Pleasure Me (42 page)

With a shake of her head, she silently rejected their fears. Garrick had been furious yesterday. She understood that. He’d believed she’d betrayed him. Something she’d promised she’d never do, and yet Tremaine had deliberately blamed her, and in an effort to protect Garrick, she’d remained silent.

She had gladly borne that burden, in exchange holding Tremaine to his bargain with her and keeping him from announcing Garrick’s secret to the world. But she was certain Garrick hadn’t killed Tremaine. He wouldn’t have done such a thing. It wasn’t in his nature.

“No. He couldn’t have. I know—” She didn’t get to finish as Simmons entered the room.

“My lady, an Inspector Cooper is here to see you.” The butler stepped to one side to allow a tall, gangly man in a brown tweed coat to enter the room. The inspector bowed in their direction.

“Lady Ruth?” His gaze flitted back and forth between her and Allegra. Struggling to maintain her composure, she stood up to face the man.

“Inspector.” She nodded in his direction. “How may I help you?”

“I’m here about Lord Tremaine’s murder.” The words made her hands cold and clammy as she clasped them in front of her.

“My friends were just telling me the terrible news.” She gestured toward Allegra and the earl. “May I present the Earl and Countess of Pembroke.”

The inspector offered her friends a bow before his cool gaze shifted back to her. “Forgive me, my lady, but may we talk in private?”

“I have nothing to hide from my friends, so ask whatever questions you like.”

“As you wish, my lady.” The inspector sent her a calculating look. “As I said, I’m investigating the murder of Lord Tremaine. I suppose your friends have informed you that Lord Stratfield has been arrested in connection with the case.”

“Yes.” A voice in the back of her mind whispered for her to remain calm and in control. “Although I’m sure you’ve made a mistake in doing so.”

“I spoke with Mr. Millstadt about the matter first thing this morning. One of the orphans at St. Agnes’s indicated that the gentleman visited the orphanage yesterday afternoon. About the same time Lord Tremaine and Lord Stratfield were there.” The man eyed her carefully.

“Yes, he did. Lord Tremaine called first. Lord Stratfield arrived a short time later. Mr. Millstadt arrived just as Lord Stratfield was leaving.”

“Yes, that’s Millstadt’s story as well, although he says that Stratfield threatened Lord Tremaine.” The inspector’s stoic manner unnerved her slightly, but she managed to maintain her composure.

“I can assure you that it was an empty threat. Mr. Millstadt arrived at the end of the conversation. He didn’t hear the threats Lord Tremaine made.”

“Ah yes, the gossip column in
Town Talk
this morning.” The policeman nodded with understanding. “An excellent motive for murder, wouldn’t you say, my lady?”

“If the column is true,” she said coldly at the man’s snide tone. “But Lord Stratfield didn’t kill Lord Tremaine.”

“Do you have proof of that, my lady? Because as of right now his lordship doesn’t have an alibi.” The words made her heart race, and her mouth went dry as her fingers ached from the way she was clasping them so tightly.

“Is that what he told you?”

Her heart raced as she realized what she was about to do. In the past, every fashionable home of the Set had welcomed her. But that was about to end. Talk of her liaisons had been just that—talk. It was one thing for gossip to occur, but to openly admit to an affair was unacceptable. It was social ruin. She no longer cared. It would most likely make a difference in her ability to ensure donations to St. Agnes’s didn’t subside, but Garrick’s life was at stake. She’d find a new way to encourage people to donate to the orphanage. All that mattered was Garrick’s safety. She was willing to do whatever it took to ensure his freedom.

“Actually, my lady, he said he spent the night walking the streets.”

“A logical answer if he was protecting someone.”

“Protecting someone, my lady?” For the first time, the inspector displayed puzzlement.

“Yes. He was protecting me,” she said as she heard the sounds of surprise and shock behind her. In seconds, Allegra was at her side, grasping her hand.

“Ruth, we know Garrick is innocent. We’ll find some other way to prove it. He wouldn’t want you to sacrifice yourself like this for his sake.” Her friend squeezed Ruth’s hand, but she shook off Allegra’s grasp and kept her gaze firmly locked with the inspector’s look of assessment.

“Lord Stratfield was with me from approximately eight o’clock last night until the morning’s first light,” she lied with a quiet firmness that amazed her. “Naturally, you understand this is not something I would willingly admit in polite society, but I sincerely doubt Lord Stratfield had time to kill anyone because he was busy pleasuring me.”

“And you have others who can corroborate this, my lady?” Cooper’s eyes narrowed at her as he tried to determine whether she was lying. The silence in the room pushed its way into her as she realized she might not have managed to save Garrick at all.

“I can, Inspector.” Simmons’s voice was like thunder in the stillness of the room. As the inspector jerked his head toward the butler, Ruth sagged slightly until Allegra’s fingers pressed into the back of her arm. She straightened her shoulders and calmly met the policeman’s gaze as he turned back to study her with a narrowed gaze.

“You do realize the penalty for providing misleading information to Scotland Yard is quite severe, my lady?”

“Not nearly as severe as the penalty the Set is going to extract from me the moment it’s learned that I openly confessed to Lord Stratfield sharing my bed, Inspector.”

“This presents somewhat of a problem for me,” the investigator grumbled.

“I see no problem.” Ruth nodded toward Simmons. “You have my word and that of my butler that Lord Stratfield was here all last night. It’s obvious his lordship couldn’t have killed Tremaine.”

“Perhaps, but there’s the question of his ring.”

“His ring?” Ruth’s heart skipped a frantic beat.

“Yes, my lady.” The policeman frowned, clearly baffled. “Lord Stratfield’s signet ring was found in Lord Tremaine’s hand at the crime scene. It’s a clear link to his lordship.”

Ruth stiffened her body as she fought not to collapse under the strain of lying to the authorities. Think—there had to be an explanation for the ring. She just couldn’t think straight.

“If I may, Inspector. Lord Stratfield was attacked several weeks ago and his personal effects stolen.” Simmons’s quiet explanation made Ruth briefly close her eyes in relief.

“My butler is correct,” she said in a firm voice. “His lordship was beaten severely and remained incapacitated for almost a week.”

“So there’s a police record of this?”

“Yes, and you may ask Lord Worthington about the incident as he’s the one who found Lord Stratfield and brought him here that night.”

“Is there a doctor who can testify to his lordship’s injuries?” The inspector sounded suspicious still, and she shook her head.

“Simmons served in the army as a medic, and was more than qualified to take care of Lord Stratfield.”

“I see.” The inspector scowled his displeasure as he saw his openand-shut murder case evaporating into thin air. “This does put a different light on things. However, it still doesn’t address what Mr. Millstadt heard yesterday when he arrived at the orphanage. Why did Lord Stratfield threaten Lord Tremaine?”

The question made Ruth hesitate as she met the inspector’s narrowed gaze. God, would the man never stop asking these questions? She shrugged.

“Lord Tremaine was threatening to blackmail Lord Stratfield. He’d already blackmailed me to assist him in his extortion of the baron.”

“And what was Lord Tremaine threatening the baron with?”

An icy chill skated over her skin as she turned toward the chair where the morning’s paper had dropped to the floor. Lord Pembroke quickly reached for it then handed it to the inspector. Ruth sent him a silent look of gratitude then pointed toward the horrible paragraph she’d read earlier.

“Lord Tremaine had discovered that Lord Stratfield has a . . . a birth defect of a sensitive nature.”

“It says here that the Lady R. provided this information to the paper.” The investigator eyed her suspiciously. “Is that a reference to you?”

“Yes. When Lord Stratfield refused to agree to Tremaine’s demands, the viscount threatened his family. Lord Stratfield warned Lord Tremaine against doing anything of the kind, and it was at that moment that Mr. Millstadt entered the office.”

“I see.” The officer rubbed his jaw in contemplation. “It appears that there is more to this than I realized. I trust you’ll make yourself available for more questioning, my lady.”

“Of course.”

“Very well,” the inspector said with a nod of his head as he turned toward the door. He’d reached the threshold when he suddenly turned around. “You said Tremaine was blackmailing you, my lady. Might I inquire what he was holding over you?”

The question sent a bolt of panic slicing through her. If she told the man the truth, he might see through her lie about Garrick being with her last night. No, Simmons had attested to Garrick’s presence here as well. She swallowed hard as she met the calculating look in the man’s eyes.

“Lord Tremaine knew I was privy to Lord Stratfield’s private physical condition, and the man threatened to make the matter public record, if I didn’t help him in his attempt to blackmail the baron.” She took in a deep breath as the investigator arched an eyebrow. “Lord Tremaine knew I was in love with Lord Stratfield. He was certain I’d agree to do his bidding to protect the baron and his secret. He was right. I gave in to his coercion.”

Cooper eyed her in silence for a long moment, before he nodded his head. “Thank you, my lady, for your cooperation. I’ll be in touch.”

With that, the man was gone from the room, and Simmons followed him, the salon door closing behind him. For a long moment, Ruth stood looking after him. He was gone. Garrick would be safe. With Simmons and her giving him an alibi, he’d be safe. Free. From a distance, she heard Allegra say her name then say something sharp to Lord Pembroke. A moment later, she fell into a strong embrace.

“Garrick,” she whispered as she fainted.

“When was the last time you ate something?”

The quiet question made Garrick straighten upright as Lily entered his office. With a surreptitious movement of his hand, he pushed aside the copy of
Town Talk
he’d been studying.

“Cook sent in some cold cuts earlier.”

His sister went to the table where the covered lunch tray sat. When she lifted the silver cover it revealed the untouched meal. Lily turned her head and glared at him. He offered her a shrug. He’d not been hungry, despite the fact that he’d eaten little in the past two weeks.

The cover made a sharp sound as Lily placed it back on the tray in an obvious display of frustration. A moment later, she was reaching over the desk for the newspaper. Obviously his effort to hide what he’d been doing had been for nothing. He caught her wrist to stop her.

“Leave it,” he rasped.

“You need to let it go.”

“She betrayed me.”

The quiet words emphasized the icy contempt he felt as he released his sister and pressed his fingertips into the top of his desk. Lily didn’t flinch under his cold stare.

“I don’t believe that, Garrick. You know good and well the
Town Talk
will print anything from any source they have. Anyone could have told the paper about your . . . condition.”

Garrick didn’t even flinch at his sister’s slight hesitation or the light pink that crested in her face. He’d neither confirmed nor refuted the paper’s claims, and Lily’s reaction was the one he expected everyone in the Marlborough Set to have if he ever ventured out into public again. All of which he owed to Ruth. He grimaced.

It didn’t matter now. Murder accusations had a way of making one prioritize what was important. But deep inside he knew it did matter. Worse, it hurt like hell. He clenched his jaw at Lily’s continued persistence in pleading Ruth’s case. His sister had always taken up lost causes, but Ruth was not one he was willing to let Lily browbeat him with.

“You don’t even like the woman, and yet you defend her.”

“I’ve misjudged her. She’s done a great deal for Caring Hearts, all without my asking. And it’s obvious the children of St. Agnes’s mean the world to her.” Lily shook her head as he snorted his disgust. “That is not the description of a woman cruel enough to submit such venomous tripe to
Town Talk
.”

“Then she’s fooled you, like she fooled me. If she weren’t guilty, she would have said something while that bastard tried to blackmail me. She betrayed me. It’s as simple as that.”

“The viscount could have easily delivered a note to the newspaper
before
he was murdered. Have you sent Blackstone to see if the paper will say who
did
leave the note?”

“It doesn’t matter who delivered the note. She told Tremaine.”

“Why are you so determined to believe the worst of her? You sound as though she’s broken your—good Lord. You’re in love with her.”

“This conversation is over, Lily. Don’t say another word.”

“Why?” His sister gave an unladylike snort of irritation. “Because you say so?”

“Yes, goddamn it.” He slammed his fist onto the desk. The resounding crash filled the office. At least Lily had the good sense to jump with surprise before she sniffed in a dismissive manner.

“If you’re in love with her, you should at least try to hear her side.”

“I heard her side,” he growled. “She said nothing.”

“Even if she told Tremaine truth or fiction, it doesn’t mean she gave the information to
Town Talk
. You should worry about who tried to frame you for Tremaine’s murder!” his sister exclaimed with frustration. “And I certainly don’t think the Lady Ruth fits that mold.”