by Lynn Kurland
She laughed a little, because she was in his arms and at the moment, everything seemed perfect.
Then the clock began to strike midnight.
And things took a turn she hadn’t expected.
Chapter 22
Stephen stood in his grandmother’s library at a quarter past midnight with Peaches at his side and felt something curling in his gut that certainly wasn’t fear but felt too damned close to it for his taste.
He supposed that was an improvement from the intense irritation he’d felt fifteen minutes earlier when he’d been interrupted in the very act of pulling Peaches into his arms for a midnight kiss by one of his grandmother’s footmen summoning him to the library. He’d arrived fully prepared to tell his grandmother to remember that he didn’t need her permission to wed where it suited him only to find that there was something going on that seemingly had nothing to do with his amorous adventures.
His grandmother had been there, standing in the middle of her library looking thoroughly peeved. His brother Gideon had been off to one side with Megan, both of them wearing identical looks of, well, nothing. Then again, they had both seen enough over the years to have mastered the art of hearing the most appalling things without reacting. Tess and John had rounded out the group. He had been rather relieved to see that John hadn’t brought his sword.
Though he half wished he had brought his own.
He now stood looking at the illustrious Duke of Kenneworth, who seemed to believe he was holding court, and folded his arms over his chest. “You’ve dragged us all away from a lovely party,” he said briskly, “and we’ve humored you because we have decent manners. Please do us the favor of enlightening us as to the nature of your business so we can return to our familial entertainments.”
David looked at him with a cold smile. “I was just waiting to make sure you in particular were here, Haulton, before I began. It’s a pity your mother and father couldn’t join us, but we’ll make do with what we have.”
“What in the hell are you talking about?” Stephen snapped. He didn’t often lose his temper, but he could safely say that David Preston was approximately ten words from seeing it in full. It was one thing to be tormented by the fool and his viper of a sister Irene in public; being irritated by them in a family home was just too much.
“Yes, I’m finding the drama a bit much as well,” Lady Louise said shortly. “Perhaps, young man, you forget who issued the invitation tonight and what bad behavior means for your social standing in the future.”
“I wouldn’t worry about me,” David said smoothly. “I would be more inclined to worry about you.”
Stephen watched his grandmother bristle. “Why should I worry about myself?”
“Because after you hear what I have to say,” David said coolly, “you’ll find you have quite a bit less sterling to use in splashing out for these affairs of yours.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Lady Louise said.
“I’m not sure David knows how to be anything but ridiculous, Grandmother,” Stephen said, “but perhaps he has some amusing anecdote with which to entertain us.” He shot David a look. “It had best be very entertaining to have interrupted such a lovely evening.”
David motioned toward the door. Stephen looked over his shoulder and realized that Irene and Andrea were standing there. They seemed, however, less eager to become part of the group than he would have thought them. He exchanged a look with John, who reached for Peaches and pulled her over to stand next to him. John then stepped in front of his wife and his sister-in-law and folded his arms over his chest. Stephen didn’t suppose David Preston was intelligent enough to realize he’d just put himself in a room with men who wouldn’t actually think very long before they tore him to pieces. He turned back to the problem at hand.
“Do you need yet a larger audience, David?” he asked shortly.
“If you’ll shut your ever-running mouth,” David said, his eyes full of something that wasn’t at all pleasant, “I’ll be brief. I am here to offer you the chance to save not only all your assets but your family name as well.”
Lady Louise rolled her eyes with as much enthusiasm as she ever permitted herself. “You’re mad.” She caught the eye of her head butler standing just inside the doorway. “Hollingsworth, call the authorities.”
“Hollingsworth, stay where you are,” David said sharply. He looked at Lady Louise. “You’ll listen to me, old woman, and you’ll listen well.”
Stephen hadn’t realized his grandmother had come to stand next to him until he felt her fingers pinching the back of his arm hard enough that he flinched.
“I am holding on to my temper by the most tenuous of grasps,” Lady Louise said in a voice that sent shivers down Stephen’s spine. “Pray take a different tone, Your Grace, before I have you blacklisted by everyone worth knowing.”
“Yes, spew it out,” Stephen drawled with deliberate disdain, “before we all perish from the suspense.”
David’s mask slipped fully. “I shall,” he said, looking at Stephen with undisguised hate, “and I’ll direct my remarks at you. I have no idea why, but my cousin Andrea wants you.”
Stephen blinked, because that was the last thing he’d expected David to say. “What?” he managed.
Lady Louise made a noise of impatience. “He absolutely will not marry a girl from some obscure village in the south. I don’t care what she thinks she wants.”
David shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels. “You’ll soon realize that Andrea will most assuredly have what she wants.” He looked over his shoulder. “Andrea, come tell everyone what you found.”
Stephen watched Irene give Andrea a shove that sent her sprawling—or it would have if Stephen hadn’t leapt forward and caught her in his arms. He set her on her feet, then frowned at her.
“Why are you mixed up in this?”
She pulled away from him, then went to stand next to David. She lifted her chin, but wouldn’t look at him. Stephen stepped back to stand next to his grandmother, more because it bought him a moment to think than anything else, though he supposed preventing his grandmother from stabbing David with the first thing she could lay her hands on could only be a good thing.
He was surprised at how thoroughly he had misjudged David’s cousin—unless she had become caught up in something she hadn’t been able to control.
He found himself less than eager to find out what that something was.
“I was going through my father’s papers,” Andrea said, her voice trembling, “when I found something in a sealed envelope. He was, of course, a great collector of antiquities, so there were many things of a particular age.” She looked at David nervously. “I think—”
“Which you shouldn’t,” David said, patting her on the head. “I’ll finish for you, Andrea, lest it prove too taxing. You see, what our little Andrea found in her father’s papers was actually something that belonged to one of my ancestors.” He looked at Stephen. “Aren’t you curious as to what it was?”
Stephen didn’t like the look in David’s eye. He wasn’t sure if the duke was strung out on drugs or if he were just mad, but he supposed it didn’t matter. He didn’t answer David, but he nodded.
“It was the winnings of a game of chance—”
“Unsurprising,” Lady Louise said curtly. “The only thing that is surprising is that you have a hall left with all the gambling your father did.”
David’s expression hardened. “Yes, well, he was a reckless man.”
“So are you,” Lady Louise shot back, “for you spend just as much time at the sport as he.”
“Fortunately for me,” David said coolly, “I am far better at it than he was, and I have the wit to do my own research instead of relying on the work of others.” He shot Stephen a look. “I believe that is your area of expertise, Haulton.”
“And I believe you’re an idiot,” Stephen returned, “but that is beside the point.”
“And you didn’t find the deed,”
Andrea said in a low voice. “I did.”
“Shut up, Andrea,” David snarled.
Stephen blew out his breath. “Very well,” he said impatiently, “someone did the work, David read about this game of chance, then decided it meant something to him.”
“And I couldn’t possibly be less interested in what that something was,” Lady Louise said briskly. “Come, children, back to the party—”
“Just one moment,” David said sharply, “if you please. I’m not finished.” He looked at Stephen. “In that stack of Andrea’s father’s papers, I found an envelope with an unbroken seal.”
“I found it,” Andrea put in.
David whirled on her. “If you don’t shut up—”
“If you touch her, you’ll leave clapped in irons,” Stephen said coldly.
“Clapped in irons,” David echoed, turning back to him with a laugh. “What a quaint turn of phrase. But you always were one for history, weren’t you? With any luck, you’ll be limited to reading about it.”
Stephen pursed his lips. “Why you would care I can’t imagine, but go on. What was the deed to?”
“Yes, do tell,” Gideon drawled. “A gold mine in Africa?”
“No,” David said, not taking his eyes off Stephen, “it is a quitclaim deed to Artane and everything entailed on it.”
Stephen blinked, then he laughed. “A valiant effort, David, but a futile one.”
David smiled. “You don’t think I’m that stupid, do you, Stephen?”
“Actually, I do think you’re that stupid,” Stephen said. “None of my ancestors would ever have been so foolish as to wager our hall on a game of chance.”
“I had the paper authenticated, dated, and my lawyers very busy researching all possible legal challenges to my claim,” David continued. “And to save you time wondering, there are none. It’s solid.”
“Let me see the deed,” Stephen said, making certain he sounded utterly bored. “For the amusement of it, if nothing else.”
“No,” David said simply.
“Let me understand this,” Lady Louise said, elbowing Stephen aside. “Do you have the cheek to tell me that someone from Kenneworth at some point swindled my son-in-law’s hall away from him?”
David shrugged. “I have no reason to believe it wasn’t a fair game of chance. And yes, Artane was put up as collateral and lost.”
“Proof,” Stephen said, reaching out his hand to keep his brother from launching himself forward. “We’re not interested in your delusions of grandeur.”
“I saw the deed,” Andrea said. She shot David a look that sent chills down Stephen’s spine. “And you keep up your end of the bargain or I’ll take it back.”
David turned on her. “I don’t care about your ridiculous bargain—”
“You cheat!” she gasped.
“Well,” he said with a shrug, “yes, I do.”
“I’m curious,” Stephen said, because he thought having a bit of infighting in the Kenneworth ranks could only be a good thing for the rest of them. “What was the bargain?”
Andrea turned on him. “I told David that he could have the deed if he delivered you to me in return.”
Stephen clasped his hands behind his back. “What an interesting agreement, Andrea. Was I to be tied and gagged, or was David going to use his vast amounts of charm to convince me to arrive bearing jewels and silks?”
Andrea shot Peaches a look. “At least I have a pedigree. Your whore over there—”
“Stop it immediately,” Lady Louise said. “There will be no foul language in my library, for it is still my library.” She looked at David. “Before I throw you out, tell me what you want and let us have this over with.”
David smiled. “What I want, Granny, is for your grandson to sell everything he has and buy my silence. If you find yourselves unwilling to part with your belongings, I’ll have Artane. And once the scandal of your gambling ancestors hits the press, then you, Lady Louise, will not have the courage to throw these sorts of lavish parties any longer. My sister will take her rightful place as London’s premiere hostess.”
“And you’ll find yourself with a bit more to toss away at cards, is that it?” Stephen said, suppressing a yawn. “Perhaps you should see a professional, Kenneworth, and address your addiction.”
David’s fury was impressive. “I’ll give you seventy-two hours, because it will take you that long to begin to liquidate everything you have. Send me proof you’ve begun the process, or I’ll go to the press.”
“Send me the proof,” Stephen shot back, “or I’ll have you charged with slander.”
“You don’t want to make an enemy of me, Haulton, I guarantee it.”
“Proof,” Stephen said curtly, “or I go to the press. And you needn’t worry about seeing Miss Alexander home.”
“I hadn’t,” David said blandly. “I just assumed she would walk the streets, which is, I’m sure her habit.”
Stephen realized that his grandmother was holding on to one arm and his brother the other only because he found he couldn’t move.
“Hollingsworth, see the Duke of Kenneworth and his female relations out the front door,” Lady Louise said briskly. “And make certain nothing inadvertently falls into their pockets as they leave.”
David pulled something out of his jacket pocket, and tossed it at Stephen’s feet. He smiled pleasantly, then left the room. Stephen watched Andrea and Irene follow after him and could hardly believe what he’d just heard. He pulled his arms away from his grandmother and brother, then looked at Gideon.
“Wake Geoff Segrave,” he said shortly.
Gideon was already on his mobile, which Stephen appreciated. He could scarce wait to see what their attorney would have to say about the present disaster.
“I need a drink,” Lady Louise said, her voice quavering just the slightest bit. “Megan, darling, come fix me a scotch and soda. Make it very light on the soda.”
Stephen helped his grandmother into a chair, then went to pick up the envelope David had left behind. He walked over to lean against a sturdy bookcase, snagging Peaches’s hand on his way by her. He looked at her briefly, then opened the envelope and pulled out a photograph of something written in a vintage hand.
An IOU for a gambling debt.
Using Artane as collateral.
He felt the blood drain from his face, immediately followed by the sensation of Peaches taking the piece of paper out of his hand.
“Oh, Stephen,” she said in a very low voice, “this can’t be legitimate.”
“If it isn’t, it’s a bloody good forgery.”
“The signature’s covered up,” she said looking at it closely, “and the date, as well.”
“It wouldn’t do for us to have too many details, would it?” Stephen said. He turned to her and put his arms around her.
“Stephen—”
“I don’t care what anyone says,” he said. “Just keep me from landing on my arse for the next five minutes.”
“You could marry Andrea—”
“No.”
She sighed and put her arms around him. He rested his cheek against her hair, careful not to muss the coiffure he hadn’t yet had a chance to compliment her on, and closed his eyes.
“Let’s go back home,” he murmured, “and this time you can read Chaucer to me.”
“I don’t speak Old English.”
“Then pick something you love,” he said with a sigh, lifting his head and looking down at her. “Humphreys keeps Wodehouse in the pantry. And time-travel romances, I think.”
“Either would do,” she agreed.
Stephen sighed deeply. He was going to speak to Geoffrey Segrave first, then find some bloody historian—and he knew several—with no propensity for gossiping to have a look at the photocopy to give an opinion on its authenticity, then he was going to go for a run until he could face the fact that the paper Peaches was currently handing to John was the very image of something even he could see was genuine.
His home, gambled away by some fool. And the only way to have it back was likely to sell everything inside it and pay for David Preston’s silence. The only way to avoid that would be—
His thoughts ground to a halt.
The only way to avoid that would be providing the funds he would need without having to sell every damned thing he owned and bankrupt his father as well. Perhaps by selling a few antiquities that had been set aside for that very purpose.
Things set aside by someone in the past who might have an interest in preserving Artane for future generations.
It was absolute pants, that idea, but he had already been to medieval England once and survived. Why not another trip?
Yes, he would definitely need a bit of familial help to keep Artane from falling into the hands of a family that had, he recalled from his encounter with that first lord of Kenneworth, never had any love for his own. And he suspected he knew exactly where to find that sort of man.
And when.
Chapter 23
Peaches would have preferred not to remember the remainder of her first foray into polite London society. Guests had been ushered out of Chattam Hall without delay and without an explanation for the absence of their hostess. Peaches hadn’t been able to blame her. Lady Louise had disappeared to points unknown with Stephen when a messenger from Kenneworth had arrived, a briefcase full of proof in his hand. Neither of them had returned.
The rest of the company was still in the library in various states of distress. Peaches had helped Megan distribute beverages of all kinds, tried to make innocuous conversation with her sister, then decided that just sitting was going to drive her nuts.
She didn’t understand how it was possible for a man to gamble away an entire estate on a single hand of cards. She also wasn’t sure how Andrea’s father had wound up with something that should have been in the possession of the heirs of Kenneworth.
What she could understand, however, was that Andrea wanted Stephen. Blackmailing him to marry her was original, though. It was obvious Andrea didn’t know him at all if she’d thought that was going to work.