The Most to Lose (25 page)

The carriage came to a halt in front of Hadleigh Manor, and they disembarked. The ride home from the assembly dance had been pleasant, primarily because Amanda and her brother avoided talking to each other.

Celie attributed their lack of combative natures to the fact that Amanda had enjoyed herself so much. And to the fact that she’d danced so much she was exhausted.

Celie wanted to laugh. The difference she saw in her friend here compared to how she behaved in London was remarkable. It was as if she were determined to leave her mark on the male population, whereas in London she was determined to avoid being noticed. Celie couldn’t help but wonder why.

Jonah bid them all a good night, then left to return to Haywood Abbey. When he was out of sight, she entered the manor house with Amanda and Hadleigh.

“May I speak with you a moment before you retire, Cecelia?” Hadleigh said when they’d given their cloaks and gloves to the butler.

“It can’t wait until morning, Hadleigh?”

“No. It’s important.”

“Very well.”

“I’ll bid you both a good night, then,” Amanda said as she walked up the stairs to her room.

Celie followed her brother into his study and sat in the chair in front of his desk. He closed the door, then sat in the chair that used to be their father’s and now belonged to her brother.

“Is something wrong, Hadleigh?”

“Yes, Cecelia, something is wrong.”

Her brother pushed around some papers on the desk, then leveled her with a serious expression.

“I received some disturbing news today that you need to be aware of.”

“I assume this news involves Lord Haywood.”

“You assume correctly.”

Before she could inform him she didn’t want to hear anything negative about Jonah, he raised his hand and stopped her.

“I already know you probably won’t believe anything I have to say, but I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t at least make you aware of what I discovered.”

Celie sighed loud enough that her brother couldn’t miss her frustration. “Very well, Hadleigh. What have you discovered that I need to know?”

“I received a message from my solicitor today informing me of the astronomical amount of money Haywood has spent to restore Haywood Abbey.”

“Why does that surprise you, Hadleigh? You knew he intended to make major improvements to Haywood Abbey.”

“He’s using
your
money, Cecelia.”

“Of course he is. He’s using money from my dowry to make improvements to Haywood Abbey because it will be my home when we marry.”

“
If
you marry. Haywood hasn’t asked for your hand yet.”

“He will. You know he will.”

“I know nothing of the sort. What disturbs me even more is that he has charged all the bills for the repairs to his home to me!”

Celie stopped. “To you?”

“Yes, to me! Instead of putting the bills in his name so he can pay them with the money from your dowry, he expects me to cover them. I know you don’t understand what this means—”

“Yes, Hadleigh,” she interrupted. “I understand what this means. It means that if he doesn’t ask to marry me, or if you would refuse his offer, he won’t get my dowry. If that happens,
you
will be responsible for paying for the repairs to Haywood Abbey.”

“Yes, Cecelia. That’s exactly what it means.”

Celie felt her world shift beneath her. “Why did the merchants think you would cover Jonah’s debts? Why didn’t your solicitor refuse them?”

“Because of you, Cecelia. Because all of London knows Haywood has been courting you. Everyone already believes the two of you will marry and he will get your dowry. Not only every merchant in London, but my solicitor as well. He didn’t consider that there was anything inappropriate about the bills, since he knew I would want the house you lived in after your wedding to be in the best condition possible.”

For several moments, Celie couldn’t move. Her mind spun with possibilities for what had happened. One question refused to go away. Why did Jonah expect her brother to pay for the improvements to Haywood Abbey? What made him think Hadleigh would cover his debts? He knew how much Hadleigh disliked him. He knew what Hadleigh’s reaction would be when he discovered what Jonah had done. But by then it would be too late. How would Hadleigh look if he refused to assist the man who was courting his sister?

Celie broke out in a sweat. Hadleigh would appear like a miserly bully when society discovered that he wouldn’t loan money to the man his sister intended to marry when in time he’d receive her dowry and be able to pay him back.

She couldn’t believe Jonah would do something so horrible, but he must have. Hadleigh wouldn’t lie to her.

“I’m sure Haywood has a valid reason for putting his bills in your name, Hadleigh. We’ll ask him when he arrives in the morning.”

Her brother shoved the papers to the side of his desk and looked at her. “I sincerely hope so, Cecelia. I sincerely hope so. Now, go to bed. It’s late and we want to get an early start in the morning.”

Celie rose on shaky legs and walked behind the desk to kiss her brother on this cheek. “I know there’s a reason, Hadleigh. There has to be.”

Celie bade her brother good night, then went to her room. She would go to bed, but she knew she wouldn’t sleep.

Why would Jonah have done such a thing? What possible reason could there have been?

She couldn’t wait until morning to discover what he had to say. But the doubts grew larger with every step she took.

Chapter 18

J
onah rode up the lane to Hadleigh Manor and took in the sight before him. The servants were busy loading trunks onto a wagon for their return trip to London. In front of the luggage wagon was a cart to transport the staff members traveling with them. In front of that was the carriage emblazoned with the Hadleigh crest.

Jonah smiled when he thought of the return trip to London. He was glad he wouldn’t be confined with both Hadleigh and Lady Amanda. He was certain that one of them would be charged with murder by the time they reached London.

Jonah dismounted near the house and handed the reins to a footman. Hadleigh’s butler held the door open, and he went inside. Loud voices assaulted him the minute the door closed behind him.

He walked to the morning room and leaned a shoulder against the doorjamb. The conversation inside was too humorous to interrupt, so he waited quietly so as not to give away his presence.

“I think you’ve said enough, Amanda.”

“But, Celie, you’ve heard His Grace say more than once that if I were
his
sister, he’d purchase a ticket for me on the next ship leaving England. He’s never had a more perfect opportunity to make good on his threat.”

“She’s not serious, Hadleigh.” Celie glared at Amanda. “Amanda, behave yourself.”

“Very well, if you insist.” Amanda crossed her arms over her chest and sat still. “I’ll just sit here and make out my last will and testament. Take your time, Your Grace.”

The Duke of Hadleigh gave Amanda the most scorching look Jonah had ever seen him give anyone. Perhaps if Lady Amanda would just look a little contrite, his expression might soften. But she seemed unaffected by his glare.

“May I be of assistance?” he said, stepping into the room.

“Lord Haywood,” Celie greeted with a smile. “You’ve arrived.”

“Just in time, from the sound of it.”

Jonah greeted Lady Amanda with a nod, then moved to Celie and took her hands in his. He released her hands when he noticed the smile on her face fade. “Is something wrong?”

“I need to speak to you.”

“Very well. We can go—”

She shook her head. “Later.”

He nodded, then walked to the fireplace.

A low fire burned in the grate. Even though it wasn’t terribly cold at this time of year, the rooms in the larger homes still needed a fire to take the chill from the air.

He leaned an elbow against the mantel and lifted his gaze to where Hadleigh stood opposite him. The expression on his face looked murderous.

“Am I interrupting something, Hadleigh?”

The narrowing of his eyes didn’t bode well.

“Don’t patronize me, Haywood. I’ve taken all the verbal abuse I’ll tolerate for one day.”

“I see you and Lady Amanda have been discussing politics again.”

“The lady doesn’t discuss. She preaches. And criticizes. And insults. The arguments in the House will seem calm after the tumultuous time I’ve spent in the country.”

Jonah shifted his focus to Celie. It was obvious she was as upset as her brother.

“I assume, then, that you’re ready to depart.”

Hadleigh pushed away from the mantel. “Yes. We were waiting for your arrival.”

Jonah walked to the sofa and helped Celie to her feet, then assisted Lady Amanda. He escorted them to the foyer where they readied themselves for the several hours’ trip to London.

He knew Celie intended to allow Lady Amanda and her brother to leave first so they would have a moment of privacy. He stayed with her on the veranda while her brother and Amanda walked down the steps.

Before they reached the bottom, a bullet shot past them and slammed into one of the stone columns near where he stood.

Hadleigh pushed Lady Amanda back up the stairs and toward the house, but before he could make his way up the steps, a second shot hit the bricks to his right. He halted halfway between Jonah and the gunman.

“No one move,” Jonah said, then pushed Celie and Lady Amanda behind him.

He looked to the side of the steps where a small, fragile-looking lady dressed in black mourning garb stood. Even though a dark netting covered her face, he knew immediately it was the Marchioness of Kendall. The blood in his veins ran ice cold.

He should have realized the night of the assembly ball that grief had robbed Lady Kendall of her grasp on sanity, that she was the one who had fired at them when they’d arrived.

He knew why she was here. He knew there would be no reasoning with her. She wanted someone to pay for her daughter’s death. And that someone was going to be him.

Hadleigh stepped forward. “Lady Kendall? What a pleasure to see you.”

“I’ve come to do what you promised you’d do, Your Grace. And have not.”

She waved the gun in her hand, and Jonah attempted to push Lady Amanda and Celie closer to the house. He needed to protect them. He needed to protect Celie.

Hadleigh held out his hand in an effort to intervene. “You don’t want to harm anyone, Lady Kendall. Why don’t you come inside and rest for a few minutes? We can have tea and—”

“Liar!”

The color left Hadleigh’s face. “Please, Lady Kendall. If you’ll come inside, you and I can talk about this. I’m sure you’ll feel better once you hear what I have to—”

“No! You promised you’d make him pay for killing my Melisande. You promised you’d ruin him! You lied!”

“I didn’t lie to you, Lady Kendall. Melisande’s death will be avenged. I promise you it will.”

“No, it won’t. You’ve already forgotten her.” She waved the gun. “He killed her, and you promised on her grave you would ruin him!”

“I will! It will happen!”

“I thought you loved her. But you didn’t. No one loved her as I did.”

“I did!”

Hadleigh’s voice rang out with heartache and pain. The raw agony of his words shattered the quiet country air, as if Melisande’s death had occurred yesterday instead of three years ago.

At that single moment, Jonah knew any indication that Hadleigh had recovered from Melisande’s death had been an act. He’d tolerated Jonah’s presence to give him a false sense of camaraderie. He’d given him a deceptive impression of goodwill so Jonah wouldn’t realize he had set a trap to ruin him. And Jonah had walked into it without hesitating.

The unrestrained anger in Hadleigh’s voice told him what a fool he’d been. The hostile expression on Hadleigh’s face outlined the bitterness that still ate away at him three years after Melisande’s death.

With those two words, Hadleigh revealed his plan for revenge.

The plan was brilliant. As perfect as any plan he could have devised. And he’d used the one person Jonah would never suspect as the pawn to lure Jonah to his destruction.

A pain more intense than the near-fatal wound he’d endured in the war sliced through his body, then lodged in his heart. He thought of the hurt Celie would endure. The betrayal. All at her brother’s hands.

He inched back, praying she and Lady Amanda were close enough to get inside. But when Lady Kendall noticed him move, she lifted her hand and pointed her gun to where Celie stood.

“Lady Kendall.” He lifted his hands in surrender and took a step toward her. “I’m the one you want. Let Hadleigh and the ladies go inside. You and I can—”

Her laughter startled him. It wasn’t the humorous sound of someone enjoying a good joke or the easy sound of someone conversing with friends, but the demented cackle of an individual far beyond the fringes of sanity.

“You think I want you, Lord Haywood? You think your death will make up for my Melisande’s death? No! I want you to live your life after you’ve lost someone who’s important to you.”

“No!” Hadleigh’s bellow startled them all to silence. “No! You can’t mean this!”