Libertine's Wife (45 page)

“
I suspect he had his
motives long before you incurred your debts with him. How did you
escape the ship?” she asked, feeling terror fill her to know her
family was stalked by Dench for some unknown purpose.

Eustace smiled without humor. “Dench
found one last use for me.”

“
What use is
that?”

“
I’m to be blamed for
killing your husband. Spencer wants no hint of his own hand in
this.”

Arianne put a hand over her mouth and
went rigid, staring at Eustace in horror. She could see he was
telling the truth. She saw flashes of the brother she had once
known before the sickness took him.

She didn’t trust him, but he took many
chances in coming to her this day. Some sixth sense detected
something altogether unpleasant about William Spencer from the
start. The younger man wasn’t happy at all to know he lost a
fortune overnight. His motives were clear.

“
Where are you staying?”
Arianne asked pensively as she bit her lip. “How have you remained
hidden all this time? Julian and Garret have men looking for you
all over the city.”

“
I’m safe at rooms at The
Boar’s Head near the docks. I will be there only a few more days,
Sis,” he said and stared at her sadly. “You must believe me about
Spencer. He will stop at nothing to get what he wants. If you wish
for my help, I will wait for your husband to come to me. If not, I
will do what I can, but I must leave London. Dench means to kill me
and make it look like I killed your husband. I haven’t got time to
make you believe me.”

“
Garret will need more than
your word his cousin wishes him dead, Eustace,” she said coolly.
“You’ve hardly endeared yourself to him these last few
years.”

Eustace looked alarmed when he heard
voices. He gazed at her urgently. “Make him believe you, Arianne,
before all is too late. I have to leave. Please take care. I do
love you, you must always believe that.”

Then he was gone, running in the
direction of the stone wall in the rear of the manor before the
guards caught sight of him. The guards passed her and nodded to
her. She returned to the house in determination. Her husband was at
his club. She debated sending a footman after him but didn’t want
to alarm him. She was on pins and needles until he returned home.
She flew to his side as soon as he entered the manor, pulling him
with her into his study.

Garret grinned as she shut the door
behind them. “What have you in mind, my sweet?” Arianne looked as
pale as death. He stiffened immediately. His smile faded. “What is
it? What’s happened?”

“
Eustace was here this
morning. He spoke with me in the gardens,” she told him, and the
tale came tumbling out. She spoke quickly, stumbling over her
words, agitated by his silence throughout. When she finished, her
husband looked unimpressed with what she told him.

“
You would believe him even
now; after all he’s done to you?” Garret asked and shook his head
in disbelief, sitting at his wife’s side, rubbing her rigid
back.

Angry blue eyes met his. “I think
neither of us can discount what he claims. He asked for nothing. He
just warned me.”

The fact her brother hadn’t asked his
sister for money didn’t convince Garret his cousin meant to do him
in. He raked a hand through his auburn hair in frustration,
disgusted the man slinked past his guards. He’d give the slackers
the boot for not staying close to his wife. “Suppose we believe
him? What proof do we have William is involved?”

“
What proof do we have he is
not? Have William followed, Garret,” she said worriedly, and saw
him scowl. “We have to know.”

“
This is more than enough
reason to take the boys and leave London, Arianne,” he said
tightly.

“
We are just as vulnerable
at Ravensford Hall and you know it,” she said and sighed
wearily.

“
This is ridiculous! William
might be a spoiled little shit, but he is no murderer!”

“
No, he hires others to do
it for him, Garret, those who have few qualms about killing a child
as well!” Arianne’s temper flared he continued to balk at finding
William guilty. “Eustace took many risks to warn us. They will kill
him if they discover he told us. I think we must regard this as the
threat he insists it is.”

“
You wish me to hire a
detective to follow my fop of a cousin about? What a bloody waste
of coin!” Garret grumbled sourly.

“
It’s no more a waste then
all these bloody guards my brother got past this
morning!”

Garret was outraged his brother-in-law
got past his security. “William doesn’t have it in him to do this,
Arianne. I’ve known him since he was an infant.”

“
I’m sure you had his
kindest regard until you produced a wife, an heir, and then a
spare, my lord. Why do you resist believing he might wish you ill?
With you and our sons gone; he is the Marquis of Ravensford. It is
greed; pure and simple. He clears his conscience it will be done by
others and Eustace blamed for it. Don’t forget what Dench told me
in the cellar that day. He tipped his hand thinking you would be
dead after you paid my ransom. He knows us, Garret. I feel
it.”

“
How eagerly you wish to
blame William. I know you hardly liked him, but murder?”

“
Appease me in this and have
William followed.”

Garret let out a frustrated sigh. “Just
to prove a point that not everyone’s relatives are greedy,
grasping, murderous ingrates; I’ll do as you ask. I know I’m going
to regret this.”

Arianne looked relieved. “He stays at
The Boar’s Head. He’ll be there only a few more days. Please go to
him and listen to him. Do this for me, even if you think it silly.
I take no chances with my husband or my children.”

Garret brushed a kiss across her
forehead. “Fine, consider it done. I will see your brother and get
to the bottom of this. All this concern you have shown has me
decidedly aroused, my sweet. Are the boys in the
nursery?”

Arianne smiled and toyed with his snowy
white cravat. “Come, we will find new games more challenging to
play, my lord.”

Garret sighed with pleasure and rose to
follow his wife up to their room. His eyes were glued to her
swaying hips as she walked up the winding staircase. The desire to
pinch her backside was refrained when they passed the giggling
upstairs maids. The servants knew their destination all too well.
The cheeky maids winked at him as they passed. He chuckled under
his breath. The promise of new games made him hasten his
steps.

~ ~ ~

Arianne was cutting flowers for the
dinner table when Mrs. Phelps arrived to inform her Lord Vale
awaited her in the salon the following day. She wiped her hands on
her apron and rushed to greet him, concerned over his welfare these
last weeks. The thought of the nasty bump she’d inflicted upon him
during her rescue made her worry needlessly. Julian looked as
handsome and as fit as she’d ever seen him when she arrived. He
rose from the settee and smiled at the sight of her.

“
As you can see, my
kidnapers treated me quite well,” Julian quipped and came forward
to kiss her cheek, looking down at her warmly. “I came to see how
you’ve fared these last weeks. Tell me Ravensford hasn’t made you
the slightest bit unhappy or I’ll give the man another
thrashing.”

Arianne didn’t inform him her husband
declared he’d beaten Julian to a pulp that night. “I have no
complaints of him at all. I had no wish to hurt you, Julian. I love
Garret. I know that now. My place is here with my husband and
children.”

Julian eyed her in sad resignation. “I
think I knew it was too late for us, Arianne. I knew you never
stopped thinking of him, even when you lived with me. If you are
happy, that is all I need to hear.”

“
What of you? Garret said
your wife freed you from Dench’s clutches. Is all well?”

Julian grimaced. “Ah yes, my lovely
wife; my fiery savior. She’s quite adept with a pistol, it seems.
She led the raid on the inn when she received your husband’s note.
Even with a dozen runners at her side; I’ve no doubt Dench and his
men feared her more. They scattered like rats.”

Arianne chuckled and shook her head in
disbelief, unable to conceive of Lady Vale being so intimidating.
Her smile faded. They had other matters to discuss. Delicate
matters that would no doubt cause him further pain.

“
Garret means to keep Jaime
as his heir,” Arianne informed him softly and saw his dark eyes
fill with pain. His anguished look to know he could do nothing to
challenge it made her heart clench. “It is for the best we leave it
be, Julian. You can give him nothing, not even your name. Is that
fair to him?”

Julian looked incensed. “He is still my
son, Arianne! How can you ask me to stand aside and let him be
raised by your husband? You ask too much, my love!”

“
I ask you because it is the
right thing for us all. I know you love Jaime too. Our spouses will
hardly feel comfortable with us crossing paths in the future. We
saw to that when we hurt them as we did. Does Lady Vale know of
Jaime yet?” She saw by his guilty flush he hadn’t gotten around to
telling his wife. “How do you think she will feel to know you and I
share a son? Don’t you see it is for all our best interests to
leave it alone?”

“
If Dru cares for me, she
will learn to accept him in time.”

“
Julian, we both know we
humiliated her all these last months. Is it not best to keep the
matter as it is? Garret loves Jaime, even if he knows the truth.
Does making him a bastard soothe your wounded pride so
much?”

Julian pondered her words in pained
silence. “I wish it was different too, Arianne, but you’re right.
The fragile peace I have with my wife now would be sorely tested if
she knew of Jaime.”

“
We cannot see each other
again, Julian,” Arianne whispered sadly. “It’s for the best for all
concerned. She endured much while we flaunted our relationship
under her nose. Your wife needs your reassurance now as
well.”

Julian looked miserable with her edict.
“Arianne, I will always love you. I know it’s wrong when you
clearly love Ravensford, but a part of me will always belong to
you.”

“
You have a wife who needs
you now, Julian. I love Garret. He is my life. Please, for the sake
of your own happiness, give your wife a chance,” Arianne implored
him, her eyes filled with determination. “You owe her
that.”

“
I don’t deny I’m intrigued
with my wife,” Julian admitted with a slightly guilty smile. “She
has my attention now, if not my heart.”

“
Then it is a start,”
Arianne encouraged.

Julian eyed her without regret. “Your
husband is far luckier than he knows.”

“
Go home to your wife now,
Julian. Never look back. We both have happiness within our reach at
last.”

Julian leaned down and kissed her. It
was a soft unthreatening kiss that was as sweet as it was poignant.
“Goodbye, my love. Please accept my final gift to our
son.”

“
What is it?” Arianne asked.
“You have given us too much already!”

“
The deed to Dunne Manor
will be delivered to you by my solicitor. The house is to be
rebuilt with the sketch you left.” He smiled despite the misty look
in his dark eyes. “Perhaps one day I might meet my son under
different circumstances? I’ll not complicate your life, Arianne, or
his.”

Arianne was overwhelmed at his
acceptance of how things had to be. She was glad when Julian took
his leave. She needed a moment alone to gather her emotions. She
loved Garret with all her heart, but Julian held her heart first.
Jaime was his son. She knew how much he had to love her to walk
away without a fight for their child. It hurt to know it could be
no other way for all of them. Garret might have forgiven her, but
Drusilla was another matter. Garret thought it kinder to maintain
Jaime was his to spare her knowing the truth.

“
Thank you for that.” Garret
stood in the doorway, his green eyes filled with sadness to see her
tears, having overheard their conversation. “I know that couldn’t
have been easy for you, my love.”

Arianne smiled and wiped her tears,
coming to her husband’s side and hugging him, leaning against his
solid comfort. “It’s for the best, for all of us. I just wish it
could be different.”

“
I didn’t ask you to do this
to punish Vale, Arianne.”

“
What of Eustace? He knows
the truth,” Arianne pointed out and pushed away from him. “We both
know secrets have a habit of coming out.”

“
We cross that path when we
get to it,” Garret said in a cautious voice. “Secrets can sometimes
be necessary to protect those we love.”

“
What if Eustace told
Dench?”

“
I’ll find that out and deal
with the man when I see him.”

“
Did you hire an able
detective to follow your cousin?” Arianne asked to change the
subject.

“
I’m told he’s the best.
Yes, he’s following my cousin as we speak. I still think Eustace
lies to make you trust him again, Arianne. I will get to the bottom
of this when I meet him at his rooms tonight.”