Wicked Proposition (55 page)

Thomas backed away, hands outstretched. “Let us
be reasonable, Miss Sinclair.”

“No, I think not,” Elise said tightly, her eyes
flat with little emotion. “You killed the only family I ever had,
and destroyed so many lives, it is fitting I see you in Hell.”

###

Tieghan stood stunned as he arrived on the scene
and listened to Miss Hamilton’s speech, realizing at once she was
not Miss Hamilton at all.

Tieghan approached silently, knowing should the
woman shoot Sullivan as she meant to, all would be lost. His pale
eyes took in the scene grimly.

Elise held the gun on Thomas, who was but eight
feet from her. Her hand neither shook, nor wavered, and was pointed
at his heart.

“Put the gun down, Miss Sinclair,” Tieghan said
warningly as he stepped out of the shadows.

Thomas eyed the man gratefully. Elise hardly
wavered, a bitter smile on her lips.

“Goodbye, Mr. Sullivan,” Elise said calmly and
pointed the gun at his head then, firing only once. The bullet hit
Thomas squarely between the eyes. He wore a look of surprise as he
crumpled to the ground.

Tieghan cursed as he saw the woman had indeed
killed Sullivan. She backed away now, her gun trained on him. He
would have said something, but he heard voices and running feet
approaching. Elise met his gaze sorrowfully.

“Let me go, Tieghan,” Elise warned as she backed
away. “This doesn’t involve you.”

“They will catch you, Elise.”

She smiled sadly as she heard him use her
name.

“You heard everything? You know who I am?”

“It is obvious you are not Miss Hamilton, or
Catherine’s maid,” he observed sourly. “Put the gun down. We will
talk.”

“I think not, Teighan,” Elise replied tightly.
“I have done what I came to do. I will leave you now. Do not try to
stop me.”

The woman wasted little time in turning and
running. Teighan knew he should pursue her, but he also knew her
identity. His heart rebelled to know it was Elise, his Elise.

Elise was Madeline Sinclair’s sister. She
arrived in London to avenge herself upon Sullivan. He felt regret
to know they had not anticipated any other players in this.

Now Sullivan was dead. Their only tie to
incriminating Lady Iverleigh lay dead at his feet. Teighan faded
back into the shadows as footmen and other servants came running.
He made his way out of the gardens and slid back into the ball
room.

Nicholas was grim-faced as Teighan approached,
seeing the noblemen now running out onto the terrace. He heard the
shot as everyone else had.

“Sullivan is dead,” Tieghan informed them with
regret. “Miss Hamilton is actually Madeline Sinclair’s sister. She
shot Sullivan and ran.”

Nicholas felt Catherine tense at his side. “I
guess we can conclude Madeline Sinclair is also dead now.”

“Yes, she said the woman was killed to make it
look like Catherine was dead. Sullivan confirmed it. She shot him
and got away.”

“How is it she got away at all, Tieghan?”
Nicholas fumed.

“I let her go,” Tieghan replied with a glint in
his pale eyes. “She won’t get far. Our man at the docks will alert
us if she tries to sail.”

The pandemonium within the ball room cut off the
rest of their conversation as it was announced the party was over.
The Billingsley’s retreated to deal with the magistrate.

Nicholas could see Lilly and Lord Lyndon were
making for the door. He glared at Tieghan.

“We have lost the one person who could
incriminate her for the murders.”

“Yes, it would appear we have,” Tieghan said
glumly.

“Can you tell me why you saw fit to let Miss
Whoever-She-Is go, Tieghan?”

“I know who she is,” he replied and looked
dismayed. “It was Elise.”

Nicholas and Catherine looked horrified.

“My maid did this?” Catherine croaked, paling to
think the girl she hired had been involved the whole time.

“She is Elise Sinclair, Madeline’s sister,”
Tieghan announced quietly and looked away from Nicholas’s accusing
stare. “She came to London to kill the man.”

“How did you know?”

“I didn’t know until she shot the man,” Tieghan
grumbled. “She had a gun on me. She admitted who she was.”

“We need to leave before we are kept here all
night answering questions,” Nicholas said with a scowl.

Catherine followed her husband and Teighan to
the exit of the ballroom. She saw Lord Iverleigh was fast
approaching, his face tense.

“Keep walking, Catherine,” Nicholas warned
softly at her side. “We need to get home, now!”

“Nicholas, a word if you please,” Gabriel
growled as he approached, looking furious.

“Meet us at my house. Right now I would like to
get out of here before this place is crawling with runners,
Gabriel.”

Gabriel nodded and went to collect Mrs.
Hart.

When they were in the carriage, Catherine
shivered as she met her husband’s worried gaze.

“Then it is over?” she said numbly, her heart
clenching at his grim expression. “She will get away with what she
has done?”

Tieghan stared out the window, staying
silent.

“Sullivan was the only link to her,” Nicholas
said in regret. “I’m sorry, Catherine.”

She bit back tears and nodded. “I knew it was
too much to hope that she would pay for what she has done to my
family.”

“We still seek the midwife, Catherine!”

“And what if she is dead too?” Catherine cried
and tears brightened her gaze.

“We will find her.”

Catherine was miserable during the ride home,
her thoughts centered upon her maid’s deception. Knowing Elise Grey
was Elise Sinclair came as a shock.

She peered over at Tieghan, seeing he was as
notably grim as her husband.

“Tieghan, she had every right to do as she did,”
Catherine said softly. “Justice was met this night, even if mine is
to be denied.”

“You are very generous, Catherine,” Tieghan
replied and shook his head. “It is my fault. When I caught her
stealing from Eric and Dane, I should have exposed her at once. She
is not even a blonde, but a redhead. She wears wigs.”

Nicholas grinned maddeningly to hear this,
earning a scowl from his friend.

“Miss Grey is just full of surprises,” Nicholas
remarked in amusement, seeing Teighan squirm and delighting in it.
“Yes, your obvious interest in Miss Grey might have impeded your
judgment this one time.”

“You are enjoying this,” Tieghan accused.

“I am just recalling a similar situation, my
friend,” he said with a smile. “I would caution you to refrain from
making any rash judgments about Miss Sinclair until you know all
the facts.”

Tieghan remained silent, his pale gaze narrowing
at his words.

They arrived home and Tieghan verified Elise had
indeed gone. Her things were gone in her room. None of the other
servants saw her coming or going. He was obviously upset when he
joined Nicholas in his study.

Catherine had gone to bed.

Gabriel arrived and looked furious as he joined
them. His dark eyes were spitting wrath as he shut the door to the
study. He allowed Tieghan to explain the situation before he went
off.

“This is just marvelous, Nicholas!” he fumed
angrily. “Now what do you suggest we do?”

“Sullivan’s death presents problems, but I am
still determined to see Lilly pay for what she did to
Catherine.”

“How do you propose to do that? He was the only
witness she had anything to do with it!” Gabriel snapped and was
grateful when Tieghan handed him a brandy snifter. “And you!” he
railed as he eyed Teighan in disgust. “You let the woman go? This
is just wonderful!”

“Chumley might be able to help us find Elise
Sinclair,” Nicholas offered and shrugged. “It would appear we have
nothing now.”

Gabriel looked like he had been kicked to think
his wife would get away with everything. He was livid when he took
his leave. Nicholas knew how he felt. He shared his
frustration.

They had investigated Sullivan for two years.
Instead of arresting him, as Gabriel wanted, they held off for
Nicholas’s benefit. In the space of one hour, they lost the only
witness to corroborate Lilly’s involvement.

Gabriel was too furious to even listen to
reason.

Nicholas regarded Teighan wearily after Gabriel
left. “It is quite a mess, my friend.”

Tieghan agreed, thinking he would like to get
his hands upon Elise. What had she been thinking? His thoughts were
in a clamor now, realizing the woman he had begun to have feelings
for was a con artist from Dublin.

To make matters worse, she was in the same group
of individuals that helped Sullivan fleece Catherine’s father and
many others. His pale eyes glittered to think of what he would do
when he found her.

“We need the midwife now, more than ever,”
Nicholas said and rubbed his eyes. “Tomorrow I want you, Eric, and
Dane to comb every area of town in search of this woman. She has to
be found.”

“I’m sorry, Nicholas,” Teighan said tightly,
unable to meet his eyes. “This is my fault.”

“Now you know how I felt when I found all that
evidence against Catherine, my friend,” he allowed. “Hold off on
judgment Teighan.”

“She killed the man in front of me! I think it
is rather obvious she is not the gentle noblewoman I thought her,
or the snooty maid I was bedding!”

“Sullivan ruined many lives, Tieghan,” Nicholas
said angrily, eyes flaring. “I wish I had killed the man a long
time ago!”

“I will find her if it is the last I do.”

“For now, we have other problems.”

Nicholas was left alone as Teighan retired. He
heard his brothers arrive home, and could tell they had been
carousing as they made their way up the stairs, much bumping and
scraping against the walls as they clambered up the stairs.

He reviewed the night with dismay. Sullivan was
dead, and with him the secrets that bound him and Lilly together.
She would be pleased, he thought. The one person who knew of her
guilt was gone, saving her even the trouble of killing him now. He
felt waves of desolation for his wife, knowing the justice
Catherine needed was to be denied.

Gabriel brushed past Dunstan and demanded his
wife be brought down immediately. He fumed as he waited in his
study. He had hardly slept all night. Knowing Sullivan was dead had
ended any hope he could at last be rid of Lillianne.

Lilly arrived looking mildly amused. She was
dressed in a pale, blue silk morning gown, and seemed unperturbed
by his presence so early in the morning.

“Good morning, my love,” she said gaily as she
saw his dark scowl. “Did you come to see me off properly before I
am banished to Amberley?”

“Edward Thornton was killed last night,
Lillianne.”

His wife hardly betrayed herself by her
expression. “How dreadful, poor Edward, did they catch the fiend
that did it?”

“No more of your lies, Lillianne!” Gabriel raged
as he advanced on her. “We both know he wasn’t Edward Thornton, but
Thomas Sullivan!”

“Ah, so you knew about that?” she said coolly,
hardly fazed by his look of accusation. “It is just as well you
know the truth. The man has been blackmailing me since he arrived
to keep his identity a secret.”

“Blackmailing you with what?” Gabriel
demanded.

“He found my mother’s diary in my father’s
study,” Lilly replied and sniffed. “I have never read it, but he
claims it gave rather damning evidence I was not Lord Dunleavy’s
daughter at all, but Edward’s.”

Gabriel eyed her incredulously as he slid into a
chair.

“Yes, that is what is claimed in my mother’s
diary, but my father insisted it was a lie. My mother was quite
disturbed near the end of her life.”

“Why did you not come to me with this?” Gabriel
asked sharply. “You have known all this time he was not who he
said, and you went along because of this diary? Do you take me for
a fool, madam?”

“You realize how damaging that could be to my
reputation, Gabriel?”

“I don’t give a damn about your reputation,
Lillianne! Sullivan might have killed half your family, and you say
nothing!”

Lilly appeared to look pale at his words.
“Thomas wanted money. I told him about the divorce. That was when
he saw a way to get the inheritance.”

Gabriel glared at her murderously. “That was
when you tricked Catherine into giving me my heir, was it not?”

Lilly looked confused. “Tricked her? No, I
didn’t trick her into anything, Gabriel. She agreed to everything.
She wanted our brother’s inheritance restored, as well as
guardianship of the boys. She wanted it to be all very legal. If
you don’t believe me, see Mister Treadwell and he will show you the
documents.”

Gabriel looked like he had been kicked at her
words. He refused to believe Lilly.

“You lie! Catherine would never sell you our
child!”

Lilly smiled mockingly. “It was her idea, if you
must know. When she arrived and I informed her of my marital woes,
she was only too happy to help me stall the divorce for a time. She
signed over rights to the child, Gabriel, no matter what she
claims.”

“Did your agreement merit a bullet in her head,
madam?” Gabriel taunted, still unwilling to believe her claims.

“She tried to take her own life, Gabriel,” Lilly
said quietly, meeting his gaze unflinchingly. “When she gave me the
child, she was over wrought. I was informed by the innkeeper she
had a pistol and tried to kill herself. The man panicked and had
his hirelings dump her body. They thought her dead. There was no
conspiracy against my little sister!”

Gabriel went very still. His eyes were tormented
to think Catherine would do such a thing. “You have proof of
this?”

“You can interrogate the innkeeper where she
rented a room, as well as see my barrister and he will allow you to
see the papers,” Lilly replied, her eyes gleaming triumphantly. “I
realize you might be angry I resorted to such a desperate measure
to avoid the divorce. Given the fact the child is yours; I thought
that might make up for it.”