by Candace Camp
She followed him up the stairs, hanging back in the shadows of the dim hallway as Alex knocked peremptorily on the door. When the door opened, revealing the actor, it was all Sabrina could do not to gasp. She had been sure he was the right man, but now, seeing him in person, it shook her.
Alex stepped inside the room, forcing the man to step back. Sabrina crept closer so that she could hear the conversation through the half-open door.
“See here, who are you?” Fairfield protested feebly. “What are you doing barging into my room?”
“I’ve been told you are the man to see if one wants a certain job done.”
“Maybe.” The actor’s voice was both wary and eager. “What is it you want?”
“Peter Dearborn said you did it for him recently—a false marriage. There’s a certain female who’s stubbornly insistent on having a ring on her finger.” Alex’s voice was cool and lightly insinuating. Sabrina thought that he had a great deal more of his brother’s flair for deception than he realized.
“It could be arranged.” Fairfield’s tone turned friendly.
“I want the whole thing, just as you did for Dearborn.”
“It’s no problem. I have the collar and all. Has to be before or after the performance, of course.”
“Of course. You go through the entire ceremony, correct? That’s what you did for Peter and the girl last time, isn’t it? This one’s a canny one—she’d catch any slip.”
“Don’t worry. I’m perfect.”
“Peter drugged her.”
“Yes. Apparently she was reluctant, but it’s not necessary if she’s eager to—”
At that moment there was the smack of a fist meeting skin and bone, followed by a crash. “You worthless bastard!”
Sabrina ran inside and saw Fairfield sprawled on the floor with Alex looming over him. Alex reached down and gripped his shirtfront tightly, hauling the actor to his feet.
“You helped him!” Alex twisted his fist in the neck of the shirt, tightening it and lifting the man onto his toes. “It’s bad enough you stood by while he tried to ruin a young girl’s life, but you actively participated in it. You’re scum, the lowest of the low.”
“Alex, you’re choking him,” Sabrina cautioned.
“Good.” But he let go of the man.
Fairfield staggered back. “What—Why—” His terrified eyes fell on Sabrina. “You!” He backed up until the wall stopped him, his head swiveling between Sabrina and Alex. “I didn’t—I didn’t do anything. I never touched her.”
“I think the fraud you perpetrated was enough. You were an accessory to any crime Peter committed.”
“You can’t.” Fairfield rolled his eyes frantically back to Sabrina. “Miss, you can’t let him—you’ll have to testify, you know. It’ll all come out. The scandal will ruin you.”
Alex heaved a sigh. “Yes, you’re right. I guess it will just have to be because you stole my watch.”
“What? I never!”
“Mmm. Who do you think they’ll believe, you or a duke’s son?” Alex took a firm grip on Fairfield’s arm and started toward the door. “Come along, Fairfield. I’m afraid you won’t be performing tonight, since you’ll be in jail.”
“No! Wait! What do you want? I’ll do it.”
“I can well believe that.” But Alex stopped, studying him consideringly. “I suppose...if you were to write out a full confession, detailing the Dearborns’ nasty little fraud and their participation in it...”
“Yes! I’ll do it. I’ll put in everything. And there was that time when we were at Eton when he—”
“You were at Eton together?”
“Yes.” The man shrugged. “That was, needless to say, before my family disowned me. Very well, let me get out a piece of paper, and I’ll write it all down.”
It was a good while later and Fairfield looked considerably more wilted when he signed the paper and handed it over to Alex, then asked sullenly, “What are you going to do with that?”
“I intend to hold on to it. Consider it a bond on your good behavior in the future. I intend to check in on you from time to time. I’ll know if you have taken up such tricks again.”
“You can’t use it without implicating Dearborn.”
“Yes—if I were you, that might make me a little leery about Dearborn’s actions,” Alex said thoughtfully, and the other man’s eyes widened in alarm. “Indeed, you might want to consider moving to a sunnier clime.”
Alex folded the paper and tucked it into his pocket, then offered his arm to Sabrina. As they went down the stairs, Sabrina asked, “Do you really think that will stop him from doing anything like this again?”
“I suspect so. Oh, I imagine he’ll continue with petty larcenies of some sort or another. But he’s not a brave man, and he’s smart enough to know that if he were caught in anything else of this nature, this paper would guarantee a long term. If he doesn’t flee the country, I’ll have Tom look in on him now and then, just to remind him.”
“I—I guess we have solved our mystery,” Sabrina said somewhat uncertainly as they strolled back down the street to their vehicle. She realized with dismay that her time with Alex must now be over.
“Yes, and you are a free woman,” Alex agreed. “All we need to do now is keep you safe from Dearborn for the next little while, and he’ll no longer have any legal hold on you. I plan to use this—” he patted his chest, where Fairfield’s confession sat in an inside pocket “—to make sure he doesn’t try the same trick again after you’re of age. You will be able to go wherever you want.”
Sabrina looked up at Alex, trying to gauge whether that prospect made him feel as bereft as it did her. The truth was she had no desire to leave Broughton House—or rather, she had no desire to leave Alex. “I... That’s wonderful,” she said with a distinct lack of enthusiasm.
Was it all over now? Would she move back to her estate? Much as she had always loved her home, that seemed a dismal prospect. For the past several weeks, she had been bent only on discovering her past. She hadn’t thought about the future.
“What will we do now?” she asked.
“Take the train back to London,” he answered. “I’ll have the gig and horse returned to The Blind Ox.” He glanced down at her, his eyes warming. “Though I think, given our adventures, we deserve a bit of rest first. We can take the train tomorrow morning.” He linked his fingers through hers. “And spend the night here.”
“That sounds like a lovely idea.” Sabrina smiled.
* * *
WHEN THEY RETURNED to Broughton House the following afternoon, Alex and Sabrina were greeted with cries of delight. “Alex! Sabrina!” his mother greeted them. “Back so soon? We thought you would be gone a week at least.”
To Alex’s surprise, Lilah Holcutt followed the duchess out of the sultan room and hastened toward them. “Sabrina! Are you all right? What did you find out?”
“Yes, come tell us. I’ll ring for tea.” The duchess swept them all before her.
Alex began their very expurgated story, then had to start over again when Con joined them a few minutes later. Unsurprisingly, Lilah was appalled and irate at the Dearborns’ actions, and the duchess wanted to take the fight to them.
“I plan to, Mother, never fear,” Alex told her with a smile. He glanced toward Con, who gave him a barely perceptible nod. “If you’ll excuse me, I will leave Sabrina in your capable hands. Con and I have something to discuss.”
The two brothers headed for their sitting room, where, after an enthusiastic and noisy greeting from Wellington, they settled down, drinks in hand.
“I was surprised to see Miss Holcutt here,” Alex began.
Con snorted. “She and the duchess are grand chums now.”
“Mother? And Miss Holcutt? I thought they were going at it hammer and tongs the other day.”
�
��Yes, but apparently they enjoy it. Lilah stayed the other day after you scarpered. Mother decided that if Lilah left as herself right afterward, the Dearborns might catch on to her impersonation of Miss Blair and deduce that she was no longer here. I expected Miss Holcutt to recoil in horror at the prospect, but amazingly she agreed to stay. I’m beginning to think she intends to take up residence.”
“It’s only been three days.”
“Seems like a month. But I’ve managed to avoid her presence most of the time. Stayed in the flat above the agency.”
Alex laughed. “I never thought to see you so frightened of a woman.”
“Are you joking? Mother’s always scared me.” Con grinned. “Frankly, I’m afraid I’ll be driven to say something rude to Miss Holcutt eventually, and then I’ll hear it from Mother.”
“But haven’t the Dearborns given up watching the house? I didn’t see anyone lurking around.”
“No, they simply got smarter and posted their man at the little park down the street.”
“That far? Seems iffy.”
“He uses a spyglass.” Con tossed back the rest of his drink. “Now...tell me what you didn’t want to say in front of Mother.”
“Actually, I told her most of it.” Alex wasn’t about to get into what had happened between him and Sabrina. He realized, with a bit of surprise, that it was the first time he remembered keeping anything from his brother. “But I did skim over the details of the Dearborns’ plan. I think Peter meant to rape Sabrina at some point. It’s possible he was only counting on the scandal to make her agree to the marriage. But getting her pregnant would have cemented it.”
“But the marriage wasn’t legal. He wouldn’t really be entitled to take over her fortune.”
“After a time, when she was resigned to the marriage and the scandal would be too great, I suspect he would have told her that something had gone wrong at the ceremony, and they would have gotten married again, for real this time.”
“He’s a right bastard.”
“He is that,” Alex agreed. “But what I want to talk to you about is what you discovered while I was gone.”
Con grinned wickedly. “For one thing, our friends the Dearborns have some expensive habits. The son spends a lot of time in London, runs with Cartwell and that lot.”
“He would certainly need money, then.”
“Exactly. Niles Dearborn’s father made a pile of money on some India project he invested in. Risky venture, but they found rubies, and he had a tenfold return. He made a few other good investments with the profit—it set the family up nicely. But Dearborn has his father’s love of risky projects, but a good deal less luck with them. He has lost a good bit over the years, and they live lavishly. I’d say he badly needs Miss Blair’s inheritance, which, by the by, was substantial.”
“She’s wealthy?”
“Not as wealthy as she was before Dearborn took over.”
“The Dearborns have been embezzling her money,” Alex said grimly.
“Not at first. Sabrina’s father had his money in good, solid funds—nothing flashy, but steady and reliable. But Dearborn decided to invest her money into his usual sort of thing, and he lost, oh, I’d say a quarter of it. He also reimbursed himself for various expenses, and those seem inordinately high for a girl living in seclusion in the country. Those are certainly questionable, but it’s the last two years that caught my attention. There’s been a steady reduction in funds, and the reason is unclear. In my opinion, it has the hallmarks of embezzlement. I have to dig more deeply to discover just exactly how he accomplished it.”
“Do it. I want to build a solid case against him. Not just Fairfield’s confession, but evidence of Dearborn’s malfeasance as her trustee, as well.”
“You intend to turn him in? It will mean scandal for Miss Blair.”
Alex sighed. “I know. My intent was to use it as leverage against him. Tell him that should he attempt to harm Sabrina in any way or even approach her, I’d lay charges against him. I think the threat of his ruin would be enough to stay his hand.” He frowned. “But if he has stolen a great deal from her, she should have the opportunity to recoup some of it.”
“She might prefer to stay silent and lose the money than reveal what happened. After all, it’s not as if she’s penniless. Miss Blair has a good estate in Somerset and that house in London—which, I might add, Dearborn is looking to sell. In available cash and monetary investments, she’s down by half, I’d say. She won’t need money after you marry her, anyway.”
“Marry her!” Alex stared at his twin. “Who said anything about marrying her?”
Con widened his eyes innocently. “Aren’t you? Surely you’re going to make an honest woman of her.”
Chapter Thirty
ALEX SURGED TO his feet, red tinging the sharp edge of his cheekbones. “The devil! Don’t say such a thing. How the hell did you—” He stopped abruptly as a smile spread across his brother’s face.
“Know?” Con said, finishing the sentence for him. “I didn’t until you jumped up as though I’d stabbed you.”
“Damn it, Con...you cannot say something like that.”
“For pity’s sake—I wouldn’t say anything to anyone but you. I’m not a dolt—or mannerless, no matter what Miss Holcutt would say.” He frowned. “Surely you don’t think you can’t trust me.”
“No. Of course not.” Alex sighed and flopped back down in his chair. “I’m sorry. I’d trust you with anything. It’s just that, well, it would ruin her reputation if it got out, if others suspected. Why did you suspect we had, um... Did I say something? Do something?”
“No. It’s a reasonable guess to make when a gentleman spends several days jaunting about the country with a woman, unchaperoned. Especially when he’s obviously mad for her and she for him.”
“I’m not in—” Alex met his twin’s flat stare and sighed. “Oh, of course I’m in love with her. There’s nothing I want more than to marry her.”
“Then why all this coyness?”
“I’m not being coy. But I can’t take advantage of her like that.”
“I’m not sure I see how proposing to a girl is taking advantage of her.”
“She’s young and naive.”
“Sabrina’s almost twenty-one. Most young ladies have been out for three years at that age. You’re only four years older. It isn’t as if you’re robbing the cradle.”
“But she hasn’t been out for three years. She’s led a quiet, sheltered life. She has no experience with flirtation, let alone falling in love.”
“She seemed to me to be the sort of girl who knows her own mind. I’ve seen her look at you. She’s as mad about you as you are about her.”
“I think it’s too easy to mistake gratitude for love. She was in a desperate situation, and I helped her. But what happens if suddenly she realizes that it wasn’t love?”
“You think she’s that fickle?”
“I think that I shouldn’t seize on the situation. I ought to stand back and let her have some time to come to grips with everything. Her life has been far too chaotic recently for her to make reasonable decisions. She needs to have some peace. She ought to be free to go to parties and dance and flirt.”
“Oh, yes, I can tell from your scowl that you really want her to do that.”
“It’s not a question of what I want. I must do the right thing for Sabrina.”
“Have you told the young lady herself that you’re going to cut her loose?”
“That isn’t the way it is at all.” Alex’s eyes flashed. “Blast it, Con, you know better than that.”
“I do. I know that you’ll eat your heart out because you want to be honorable and fair. I know that you will always err on the side of generosity, not selfishness. But if you’re so concerned with doing the right thing for Miss Blair, why did you sleep with her?”
“I shouldn’t have.” Alex thrust his hands into his hair. “I know that. I just...could not help myself.”
“And why do you think you’ll be able to ‘help yourself’ in the future?”
Alex shot his brother an anguished look. “I don’t know. But I must.”
Con rolled his eyes. “For pity’s sake, Alex. You’re going to be the death of me.” He stood up and set down his glass. “Do one thing for me, would you? Before you go killing yourself on the altar of duty and honor, you might consider asking Miss Blair if she really wants you to sacrifice her, as well.”
He strolled out of the room, leaving Alex staring after him in dismay.
* * *
A FEW DAYS LATER, Sabrina was sitting in the library, reading, when Phipps announced the arrival of Miss Holcutt. “Lilah!” Sabrina laid her book aside and went to greet her friend. “Come in. Sit down. Or would you rather go into the sultan room?”
“No, this is a lovely library—and the sultan room is a bit...red.”
Sabrina chuckled. “It is that. But I like it. It suits the duchess, don’t you think?”
“Indeed.”
“Excuse me, ladies.” They turned toward the sound of a voice and saw Con rising from a chair across the room.
“Oh. I’m sorry, I didn’t see you,” Lilah said.
“Of course you didn’t.” Con nodded politely toward Sabrina’s visitor. “Good day, Miss Holcutt. I have some business to attend to. Sabrina.”
The two women watched him leave. Lilah swung back to Sabrina. “Well, he certainly sped off as soon as I showed up.”
“I’m sure it wasn’t because of you,” Sabrina assured her.
“No?” Lilah raised a quizzical eyebrow. “Constantine avoided me assiduously those three days I was a guest here, as well. He finds me quite prudish, I believe.”
“I’m sure it was no dislike of you that sent him off just now. He was here only because Alex had to go to his office to finish some plans for a client, and he doesn’t like to leave me alone—though I don’t know what he thinks is going to happen. I doubt the Dearborns will burst through the front door.”