And that declaration was why every bit of bone and muscle and blood demanded that she stay exactly where she was until she could warn Sebastian. Whatever might be at stake, she would not allow him to be harmed. And she would not allow those people who were happily and hopefully buying up acres of Costa Habichuela to be harmed, either. She couldn’t.
A large man in the garb of a gentleman entered the path beyond the archway and turned around. Just after him a thin woman with scarlet red hair pounced forward, wrapping her arms and legs around him. They kissed noisily, and the man yanked the tight bodice of the woman’s dress down to expose her breasts.
As Josefina watched, fascinated, a hand swept around her mouth from behind. “Lord Castleton and his latest purchase,” Sebastian’s low murmur came against her ear.
He shifted his hand to her shoulder, turning her to face him. Finally they were alone again, as briefly and precariously as it might be. And he was angry with her, she knew—and he had a good reason to be. Still…
She put her hands against his chest to steady herself. “So, Seb—”
His mouth closed over hers, hungry and hot and tasting of port. Barely remembering to be silent, Josefina wrapped her arms hard around his neck, holding herself against him as desire speared through her.
When he backed an inch away from her, she licked his jaw. “Do those two arouse you?” she whispered unsteadily.
“You arouse me. You’re a witch, aren’t you? This is a bloody spell.” He kissed her again, plundering and breathless. His left hand cupped her breast, his touch burning through the thin silk of her gown.
“St-stop,” she managed, pushing him back.
“Right.” He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “We don’t have much time. This way.” Turning, he vanished between the wisteria and an oak tree.
Barely able to make out his dark form in the night shadows and thick foliage, she followed as silently as she could. Finally they reached a tiny clearing and he faced her again, his eyes silvery orbs beneath the faint sliver of moon. “You wanted to talk to me, I believe?”
And the passionate, arousing Sebastian of a moment ago was vanished, replaced by the hard, unyielding Duke of Melbourne. They were almost like two different entities sharing the same body, she realized, and she wasn’t certain whether it was the private or the public persona she needed tonight.
“Thank you for trusting me this much,” she said, matching his hushed voice.
“I don’t trust you at all,” he returned. “But apparently I continue to hold out a hope that you may have some small bit of decency left to you.”
It was the worst thing anyone had ever said to her. And she couldn’t even dispute it. “There are two things I wish you to know.” She kept her chin up, meeting his gaze. “And they’re both the truth.”
“Why don’t you tell me, and I’ll decide whether to believe you or not?”
“Very well. I…I had no idea my father meant to sell property to anyone.”
“Why is this fraud worse than taking the bank’s money and encouraging sales of bonds to finance the theft?”
God, he did know everything. “Because only the bank is harmed. It would have to buy back the bonds. The land sale is different. It’s more than a…theft,” she answered, surprised that she was willing to say the word aloud. It was one her father never, ever allowed to be spoken. “He actually means to have settlers go there. People could die, Sebastian. Families.”
“What do you actually know of Costa Habichuela?”
“I knew it wasn’t Eden, but I didn’t actually care about the weather or the terrain. Now, it matters.”
“So you are completely innocent of any wrongdoing, and have only been led astray by your dear papa?” The cynical skepticism in his voice hurt more than a slap to her face would have.
“Obviously you don’t care about what I did or didn’t know, and if it comes to saving my neck from the gallows I’d rather you not be able to use my own words against me. All I’m telling you is that no one can be allowed to sail to Costa Habichuela thinking of it as they do now.”
He gazed at her, his expression undecipherable in the darkness. “What was your second truth, Your Highness?”
“I told my father that you knew the prospectus was a fiction. He—”
“Ah. And what sense of honor bade you do that?”
“Because I was frightened,” she snapped. “When we first began this, the state of Costa Habichuela didn’t signify. But with the land sales…I borrowed that book you were looking at in the Allendales’ library. I hoped he might have been telling the truth about San Saturus and Black Diamond Bay.”
Melbourne nodded coolly. “So now you’ve told me, and your so-called conscience is clear. Let’s go back before they come looking for us.”
She put a hand on his shoulder before he could turn away. The muscles beneath her fingers jumped. She did affect him, whether he liked it or not. Just as he affected her. “There’s more,” she muttered.
“What?”
“When I told my father about you, he said he would take care of it, and he said that Vauxhall Gardens was crowded.”
“Very well,” he said a moment later. “You’ve warned me, and you’ve threatened me. I suggest that—”
“I’m not threatening you, Sebastian. I’m worried.”
“Then you shouldn’t have become involved. I am going to put a stop to this, Josefina. The penalties will be severe. If you want to avoid the gallows, I suggest that you tell me everything you know and pray that I can protect you.”
“You’re the one who needs protection, you fool,” she countered. “Being a duke doesn’t make you immune to injury. And I’m not telling you anything that would harm my father. This is not about betrayal. It’s about my conscience, whether you happen to believe that I have one or not.”
She turned around, but this time he grabbed her elbow. “Eventually, my dear, you’re going to find that you can’t remain neutral. You will have to choose a side.”
Josefina pulled her arm free. “Don’t expect that I will choose yours.”
Obviously Sebastian either didn’t believe that he might be in danger, or he thought that being a Griffin constituted enough protection. Either way, when he set off into the gloom Josefina had no choice but to follow him.
Just inside the archway he stopped again. “We are finished, you and I,” he said, his back to her and his words like a knife blade. “I appreciate that you’ve told me of your disapproval of your father’s actions, but your information is nothing I didn’t already know.”
“Well, aren’t you wise,” she retorted to his broad shoulders.
“Not wise enough, evidently. At the conclusion of tonight, don’t expect to have contact with me again except in a court of law. No more of your little games, whoever you are.”
“I know who you are, Melbourne,” she snapped, fighting unaccustomed tears. “You are a heartless, soulless man. And I want nothing further to do with you.”
“Then we’re agreed.” He gestured her to precede him. “You go first. I’ll find my watch and join you in a moment.”
“Of course,” she returned stiffly, brushing past him. “We wouldn’t want you to have to put your courage or your heart where your body has been.”
Before he could return the insult she moved back into the Vauxhall crowd. She didn’t know why they called it the Pleasure Gardens, because to her it was the worst place on Earth. Oh, she’d been so stupid. Warning him, telling him what she could without absolutely condemning her father—it had seemed so important.
Sebastian neither needed nor wanted her help; apparently he’d already had all he wanted of her. So now he would see her in prison and hanged, because she’d committed a fraud and her father had turned it into worse. At least Melbourne would be able to prevent an exodus to Costa Habichuela.
“Your Highness,” Lieutenant May panted, trotting up to her. “I couldn’t find the cutpurse. And I apologize for leaving you unattended. Yo
ur father will have my head. But when His Grace sent me to—”
“No harm has been done,” she said easily, knowing how difficult it was to refuse Melbourne when he gave an order. “My father doesn’t need to know anything. I only hope the duke has had better luck, so that we won’t need to even mention it.”
“I have, and we won’t.” Melbourne materialized at her shoulder, his watch in his hand. “I ran the rapscallion down halfway across the gardens.”
“And did you have him arrested for daring to cross you?” Josefina asked, taking May’s arm when the duke offered his.
“No. He was just a boy, probably doing as he was bid. I expect an adult to know right from wrong, but I make an exception for children.”
“I only hope whoever put him up to stealing doesn’t carry a grudge, Your Grace,” May said with a rare smile.
Josefina’s insides jolted. Whether he chose to believe it or not, Melbourne might just have laid out the plot for his own murder. And she was supposed to sit idly by, his own story at hand to provide proof of who’d done the deed. Of course according to him, she was already guilty of everything, so one more murder wouldn’t matter. With him gone, he would only be the first of many, anyway, because no one else would be able to stop her father. Stupid man. He had more than his own arrogance to consider tonight.
May and Milton were both seasoned soldiers who’d served with her father on dozens of campaigns. They had both killed, and knew how to do it well and efficiently. And both had fortunes resting on the rey’s success. Her breath quickened, and she worked to slow and steady it.
As they made their way back to the box, the pathways and clearings seemed even more crowded, the visitors more raucous. A juggler strolled by, half a dozen apples in the air and a loose mob following behind him to wager loudly on when and how many pieces of fruit he would drop. She edged closer to May.
“Too much liquor flowing tonight, I think,” the lieutenant said, giving her a reassuring glance. “We’re nearly back to safety.”
Her heart thudded again. She couldn’t even see if Melbourne still walked behind them. What if Captain Milton had killed him already? Gasping, she turned around so quickly that May stumbled.
The duke walked calmly a pace or two behind them, his expression cool and aloof, still convinced of his own invulnerability. “Is something amiss, Your Highness?” he asked.
“No. I thought you might have toddled off somewhere to neglect your duty to me again.”
“I never forget my duty, Your Highness.”
Yes, and everyone knew that. He couldn’t be bribed, and he wouldn’t be coerced, the fool.
“Here we are. You go on ahead, Your Highness.”
At May’s instruction she lifted her gaze. The rey sat in the box beside her mother, both of them looking in her direction. Harek stood a little to one side gazing at the fireworks, a glass of something red in his hand. She didn’t see Milton anywhere, though in the jostling, jovial crowd that wouldn’t have been easy had he been standing in plain sight.
“How was your tour, daughter?” her father asked, gesturing for her to approach.
“Very enlightening,” she returned, trying to keep from shaking as she released Lieutenant May’s arm.
When she glanced back at Melbourne to thank him for his services as guide, she caught sight of Milton beyond, closing on them quickly. Steel flashed in his hand. Oh, God.
Without thinking she threw herself on Melbourne, wrapping her hands into his lapels and twisting him around with all her strength. She kissed him hard as they half-stumbled away from Milton, in the direction of the box. His arms reflexively closed around her, but she scarcely noticed as she put herself between him and the captain.
“Melbourne’s asked me to marry him,” she said in her loudest voice, praying both Milton and her father would hear, “and I’ve said yes!”
Chapter 16
Sebastian scarcely heard what Josefina was shrieking, but the kiss registered, along with the very public setting. He grabbed her shoulders to shove her as far away from him as he could. Damn her. Damn her to h—
Then just beyond her shoulder he saw the knife, saw the soldier, Milton, hurriedly ducking away into the crowd, and a thousand things exploded into his brain. She’d been right. Embry had meant to kill him tonight. At that moment, Josefina Embry had just saved his life.
In that instant, his world shifted. Swallowing, he pulled her hard against his side. “I meant to ask your permission first, Your Majesty,” he ground out. “My feelings overcame me.”
“They overcame both of us,” she joined in, her voice shaking. He risked a glance at her. Her face was as white as his felt, her expression verging on hysteria.
Strangely enough, that calmed him. He needed to take charge. Milton was still somewhere with the knife, and Josefina might well have just placed herself in danger, as well. Whatever else had just happened—he would deal with the ramifications later. Now he needed to take responsibility for the action itself, settle as much of the outside chaos as he could.
“I hope you will forgive our ham-fistedness and give us your blessing,” he continued, guiding her toward the box.
Embry had shot to his feet at Josefina’s announcement, his face nearly as pale as hers. So he’d been taken off guard, too. By now everyone in the gardens would be hearing the news—the Duke of Melbourne had just announced his marriage to Princess Josefina of Costa Habichuela.
“Let go of me,” Josefina muttered through clenched teeth.
“Shut up,” he breathed back, stopping in front of her parents. “Your Majesties—”
“Welcome to the family, Melbourne!” Embry bellowed, thereby informing anyone who might have missed Josefina’s shrieking that there had just been a betrothal. “Or I must call you Sebastian now, I reckon.”
Sebastian tightened his jaw. “Yes, please do.”
The Duke of Harek, whom he’d nearly forgotten, abruptly shoved a chair aside so hard that it cracked the box’s railing. “Just a damned minute,” the duke snarled. “You and I have an agreement, Your Majesty. I will not—”
“We talked, Charles,” Embry interrupted. “We did not and do not have an agreement. Now please desist, and we shall discuss it in private later.”
“We certainly will.” With a furious glare at Sebastian, Harek pushed past the lot of them and strode into the crowd.
“Perhaps we should go, as well,” Queen Maria said unexpectedly. “We’ve created quite a stir, and with only two guards—”
“You’re right as always, my dear. Lieutenant, lead the way back to the coach.”
Sebastian didn’t correct the queen by pointing out that only one guard seemed to be present at the moment. There were far too many people about, and if Captain Milton still intended on killing him, he didn’t want to inform anyone else that he was suspicious.
“Melbourne!”
He flinched at the stunned tone of Shay’s voice. Drawing himself in more tightly, he faced his approaching brother. “We’ll discuss this later, Charlemagne. I need to see my betrothed and her parents to my coach.”
Shay visibly shook himself, obviously realizing that a public outburst from another member of the Griffin family would only make matters worse. “Of course,” his brother said, moving aside as the lieutenant, Embry and his wife close behind him, left the box.
His hand still wrapped hard around Josefina’s arm, Sebastian pulled her down the steps with him. “You are hurting me,” Josefina hissed, pulling against him.
“I don’t particularly care,” he returned, shifting his grip a little but keeping her close beside him.
“I saved your life.”
“Thank you. Though yelling ‘assassin’ might have been at least as effective, and fewer people would be staring at us and gossiping right now.”
“As if I want to marry you,” she retorted. “I only had a second. It was all I could think to do.”
Rather, he imagined it was all she could think to do without exposing her fam
ily for the frauds they were. “You and I are going to have a very serious, very private little chat,” he breathed. “And you are going to tell me every bloody thing you know, so I can hopefully find a way to extract us from this disaster.”
“That’s well and good for you,” she whispered back, “but I am the disaster.”
And ten minutes earlier he’d sworn to cut all ties with her. Shakespeare’s “tangled web” didn’t even begin to describe the mess he’d fallen into.
Captain Milton emerged from the crowd ahead of them. He muttered something at the rey, who shook his head. Sebastian narrowed his eyes. Tightly as he’d been holding himself in over the past days, his control was beginning to fray. It was bad enough that he had to smile at the man who’d most likely ordered his murder. With the would-be assassin rejoining the party, the response he should make and the one he wanted to make were miles apart.
“Sebastian,” Josefina said, her voice low and urgent, “don’t do anything to reveal that you knew about—”
“Your Majesty,” he interrupted, as they reached the coach, “I have to apologize again for not broaching the subject of marriage with you first. I beg your understanding, and ask that you take my coach home and allow me a few hours to consult with my staff so I may present you with a proper assessment of what I can do for Costa Habichuela in exchange for Josefina’s hand.”
The rey’s expression shifted from guarded to self-satisfied, the pompous oaf. “That’s very gentlemanly of you, Sebastian. We shall see you in the morning, then.” He offered his hand.
Finally and reluctantly releasing his grip on Josefina’s arm, Sebastian shook the rey’s hand. If he’d had only himself to consider, he would have flattened the bastard. He forced a smile. “Until tomorrow.”
Green closed the coach door and stepped back. The groom and Tollins exchanged a glance that Sebastian couldn’t read, and then Tollins clucked at the team and they were off.
“Where to, Your Grace?” the groom asked, as Lieutenant May and Captain Milton fell in behind the coach, leaving the two of them in the darkness.
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