To Please A Lady (The Seduction Series) (30 page)

He’d apparently been in London for a few days, having arrived to settle matters with Ophelia. Eleanor had been so relieved to have someone else helping that she’d almost started to cry at his appearance. Yes, if anyone could help, it would be Alex.

He lifted his hand and assisted her down from the hired hack. “You’re sure you want to do this?”

“Yes.” It still hurt to move, but she ignored the pain. How could she complain when James was in prison? When she thought about what he must be going through, she could barely breathe. The frantic need to help him overwhelmed her, and she would have walked through hell merely to ease his suffering.

The laudanum Patience had forced past her lips would help dull the aches. But she limited her intake, for she wanted to keep her wits about her when she confronted Lord Beckett. Mr. Smith followed them, silent as always. He would play their guard. Already two days had gone by since James had been arrested. She was frantic to gain his release, worried about what would happen to him in that prison with no protection.

Alex had bribed a guard to find out how he fared. The man had merely grunted that he was still there, inside the filth and darkness where her husband belonged, not James. Hope was the only thing that kept her going… hope of freeing James. Hope for another life, a better life.

“Forgive me,” Alex said, “but you don’t seem… as if you’d get on with James.”

She smiled slightly as she slid her arm through his, mostly because she was still too sore to walk comfortably on her own. Underneath that polite query was the real comment… she didn’t seem like the sort of woman to visit a brothel.

“I didn’t know it at the time, but I needed him to remind me that there was a life, a world out there full of pleasure and beauty if one has the freedom to enjoy it.”

He nodded slowly, mulling over her response. Overhead, heavy gray clouds threatened rain. The dreariness matched her mood. She didn’t quite understand how the world could go on as it had when her heart was slowly being crushed, destroyed.

“And you think that by speaking with your husband you might win your freedom?”

“I have no choice but to try.” Her smile fell as the town home came into view. Her old fears came unfurling back. She clenched Alex’s arm more tightly. “I fear James may change. He was so optimistic until he uncovered the truth. Now there is a desperation in his gaze that frightens me.”

They paused at the bottom of the stoop. “I think,” Alex said, “that no matter what happens, if you still believe in him, if you still
believe in a future with him, that perhaps you can help him through.” He gave her a quick smile, his white teeth brilliant against his tanned skin. “At least it worked with me and my wife, Grace.”

The love he had for his wife was evident in his voice, in his gaze, in the way he smiled when speaking about her. Could she and James have that someday? But she knew enough to realize that she couldn’t change James if he didn’t want to change. She could only pray that the true man was still there… deep down.

Alex glanced back at the quiet Mr. Smith, then up at the black door, a door that Eleanor gone through so many times before she’d lost count. “Shall we?”

Her heart slammed wildly in her chest, and she suddenly found it hard to breathe. “Might as well get it done with.”

They started up the steps of the familiar town home, a place that she had resided in for over a decade. She was home. But it no longer felt like home. Perhaps it never had. No, it was merely a box that held memories, painful memories of a life she hadn’t wanted yet hadn’t been able to escape… until now.

“You’re sure?” Alex asked once more as they paused at the door.

“I must try,” she said softly, although inside she despaired that anything would come of her visit.

“My father—”

“No.” She rested her hand briefly upon his sleeve. Patience had admitted that Alex did not speak to his family, that his father was a powerful man who had disowned his eldest son. His younger brother didn’t even know he existed. “We can’t bring more people into this mess. My husband will only try and use them as he has used me.”

Alex nodded. Still, if worse came to worst, she was not above begging Alex to speak with his father. When he reached for the bell cord all thoughts fled and only one emotion remained… terror. She was returning to the viper’s nest.

The door opened almost immediately. Graham stood there, first glancing at her with a look of what could only be disgust,
then at Alex with unease. She had to remind herself that Alex and Mr. Smith would not let anything happen to her, but it was difficult to remember when the memories came roaring back.

“How wonderful to see you, Graham,” she snapped coolly. “Now, move aside.”

He didn’t budge. Alex stepped closer, the man taller, stronger, and younger than Graham. “You heard her, move aside or I swear to God I’ll make you.”

Graham’s jowls quivered as he shifted in indecision. “I would be happy to call for Lord Beckett.”

“Is this not my house as well? Or are Lord Beckett and I no longer married?”

He flushed and she could tell the butler wanted to set her down a peg or two. Hell, he probably wanted to toss her from the town house. But his gaze shifted to Alex, and then to Mr. Smith, and finally he stepped aside, reluctantly giving them access.

“Where is he?” she asked as she moved past the man and into the great hall. How very odd it was to return home. The marble elegance seemed cold and unforgiving. Not a touch of her personality could be found in the place where she’d lived her entire adult life. It had always been his and always would be. There would be no sadness when she left for good.

“If you are speaking of your
husband
,” Graham sneered, “Lord Beckett is in the library.”

“He’s no husband,” she hissed. How she hated his condescending tone, the way he looked down his nose at her and always had. “And you’re no gentleman. A true man does not stand by while a woman is tortured and beaten.”

He straightened, snapping his attention toward the door. “You are his wife; he is your master.”

“No one is my master. I decide my own fate.”

Alex grinned proudly as she marched past them. Even though it hurt, she kept walking, determined to see her plan through, determined
not to lean on anyone when she entered the library. She would show him he could not make her cower. She could sense Alex and Mr. Smith behind her. They would be her strength. She had little time, so very little time to free James, and this was her one opportunity. She paused on the threshold and found her husband seated behind his desk. Seeing him, she felt no fear. He was only a man, a human being who could die as well as anyone. The only thing she felt was complete and utter disgust.

Sensing her presence, Lord Beckett glanced up from his paper. He didn’t seem the least bit surprised to see her, and in fact looked only mildly amused. “Well, darling, have you come home already? Did you find you couldn’t live without your spending money?”

His arrogance was just the thing she needed to spur her into action. Lord, how she hated him. “I could live within the depths of poverty if it meant being away from you.” She swept across the room, refusing to cringe no matter how much the movement hurt her aching body. “I’ve come to seek a divorce.”

He burst out laughing, his entire body shaking so hard that the teacup upon his desk rattled on the saucer. He thought he held all the power in this relationship, and why wouldn’t he? He had before. “You must be jesting.”

“Not at all.”

His smile fell. He was silent for a long, long moment, his gaze flickering from her to Alex and Mr. Smith, who stood waiting in the hall. She knew he was attempting to understand her sudden bravado, and he weighed his words carefully. “I will kill you before I divorce you.”

From the corner of her eye she noticed Alex shift closer to the door. She prayed he did not interfere. Casually, she moved toward the fireplace, drawing her fingers along the mantel. Only she could get her husband to relent, and it would take more than the threat of physical violence.

“Think on it, husband,” she said, settling in one of two leather wing back chairs near the fireplace. She spent little time in this room, for it reeked of his essence, his scent permeated the space. “If we divorce you can marry your whore.”

“Whore?” He chuckled, strolling toward her and taking the chair next to hers. “Funny that you should mention whores.”

She refused to react, for she would merely be giving him what he wanted. “If you think to shame me, it will take more than that.”

He sighed as if bored, drumming his fingers along the arms of his chair. “Even if I wanted to ruin my family name by divorcing you, it is highly unlikely the courts will grant it.”

“Are you not the same person who said that money can get you anything?”

He chuckled. “Touché. Yes, I suppose I could pay the courts, or I could merely wait for you to die.”

It was a threat she took seriously, although she didn’t dare show any outward reaction. “And if I have a way to divorce without killing me off?”

He quirked an arrogant brow. “Oh yes, the second cousin who is related to the queen. How could I forget since your parents like to mention it every time they are in polite society?”

“It could work.”

“Perhaps.” He smiled. “But why would I grant you a divorce when I could just as easily kill you and be rid of you for good?”

“Try it,” Alex growled, stomping toward them. He’d obviously had enough, and she didn’t blame him. Part of her wanted to flee, merely to escape her husband and his odious comments. But James was counting on her, and she would walk barefoot across the fires of hell to set him free.

Eleanor held up her hand. “No, please. Give us a moment.”

“I’m not leaving,” Alex snapped.

Her husband merely watched them all with amusement sparkling in his dark eyes. Of course he didn’t understand loyalty and affection. “Wait by the door where you can still see me.”

He hesitated, glaring at her husband. Mr. Smith, too, looked ready to pounce, and she could see Graham with a few footmen standing in the foyer, waiting to be called. Dear Lord, a war was about to break out, and then she would never gain James’s release. Finally, Alex spun around and moved into the hall, Mr. Smith following.

“You will grant me a divorce.” She settled in her chair once more, her cold gaze pinning her husband in place. “Because,
darling,
I know something about you that you don’t want me to know.”

He looked only mildly interested as he leaned back in his chair. Not for a minute did he believe she had any real power. He was about to find out how much she knew. “Really? Do pray tell?”

“I know that you’ve sold vital military information to Russia.”

He retained his smirk, but she didn’t miss the unease in his eyes. The urge to gloat was overwhelming but she managed to hold her tongue. “Prove it.”

She smiled back. “That’s the thing… I can. Not only do I have papers, but I also have witnesses.” She paused, letting the realization settle. “Months ago I tracked down a few witnesses.” She shrugged. “You know… just in case I’d need them. A footman you fired. A maid you tried to seduce. They were so eager to talk to me.”

She exaggerated the information she had, but he didn’t need to know that.

He surged to his feet, his face flushing with outrage. “You bitch!”

Eleanor held up her hand. “Now, now, you don’t want to harm me, because if anything happens… say, I lose my life, the papers will go public. I have friends, you see.” She glanced toward the door. Alex had reentered, called forward by Lord Beckett’s cry of protest. Mr. Smith remained in the hall, making sure the staff did not come to her husband’s rescue. They needed to leave, and soon, for if her husband called for help, they would be outnumbered.

“So, you will grant me a divorce. Most importantly, you will drop the charges against James. If you do all this I will keep your secret.”

She’d overpowered him, she knew it and he knew it. He was silent for a long moment, too long. “You ask too much.”

“You’re a very intelligent man. I’m sure you can make it all happen.”

He seethed, his face splotchy and red, his nostrils flaring. He’d never before wanted to strike her as badly as he did in that moment, yet for once he couldn’t react.

Eleanor grinned, realizing that this is what it felt like to win. The power could easily go to her head. “What say you, my husband? What do they do to traitors nowadays? Hang them, or firing squad?”

He shook his head, sinking into his chair. “It’s too late.”

A shiver of unease rippled over her body. Ellie’s smile faded. “What do you mean?”

He smirked up at her, and she realized in that moment that she hadn’t won at all. “Your whore. He hangs in five minutes. You’ll never get there in time. It’s too late.”

Five minutes.

Five minutes and he would hang. Five minutes and his world would be over. If he was going to believe in God, he supposed he’d better start now. Yet as he stared at that door, waiting for the guards to appear and escort him outside, he found he couldn’t believe in much of anything anymore.