Only Scandal Will Do

by Jenna Jaxon

  “What happened then, Janie?” Listening to this recitation, Duncan had re-seated himself beside Katarina. Anxious for her health, he looked at her, but she smiled and patted his leg.

  “Well, my lord, I’m sure I don’t know.” Janie pouted and glared at Grayson. “Just then Mr. Grayson called to me to come fetch Lady Juliet’s tea, so I had to come away and make up the tea tray. By the time I got back with the tea, I saw Lady Juliet in her light shawl and hat with Lord Manning escorting her and her maid out of the house. I put the tea down and went to tell Mr. Grayson.” Eyes bright, Janie looked expectantly from him to Grayson, who gave her a curt nod. She bobbed a curtsey and hurried out the door.

  “Janie came and told me that Lord Manning had taken Lady Juliet and her maid out,” Grayson said. “I assumed Lady Juliet asked Lord Manning to accompany her to Lady Honoria’s. I checked with Henry in the carriage house and he told me that Lady Juliet and her luggage had indeed left. So I thought no more about it, my lord, until three days later when Lady Honoria called, looking for Lady Juliet.”

  Grayson sighed. “At that point we suspected that Frenchman had upset Lady Juliet so much, she had instead gone directly to her aunt’s house. So I sent a footman to Lady Beaufort’s, but there was no reply for almost week, though I sent messages every day. I received no word from Lady Juliet either. Finally, your aunt wrote to say that she had just arrived in town, and where was Lady Juliet?

  “That is when I wrote to Lord Manning at his home. His butler, Simons, wrote back that Lord Manning was from home and had been for almost two weeks, ever since his sister left for Italy. It was then I wrote to you in Italy. I sent it overland, hoping it would reach you as soon as you landed. So we have been waiting for the past four weeks to hear from someone. I did not expect it to be you, my lord.”

  “Send to the stable and have Saxon saddled,” he said to Grayson, settled Katarina firmly in his arms and carried her to their apartments.

  After he had placed his wife on her bed, he sat beside her for a moment, trying to make sense of facts that seemed to have no rhyme or reason. “I am going to try to find your brother, Katarina. That seems to be the best place to begin. If she is with him, then the mystery will be solved and if they are not already married, they soon will be.”

  Kat smiled wanly. “A reversal to be sure. You, now playing the outraged brother.” She put her arms around him, holding him tight. “It will be all right, my love. It must be. You will find her safe.” She stared into his eyes. “What about Vicomte St. Cyr?”

  “First I will find Jack and Juliet. Once I know she is safe, I will find St. Cyr.” He tried hard to make his tone casual. “Find him and take him apart piece by piece. Very slowly.”

  “Shall I go with you to find Jack?” Katarina offered, even as a yawn split her face.

  “You shall do no such thing. You will stay in this bed and sleep until I give you leave to do anything else. I will keep you safe at least.” He assisted in stripping her garments from her, and she crawled beneath the covers. “Rest, Katarina.” He leaned over and stole a kiss. “I will return soon with news or Jack.”

  “Unharmed, I trust?” Another yawn muffled her words.

  “Assuredly, my dear. I wouldn’t want you unduly distressed.”

  She smiled as her eyes began to close, and pulled the covers up to her chin.

  Duncan brushed a last kiss on her brow and quit the room to find his brother-in-law. He hoped he could refrain from killing the man on sight.

  * * * *

  The light streaming in around the drapes possessed an afternoon quality, a goldenness that seemed to hang heavy in the air. Kat shook her head to clear it, but she feared it was altogether too clear. As though her mind had continued to worry the problem while she slept, a decent solution presented itself: Reginald Matthews. If she asked him, she was sure he wouldn’t rest until he found Juliet. She dressed in her brown velvet riding habit, which she could don without Margery’s help. The fewer people who knew about her errand, the fewer to try and dissuade her from venturing out alone.

  She buttoned the many silver buttons and settled the fashionable tricorn hat on her head. Why had Janie’s description sounded so familiar? It really did not describe Jack, who was taller, and his hair a medium brown, not light. Then, who had long blond hair and a tall, lanky frame?

  Nigel, the swordsman who had threatened her in the House of Pleasure.

  Stomach dropping into her knees, Kat steadied herself with a hand on the bedpost. Surprised that she could think the name without retching, she trembled at the memory of the man. What if Nigel had preyed upon Juliet? Perhaps he had the house watched and had known that she and Duncan were gone. Had he threatened or coerced Juliet to leave with him? At the thought of Juliet in the hands of that wretch, she quailed. She must get to Reginald Matthews, then find Duncan.

  The sun was still high in the sky as she descended the staircase. There should be enough daylight to reach Bow Street before dark, and she was determined to do something to help poor Juliet.

  Once out of the house, she headed to the stables. “Henry! Saddle Stella for me,” she called, glancing around for the groom. “I am going to Bow Street. If anyone can find Lady Juliet, Mr. Matthews can.” No flurry of activity as she would expect. Had they all been given a holiday? “Henry?”

  “Wrong again, my lady,” a man said, and clamped a hand over her mouth. Someone pinioned her arms behind her back and swiftly tied them in place. A gag replaced the dirty hand and though Kat tried to scream and kick at her assailants, they were just as strong as they had been five months ago. Despite her struggles, she found herself once more trussed like a Christmas goose, facing her captor. She hoped her rage spewed from her gaze like venom from a viper, but Nigel ignored her except to check her bonds.

  He turned to his companion, the jolly kidnapper of course, and snarled, “We haven’t got all night. Put her in that damned carriage now! She’s got someone waiting on her, Will. Someone she don’t want to keep waiting.” The swordsman glared at her with eyes like spun steel. “And after the trouble you caused me last time, bitch, if you so much as breathe wrong I’ll carve your husband’s name across your forehead so he’ll be able to identify your corpse.” He smiled at her, showing teeth like a crocodile’s. “Your carriage awaits, my lady.”

  Chapter 32

  A sickening feeling of traveling back in time assaulted Kat. She sat up on the carriage seat, shielded by a curtain torn during her struggles with the kidnappers. If she leaned to the left, she could catch glimpses of fashionable London streets. They soon gave way to the seedier lanes of Covent Garden. She itched to test her bonds, but Will sat across from her, smiling amicably, a cocked pistol in his hand to ensure her good behavior.

  The carriage slowed. Curious, she peered through a jagged rip in the fabric. The plain board house sparked no memories as they turned a corner and headed to the back of the building. But a cold chill swept down her body, despite the August heat.

  As soon as the horses halted, Nigel jerked the carriage door open, cut the cords around her legs and hauled her out. He dragged her forward roughly, and she tried to buy as much time as possible with her lagging steps. The longer she could delay them, the greater her hope of rescue. Duncan had no idea she had been taken, much less where, so help would be slow in coming. Once again she was on her own.

  Nigel and Will hustled her down the horribly familiar corridor, not into the small necessary chamber, but to a room that served as an office. Kat stopped on the threshold, stunned at the sight of the two people awaiting her there. The small, dark-haired woman was of course the madam of the house, whom she had last seen handing Nigel a mask for her face on the night of the auction. At that memory, her face flushed, her breathing quickened. She sent her a narrowed-eyed, hate-filled glare.

  The woman returned her stare evenly, saying nothing.

  The madam’s companion, however... What in God’s name was Tommy Redmond doing here?

  “Yes, I was sure y
ou would remember me, Lady Dalbury,” said Mr. Redmond, elegant in a blue satin jacket. He was dressed much as the last time she had seen him, on her wedding day. Turning his gaze to Nigel, he said tersely, “You can remove that gag, Crawley. Even if she screamed, no one would think twice of such noise emanating from this house.”

  Nigel stripped the gag from her mouth, leaving Kat coughing and gasping. When she’d recovered enough, she raised her face to the man clearly in charge.

  “How could I forget you, Mr. Redmond? You were so completely besotted at the duel I was amazed you could stand up with my husband during the wedding ceremony. But you seem rather sober today. Which is your usual state?” Her weapons were few now, but her wit might buy her the time needed for rescue. The question “rescue from what?” made her stomach churn.

  “You’d better be damned glad Duncan had the taming of your tongue, not I,” Redmond said with a sneer. “I’d probably have cut it out by now, or beat you black and blue to teach you to mind it better.” He fixed her with a brutally cold blue stare. “I’d curb my mouth if I were you, Lady Dalbury. My hand is just itching to teach you some respect.”

  As he flexed his hand before her face, she had to bite back a laugh. He would not hesitate to hit her, but his pompous manner struck her as ludicrous. “You should save your energy for my husband. I am sure he will have something to say about my abduction, and any ‘education’ you might think to inflict. He will take exception to the abuse of his wife.”

  Kat sat in a plush club chair pulled up in front of the desk. Immediately, Will knelt and tied her legs together with more of the scratchy twine. The dark-haired woman moved to a similar seat across from her, while Redmond sauntered behind the desk and sat in the gilded leather secretary’s chair. He leaned back, looking like the cat that had stolen the cream. His fingertips rested together, barely touching, forming a tent in a strange parody of praying hands.

  “A wife he would not have had if not for my machinations, my lady.” His tone became petulant. “If I had not dragged him here for the auction, he would not have made your acquaintance.”

  “You take too much credit, my lord. We would have met at some ton function. That evening, in fact, we were both bound for the same masquerade ball.”

  “A ball you would not have attended, being otherwise occupied here.” His smugness made heat blaze in her cheeks. Infuriated at his inference, she shot a glance of renewed hatred toward the woman across from her.

  Redmond chuckled. “Oh, no, Lady Dalbury, you must give credit where credit is due. Do not send your black looks to dear Amorina. She had no part in your abduction, other than to put you into the auction at my request.”

  “Your request?” She must not have heard him correctly. “Why would you want me in the auction?”

  “To trap Duncan Ferrers, of course.”

  “But how did you know... You had them abduct me and bring me here to ruin me! But why? I never met you before the duel.”

  “Oh, it was a close thing, my dear.” He smiled gleefully, working his fingers together so that his hands seemed to pulse. “Alethea Forsythe almost became the lucky woman. I simply had better information regarding your movements that night. Your brother obligingly supplied the time and destination of your sojourn while we were at Smithfield earlier that day.”

  “Who the devil is Alethea Forsythe?” Despite her circumstances, her exasperation had reached its limit.

  “Another young woman of good social position who just happens to have hair the exact shade of yours. In order to set a trap, one must have the correct bait.” His malicious grin sparked a new level of loathing in her heart. “You must by now know of your husband’s penchant for that particular hue. I knew if he saw a woman at the auction, with that shade of hair, he would have to have her. He is very predictable. Has been ever since childhood.”

  “So you were trying to help him get married by arranging for him to compromise a woman?” Kat tried to conjure up the motive behind this twisted plot.

  “Good God, no!” Redmond yelped in amusement. “I was trying to blackmail him. Once he had dishonored you or Miss Forsythe, I planned to force him to supply me with money on a regular basis. Duncan would pay handsomely to avoid any hint of impropriety after all those calamities he suffered last year.” He grinned proudly. “Most of which were also engineered by me.”

  That he would betray Duncan so heartlessly shocked her to the core. Yet she dare not contemplate that information further. Instead, she must refocus her attention. “What were your plans for me, Mr. Redmond? Blackmail my brother as well, to keep the scandal from touching us?”

  Redmond’s face took on a thoughtful pose. “I actually had not considered that possibility, my lady. No, you would have simply become part of the house here, one of the girls. After a night or two you would have hardly been fit for anything else. I doubt even a loving brother would have owned up to knowing you once you’d been ‘broken in’, so to speak.” The matter-of-fact way he relegated her to life as a whore made her blood freeze. How close she had come to complete ruin!

  “Why did you do it?” Kat burst out, appalled at his utter callousness. “Why Duncan? He was your friend, for God’s sake. And even so, why wouldn’t he just call you out and kill you?”

  “All very good questions, Lady Dalbury. You certainly are curious, though with your name, one would not think it wise.” His eyes sparkled with an evil glint. “But I suppose I have time to answer them.” He swiveled abruptly to Nigel and Will, who leaned against the wall beside the door, guarding it as though she might actually try to escape. “The letter has been dispatched?”

  “Yes, sir,” Nigel replied, his tone the most respectful Katarina had ever heard from him.

  “Then yes, my lady,” Redmond said. “I have time for an answer or two. I’m not above granting a last request.”

  Refusing to let him see her very real fear, she met his look evenly.

  “I chose Duncan Ferrers for my victim because, quite simply, he’s the wealthiest man I know.” He spoke in a pleasant tone, as though discussing the weather. “I suppose I’m rather fond of him, but I’ve always had to play second fiddle to him. Duncan was heir to a marquess, I was a third son. He always did everything just a bit better than me. Riding, fencing, drinking, whoring. He led a charmed life and I sat back, smiling as my father took me to task for not being as good as Duncan. Even when I tried to live up to the standard, I could never quite meet the mark.”

  Through a trick of the waning light from the window, Redmond’s eyes took on a fiendish glow. “Until the scandal. Then the golden boy wasn’t quite so golden. And as his luck ran out, mine came in. When he left for Italy, I suddenly had the ear of all the gossips. I became the pivot point of the social whirl.” He glanced at Amorina, who had been mute during the whole tirade, and smiled smugly. “I even got his mistress.”

  Her breath hissed inward, and she again glared at the madam. Of course, the affair was ancient history, but the thought of Duncan being intimate with that woman still hurt unbearably.

  “But then my father learned of my association with the notorious madam here and cut me off. Not a farthing until I had given up the ‘detestable vice.’” He turned mournful eyes on Kat. “My father is a moralistic prude and I will have my revenge on him yet, never fear.”

  He continued his tirade against his father. Long shadows in the room indicated the day drew to a close. Was help on the way? Did Duncan even know she was gone?

  A stinging slap made her jump. Tears welled. Redmond sat back down in his chair, once again fixing his hands in that odd position. “You were not attending me, my lady. That was rude of you. I am telling this tale at your request. Do not ignore me again.”

  Rubbing her burning cheek against her shoulder, she fixed her attention on the dangerous popinjay behind the desk.

  “Where was I? Oh, yes. So without funds I would certainly become a laughing-stock amongst my friends. Then, to heap coals on the flames, Duncan reappeared from Italy. I was
about to lose everything–money, friends, mistress–when I met your brother. He talked about you, though I paid little attention until I happened to see you one day as we passed the milliner’s. You were there with your aunt. When Manning pointed you out, I finalized my plan. I had my eye on Miss Forsythe, but the Braetons always surrounded her, leaving me no opportunity to snatch her. Your brother happened to mention your outing that night, so I had a time and a route. Quite a simple matter, really.” He glared at her, then moved from the chair and stood over her.

  “Until you upset the plan, my dear.” The fading light accentuated his now cruel face, lips twisted in a smirk, eyes narrowed as he stared down at her. There was nothing left of the likeable young man with whom she had dined after her wedding. Malice emanated from him in cold waves. “You managed to escape that night.” He shot a murderous glance at Nigel and Will, who squirmed under his attention. “So I lost my chance at blackmail. No one can be blackmailed without proof of wrongdoing. If I could have flaunted you in front of Duncan, a ruined lady, threatened to expose you both, I would be a wealthy man now.”

  “And what would have kept him from just killing you, my lord? He’s quite capable of it, you know.” Despite her words, as darkness threatened, her bravado wore thin. The idea of being in this house after dark eroded her confidence, brought back the fear and humiliation, compounded now by the knowledge it had been part of a fiendish plot.

  “He would never have known of my involvement, my lady. Dear Amorina would have appeared the blackmailer, a scorned woman bent on revenge. I think Duncan would have paid handsomely. I think he still will.”

  The blackguard was still bent on blackmail. But what was his plan now? She needed to draw him out and stall for time. “What do you mean?”

  “That is why you are here, Lady Dalbury. I have been waiting quite a while for you. Did you not wonder how I knew you were back in London?”

  Her stomach lurched. The fact that this monster had lain in wait for her had not crossed her mind. A sense of dread crept up her spine like icy fingers, causing her to shiver.