Unconquered (64 page)

“Then she has been kidnaped,” Jared said flatly.

“
Kidnaped?
Why would anyone kidnap Amanda?” Adrian demanded.

“Adrian, did you win much money tonight?” Jared asked abruptly.

Looking even more bewildered than he had a moment before, Adrian said, “Yes, I won more than usual. It was twenty-three thousand pounds, actually, from Prinny and the other two. What does that have to do with Amanda?”

Jared sighed and ran his long fingers through his dark hair. “It more than likely is why she was kidnaped. You were seen gambling. I saw you myself. Like as not, someone saw you winning and has taken Amanda to be ransomed. If so, she is probably safe enough, Adrian.”

Adrian was outraged. “But who would do such a thing?”

“Possibly some member of the ton who is badly in debt,” Jared explained. “They will not hurt her. You must go home, Adrian, and await a message from them. When it comes, you will inform us and we will plan our course of action.”

Adrian looked a trifle encouraged by his brother-in-law’s confident tone. “Yes,” he said. “I will go home then, and wait.”

Jared and Miranda returned to their bedchamber and she asked fearfully, “Do you really believe that someone kidnaped my sister for her husband’s gambling winnings?”

“I don’t know, but I believe that morning will bring us some answers,” he said quietly. “Come, wildcat, don’t worry. Wouldn’t you know if something had happened to her?”

“Yes, I would,” Miranda said flatly.

“Then let us try and get some rest,” he suggested.

Dawn was already beginning to stain the city skyline before either of them slept. An hour later, Miranda suddenly awoke. Jared was gone. Heedless of appearances, she walked downstairs without bothering with slippers. As she descended the stairs, a woman’s voice floated up to her.

“Jared, my poor darling! I weep for you, beloved! I am so ashamed that a member of my own sex could behave in such a disgusting, low manner.”

“I do not understand you, Belinda. What are you doing here, unchaperoned, at such an hour?”

“Oh, darling, I had to come! The moment I heard that your wife had eloped with Kit Edmund last night my heart went out to you. I realized how bitter you must be, but I want you to know that all women are not so despicable.”

Miranda continued to the bottom of the staircase. Belinda de Winter looked quite fresh for a lady who had spent most of the night dancing with the Duke of Whitley. She was wearing a lavender taffeta Bavaria pelisse robe with two lines of lilac trimming extending from her shoulders to the ankle-length hem. Matching the gown was a high-crowned Angoulême bonnet decorated with lilac silk ribbons that tied at the side.

“Good morning, Lady de Winter,” Miranda said sweetly. “What brings you to our home so early? Good news, I hope.”

The color drained from Belinda’s face. Slowly she turned around to face Miranda. “
You!
” she hissed. “What are you doing here?”

“No, no, my dear. I must ask
you
that question.” Miranda toyed with her.

“He promised me,” Belinda whispered. “He promised me!”

Jared moved across the large hallway to put an arm around the
stricken girl. “Who promised you, Belinda?” he said gently. “And what was promised you?”

“Prince Cherkessky. He was going to take your wife back for his slave, Lucas. Then I was to marry you. You were going to ask me. You were going to ask me.”

“Lucas is dead,” Miranda said weakly.

“No. He survived.”

Jared saw his wife fighting to retain control as the terrible memories assailed her.

“Alexei called you a cat,” Belinda said. “He said you had used up all of your lives. How did you escape us? How?” She was beginning to sound hysterical, but her face was still deathly pale. “They were told to take the witch from the masquerade! The fools bungled it!” An angry light came into her blue eyes. “Or did the prince betray me? I helped him to win Georgeanne and last night he received the duke’s permission to ask her to marry him. She accepted him.”

“My sister and I exchanged costumes,” Miranda said wearily. “The men hired to take me took her. You must tell us where she has been taken, Lady de Winter.”

Belinda de Winter raised her chin haughtily at Miranda. “You upstart American whore!” she snarled. “How dare you even speak to me?” She turned back to Jared and her voice was heavy with loathing. “Have you any idea the kind of woman you are married to, milord? She is a slave, a brood mare mounted by a stud. She has lain beneath another man, spreading herself to be fucked like an animal! I’ve seen him, you know. His lance is like a battering ram. She fucked him willingly. Yet you prefer her to me?

“I loved you, and I wanted to be your wife, but now I hate you! If you were a real gentleman you would prefer me to her. You are as low as your whore! Good riddance to you both!”

“Where is my sister?” Miranda demanded.

Belinda de Winter suddenly began to laugh wildly. “I won’t tell you,” she said slyly, childlike, and then before they realized what she was doing, she turned and darted out of the house, almost falling over the little tweeny who was scrubbing the front steps. Still laughing, her blue eyes focused on something no one else could see, Belinda de Winter ran into the street. There was a
shout, the screech of wheels, a high-pitched scream, and then silence.

Lord Dunham leaped the steps to the street, and helped pull Belinda from beneath the carriage. She was dead, her skull smashed.

“She run right in front of me, she did!” babbled the terrified coachman. “You seen it, sir! She run right in front of me!”

“Yes, I saw it. It was not your fault.”

“Who was she, sir? Did you know her?”

“She was Lady Belinda de Winter, and I knew her. She was not well.”

“Oh Gawd!” muttered the driver. “A toff! I’ll loose me license for sure, and then who’ll support me wife and kids?”

Jared stood up. “It’s all right. You were not to blame. As I have said, the lady was not well.” He tapped his head for emphasis.

Enlightenment dawned. “Oh, I gets you, milord. The lady was crazy as a bedbug.”

“Who is your master?” Jared asked.

“Lord Westerly,” came the reply.

“Tell your master that you have been in an accident, but that it was not your fault. Refer him to me for corroboration. I am Lord Dunham, and that is my house.”

“Thank you, milord! Thank you!”

Jared turned and walked back into his house. Simpson and two of the footmen were bringing Belinda de Winter’s body inside. The Duke and Duchess of Northampton would have to be informed immediately.

Miranda stood crying inside the hall. “We’ll never find Mandy now.”

“Cherkessky knows,” he said fiercely. “If he or any of his people have harmed the pigeon I will kill him! He cannot, of course, be allowed to announce his engagement to that innocent Georgeanne Hampton. I shall put a stop to that also.”

The Duke of Northampton was having an early breakfast in the small family dining room of Northampton House when his butler came to tell him that Lord Dunham was calling on urgent business.

Making a sound of annoyance, the duke rose from his table, tossed down his napkin, and went to his library. “Good morning,
Dunham. What’s more important than my breakfast,” he joked.

“Belinda de Winter is dead,” Jared said without any preamble.

“
What?
”

“She was part of a plot to kidnap my wife, but the plot went awry and my sister-in-law was taken instead. Belinda, not aware of the mistake, came to my house in Devon Square this morning. When she saw Miranda her mind snapped. She ran into the street, and was run down by a carriage.”

“You must be mad, Dunham! Belinda hadn’t the resources for such a complicated ploy. Besides, what was she going to do with Lady Dunham?”

“She wanted to marry me, my lord, and Miranda was in her way. Her ally was Prince Alexei Cherkessky.”

“My lord!” The duke’s face grew red with outrage. “I must beg you to be wary of what you say. Prince Cherkessky is to marry my eldest daughter Georgeanne in July. The announcement will be in the newspapers tomorrow.”

“You had best withdraw that notice, my lord,” said Jared ominously, “unless, of course, you do not mind that you are matching your daughter with the man who murdered Lady Gillian Abbott, whose wealth comes from a slave-breeding farm, and who is in disfavor with the Tzar. The man kidnaps innocent women for obscene purposes, and he wants your child only for her wealth.”

“You can prove these charges?” The Duke began to wonder if Lord Dunham was quite sane.

“I can prove all of it.”

“Let us sit down,” the Duke of Northampton sighed.

They sat themselves in two large, leather-upholstered wing chairs next to the blazing fireplace, and the duke, leaning forward, said bluntly, “I have never known you to be either rash or foolish, Lord Dunham. You are neither an idler nor a gossip, and so I am going to listen to what you have to say. Be warned, however, that if I think you are lying to me I will have you thrown out of my house.”

Lacing his fingers together, Jared began, “First, my lord of Northampton, I must have your solemn word that you will not divulge certain things that I am about to tell you. Lord Palmerston
can vouch for my veracity in some of this. Will you give me your word?” The duke nodded, and Jared told his story, beginning with his secret journey to Russia. When, close to an hour later, he had finished his story, the duke was astounded and furious.

“When my wife returned home she told us—her sister, Lord Swynford and me—what had happened. You see, we could do nothing without exposing Miranda to shame and ridicule. The ton would not easily forget such a scandal, and Miranda’s life would have been made unbearable as long as we remained in London. You can understand what it is like for us, knowing what Miranda has lived through and being able to do nothing. We wanted to warn you because of your child, but we could not do so.”

The duke nodded. The thought that he had almost entrusted his favorite daughter to a monster shook him to his core. Finally he found his voice. “I do not understand how Belinda is involved, Dunham. Will you enlighten me, please?”

“Frankly I am not entirely sure myself. Somehow she found out what had really happened to my wife, and ingratiated herself with Cherkessky. She told us she helped him by convincing your daughter of the prince’s devotion and suitability. In return he was to capture my wife again and remove her back to Russia. It was to appear as if Miranda eloped with young Edmund. I haven’t even had time yet to see if he was taken, but if he too was kidnaped then I believe he is in mortal danger.

“This morning, Belinda appeared at my house babbling that she had heard the shocking news of my wife’s elopement with Kit Edmund. She begged me quite prettily not to hold all womankind responsible for the despicable acts of one woman. When Miranda came down the stairs and Belinda saw her, she went completely to pieces. I believe she went quite mad. I am very sorry.”

After a pause, the duke shook off his thoughts of Belinda and said, “Of course I cannot have Georgeanne marrying Cherkessky. But what am I to tell my wife? She will want a good explanation, Dunham. She has quite set her heart upon a prince for Georgeanne, and the Duke of Whitley for Belinda. What am I to tell her?” he repeated.

“My wife has told me,” said Jared, “that the prince’s half-brother
was also his lover. I do not imagine that the leopard has changed his spots simply because he is visiting England. Tell your wife that you have discovered that the prince enjoys men for lovers as well as women. In view of this disturbing fact you cannot possibly entrust little Georgeanne to him. If your wife is still reluctant to give up the prince, tell her that his wealth was lost when his estates in the Crimea were destroyed. Tell her he is in disfavor with the Tzar. And tell her that his wealth came from raising slaves, not vegetables. Remember, my lord, you are the head of your house, not your wife.”

“What will you do, Lord Dunham? How will you find sweet Lady Swynford?”

“I shall go to Prince de Lieven. He is the Tzar’s ambassador, and will certainly want to avoid a scandal. He will force Prince Cherkessky to tell us where Amanda has been taken.”

The two men stood and shook hands. “I cannot thank you enough, Lord Dunham. You have saved my child from a nightmare. God only knows how he would have treated her once they were back in St. Petersburg. I will arrange to have Belinda’s body removed from your house as quickly as possible.”

“I think it would be wise to say that Lady de Winter had come to bid my wife and me farewell, for we are soon going home to America. That should explain her being in Devon Square this morning, and avoid any scandal.”

The Duke of Northampton nodded his agreement. “Indeed, we must avoid the taint of scandal for the sake of the ladies.”

Jared Dunham left Northampton House and directed Martin to the residence of Prince and Princess de Lieven. They were still sleeping, but Jared convinced their butler of the urgency of the matter, and shortly both de Lievens appeared in their morning room where Jared waited. Once more the lord of Wyndsong Manor told his story, and as he spoke Prince de Lieven’s face grew darker and darker, while his beautiful wife first grew pale and then began to look angry.

When Jared had finished Prince de Lieven said furiously, “It is unthinkable that Cherkessky should be allowed to get away with this! I will, of course, send for him immediately and demand the whereabouts of Lady Swynford. As for what he has done to your wife, I understand your desire to keep the matter a private one. She has a magnificent and unconquerable spirit,
Lord Dunham.” The Prince sighed. “This is not the first time Cherkessky has done something like this. Remember when we were in Berlin several years ago, Dariya?”

“Yes, two girls disappeared from Baron Brandtholm’s estate. He denied it, of course, but they had been seen entering his carriage. He paid the baron an indemnity—goodwill, I believe he said—and still denied taking them. Then, in St. Petersburg three years ago, there was the matter of Princess Tumanova’s governess. She was the love child of the Duc de Longchamps, you know. I cannot help but wonder what happened to her.”