Sarah Elliott

by The Rake's Proposal

  As her driver helped her from her carriage, her family’s longtime housekeeper, Tilly, opened the front door of the house, her wide form and broad smile welcoming her home. She greeted Kate with the familiarity born of so many years, her manner as warm and open as if Kate had only been gone a few minutes, rather than several months. Kate felt, though, as if she’d been gone for ages. Nothing seemed quite the same anymore. Although she’d hoped to marry and then simply go on about her business, clearly that was going to take a bit of effort. Forgetting her husband would not be easy at all.

  She forced a smile in return as she walked to the front door. “Good day, Tilly.”

  “Lady Sinclair, we’re pleased you’re home. It has been a long time…and such a big change!”

  Kate didn’t want to talk about the big change. She also wasn’t used to being called Lady Sinclair, particularly by Tilly. It actually made her feel rather ill. “I’m glad to see you, too, Tilly. You’ve no idea how glad. I’ve missed everyone here dreadfully.”

  Tilly grinned mischievously and leaned in toward Kate conspiratorially. “It cannot have been that awful, m’lady, with a man like Lord Sinclair courting you.”

  Mary snorted derisively as she entered the house and marched straight upstairs.

  Kate was simply stunned. “I’m sorry?” She didn’t quite know how her housekeeper would know what sort of man her husband was. He did have a bit of a reputation…perhaps Tilly remembered him from his long ago visit to her brother? “Have you heard of Lord Sinclair?”

  Tilly giggled. “Heard of him? You jest, my lady. He’s here, as you well know…in the study, having his tea. I’ve never known a man to take so much sugar! Who’d have thought a man like that would have such a sweet tooth? It will come as no surprise to you, of course.”

  Kate raised her eyebrows. She hardly knew her husband at all, and she certainly didn’t know a thing about any sweet tooth. Nor did she know why he was purportedly indulging it in her study. He was not supposed to be there. He was supposed to be at his father’s house, or, at best, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. If she’d had any say in the matter, he’d be at the bottom of it. Not here. Anywhere but here.

  Something was going on. She had obviously entered some sort of a trap. “Of course,” she answered Tilly cautiously, hoping her housekeeper would reveal more.

  Tilly was hardly paying attention and didn’t seem to notice Kate’s rather stiff reaction. “I’ll serve you your tea in there as well—you must have some catching up to do with Lord Sinclair. Not like most newlyweds, separated before they’ve been married a week. But I understand completely. He told me everything.”

  “Oh, please tell me he didn’t,” Kate pleaded. Dear God. Was he trying to destroy her? Turn her servants against her?

  Tilly burst into merry laughter once more, still oblivious to Kate’s very real distress. “Indeed he did, and why not, my lady? You had the orphans to attend to, of course. They would miss you terribly, and you needed to return to London to say a proper goodbye, or they’d be abandoned yet again, and you simply couldn’t let that happen, could you?”

  “The orphans?”

  “Yes, the poor, sick dears. He told me about how kind you were, sacrificing your time like that, during those long days spent south of the river—the boy with one leg, and sweet, blind Mary. When I heard that I thought to myself, How very like my mistress that sounds. Absolutely selfless. He said that was why he fell in love with you—your kindness and charity to one and all. ‘Like an angel,’ he said, ‘especially to me.’”

  “He said that?”

  “He did. I know it might be impertinent, my lady, but I declare, when you said you were going to London to get married, I never supposed you’d find someone like Lord Sinclair. No, indeed. So handsome.”

  Kate nodded distractedly. He was a handsome scoundrel, and now a handsome liar, too. How he must have enjoyed making that remark: angel. Ha. He would have to leave—and if he refused she’d simply have to poison his tea. There was no other choice. He’d charmed her servants. They were now firmly on his side and would have little sympathy for her. He did not own this house, though. It belonged to her brother, and Ben had quickly plummeted from being Robert’s best friend to being his worst enemy. He could make Ben leave if he wanted to. She would write to him immediately. He would advise her.

  Kate walked determinedly through the front door and turned to Tilly. “Lord Sinclair is in the study, you say?”

  “Yes, my lady. Um…”

  “Yes?”

  Tilly blushed. “I put Lord Sinclair into the master bedroom, and I began moving your belongings in there as well. I know you didn’t want to sleep there after your father died, but now it’s different.”

  Kate had thought things couldn’t get much worse, but she hadn’t figured this into the equation. Any resolve she’d felt was sapped from her suddenly and completely. She felt sick. Really, really sick.

  “I’ll go find him,” she said weakly, wishing she could sound more decisive. She walked down the hallway toward the study. When she reached the door, she swallowed hard and knocked.

  There was no answer.

  Kate steeled herself for the worst and opened the door.

  He was inside, seated in a worn, brown leather chair. He looked up from the book he was reading but didn’t seem at all surprised by her presence. He’d obviously been waiting for her.

  “Close the door, Kate,” he said coolly.

  Any nervousness she’d felt was now replaced by anger. How could he appear so blasé? He’d behaved just as badly as she had. He was the one who was trespassing. She wasn’t going to follow his orders. Without closing the door as he’d requested, she said in a tone to match his own, “My lord. What a pleasant surprise.”

  He just lifted one infuriating brow at her sardonic tone. “Close the door, Kate.”

  “No.”

  He rose, and for just an instant she caught a glint in his eye that told her he wasn’t so unaffected after all. He crossed the room and stood right in front of her. He reached his arm around her and she stiffened. But he only closed the door behind her.

  He was so close now, Kate stopped breathing. He looked her straight in the eye. “Now you will sit down, Kate.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I’m longing to talk to you. I’ve missed you so much.”

  Kate swallowed hard and almost choked, but there was no alternative. Feeling as if she were walking to her doom, she crossed the study and sat in a chair opposite from Ben’s. He reclaimed his seat and simply looked at her without speaking.

  Kate began to fidget nervously but stopped herself. She wanted desperately to look away from him but couldn’t give in. “Tilly will be in soon with more tea,” she said weakly after a moment, needing to break the silence. “This might not be the best place to talk.”

  “I never said I meant to keep you for long.”

  She bristled slightly. It was her bloody house, wasn’t it? Who was he to tell her where to sit and what to do? And what exactly did he mean by “keep you”? Did he mean he wouldn’t detain her for long or was it a veiled reference to what he really wanted: an annulment? Why else would he have come all this way? Why else would he want to speak to her? But could he get an annulment after they’d…consummated their relationship? Would he divorce her? It wouldn’t surprise her if he did.

  With an edge to her voice, she said, “This isn’t your house, you know, and you’ve no right to be here. My brother owns it and he’s not at all pleased with you at the moment.”

  “So I should be on my best behavior? I’m not too pleased with him either. Nor with you…angel.”

  She blushed deeply but still refused to look away. She sat up straighter, wrapping her hauteur around herself like a prickly coat. Her tone was sharp when she asked, “Well? What would you like to speak about? Did you need something?”

  Ben had no answer for that, and for a moment he just stared back at her flushed and angry face. He didn’t know how
the hell to begin the conversation he wanted to have with her, but antagonizing her was clearly not the way. He just couldn’t seem to help himself sometimes. Maybe he should have left the country after all. Better than sitting in bloody Little Brookings, doing nothing but staring at his beautiful wife who hated him. His beautiful wife who someone was trying to hurt.

  That was why he was there.

  She began glaring at him and thrumming her fingers on the arm of the chair, impatient for an answer.

  That brought him back to reality. She sensed his hesitation and was beginning to gloat. Clearly she was trying to make this as unpleasant as possible. “No, I do not need anything. But if you weren’t such an irrational twit you’d have realized by now that you do.”

  Kate looked patently unimpressed. “Is that so? And do you think you can help me?”

  He raised his voice slightly. “Do you not think it idiotic to come back here when someone has been trying to harm you?”

  “You refer to Andrew Hilton?”

  “Perhaps.”

  “No, I do not think it’s idiotic. I am married now and he no longer has anything to gain. That’s why I got married, if you don’t remember.”

  Ben snorted. “I have the misfortune to remember very well.”

  “Then you can leave—”

  “Let’s not discuss this now, Kate,” Ben interrupted. He felt himself beginning to get very angry and desperately needed to regain his composure. “That’s not why I’m here, and quite frankly I don’t even care anymore. I came here to meet with Hilton because you seem to be completely negligent of your personal safety. He will no longer be a threat to you.”

  “Oh. Well, that’s a relief.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  Kate blushed. She knew she should have said thank you, but she didn’t correct herself. She was dying to ask him about this meeting but didn’t want to seem too interested…or too grateful for his intervention.

  “He also won’t be working for you either.”

  Kate bristled again. “I had planned on informing him of that myself. I don’t appreciate your stepping in. I am not helpless.”

  “You’re hopeless enough. Maybe I got the two confused.”

  “I can take care of myself.”

  “I’ve been watching you take care of yourself since the day I met you, Kate, and you aren’t doing such a splendid job. What did you intend to do after letting him go? Hire someone else?”

  Kate didn’t have an answer for that question. She’d thought of that problem herself, many, many times, as a matter of fact. She couldn’t run the business without Hilton because no one would ever do business with her. And hiring someone else was out of the question. Hilton had had the advantage of working for her family for many years. He’d been there when her father had been there to protect her, and still he’d turned out disloyal. How could she find someone to take his place? No, Kate didn’t know what to say to that. She’d vowed to worry about that bridge when she crossed it, although now that it was time, she’d been doing her best to ignore it.

  Only Ben wouldn’t let her.

  He was still waiting for her answer, so she finally caved in. “I don’t know. I realize that will be a problem. But I am certain that I’ll find a solution in time.”

  “There’s an even bigger problem than that, dear wife.”

  “Oh? You know, I can enumerate my problems perfectly well on my own, thank you. I don’t need your assistance,” Kate said, rising. She simply couldn’t listen to it anymore. She needed to leave.

  “Don’t go, Kate,” Ben said, rising to follow her.

  “Why?” she asked as she walked briskly to the door.

  “Hilton is not behind the attacks on you.”

  She paused with her hand on the doorknob. “But how can you know that? What do you mean?”

  “I mean someone else has been trying to harm you all this time.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  It took half an hour to explain his conversation with Hilton, and still Kate didn’t believe him, not entirely. She was sitting, looking dejected, in her chair.

  “We need to discuss this predicament, Kate.”

  She looked at him, her expression at once forlorn and defiant. “I’m afraid I have many predicaments at the moment. To which one do you refer?”

  Ben paused in his pacing about the room to take a deep breath and count slowly to five. “Who else could be behind these attacks, Kate? You cannot simply ignore that question as you’ve ignored everything else.”

  That was exactly what she’d planned to do. “What would you like me to do instead?”

  “I thought it might be helpful if, perhaps, we put together a list of possible suspects. That way I can at least know who all of the players are…and the process of doing so might help you to think of people you might not naturally suspect.”

  “I’ve done that already in my mind, ten times over while we’ve been sitting here. There’s not a single person I can think of who would want to harm me. I focused on Andrew Hilton before because he’s the only person who could logically have had something to gain.”

  Ben sighed in frustration. “Well, let’s try anyway. Sometimes a second opinion…here, I have paper…” He trailed off when she made no move to take it from his outstretched hand. She wasn’t making this process easy. He dropped the paper in her lap.

  She just stared at it. “What am I supposed to do with this?”

  He walked over to the desk and retrieved a pen. “I think we should go through a list of suspects, and take note of what they have going for and against them.”

  “I’m sorry, but I can’t think of one person, not to mention an entire list of people, who’d want to injure me.”

  “Someone who might know of your involvement in Alfred and Sons who would use it against you, perhaps?” Ben asked, putting the pen in her hand. “What about the men your father dealt with professionally?”

  “They would only know me as my father’s daughter, not as a…a competitor, or even a possible means of acquiring our company.”

  “Can you be sure of that?” When she shook her head he pressed her again. “Names, Kate. There must be someone.”

  She sighed. She’d tried this before. Although Andrew Hilton had certainly tried to intimidate her, she’d never had any real proof that he’d been responsible for her attempted abductions. There’d always been some doubt. But she simply couldn’t think of anyone else and didn’t think this exercise would turn up anything new.

  Ben was staring at her, however, so she took a stab. “Well, there’s Richard Hastings, for one. He was the third son of Squire Hastings and didn’t gain anything by inheritance. He dabbled in shipping for a short while…but has never been able to make a profit. He’s a neighbor of ours and came to dinner on occasion.”

  “Did you trust him?”

  “He always seemed fairly honorable. He drank too much, though…that’s part of the reason why he was never successful.”

  “So he might know that you were the company’s heir and, if so, seems to have as much motive as anyone.”

  “If he knows—and I doubt that very much—he’d never do anything about it. He would have been aware that I spent an unusual amount of time at my father’s boatyard…everyone around here knows that and most find me a bit peculiar for it.”

  Ben grunted in agreement.

  Kate scowled at him. “Hastings doesn’t completely approve of me, but he’s really very nice. If you’re here for any amount of time you’re certain to meet him.”

  “Might he have wanted to marry you himself?”

  She blushed deeply. “He…once, perhaps, he expressed some interest in me. I never put much store by it, though. He’s a tremendous flirt. He’s also married already.”

  “Write his name down.”

  “No.”

  Ben just stared at her for a moment, not saying anything. He shook his head slightly and took the pen and paper from her. He began writing something down on the piece of
paper, muttering under his breath as he did so. She couldn’t quite make out what he said, but she assumed it was unflattering nonetheless.

  “What are you writing?”

  He ignored her and carried on. “Aside from Andrew Hilton, who else worked with the company closely?”

  “Well…no one else at that level. I suppose any number of men who’ve worked for us for long enough might suspect something, but no one else could possibly be certain. My ownership of the company was, as you know, a secret. Unless, that is, Hilton spoke about it.”

  “He might have done so.”

  “Yes…although he’d have nothing to gain by exposing me. He’d risk his own position by damaging the company’s reputation.”

  “What about your solicitor? He must know about your inheritance, right?”

  “Gregory Sithwell? Of course he knows—he helped draw up my father’s will.”

  Ben wrote his name down. “So he’s a suspect. And if not, who knows? Perhaps he inadvertently told someone of your inheritance.”

  Kate shrugged. She couldn’t rule out that possibility, but she was certain that her solicitor was completely benign. “Mr. Sithwell cannot have done it. He’s at least seventy, Ben, and one of the gentlest men I’ve ever met. I trust him completely.”

  “Can you think of no one else? Anyone who might be jealous of your position?”

  She thought very hard. “Hardly. There’s Edward Manning…um, you might know his company— Manning Ships?”

  At Ben’s slight nod Kate continued. “Well, he’s the closest thing we have to a competitor, although his ships are of an inferior quality. He sells them for a cheaper price, though, and manages to make a tidy profit. My father’s company is the only thing keeping him from dominating the entire industry.”

  “Would he have any way of knowing who you really are?”

  “Not remotely. He lives in London, I think…I’m not even sure. I’ve tried and tried to think of a way that he could have found out, but short of espionage it’s just not possible.”