Libertine's Wife (52 page)

Garret knew she spoke the truth. With
or without Bianca fanning the flames of the current scandal, his
wife was branded by her very public relationship with Lord Vale. No
amount of influence could erase that, even Lady
Cosgrove’s.

The lady eyed him with sympathy. “I
know it distresses you to face this, Garret. Let us be frank, shall
we? You hardly remained celibate during that time yourself. Martin
told me how many mistresses you acquired and discarded when you and
Lady Ravensford were separated over the years. As much as we would
like to put such unpleasant matters behind us, sometimes accepting
such things proves easier in the long run.”

“
You are right. It is merely
pride that makes me seek to silence Bianca, nothing
else.”

“
The country air will do you
both a world of good,” the old lady advised with a knowing smirk.
“Maybe when you two can learn to behave yourselves, I might be able
to assist you to reenter society one day.”

“
When do you expect Martin
to return from Virginia?” Garret asked her, watching her
intently.

Amanda frowned and shrugged. “My son
doesn’t inform me of anything these days, Garret. He seems to sulk
at my continued influence over him, as well you know.”

“
Surely Martin can
understand his father’s concerns by leaving you in charge of the
finances? It is all your money!”

Amanda chuckled and shook her head.
“Edgar made the distinction in his will after Martin’s investments
proved to be unwise. He didn’t want to see me left with nothing. We
both can agree he has no head for money, dear boy though he
is?”

Garret nodded, knowing what she said
was true. Though he loved Marty too, the man had no sense with his
finances. If not for Amanda being in control of the money all these
years, they’d be penniless by now.

Martin resented the fact he had to ask
his mother for everything. The man thought the money should be his,
even if he knew it was his mother’s from her own inheritance she
received from her father.

“
Has Martin ever discussed
his plans for Belle Terre with you?”

“
He mentioned he wished to
buy out my interest recently,” Amanda disclosed with a smile. “It
appears he is doing well with his other investments. He spoke of
buying my shares very soon.”

Garret said nothing, his face
implacable. He spent the next hour visiting with the dear old
woman, his thoughts racing as he left. He sat back in the coach and
let out a pent up breath. To think his own best friend plotted his
demise made him grimace. He now knew why Dench didn’t kill him the
year before, putting the matter off again and again.

Martin wished to buy out his mother’s
interest in the plantation first. Amanda technically owned the ten
percent of the shares in Belle Terre. If anything happened to him,
the plantation would be hers, the money of the vested interest held
in trust for his sons.

If Martin acquired her shares, he’d
have the plantation and his sons, controlling all of it.

Garret closed his
eyes.
No, let it not be
true
, he thought.
Not Marty, please
.

Garret demanded the servants rouse Lady
Ainsworth at once. Bianca seethed all the way down, bristling at
the interruption of her sleep. She came up short to see him in her
elegant salon. She felt those cold green eyes upon her and
stiffened. Self-conscious of her morning gown, she came forward
with a forced smile on her face.

“
Lord Ravensford, to what do
I owe this unexpected visit?” she asked with a tinge of mild
annoyance, hiding her initial alarm.

Garret eyed her mockingly. “I will be
brief, Bianca. If you open your mouth and repeat the lies you’ve
spread about my wife any further, I will make you very
sorry.”

Bianca glared at him, aghast at his
outburst. “What lies are those, my lord? Your wife was Lord Vale’s
mistress. I cannot help it if tongues will wag of her indiscreet
behavior. You can hardly hold me accountable if she is poorly
received because of it.”

“
Oh, I think we both know
what you’re doing, Bianca. I had a word with Celeste. She isn’t
going to help you anymore. I also spoke with Lord Ainsworth’s
eldest son. Since his father’s illness, he’s taken control of his
father’s affairs. He showed a fair amount of concern for your
actions against my wife. He assures me you won’t be able to do
anymore harm with that forked tongue of yours.”

She gasped in outrage. “How dare you
come into my home and insult me, Lord Ravensford!”

“
How dare you drag my wife
into your twisted little games? Whatever your problem with me,
Bianca, it has nothing to do with her!” He bore down on her, eyes
blazing in fury. “One more word from your foul mouth and I’ll make
sure every person in this city is aware of how vindictive you
really are, Lady Ainsworth. Do you think your own reputation can
survive such details? Recall that Lady Cosgrove has never quite
forgiven you for nearly killing her son?”

Bianca’s golden eyes narrowed. “You
wouldn’t dare dredge that up! You can’t afford anymore scandal, my
lord.”

“
Unlike you, I never cared
what others thought, Bianca. I think we both know what that
information will do to you. Try to recall your own need for
survival at the next soiree you attend.”

Bianca stared at Garret, trying to
gauge how he discovered it was her that spread the vicious rumors
of his wife. Lady Vale supplied her with enough information to feed
the impression Lady Ravensford was a fortune-hunting adventuress.
She sighed and decided to brazen the matter out. “I will not be
threatened by you, my lord. Your wife is regarded as little more
than a harlot, and it is through no fault of mine,” she said
coldly. “It appears your choice in wives was exceedingly
poor.”

“
She is an improvement to
you, my dear,” he scoffed contemptuously. “And as far as harlot’s
go; you have her beat there as well. How many lovers did you have
before I managed to sidestep you at the altar?”

“
Get out of my house!” She
pointed to the door. “I shall seek my stepson over this, you can be
sure of that! He will not allow this insult to pass!”

“
He’s on his way here, my
lady. The man is none too pleased by your present choice in
companions. Your setting Celeste up with William wasn’t very smart.
Considering the man was trying to kill me, I’d say that makes you
an accessory now.”

Bianca stared at him, her golden eyes
wary. “I know nothing of any of that.”

“
Tell that to the
magistrate. He will want to speak with you about my son and wife’s
kidnapping, and this conspiracy of William’s.”

“
I don’t know what you’re
talking about,” she said calmly. “I can assure you I might have
engaged in loose talk about your wife, but not in any planning of
your death. Setting your former mistress up with William was only a
means to aggravate you.”

“
A funny thing about the
past, Bianca, it is but a reminder of the way things never change,”
Garret snapped. “You’re involved in this. All it will gain you is a
cell next to Dench’s.”

“
Your cousin sought my
patronage, my lord.” She eyed him unperturbed. “He wanted to
further himself in society. I introduced him to those within my
circle, nothing more.”

“
Again, another lie,” Garret
said and raised an eyebrow. “How do you think aiding this man will
help your cause, Bianca? Ainsworth is near his last breath. It
would appear your hold on the life you currently enjoy is coming to
an end.”

Garret was gratified to see a loose
stone become unsettled in his former betrothed’s granite features.
She covered quickly, but not before he saw the unease in her eyes.
“You would be advised I had a detective following my cousin, my
dear,” he informed her with a tight smile. “His report indicated
William met with you on several occasions at your residence, in
addition to an unknown man who was at last identified.”

Bianca looked a bit less confidant, but
mustered a shrug. “It isn’t a crime to entertain, Garret. What is
your point in these accusations? What proof do you have I’ve done
anything wrong?”

“
I don’t need proof, madam.
I know you. Celeste also recalls this same man meeting with William
at her flat on occasion.”

She held onto her composure. “You
cannot prove anything you claim at all.”

“
No, but I can ensure you a
very uncomfortable life, my lady,” Garret warned, his eyes flaring
in anger. “Whatever you have planned, you might wish to
rethink.”

Bianca looked pale at his words. She
swallowed hard. “How did you know? How did you figure all
out?”

“
I only had to follow the
bread crumbs left by you and my cousin to find Denham at the heart
of all.”

“
I don’t worry overmuch, my
lord. You can prove nothing.”

“
Eustace Dunne saw Thaddeus
Dench’s face. Before he died, he described him to my wife who made
a sketch,” Garret informed her. “Celeste woke one night and saw
Dench and some men in a meeting with William. You would do well to
consider what this means to your survival if you insist on this
course.”

She did, her golden eyes filling with
dismay, and finally defeat. “What is it you want,
Garret?”

“
I have no doubt this
vendetta of Denham’s is over the duel years ago—”

“
No,” Bianca cut in, looking
quite dismayed. “That insult isn’t what made him seek your
death.”

“
What is it then?” Garret
looked furious, his eyes blazing. “I could have killed him that day
for what he did to Catherine Duval! I let the cowardly worm live
instead!”

“
You stayed in Brighton for
a time after your marriage, my lord,” Bianca said and slid to the
settee, adjusting her skirts around her legs. “You were there on
some estate matters. You had houseguests that week, you
recall?”

Garret struggled to revisit that
weekend, stiffening to remember the stranded group of ladies who
descended upon him when their coach lost a wheel. He’d graciously
allowed them to stay until the conveyance was repaired.

He had the pleasure of Lady Denham’s
company then, more than once, before they went on their way. The
noblewoman fairly stalked him from the moment her and her
companions arrived. Clarissa was an eager, inexhaustible bedmate.
He’d enjoyed the heated encounters immensely. Thinking her husband
discovered the liaison made his features darken.

“
I see you remember her
now,” Bianca said dryly and shrugged. “She had Denham’s heir not
long after that. The child is yours, Garret. But then, Helms
already knew that, didn’t he? Denham went nowhere near his wife
during that time. It didn’t take much for him to figure out who
cuckolded him. The other ladies told tales of staying with you. He
figured it out for himself.”

“
I had no idea. Helms never
gave names,” Garret said and felt as though his past descended upon
him then.

“
Clarissa wanted a child for
years. Denham was obviously the one at fault there. They’ve tried
for years. She handled the matter,” Bianca offered, her golden eyes
filled with little sympathy. “Denham could say nothing because his
wife’s family holds the purse strings. It wasn’t long after that he
latched onto William. They both seemed to have much in common then,
hating you as they do.”

“
I’ve already concluded he
and my cousin are both a threat to my family.”

Bianca chuckled and shook her head.
“Anthony is a coward at heart, Garret. My, but one of us has a
questionable memory. When has he ever faced you as a man? Even in
that ridiculous duel, he turned early at the last and soiled
himself when you shot him.”

“
So who hired Dench? Was it
William or Lord Denham?”

“
I have no idea which of
them began this thing. Anthony met William through me, as I said.
The pair of them had this plan to hire this Dench person. Anthony
wasn’t himself then. He is rather angry you sired his heir, but
even he realizes now he needed one.”

Garret stared at Bianca. “While I can
agree the news must have not pleased him, to do murder? I am hardly
Clarissa’s first lover, or the last. She is with child again, and
it certainly isn’t mine—or his— if you speak the truth of his
condition.”

“
Anthony backed out of all
of it. He panicked when he learned of your wife and child’s
kidnapping. He said they went too far and feared he’d be
implicated. He and Will had a terrible argument one night. He
refused to have anything more to do with it after that,” the lady
explained and shrugged. “That is all I know. Whatever he intended,
he changed his mind at the last. William did everything on his own
from then on. It’s the truth. Anthony has had time to acknowledge
that keeping his mouth shut and making due is the best course. And,
he does have his heir now, thanks to you.”

“
Your stepson is quite
ambitious. He can be impressed upon to see what an asset you can be
to him socially. When he and his wife take up residence when his
father dies, you could further their way in society. I might even
go further to suggest to him it be in his best interest to continue
to support you in the style you have been accustomed to for that
reason. I might do all of this, if you start spreading more
positive gossip about my wife.” Garret stared at his former
betrothed with a pointed look. “Your survival very much depends
upon it.”