French doors. His eyes were very intent as he searched her face. “You know, don’t you?”

“I believe so,” Olympia said gently. “You are Captain Edward Yorke’s great-grandson.”

Gifford ran a hand through his carefully tousled hair. “Hellfire and damnation. I had a feeling you would guess the truth. Something about you made me think that you would add up all the parts and get the correct sum.”

“You have no cause to be alarmed, Mr. Seaton. I see no reason why we cannot work together in this matter.” Olympia eyed him curiously. “May I ask why you have kept your identity a secret?”

“I never lied about my identity,” Gifford said wearily. “And neither did Demetria. Our family name is Sea-ton. We just never told Chillhurst who our great-grandfather was.”

“Why ever not?”

“Because Captain Jack Ryder was my greatgrandfather’s sworn enemy, that’s why not,” Gifford burst out in a savage snarl. “Ryder believed that Yorke betrayed him to the Spanish but it’s not true. He was betrayed by someone else. In any event Ryder escaped that damned Spanish vessel. He went back to England a rich man.”

“Mr. Seaton, please, you will cause a scene.”

Gifford flushed a dull red and glanced quickly about to see if anyone had overheard him. “Lady Chillhurst, could we discuss this outside in the gardens? I do not want half the
ton
listening
to
this conversation.”

“Yes, of course.” Worried by the obvious volatility of his emotions, Olympia allowed Gifford to lead her
out into the balmy night. “Mr. Seaton, I understand your interest in the missing treasure, but I do not comprehend why you have been so secretive. That old feud between your great-grandfather and Chillhursts was finished long ago.”

“You are wrong, madam. It was never finished.” Muscles bunched in Gifford’s arm. His hand clenched. “The Earl of Flamecrest vowed eternal vengeance against my family. He swore that he would never allow Edward Yorke to get his half of the treasure they had buried together on that damned island. He also swore that his descendents would honor his vow in the name of family honor.”

“How do you know all this?”

“My grandmother left an accounting of the entire affair together with my great-grandfather’s half of the map.”

“So you do have the other half of the map?” Olympia asked eagerly.

“Of course. My grandmother left it to my father.” Gifford’s mouth twisted. “It was the only thing my father managed to leave to Demetria and me. He probably would have pawned that along with everything else if there had been a market for partial treasure maps.”

“What did you learn from your grandmother’s account of the affair?”

“Not much. Apparently she made an overture to the Flamecrest clan after her father’s death. It was rebuffed. She urged my father to try again some day.” Gifford sneered faintly. “For the sake of the old friendship that had once existed between Yorke and Ryder.”

Olympia peered at him, trying to read his face in the deep shadows. “She tried to make peace?”

“Trust a female to try something so useless. The Flamecrests have never wanted to mend the quarrel. Harry, Captain Jack’s son, sent word to my grandmother
saying he intended to honor his father’s sworn vow. He would not allow the treasure to fall into the hands of any descendent of Edward Yorke. Claimed it was a matter of family honor.”

“That’s a Flamecrest for you,” Olympia mused. “An emotional lot.”

“It was not right,” Gifford whispered fiercely. “Flamecrest and his family have prospered but Demetria and I had nothing.
Nothing.”

“Neither did the present Earl of Flamecrest until he had the wit to turn his business over to his son,” Olympia retorted. “Sir, there is another thing I do not comprehend. If you hated my husband’s family so much, why on earth did your sister consent to marry Chillhurst?”

“She never intended to go through with the marriage,” Gifford said. “In fact, she never intended to get herself engaged to him in the first place.”

“I do not understand.”

Gifford sighed impatiently. “I convinced Demetria to arrange an introduction. We had heard that Chillhurst was searching for a bride. Demetria found a way to get herself introduced to him through a connection that would intrigue him.”

“Felix Hartwell.”

“Yes. She learned that Hartwell was his trusted man of affairs and she found a way to meet him. Demetria is very beautiful.” Brotherly pride shone in Gifford’s eyes. “No man can resist her.”

“So Mr. Hartwell saw to it that Demetria received an invitation to the Isle of Flame.”

“Correct. Naturally, as her brother, I was invited to go with her. I thought that if I had an opportunity to search the Flamecrest family castle, I might be able to turn up the missing half of the map.”

“What happened?”

Gifford laughed sourly. “We were not in the house more than a few days before Chillhurst asked Demetria to marry him. Demetria accepted because we had not yet found the map. I told her that I just needed a little more time.”

“Good heavens,” Olympia murmured. “Pd had no notion that Chillhurst had gone about searching for a wife in such a logical, practical fashion. It is not at all like him, you understand.”

“On the contrary. It is very like him from what I know of him. The man has no blood at all in his veins.”

“That’s not true. I believe he must have formed a tendre for your sister,” Olympia said slowly. “He would never have asked her to marry him otherwise.”

Gifford looked at her as if she were a simpleton but he did not argue. “Be that as it may, the fact is, he did ask her to marry him. Which gave me more time to hunt for the missing half of the map.”

“Which you never found,” Olympia said with cool satisfaction. “It serves you right, sir, if you do not mind my saying so. You should never have gone about it in such a sneaky manner.”

“I had no choice,” Gifford raged softly. “Captain Jack Ryder refused to allow my great-grandfather to hunt for his share of the treasure out of sheer spite and all of his descendents have been just as spiteful.”

Olympia wrinkled her nose. “It is quite obvious that we are dealing with two passionate, highly emotional families, not just one. I think the time has come to make peace. Do you not agree, Mr. Seaton?”

“Never.” Gifford’s eyes flashed with fury. “Not after the way Chillhurst treated my sister. I shall never forgive or forget.”

“For heavens sake, Mr. Seaton, it does not sound as though your sister particularly wanted to marry him in the first place. And as for yourself, you were just using
her and her engagement as an excuse to prowl through the Flamecrest castle. You can hardly act the offended party.”

“The point is Chillhurst insulted her,” Gifford said with righteous indignation. “He ended the engagement in a most cruel fashion simply because he discovered she was not an heiress. I only wish he had not been too cowardly to meet me on the field of honor.”

Olympia touched his arm. “I realize this is a very emotional subject for you. Please believe me when I say that I am certain Chillhurst did not end the engagement merely because he learned that your sister was not an heiress.”

“Oh, I know he insists that he ended it because he and Demetria did not suit, but that was a lie. I know the truth. He was quite content with the engagement for several days. Then, one afternoon, he simply ended it without any warning.”

“No warning at all?”

Gifford’s eyes slitted angrily. “Demetria and I and Lady Kirkdale were ordered to pack and leave within the hour.”

Olympia gazed at him in startled surprise. “Lady Kirkdale was with you at the Isle of Flame?”

“Yes, of course,” Gifford said irritably. “There were a number of guests there, and she came along as Demetria’s companion. She has been Demetria’s very great friend for several years. It was Lady Kirkdale who later introduced Demetria to Beaumont, you know.”

“I see.”

Gifford’s hand clenched and unclenched. “Madam, your loyalty to your husband is laudable, but I must tell you that you have a sadly misguided view of him. I regret to inform you that, based on what I know of him, it is impossible to believe that he married you because he loved you.”

“I really do not wish to discuss such a personal matter, sir.”

Gifford gave her a pitying look. “My poor, naive lady. What could you, an innocent who has spent all her life in the country, know of a man like Chillhurst?”

“Nonsense. I assure you I am not nearly as naive as you believe. I received an excellent and far-reaching education, thanks to my aunts and I have pursued my own studies quite diligently. I am very much a woman of the world.”

“Then you must realize that he married you only because he believed you could find the secret of the Lightbourne diary.”

“Rubbish. My husband would never marry for such a paltry reason. He is not at all interested in the missing treasure. He has no need of it. He is a very wealthy man in his own right.”

“Do you not comprehend? Money is the only thing Chillhurst
does
care about. A man like that can never have enough to satisfy him.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because I spent nearly a month in his household,” Gifford’s voice rose in exasperation. “I learned a great deal about Chillhurst in that time and the most important thing I learned is that he has no warmth or feeling in him for anything or anyone except his business affairs. He’s a damned cold fish.”

“Chillhurst is not a cold fish and I will thank you not to insult him. Furthermore, I assure you that he did not marry me to obtain the secret of the diary. I would very much appreciate it if you would refrain from spreading such a wicked rumor.”

“But it must be the reason he married you. Why else would a man like that marry a woman with no fortune?”

“Mr. Seaton, please do not say anything more. I am sure you will regret it.”

Gilford seized her upper arms and gazed down at her with grave concern. “Lady Chillhurst,” he began and then paused. His voice thickened with emotion as he continued. “My dear Olympia, if I may be so bold. I know what you must be going through. You are an innocent pawn in this matter. I would be honored if you would allow me to aid you in any way that I can.”