by Laura Landon
“Protect you?” Lady Kingston cried out, clutching her hand to her jeweled throat as if she’d narrowly escaped an attack. “From whom? Me?” She gave a soft, helpless cry. “I doubt the world would believe that I was cruel enough to attempt to harm you,” she smirked, feigning an innocence Jenna had seen often enough before. She stood in her brittle girlish splendor, looking every inch the victim.
“Release my father this instant,” Jenna ordered, praying that Jack, the colonel, and the others were enough of a force to support her demand. Instead, a number of men Jenna didn’t recognize stepped out from the corners of the room.
“I’m afraid that’s not possible,” the Duke of Fullmont said in a commanding, unsympathetic voice. “Baron Kingston is my guest. I have promised Lady Kingston that I will be responsible for her husband. Happier arrangements,” he said with a wide, insincere smile on his face, “will be made of course, once you agree to certain terms.”
“And those terms would be?” she asked.
Fullmont gave her a superior grin. “You are well aware of the terms to which you must comply.”
The floor shifted beneath her. This was it, then. This was her only chance to protect her father. If she didn’t marry Ridgeway, her father would spend the rest of his life locked away in an asylum.
She turned her gaze to where the Duke of Ridgeway stood looking for all the world like an innocent bystander.
He stepped forward, silently demanding her acknowledgment.
She knew who he was; everyone did.
He’d come to Kingston Manor often after her father had become ill, but when he’d come to visit, she’d conveniently escaped the house and couldn’t be found. Or she hadn’t been well and had taken to her bed. Now, however, she had no choice but to greet him.
Even though she couldn’t fathom why he was determined to marry her, he’d been a constant threat.
“Your grace,” Jenna greeted with as shallow a curtsy as she could get by with and not cause scandalous offense.
“I can see you are surprised to see me.”
Jenna gathered all the inner courage she could muster. “I don’t remember seeing your name on the guest list.”
“A forgivable omission. Lady Kingston assured me it was an oversight and made me promise to come.”
Jenna’s gaze snapped to the Cheshire cat grin on her stepmother’s face and felt a rise in her temper. “I’m sure she did,” Jenna said, refusing to mask any of the hostility she felt.
“His grace has been so eager to make you his bride, and I knew when it came down to it you’d see what a mistake it was to settle for the role of countess when you could be a duchess.”
“Jenna, don’t.” She heard Jack’s warning from beside her and struggled to understand how she could be surrounded by these evil voices if he was still here.
Eleanor took a step forward. “Enough, Lord Devlin. Can’t you see she isn’t going to marry you? She wants to marry the Duke of Ridgeway.”
No, I don’t, a voice screamed from inside her, and she shook her head again to block the sound.
“Jenna?”
The pleading she heard in his voice had a desperate edge, as if he already sensed he was losing her.
“Give it up, Devlin.”
This time it was Brackston’s voice entering into the mix, followed by Jack’s roaring demand that everyone leave her alone.
She had to answer them to stop this arguing. Each angry comment disturbed her father more. Each loud outburst upset him, and Jenna knew if she didn’t calm him soon he’d repeat his violent action the same as he had before.
“Jenevieve,” her father’s unsteady voice whispered into her ear. “Take me home. I want to go home.”
“I know you do, Papa. I will in just a—”
“Jenna, look at me!”
Jack’s words stopped her, even as they tore at her heart. She couldn’t look at him. If she did, she’d give in to him. He was the one she loved. He was the one with whom she wanted to spend the rest of her life. He was the one whose children she wanted to bear and love and nurture.
But she couldn’t.
“Tell her, Baron Kingston!” Jack ordered in a deep voice loud enough to echo against the walls. “Tell her you don’t want her to marry the Duke of Ridgeway!”
A cacophony of voices erupted from all sides.
“Ridgeway?” her father said, the frown on his face a mirror to his confusion. “No, Jenevieve. You’re to marry the Earl of Devlin. I signed the betrothal papers.”
“Everything will be all right, Papa,” Jenna said, swiping at the tears running down her face. “I’ll take care of you.”
“No, Jenevieve. You’ll marry the Earl of Devlin. He promised he would marry you. And he will!”
“It’s all right, Papa. Don’t worry. Everything will be fine.”
“No!”
Before the guard could maintain a firmer grip, her father broke free of his grasp and rushed across the room. Jenna wasn’t sure who his intended victim was—Eleanor who’d taken her cruelty out on her father and herself for years; Fullmont, whose son had been the cause of everything that had happened; Ridgeway, whose marriage offer threatened to keep her from marrying the Earl of Devlin.
In the end it didn’t matter. Before he could reach any of them, the man guarding her father tripped him from behind and he tumbled to the ground.
Jenna cried out as she rushed to him. He wasn’t hurt, she could tell that from the way he tried to rise immediately, but he’d been stunned.
Jenna looked to Jack for help and her breath caught in her throat. Benton stood on one side of him and Colonel Maxwell on the other, both grasping his arms while he struggled to get free.
Something was terribly wrong. Everything that had happened so far was a nightmare come true.
“Take Baron Kingston where he’ll be cared for,” the Duke of Fullmont ordered.
“No! Leave him here!”
“I’m afraid that’s impossible, my dear. He needs to be where he can be watched. We wouldn’t want him to harm himself.”
“Perhaps when you’ve reached the right decision, your father will be well enough to come back,” Fullmont added.
Jenna opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She wanted to refuse. She wanted to stop this terrible nightmare right now, but she couldn’t. There was only one way to save her father.
She looked frantically back to Jack. Other than the pleading in his eyes, there would be no help from him. He wanted her to trust him. But she couldn’t. He couldn’t save her father. She was the only one who could.
The Duke of Fullmont seemed to know the minute she’d given in. A sinister smile brightened his face.
“You will only be separated from your father until after your wedding.”
Jenna watched as two men stepped out of the crowd and helped her father to his feet. When he was upright, they escorted him from the room. Jenna rose, weeping openly.
“Allow me to accompany you to your room, my dear,” a soft, compassionate voice said from beside her. She looked up into the eyes of the Duke of Ridgeway. His voice seemed to contradict the threat he posed as he loomed close, but something in his eyes had her backing away from the man.
“Very kind of you, Your Grace.” Eleanor tittered. “I simply couldn’t let the poor girl make such a horrible mistake.”
Jenna whirled on the woman.
“Any mistake I am making is caused by your greed,” Jenna said, unable to keep her temper in check.
Jenna’s stepmother whispered harshly in the duke’s ear. “This is an example of my stepdaughter’s temperament at its worst,” she said, playing the part of an overwrought mother who’d tried everything to bring her wayward ward into line. “I can’t imagine you still want to marry her.”
“But of course I do,” Ridgeway answered as if he were shocked that Eleanor would think otherwise. “My dear Miss Kingston is simply exhibiting the admirable trait of daughterly compassion. I’m sure she realizes that ma
rriage to me will assure her father of the best of care. And that she will never have another worry on his account.”
“You are truly gracious,” Lady Kingston said, the sickening sweetness of her tone poisoning the air.
“Merely honest.” Ridgeway turned his attention back to Jenna and gave her a reassuring look. “I’m sure you’d like to rest after the harrowing evening you’ve had.”
Jenna wanted to refuse to let him help her. She needed to refuse. But as he made his way toward her, all she could notice was the way he walked.
It was the same unusual gait that she’d noticed in the man that retrieved the messages Eleanor left in the dark of night.
THE DEVIL’S GIFT by Laura Landon
Chapter 24
“I won’t do this!” Jack bellowed as he slammed his fist against the wood at the side of the window. “I won’t stand by while the woman I love marries another man.”
They’d taken him to a small room at the back of the house that was far enough away from the guests that it was unlikely they’d be overheard. The colonel had placed a guard in the hallway to make certain.
Jack looked at each person in the room, first to Benton, then Covey, and finally the colonel. He could see by the expression on their faces that they sympathized with him. But that didn’t ease his anxiety in the least. There was still the distinct possibility that it might come down to Jenna marrying Ridgeway to keep her father safe.
Jack clenched his hands into tight fists. He wanted to jab one through the glass panes of the window but knew he’d be the only person who’d come out the loser.
“She won’t marry Ridgeway, Devlin,” Colonel Maxwell said, his words intended to reassure him.
They didn’t. Nothing would at this point.
“You can’t guarantee you’ll have the proof you need before the wedding tomorrow. As long as Fullmont is holding Jenna’s father, there isn’t a chance in hell we’ll find him.”
“The Londonaire is due to arrive tonight. The minute the papers are carried off the ship, our men will follow the courier. As soon as we find out the delivery destination, we’ll have the information we need.”
“What if your men lose the courier? Or if more than one set of papers leave the ship? Or if the destination is an empty warehouse? Or the papers are passed to a second or third courier?” Jack asked, seeing all kinds of possibilities for failure in Maxwell’s plan.
“That won’t happen.” Colonel Maxwell threw the remaining liquor in his glass to the back of his throat and set his glass down with a loud clink. “It can’t. We’ve never been so close to discovering who is behind this plan.”
“You don’t think it’s Fullmont?” Lord Covington asked. “He seemed to be in charge earlier tonight.”
“So did Lady Kingston,” Benton said, “but I agree with Devlin. Neither she nor her brother nor Fullmont are capable of organizing a plan this detailed, or possessing the influence necessary to bring it this far.”
“Then who the bloody hell is left?” Jack said, realizing every name they’d mentioned was a dead end.
“The Duke of Ridgeway,” a small, feminine voice said from the open doorway.
Every man in the room turned to see who’d answered their question with such a preposterous suggestion.
Jack’s heart took a sharp turn in his chest. “Jenna,” he said as he strode across the room and gathered her in his arms.
“Are you all right?” Jack held her close. He didn’t care what it took, he wasn’t going to lose her. She was his life. His future.
“What did you mean when you said it’s the Duke of Ridgeway?” Colonel Maxwell asked, cutting short the few moments Jack had been able to hold Jenna.
She stepped away from him and Jack felt a sharp warning pang.
“I don’t know exactly what you suspect someone of doing,” Jenna said in a voice that held no hint of emotion, “but if Eleanor is connected, then the Duke of Ridgeway is involved, too.”
“How do you know that?” Jack asked.
He wanted her to look at him, wanted to see the familiar softness in her demeanor. Instead, what he saw frightened him. She suddenly seemed cold and lifeless.
“Do you remember when I told you I knew Eleanor left messages in the small cupboard in the room off the pantry?”
“Yes.”
“And that a man with an unusual gait came to pick them up?”
“Yes.”
“That man is the Duke of Ridgeway. I recognize him from the way he walks.”
“Of course,” Covey said, confirming what Jenna said. “Ridgeway fell from a horse when he was younger. Something about damage to one foot. He’s adjusted his walk enough that one hardly notices it. But it’s there if you have the opportunity to watch him unobserved.”
“He’s the man who came that night and picked up the message Eleanor left for him. The same man who came each time after that.”
Jack looked to Colonel Maxwell for an explanation of what this might mean. The look of impending disaster on Maxwell’s face made Jack’s blood turn cold.
“What is it, sir?” Covey asked, sensing the same danger Jack did. “What does this mean?”
Colonel Maxwell looked at Jenna as if weighing his words, then turned away. Jack knew the colonel wasn’t sure how much he could say in front of Jenna. Jenna must have come to the same conclusion. With a determined move, she turned to the door.
“I’ll leave now. I simply came to tell you what I know.”
“Jenna, don’t marry Ridgeway. We’ll get your father.”
Jenna reached for the door, then stopped.
“When, Jack? Before or after they kill him?”
“It won’t come to that. We just need a little time.”
“We don’t have time! Don’t you understand! I don’t know what this is, but Father and I are nothing more than pawns. I don’t know why I’m so important that Ridgeway wants to marry me, but he does. Enough to threaten to kill my father. Enough that he probably killed your brother.”
Jenna pulled the door open with a sharp jerk. “Good bye, Jack.”
Without a glance back, she was gone, and along with her, his hope for a future.
Jack’s heart shattered inside his chest. He’d never felt such desperation in his life. Never felt so helpless.
This couldn’t be happening to him. He couldn’t simply sit back and let her walk out of his life. He couldn’t survive a lifetime of empty days and emptier nights.
But more than anything, he couldn’t stand the thought of her belonging to another man. Living in another man’s house. Sleeping in another man’s bed.
Jack turned back to the others. “I won’t let her marry Ridgeway. I don’t care what risks there are to her father or to England. I won’t bloody hell lose her!”
“You won’t have to,” Colonel Maxwell said, raking his fingers through his graying hair. “It won’t come to that, Devlin.”
“Do you know what role Ridgeway plays in all this?” Benton asked.
Colonel Maxwell nodded. “I simply can’t believe that not one of us made the connection.”
“What connection?” Covey asked.
“The key to everything. The key to why they thought their plan would work.”
The colonel paced from one side of the room to the other, as if he were still working out a few of the details, then he stopped. “It was preposterous,” he said, facing them. “Who in their right mind would think they had even a small chance to change the entire economic arrangement of a country as deeply rooted in tradition and history as England? How did they imagine they could accomplish such a feat without some perfectly located pieces of property? Yet, that’s exactly what they did.”
“I’m not sure I follow, sir,” Covey said.
“Do you remember I mentioned Kingsbury Glenn?”
They all nodded a silent affirmation.
“Well, Kingsbury Glenn is the key. Ridgeway’s desperate to have it. Just as he’s desperate to have Kingston Estates.”
“But why?” Covey asked, obviously not seeing the whole picture.
But Jack did.
“Pretend you are looking at a map, Covey,” Jack said, for the first time realizing how perfect the plan was. “We’ve already discussed why someone wants Kingsbury and how devastating it would be to the neighboring estates if the wrong person controlled it. Now picture Kingston Estates and where it is located.”
Deep creases formed on Covey’s forehead. “No offense, Devlin, but I have never considered Kingston Estates an enviable property. If the main thoroughfare leading to London didn’t run along the eastern border of Kingston, there wouldn’t be a redeeming quality to it.”
“What if that thoroughfare were cut off?” Jack asked.
“I’m not sure. I imagine we’d have to reroute to the west.”
“Do you know who owns the estate that borders Kingston to the west?”
“Why yes. It’s—”
Covey stopped in the middle of his sentence to recover from what he’d just realized.
“Bloody hell, Devlin. Ridgeway would control it all.”
“Since neither Kingston, nor Kingsbury are entailed, the only way to get them is through marriage. Marriage to Jenevieve Kingston.”
A deafening silence echoed throughout the room.
“We don’t have a choice,” Jack finally said. “We can’t let Ridgeway gain control of Kingston or Kingsbury.”
“Even if preventing the marriage means Baron Kingston’s death?” the colonel asked.
Jack closed his eyes and thought of that possibility.
He couldn’t let that happen. It was possible to prevent her from marrying Ridgeway, but if he did, and something happened to her father, he’d lose her forever. How could he expect her to love the man responsible for her father’s death?
“Do you have an idea, Devlin?” Covey asked.
Jack turned to face Maxwell and the others.
“Yes, but you’re not going to like it.”