by Laura Landon
“No, I’m afraid they won’t,” Nick said. “And you will no doubt miss even more of the Season.”
“I’ll survive,” Winnie said, relieved that she wouldn’t be forced to attend the upcoming events for at least a week or more.
“Where are my manners?” Winnie said. “Please, sit, and I’ll ring for tea.”
“No, thank you,” Nick answered. “I can’t stay long. I just wanted to make sure you were all right.”
“Perhaps Mr. Stillman would like to sit in the garden for a few minutes,” her father said. “It’s a beautiful day, and I know the fresh air will do you good, Winnifred.”
“Yes, I’d enjoy that,” Nick answered. “Will you join us, Your Grace?”
“No,” her father answered. “I have several details to take care of. Several adjustments that have to be made, now that Lord Cavanaugh is no longer one of the investors in our clipper ship venture.”
“The undertaking will still continue?” Nick asked.
“Yes, I see no reason why it shouldn’t. We’ll simply have to meet with the partners and see how they wish to continue. Some may not feel comfortable in picking up Lord Cavanaugh’s share of the investment. If so, it will be up to the rest of us to contribute more.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” Nick said. “Lord Rummery was fearful that the venture might be abandoned.”
Her father shook his head. “No, I’m more determined than ever to continue. The venture is solid, and we all stand to make a sizable profit from the clipper ship. Now,” he said, walking to the door. “If you will excuse me.”
“Good day, Your Grace,” Nick said, as her father left the room.
“Are you all right?” she asked the minute they were alone.
“I’m fine. Truly. Just a scratch.”
“What happened?”
“Perhaps you’d like to walk in the garden,” he said, then followed her through the patio doors and down the three steps that led to a secluded area. She sat on the first bench they came to. He sat next to her.
“What happened?” she said when they were seated.
“They were waiting for us.”
“They?”
“We think there were two of them.”
“Did you see them?”
“No, they ran.”
“Did they get the money?”
Nick shook his head, then reached into his jacket pocket and handed her the package that contained the money. Winnie looked at it as if she’d never seen the package before. “What do you think will happen now?”
“We wait. They’ll contact you again. Probably soon.”
“With another demand for money?”
“Yes,” Nick said, but the look on his face indicated there was more.
“What?” she asked. “What are you thinking that you’re not saying?”
“You need to be prepared, Winnie.”
“Prepared for what?”
“For a demand of more than the usual amount. Much more.”
Winnie rose from the bench and separated herself from Nick. “They think I went to the authorities. They think I led them into a trap.” She turned to look at him. “They won’t risk another trip to the bakery, will they?”
“I don’t know what they’ll do, Winnie. It’s hard to tell what they’ll resort to.”
Winnie nodded. She tried to appear calm, but she wasn’t. She was scared to death. Then she realized her fear had turned to anger.
What if they demanded more money than she could raise? What if they demanded something other than money? Something she didn’t have, or couldn’t give them?
If only Nick hadn’t interfered. If only she hadn’t told him that she was being blackmailed.
“Don’t,” Nick said. “Don’t regret telling me. Don’t regret asking for my help.”
Nick stepped up beside her, but Winnie didn’t want his comfort. She didn’t want him to lie and tell her everything would be all right. Because it wouldn’t.
If only she could go back to the minutes before she’d told him she was being blackmailed. If only she could take the words back so he didn’t know. Then he wouldn’t have gone with her when she dropped off the money. Then none of this would have happened and things would be like they were before.
The anger she felt intensified. She was angry with herself for confiding in Nick. For not having the courage to deal with this on her own. And angry with him. For being so honorable. For having such a strong sense of right and wrong that he thought he knew how best to handle the blackmailer.
Couldn’t he see that sometimes there was no right answer? That there was only one choice to make? Only one choice she could live with? And it wasn’t the same choice Nick would make.
She regretted letting him become so important to her. Rebuked herself for trusting him like she had. Look what his interference had caused. Before, she could at least meet the blackmailer’s demands. With The Dove closed, and her mother’s jewelry almost gone, what would she do if the demand they made was for more than she could come up with?
“Winnie,” he said reaching for her.
She moved away from him.
“Don’t blame yourself for what happened last night.”
“I do,” she said, unable to hold in the anger she felt. “And I blame you. If you would have left me alone. If you would have let me handle the blackmailer myself, none of this would have happened.”
“And they would have bled you dry.”
“What do you think they’re going to do now? Give up? Go away and never bother me again?”
“No, which is why we have to catch them. We can’t allow them to continue. They have to realize you’re not going to give them any more money.”
Winnie couldn’t hold her temper any longer. “No! I can’t take that chance. Don’t you realize what will happen if Society finds out Mother is still alive? We will be ruined.”
Winnie swiped her hand through the air. “Do you think for one moment that Lord Montroy’s father will permit his son to marry a woman whose mother is a murderer? Do you think Father will be able to hold his head up in Society ever again? Or Benjamin? Or Gideon?”
She paced several steps in front of him, then turned her anger on him. “And what about me, Nick? Do you imagine that there is one person in Society who will not look at me and wonder if I have the same mad tendencies as my mother? Do you care for me so little that you would force me to make a choice that would destroy my family?”
“I wouldn’t let that happen,” Nick said. “Please, trust me enough to know that I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
“Like you promised me that you would capture the blackmailers last night?”
He reacted as if she’d slapped him. Her words stopped him from saying more.
“I know you mean well, Nick. I know you think you can protect me and my family. But you can’t. Last night proved it.”
“What do you think will happen, Winnie? How do you imagine this ending?”
The air rushed from her body, leaving an empty vacuum. “I don’t know. I only know that I can’t risk Society discovering what Mother did until Anne’s safely married.”
Nick turned his back on her and stood with his legs braced wide. His stance was battle ready.
For a long time neither of them spoke. What was there to say, after all? She’d made her position clear. She didn’t want his help. She didn’t want him to interfere.
Nick’s shoulders lifted and he breathed in a deep breath, then turned to face her. “Promise me one thing, Winnie. Promise me that when you receive the next demand, you won’t go alone. Let me go with you.”
“No, Nick. I’ll go by myself.”
His eyes narrowed and his mouth tightened. “You will either give me your word that you will allow me to come with you, or I’m going to your father right now and tell him everything.”
The panic she felt was indescribable. “No, you can’t!”
“I can, and I will. I won’t let you go alone.”
; Winnie struggled to find the courage to refuse his demand, but she couldn’t. Before last night, she would have been brave enough to turn her back on Nick and his offer of help. But no more. The blackmailers had shown they were willing to kill, and her greater fear was no longer coming up with the blackmail payment, but being alive to pay it.
“Very well. I’ll let you accompany me, but only that. You will not interfere.”
Nick nodded. “I need to return,” he said, then offered his hand to escort her to the house. They’d only taken a few steps when Tilly rushed toward them.
Winnie knew the second she saw Tilly’s fear-ravaged expression that something was wrong, and she knew the cause of her terror.
“My lady,” she said when she reached them. “I need to speak with you.”
“You can speak in front of Mr. Stillman, Tilly. Have I received another message?”
“You h-have, my lady,” Tilly said, then handed Winnie the folded paper she’d brought with her.
With trembling hands, Winnie opened the paper and read the words.
A small cry escaped her lips and her legs buckled beneath her. She felt herself lose her balance and reached out for Nick.
All was lost.
CHAPTER 26
Winnie read the words a second time, then a third, but they didn’t change. The blackmail demand wasn’t for the usual one hundred pounds, but for five thousand pounds.
It might as well have been a million. She had equally as good a chance of raising a million pounds as five thousand.
Nick took the paper from her hand and read it.
A surge of anger rushed through her. This was his fault.
She shifted her gaze from the words on the paper, to his face, but when she tried to turn her rage on him, she couldn’t. It wasn’t his fault. It was hers.
It had been her decision to let everyone believe the duchess had taken her own life. It had been her decision to take her mother to Saint Christina’s. And when she’d received that first blackmail letter, it had been her decision to pay the demand, instead of going to her father and admitting what she’d done.
Or, going to Nick.
No, everything that happened was her fault. She had to shoulder the responsibility—and the blame.
Except she didn’t know what to do now. If she were honest with herself, she’d never actually considered how this would end. She’d never allowed herself to look at her situation clearly enough to realize there wasn’t a way out of this. At least not one she could live with.
She turned her gaze to Nick. His handsome face blurred through her tears. “I don’t know what to do,” she admitted.
Nick stepped close to her and wrapped his arm around her and held her. “I know,” he whispered.
They remained in each other’s arms for several quiet moments, then he led her to the bench and they sat.
“You have to tell your father, Winnie.”
“No! I can’t.”
“You must. He is affected by what you’ve done more than anyone. He should have a say in how we handle this.”
“I can’t pay what they’re asking.”
“I know.”
“And I don’t know if Father will.”
“That will be his decision.”
“What if he decides not to pay the demand? What if he decides to let the blackmailer expose Mother?”
“Then your family will support each other as you weather the scandal.”
“But Anne?”
“You assume you know what Lord Montroy will do. Love is a powerful emotion, Winnie. When love is strong enough, it can survive anything.”
Winnie tried to envision every possibility that might happen once her father knew his duchess was still alive. There were scores of likely reactions, all of which were open ended.
But there was one outcome she didn’t want to consider. One end result she wasn’t sure she could live with.
“What about Father? I don’t think I can survive it if he rejects me,” she said, more to herself than to Nick. Because this was the first time she’d been truthful enough with herself to admit how the choices she’d made could be as devastating as the scandal caused if Society discovered that the Duchess of Townsend was a murderer.
She and Nick sat in the garden for several minutes while Winnie gathered the courage to face her father. This wouldn’t be easy. In fact, this would no doubt change the way her father felt about her. She had to prepare herself for that possibility.
“Are you ready?” Nick asked when Winnie pushed herself away from him.
She nodded.
“Remember, sweetheart. I’m here. I’ll always be with you.”
“Are you sure you want to be?” Winnie said. She lifted her gaze and attempted a smile. She knew she failed. There wasn’t one thing about this situation that warranted a smile.
“Yes, I’m sure. This is exactly where I want to be. By your side. With you beside me.”
“What if—”
“None of that. We’ve both known for a very long time that we belonged together. Even when you were just my Ice Lady I was drawn to you.”
Winnie lifted her chin. “Ice Lady. I don’t know what―”
Nick chuckled and smoothed a finger across her furrowed brow. “One day I’ll commission a portrait of her counting cards, with her regal posture and that absolute stillness of immense concentration, and then you’ll understand. But make no mistake.” He drew her closer. “I fully intend to melt her heart.”
Nick looked into her eyes and Winnie saw the depth of his feelings for her. The warmth he offered her. It was a reflection of the immense love she had for him.
“You have,” she whispered. “You have.”
Nick lowered his head and pressed his lips to hers. Their kiss came from the untapped depths of the love they felt for each other, earnest and filled with passion.
Winnie answered Nick’s hunger with a fervor of her own. She loved him. She would never stop loving him. He possessed her heart. How could she leave him when he held in his keeping a part of her she would die without?
Nick kissed her again, then lifted his head and pulled her to him.
She pressed her cheek to his chest and listened to his heart beat strong and steady beneath her ear. This is what their love was like. The strong, warm, steady beating of life.
When she was ready, she separated herself from him and rose to her feet. “Will you go with me?”
“I’ll always go with you. Wherever. Forever.”
He reached for her hand and held it while they made their way to the house. This was what she would remember from this day.
Nothing beyond.
. . .
Winnie had never been more frightened in her life. She knew Nick could tell how nervous she was by the firm grasp she had on his hand. Her fingers tightened with each step she took toward the house. By the time they reached the Duke of Townsend’s study, his knuckles had lost most of their color from the strength with which she held on to him.
She stood before the closed door for several seconds, struggling to find the courage to do what she had to do. Finally, she tapped softly as if she hoped her father might not hear her and she wouldn’t be forced to have this conversation. But the Duke of Townsend’s voice bid them enter and she was left with no choice but to walk through the doorway and face her father.
“Father?”
“Your Grace.”
“Winnifred? Mr. Stillman? Is everything all right?”
There was a slight hesitation on her part before she answered. “Actually, Father.” She hesitated again. “Everything’s not all right.”
The Duke of Townsend rose from his chair and walked around his desk. His glare hardened and focused on Nick. As if he thought whatever wasn’t all right was his fault.
“Nick hasn’t done anything, Father,” she said quickly. “I have.”
“Perhaps we should sit down then, so you can explain exactly what you’ve done.”
Winnie sat in one
of the two chairs facing the sofa and Nick sat in the other. Her father walked to the sofa, then stopped before sitting. “Am I going to need a drink for this?”
Winnie nodded. “I believe we might all like a drink.”
Her father stopped. “You are frightening me, Winnifred.”
“I know, Papa. And when you hear what I have to say, you’ll be disappointed in me as well. And perhaps even hate me.”
Winnie saw the stark change on her father’s face. For the first time since they’d entered the room, he grasped the severity of the situation. Except he had no idea how close to the truth her words were. It was more than likely, that he would indeed hate her.
Her father went to the door to make sure it was closed securely, then he poured brandy into three glasses and handed her one. Then one to Nick. When he was seated, he took a sip from his glass, then looked at her. “You’ve never been one for drama, Winnifred, so perhaps you’d like to begin.”
Winnie nodded, then took a drink from her glass and set it down on the low table in front of her. “Before I begin, Father, I want you to know that I love you. I would like to justify the decisions I made by saying that I only did what I thought was best for you. For all of us.”
“I’ve never doubted your love, Winnie,” her father said, “nor the love you have for your siblings. You’ve been more of a mother to Benjamin and Anne than their own mother was.”
Winnie’s heart twisted in her breast and tears welled in her eyes, causing her father’s strong, noble features to blur in front of her. What had she done? How could she live with herself if after today, her father hated her?
“Does this have something to do with your recent visits to The Soiled Dove?”
Winnie nodded. “I haven’t been to The Dove only a few times, Father. I went there often. Because I had to go. I needed the money.”
Her father sat forward. “Why did you need money?”
“Because I was being…blackmailed.”
“Blackmailed!”
Her father’s features turned hard, his eyes glared with deadly intent. “Why were you being blackmailed?”
“Because someone discovered something I’ve done. Something I couldn’t let anyone know.”