Lady Farquhar's Butterfly (26 page)

Olivia let out
a bold laugh as she shrugged out of his grasp. ‘You think the gold
is hidden
there
? Why, you have no idea where it is and nor
shall you, for I swear, Nathaniel, I shall not reveal my secret
unless you plan to murder me for it and then what would it profit
you?’

He shrugged,
as if her intransigence was of no account. ‘You misjudge me,
Olivia, if you think I had not considered I might have to resort to
extraordinary measures to overcome your reluctance. Mary!’ In
response to his shout the door opened and across the threshold
stepped one of the inn servants, a dirty, dishevelled girl bearing
a squirming toddler in her arms.

A look of
delight crossed the boy’s face as he was deposited to the ground.
Running across the floorboards he held his arms wide.

‘Mama!’ he
cried.

She was
allowed to hold him on her lap. Julian wrapped his arms around
Olivia’s neck and rubbed his plump rosy cheek against hers in a
rare burst of spontaneous affection.

‘When your
touching reunion is over you can write the first letter to your
aunts, reassuring them that you will be waiting for them at the
dower house tomorrow. He held up his hand to stay her objection,
his plump oily face twisted with malice. ‘If you do not, Olivia my
dear, this is the last time you will see your little bastard
alive.’

Max was back
in Bath by mid morning but with no stomach for the eggs and haddock
on which his sister and her husband were no doubt sustaining
themselves, judging by the smell which wafted out of the front
door.

Wearily, he
entered the house. He needed to take stock and decide what to do
next before he walked the few streets to Laura Place to inform
Olivia’s aunts of his failed mission.

‘Max! You look
like the devil!’ Jonathon greeted him cheerfully, looking up from
his laden breakfast plate.

‘Like you
haven’t been to bed,’ Amelia added, dabbing her mouth daintily with
her napkin.

‘I haven’t!’
Max snapped, sinking into a chair, accepting the cup of coffee his
sister poured for him.

‘Surely you
haven’t spent all this time looking for Lady Farquhar?’ Amelia
grunted her disapproval. ‘Miss Dingley was asking after you.
Apparently her niece took it into her head to return to Mortlock
without informing anyone.’

Gulping down
his coffee, Max leapt to his feet. ‘When was this? Did she’ – he
hesitated, reluctant to speak the reverend’s name – ‘travel
alone?’

Amelia
shrugged, leaning back in her chair. ‘Really, I’ve no idea. Miss
Dingley merely said she was here to reassure you that Lady
Farquhar’s disappearance following Lady Glenton’s masque had been
adequately solved.’ She slanted Max an assessing look. ‘Was there
some mystery, Max? And do you think Miss Hepworth enjoyed
herself?’

Max grunted as
he made for the door. ‘Capitally, I’m sure,’ he muttered.

‘Where are you
going, Max?’ Amelia called after him. ‘Not to see Miss Dingley, I
hope. She said she was retiring to sleep for a few hours. And so
must you, Max. You look terrible!’

‘Your best
behaviour, now, Lady Farquhar,’ Nathaniel cautioned, as he led her
past a couple entering the inn. ‘You don’t want to parade your
insanity on top of your notoriety.’

Hating the
feel of his fingers digging into her wrist, wincing as the cold
wind hit her face once they stepped outdoors, Olivia hissed, ‘By
God, Nathaniel, you had better keep your promise.’ She exhaled on a
sob, squinting at the grey sky after the gloominess of indoors. ‘If
you won’t tell me where you’ve sent Julian, at least swear to me
he’ll come to no harm.’

‘He’s
perfectly safe and happy with Charlotte enjoying the hospitality of
an old acquaintance of mine,’ Nathaniel said, opening the door of
the waiting carriage he had ordered. ‘Someone who owes me a favour
and will be too afraid not to follow instructions.’

Olivia bit her
lip. She had not the fortitude to dwell on this cryptic
reassurance. Better to concentrate on keeping her eyes open for an
opportunity to escape. ‘As for notoriety,’ she added venomously,
slipping on the wet cobblestones in her flimsy dancing slippers,
‘that was not something
I
brought upon myself.’

‘You thrust
your charms at Lucien and he reacted with the predictability of a
trained puppy, bless him.’ Nathaniel assisted her into the
carriage, climbing in after her. It seemed the coachman already had
his instructions for with a straining and creaking of harness the
carriage lurched forward and began its lumbering progress along the
rutted road that led from town.

‘I was
seventeen. A child wrapped up in foolish fancies.’ Olivia glared at
him. ‘Am I to have that forever thrown in my face, Nathaniel?’

‘You sealed
your fate with the flutter of your eyelashes, my dear. Lucien could
not resist you and I sanctioned it. I made you Lady Farquhar.’

In the dim,
grey interior, she saw him close his eyes and shudder. Revulsion?
When he raised his eyes to hers they glowed as if lit from within
by some secret knowledge.

She felt her
skin crawl with the caress of a thousand spiders’ legs. It was her
turn to shudder.

Why had she
not seen the truth eight years ago?

‘Lucien wanted
me above all others,’ she whispered. She had to believe at least
this. It had been her undoing, but it upheld her powers of
attraction. Without those, she truly was the empty shell Nathaniel
derided.

‘Lucien wanted
a lot of things, my sister among them.’ Though his voice was soft
it contained a note of savage hatred she’d never heard before.

Convulsively,
her hand went to the locket at her neck. She could have been living
at Elmwood had it not been for the monster before her.

‘You have a
sister?’ she asked. So the philandering had been going on long
before she’d even suspected. When he nodded she said with dignity,
‘I did not take Lucien from another woman.’

Nathaniel’s
look was shuttered. ‘Dorothy was a sweet, virtuous child.’ He tore
his eyes from her, as if the sight disgusted him. ‘So different
from you, Olivia. I would not want to make comparisons with the
woman who won Lucien’s heart and the one who stole it.’

His voice
dropped to a snarl. ‘Had she lived, Dorothy’s piety would have
redeemed the monster Lucien became. The monster you turned him
into, Olivia, with your vanity and pleasure-seeking and need to be
admired.’

‘You lie!’
Shocked, she went on, ‘Lucien never mentioned Dorothy during our
entire marriage. Nor did you.
No one
did.’

‘No one did
because their love blossomed before Lucien went to London where he
was corrupted by the society in which you thrived.’ Nathaniel’s
voice rose. ‘No one mentioned her because she died a miserable,
unworthy death.’

‘Is there no
end to what you will blame me for?’ Olivia whispered, turning her
head.

‘My sister was
among the most virtuous women who ever lived. Lucien broke her
heart. She poisoned herself, Olivia, because she could not bear his
betrayal. The tragedy was that Lucien was coming back for her. He
never got over the guilt, the grief.’

‘I am very
sorry to hear about your sister’ – she spat out the words – ‘but I
did not steal Lucien from the arms of another woman. Certainly not
a worthier one.’ Who knew what women from the lower ranks he was
consorting with at the time? It was something she’d not considered
as a seventeen year old.

‘Dorothy was
already dead when Lucien saw you for the first time,’ Nathaniel
conceded. ‘But his soul was black. Blackened beyond redemption for
what he had done.’ He pushed aside the curtain, his breath clouding
the dirty windows. ‘When I accompanied him to London he knew it
belonged to the Devil, but he was not yet ready to go there. He
turned to me for his salvation.’

She felt a
terrible gnawing in the pit of her stomach. He had not been in
jest, earlier? ‘You
advised
Lucien to marry me?’

Nathaniel
nodded. ‘He needed an heir, and I knew what kind of wife would be
best. Someone with a face and figure that would instantly appeal to
him, but with a character that was’ – his smile was so
transparently gloating she felt ill – ‘unformed. Someone who was so
bound up in their own powers of attraction they could not see the
danger they courted in a man like Lucien: a man who had lost all
compassion.’

‘Lucien wanted
me!’

‘Oh, yes, he
wanted you. He was enslaved by lust’ – Nathaniel grimaced –
‘
if
that’s so important to you. And yes, Olivia, you were
the season’s most dazzling debutante. Why, I even wanted you
myself.’

‘I’d have
turned up my nose at a low creature like you.’ How could she not
have recognized the evil in him before? Because she had been so
bound up in her powers of attraction? Through dry lips she
whispered, ‘You’d never have had me willingly.’

‘I’d have been
a delusional fool if I’d thought I could.’ Her barbs had no effect.
‘As delusional as you, my dear, when you thought you could make
something of your spectacular union with Viscount Farquhar. No,
Olivia, I realized you would never have me willingly, but I
sanctioned Lucien’s union with you, nay, encouraged it, for I knew
if I bided my time, I would be rewarded for my good advice.’

‘But I’m no
longer going to marry you.’ For a brief moment she felt almost
triumphant. As if she wielded the power. How pitiful she was.

‘No,’ he
agreed, sadly. ‘I must content myself with memories of enfolding
you in my arms as I lifted you, all but naked, from the dining
table after your titillating little performances for Lucien and his
friends.’ He reached forward and squeezed her hand. ‘You needed me
then, my dear. For most of your marriage, in fact, you turned to me
for comfort. At the time it was enough, though I should have seen
my dream would never be realized. Still’ – he gazed once more
through the window and sighed – ‘I wanted the lost fortune more
than I wanted you, so in that respect I have triumphed.’

‘Through
coercion and blackmail!’ She had persuaded Julian to unclasp his
arms from around her neck and go with the servant who would
transfer him to Charlotte waiting in the carriage. She’d had no
choice, but to what fate had she sent him? She choked back another
sob. ‘How can I believe you’ll ensure Julian’s safety? What will
happen once you’ve got what you want?’

She had to
give voice to her greatest fears, if only for the meaningless
reassurance he would be forced to give.

‘I am not a
cold-blooded murderer, Olivia. No harm shall come to either of you
unless something interferes with the careful strategy I’ve laid
out.’ He was thoughtful. ‘Together we’ve laid the groundwork. Your
aunts will not grow concerned for a couple of days; no one will
look for you until at least tomorrow afternoon, giving me plenty of
time to slip across the Channel, never to be heard of again.’

‘What about
Julian?’ she asked again, though she knew her desperation bolstered
his enjoyment in tormenting her.

‘Julian’s
fate’ – he leaned forward, putting his evil, oily face close to
hers – ‘and yours will be revealed in good time.’ She recoiled.
‘Max will find me, and you!’

Nathaniel
regarded her through hooded eyes. ‘Mr Atherton will play the hero
because it will be required of him,’ he agreed. His fingers beat a
tattoo upon his thigh as the corners of his mouth turned up.

‘But
if
he finds you, will he still want you, Olivia? That is the question.
Poor Mr Atherton is so confused over you and your lies I wonder if
self-preservation is not more important to him than the transient
pleasures of your fading charms. Once he’s nobly deposited you with
your aunts I suspect he’ll attach himself to the first innocent,
uncomplicated debutante who flutters her eyelashes at him.’

Miss Hepworth.
If Nathaniel were not watching her so closely she’d hurl herself
against the squabs and sob her eyes out.

Instead,
calmly and quietly, she asked, ‘Why did you bring me Julian?’

He answered as
if he knew she referred to the night of his birth.

‘For the same
reason I brought him to you just now.’ He smiled.

‘The power it
gave me over you.’

‘You never
loved the child and yet you would have me believe that only you
could safeguard his future.’

‘I never
dis
liked him. He was simply a child.’ Nathaniel
shrugged.

‘Puling,
puking and sniffling like most children his age.’ Reflectively, he
added, ‘When I lifted him from Meg Dorling’s cold dead chest I
wondered how long it would be before he followed his mother into
the grave. No one wanted him. And then I thought of you, Olivia.’
He touched her cheek. ‘I thought of all your suffering and feared,
from what Charlotte told me, that it was about to be compounded.
That’s when it occurred to me I could give you the greatest gift
possible: a living child.’ He glanced out of the window as the
carriage turned into the avenue which led to Olivia’s old home.
Smiling, he turned back to her with glowing eyes. ‘So you would
spend the rest of your life in my debt.’

The carriage
ground slowly over the gravel and would have pulled up before the
front door had Olivia not given the instruction to halt a few
hundred yards away, near a grassy knoll.

The crypt.

What choice
did she have? Nathaniel held her son hostage. Had just her life
been in danger perhaps she’d have had the strength to resist. Max’s
respect was vital to her fragile sense of self, but the safety of
her son was paramount.

They climbed
out, Nathaniel craning his neck to ensure they were alone and well
hidden from passers-by. The Lodge was unoccupied and there was no
view directly from the dower house.

‘The only
place I never looked,’ Nathaniel breathed as he outpaced Olivia in
his quest to reach the iron door. ‘Why, it’s unlocked!’ He gave a
delighted laugh. ‘Lucien’s grandfather must have given him the key
as a clue. The old devil was probably no longer coherent when he
realized it was all up with him.’ He was speaking to Olivia as a
co-conspirator. ‘Quickly! Show me the treasure! I have waited many
years for this.’