Lady Unveiled - The Cuckold's Conspiracy (Daughters of Sin Book 5)

by Beverley Oakley

  “Don’t be dramatic, Kitty.” Lissa couldn’t help sounding short. “Besides, loving someone more than life itself is not possible.”

  Ralph returned to the room with glasses for them all and eyed his beloved askance. “You would not lay down your life for me, dearest?” he asked, looking hurt, then pouring them each a tot as he went on, “I’d lay down my life for you. Actually, climbing that drainpole outside the Lamonts was rather risky business. I’m just disappointed it wasn’t appreciated more—”

  “Ralph!” Lissa stamped her foot, torn between rushing around the table and hugging sense into him, and maintaining a more sober attitude for Kitty’s benefit. Kitty had to learn, someday, that she couldn’t act like the baby of the family forever, chasing impossible dreams. “You’re playing semantics! You know that I would risk my life for you, but I’d not lay it down passively because my love for you was greater than my own appreciation of my life.”

  “But passively loving someone with passion and to distraction is surely as noble as violently loving someone and recklessly throwing themselves into danger in order to save them. My point is that my love for you, Lissa, and I would hope, yours for me, is as valid and noble as your sister’s is for the man she loves. Therefore, she is in as great a need of comfort at this moment as you would be had I not survived a fall from the second floor of the Lamont House when I rescued you all those months ago.”

  “Yes, but Ralph—”

  “Will you both stop!” Kitty’s shriek had them turn their attention from their minor disagreement to Kitty, who was now sitting up, her eyes flashing as she said, “As I said, he did not ‘cast me off’ as you so derisively put it, Lissa. Our love is purer than that. That is why I made this sacrifice. Yes, sacrifice! I’ve never done anything noble before. I know you think of me as the spoiled little sister who chose her own happiness before that of anyone else’s, but you, Lissa, were not condemned to living for the rest of your days with Mama who has never been grateful to us for anything we’ve done, having to shop every day in the village, never escaping from the horrible whispers. I know that becoming a governess was something you’d rather not have done, but that you did it for the good of the family. But what if you’d been given no choice but to slave away for Mama? Do you not think you’d have found a way to leave? Just because I followed my calling when I got the opportunity and became an actress rather than a governess, doesn’t make me less dutiful than you. Perhaps more scandalous, but not less dutiful, Lissa.”

  “She does have a point, dearest.”

  Lissa glared at Ralph. “Am I to have no support from you?” she began.

  But he put his hand on Kitty’s shoulder and reminded her, “Kitty came here to find you, in the dead of night, after she gave up the greatest love of her life, for the sake of his happiness and that of his bride-to-be. I think we should applaud her, pour another tot of brandy, and discuss how she might best go on from here.”

  Generously, he refilled all their glasses, except Lissa’s whose was untouched and sat down.

  Lissa reached out for Kitty’s arm and gave it a squeeze. “Ralph is right and I’m being righteous. I’m sorry.” She smiled a little tearily at her lovely young man and was grateful for his kind and reasonable approach. Lissa hadn’t had much love growing up and knew that her responses, especially toward Kitty, could be interpreted as unfeeling, though it was because there was little leeway for sentiment when life was harsh and difficult. Lord knew how long she and Ralph would remain in their unsatisfactory nether world, unable to marry because of the impecunious situation which had seemed on the cusp of change a few months ago but which had stagnated. Tonight was the first opportunity she’d had to spend a few hours away from her duties toward Miss Martindale, and she’d hoped to spend it in Ralph’s arms. But Kitty deserved sympathy.

  “It was a brave thing you did, Kitty, if you truly loved him. For, of course, you’ll not have his support and that places you in a precarious position. What will you do?”

  “I still have my job. My wages have gone up at the theater, so I won’t be on the street. Silverton would not accept the ruby necklace I tried to return to him.”

  “Lord, the one that Debenham gave his wife, and which caused all that trouble when she sold it and he went hunting it down so he could use it to pay a gambling debt?”

  Kitty nodded. “You know the story, then? Nash gave it to me when he asked me to marry him.”

  Lissa shuddered again at the thought that her own once-innocent little sister had been the mistress of the rakish Lord Nash before moving on to his friend, Silverton.

  “But when I rushed off from the church, thinking it was a sham marriage, my necklace was recognized by the friend of a woman of dubious repute whom I shall not mention in your hearing, Lissa.”

  “You mean, the woman who runs the brothel in Soho, Maggie Montgomery?” Lissa forced herself to utter the shameful words as she stared defiantly from Kitty to Ralph. “I’m not so protected or precious I can’t utter truths when they’re required.”

  “It was actually Mrs. Mobbs who recognized me and who is Maggie Montgomery’s friend. She was my landlady when I first came to London, and she also finds homes for motherless babies, so she’s not a bad woman, but Maggie Montgomery is, and she knew Lord Debenham was searching for the necklace that Nash had procured from a visit to…Maggie Montgomery’s.”

  Kitty’s bit her lip as she recounted the story which Lissa hadn’t heard in such detail. Indeed, its very sordid nature made her blanch though she kept her thoughts to herself.

  “Lord Silverton was doing the noble thing, looking after me following my mad flight from the church—”

  “Looking after you?” Lissa put her head on one shoulder. “So you ran straight from the church where you were to marry Nash, and into Silverton’s….arms? And thereupon became his mistress. What? A month ago? Six weeks? And now it’s all over?”

  “Silverton and I had been friends far longer than that!” Kitty ground out. “You make it sound grubby and coarse, and it was anything but that. Anyway, Silverton paid twice over for that necklace to ensure I was safe from Debenham and Maggie Montgomery and anyone else who had evil intentions. And now he’s insisted I keep it.”

  “Was your parting amicable, Kitty? He wasn’t…violent when you wanted your freedom?” Ralph’s concern made Lissa feel guilty. Of course, she should have been equally concerned about this part.

  “Oh, he begged and was torn, but he knew he had his duty toward his family first, and that Miss Mandelton was relying on him. He didn’t want me to go and begged me to reconsider, and I nearly lost my resolve, but all the time, at the back of my mind, was the image of my life turning out like Mama’s.” Kitty put her head in her hands and hunched over the table. “I want a loving family with children who can grow up proud of who they are. As much as I love Silverton—and I do, passionately—I couldn’t condemn my children to the life you and I have lived, Lissa.”

  Lissa swallowed. Awkwardly, she put her hand on her sister’s soft, golden hair and stroked it, realizing she’d never done such a thing since Kitty had been a little girl.

  And as she thought about her sister’s words and considered her sacrifice, she realized that what Ralph had said was true. Kitty was to be commended for her brave and noble sacrifice.

  Chapter 10

  Kitty hunched over the table with Lissa and Ralph on either side of her in Mrs Nipkins tiny dwelling.

  She had always felt her sister’s disapproval keenly, but there was nothing she could do. She wasn’t going to become a governess like Lissa. She hadn’t the patience. And didn’t it make far more sense to trade on the talents she did have?

  She wiped her streaming eyes with the back of her hand and thought of what she must do now. She’d only just parted from Silverton, but it felt like a lifetime. He’d insisted there was no urgency for her to leave the lodgings he’d leased for her, no doubt hoping she’d change her mind.

  But Kitty was so terrified of losing
her resolve to do the right thing that she knew she couldn’t stay there while Silverton was in town. All it would take was another distressing visit like the last when he’d arrived unexpectedly, pleading with her to stay with him, and she’d weaken.

  So tomorrow she must start looking for a new abode. In the meantime, her loyal maid Dorcas was packing Kitty’s things and making her own inquiries as to a suitable place for them through the friends and contacts the poor thing had made when she’d been indentured to Mollie Montgomery.

  Kitty and Dorcas’s friendship had been cemented when both had just arrived in London from the country and found lodging with Mrs. Mobbs, but while Kitty’s star had risen, and she’d become the most celebrated actress in the country, Dorcas had been tricked into signing a contract that forced her to serve in Mrs. Montgomery’s wicked house of ill repute. Kitty and Silverton had tried to rescue her, before she’d been given her freedom on condition she perform some villainy for Mollie. Kitty still worried that somehow Mollie and her henchmen would find Dorcas and threaten her into some dubious business that would serve their ends if she didn’t return to her previous hated life.

  She was about to thank Lissa and Ralph for their kindness, when to everyone’s obvious shock, there came another rap upon the door followed by a breathless voice.

  “Mr. Tunley? Are you there?”

  Kitty gripped the tabletop and glanced at Lissa. The voice belonged to a woman; a young woman by the sound of her cultured tones. Kitty’s mind whirled. Perhaps Silverton had enlisted the help of a female friend to beg Kitty to return. But no respectable young lady would venture into these alleyways after dark. No, this couldn’t be about her.

  “Mr. Tunley. I know you’re in there.”

  Kitty saw Ralph and her sister exchange concerned looks before Ralph went to open the door.

  By the time a tall, slender young woman dressed entirely in black had swept in, Kitty had found a hiding place behind the curtain which separated the scullery from the bedchamber on that level. She’d recognized the voice and had no wish to be observed in discussion with Lissa and Ralph. The unexpected newcomer was Araminta, and Araminta was devious. And vengeful. She’d need to know the connection. She also, no doubt, knew Kitty had been in possession of the ruby and diamond necklace that had once belonged to her and had caused so much trouble.

  “Mr. Tunley, you must help me!” Araminta now cried, and through a chink in the curtain, Kitty watched her push back her veil.

  “Araminta?” Lissa gasped, and her sister swung around, her eyes dark with panic. And then surprise.

  “Lissa?” She nodded to Ralph as she clearly tried to compose herself. “I’m sorry to burst in unannounced. I did not expect to see you here at such a late hour.”

  Kitty was still getting over her astonishment, when Ralph calmly put his hand beneath Araminta’s elbow and led her to a chair by the dwindling fire which he bent to attend to, tossing on a couple of pieces of kindling before settling himself against the mantelpiece since there were not enough chairs for all of them.

  “Something has happened, Lady Debenham? To my employer? Yet surely you would not have ventured out alone, at this hour, to tell me? How can I help?”

  “Indeed, I wouldn’t have ventured here alone if you were not my last hope, Mr. Tunley.”

  “Your last hope, Araminta?”

  Kitty was taken aback by the scorn in Lissa’s voice and the fact she used their sister’s Christian name.

  “You think I’m being dramatic?” Araminta drew herself up, offended. “Is it dramatic to seek out the only person who may be able to help, when the alternative is for my husband to exercise his talent for cruelty and cast me onto the streets or worse?”

  Kitty wondered at the nature of Araminta’s misdemeanor, though she imagined she’d learn it soon enough through Lissa’s expert line of questioning.

  Lissa was not one to beat about the bush. “Cruelty? You surely knew what you were doing when I accompanied you to Vauxhall Gardens that fateful night a year ago. You threw your lot in with his Lordship and left your sister Miss Henrietta somewhat vulnerable to the drunken rage of Lord Debenham. I think she got the better deal when she married Sir Aubrey and you, Debenham. But are we to sympathize with you when you made your choice? It was not so long ago that I saw the two of you together at your birthday at The Grange. I’m surprised your sister was prepared to have him under the same roof, but Lord Debenham appeared mightily pleased with you for producing a son and heir a timely nine months after your nuptials.” Kitty was swamped by memories of the role she’d played the night Araminta had nearly lost her baby. “Isn’t that what every man wishes?”

  “Oh yes, I gave him what he wanted because I knew that to do otherwise would put me in the gravest danger.” Araminta closed her eyes upon these enigmatic words and twisted the fabric of her skirts nervously before looking up. “Obviously, I take a grave chance in coming here and even telling you anything of what I’m about to reveal, but…it’s my only chance of salvation. You, Mr. Tunley, are of course my husband’s trusted secretary. I do not know if I can trust you, but I don’t know what else to do.” She glanced at Lissa and said, “You helped me all those months ago to secure the letter that incriminated my husband, but it wasn’t the real letter. Oh, but if it hadn’t been for that terrible, terrible night, none of this would be happening now.”

  Kitty had never seen Araminta cry, but her sobs were so wrenching Ralph obviously thought it incumbent to reach for his now dwindling supply of medicinal brandy, while Lissa found one of Mrs. Nipkins’s discarded squares of fabric to use as a handkerchief.

  “I’m confused, Lady Debenham, but I gather you have come to demand that I hand over the real letter to you? That poses a number of questions. First, that you believe I am holding it for reasons of my own. But also, why now? Why the urgency that sends you alone into the night, this of all nights?”

  Lissa interrupted, saying bluntly, “Unless you’ve strayed and your husband has found out. It is Lord Ludbridge, Ralph’s brother? I don’t know what Ralph can do to help. Yes, he’s your husband’s secretary, but he’s in no position to intervene on your behalf if your husband—”

  “No, nothing like that!” Araminta snapped. “Since my marriage, I have been the truest of wives, and no evidence to the contrary could be found to tarnish my good name.” She took a heaving breath, closed her eyes and clenched her fists. “It’s just…what happened before I was married. During that night at Vauxhall.”

  “Rather a great deal,” Lissa remarked drily. “And since we’re speaking bluntly, as you’ve just conceded, the reason you were coerced into marriage with Debenham was because of what you did that night.”

  “What I attested to have done. There’s a great deal of difference. What Debenham blackmailed me into attesting.” Araminta spoke crisply, and Kitty was surprised at the antagonism between the sisters that suggested a great deal of familiarity of which she’d been unaware. She hoped the truth of her own relationship with Araminta would never be made public. Araminta would not like it one bit.

  Araminta fiddled with her veil. “Debenham forced me to say that I’d visited him in his supper box because apparently, there was other evidence to suggest he had spent it in company with the two criminals suspected of involvement in the Castlereagh Affair. But Debenham has many other enemies. If that letter got into the wrong hands, he would be ruined.”

  Lissa and Ralph exchanged looks, just as Araminta added, “And if that happened, so would I.”

  “You want me to get you the letter? I’m afraid I can’t do that, though it might come as some consolation to know that, on its own, it provides insufficient proof of anything.” He looked truly regretful. “Surely my brother has told you it’s impossible to hand it over to you. I do not have it. A very serious investigation involving your husband is underway.”

  “Teddy did not tell me it had gone so far!” Araminta went pale, and her mouth dropped open. “You are his trusted secretary, Mr. Tunley, yet y
ou are plotting against him? Surely you understand that if he’s ruined, so will I be! And if I tell Debenham that you’re a traitor—just like you’re accusing him of being—you will be ruined,” she threatened. “You’ll have no job, Mr. Tunley. Perhaps something even worse will happen to you.”

  Kitty stared through a chink in the curtain at the three of them sitting in the cramped parlor—Lissa and Ralph and, between them her beautiful half-sister, Araminta, whose showy presence in this run-down hovel was so utterly unexpected.

  She was horrified and fascinated in equal measure. Why had Ralph been so blunt about plotting against Araminta’s husband?

  Ralph poured Araminta another brandy and pushed the glass across the table. “Debenham is not known for his kindness toward his minions. Look at his valet, who suffered an unfortunate accident when Debenham suspected he had this particular letter. Nothing could be proved, of course, and his valet continues his uneasy employment. I believe Debenham holds to the adage to keep one’s friends close and one’s enemies—or suspected enemies—closer. He’s certainly never professed to like me.” He leaned back and studied Araminta’s tense, mutinous face. “I sometimes wonder why he keeps employing me other than that he’s too lazy to find someone else to keep his affairs in order. I assure you, though, that with regard to his financial matters, I am entirely honest. But, by all means, tell him about the investigation, if you wish, Lady Debenham.” He raised his hands, palm upward. “My belief, however, is that an outcome more conducive to your future security and happiness can be achieved through you joining your efforts with ours.”

  Araminta looked aghast, just as Lissa did, and Kitty felt.

  Ralph put his head on one side. “Am I to infer that you want that letter so urgently now because you plan to use it as insurance against what you fear your husband might find out about you, Lady Debenham?”