Accompanied by another man carrying a leather bag, Grant came quickly, and saw the anguish full on the white oval of Adeline’s face. She stared at him. Tension weighed heavily on his spirit.
‘Adeline,’ Grant said when the drawing room door had closed. ‘Are you all right?’ Placing a gentle finger under her chin, he compelled her to meet his gaze, having to restrain himself from taking her in his arms. Her lovely colour had gone and her eyes were haunted. ‘What is it? Tell me.’
‘Oh, Grant—it’s Lettie.’
There was no way to tell him except with the simple truth. And in the next few minutes she told him what Lettie had done. The one thing she failed to tell him was that the decision to abort her child had been Lettie’s alone.
In disbelief Grant listened in stunned silence to every word she uttered. In all his life he had never been immobilised by any emotion or any event. The worse the pressure the more energised he became. Now, however, he stared at Adeline as if unable to absorb what she had told him. His lips tightened to a thin line, then he grimaced with suppressed anger.
When she had finished speaking, drawing a long, steadying breath, Adeline looked at him and waited for him to speak.
Pain and anger blazed through Grant’s brain like hot brands as he envisaged Lettie facing her ordeal alone. ‘Ever since you told me Lettie was seeing Cunningham I thought that with one word from me she would stop. I never imagined I would have to deal with anything like this.’ He turned to the man hovering behind him—a middle-aged man, his face creased in lines of grave concern.
‘Adeline, this is a friend of mine—Howard Lennox. He is a doctor and will examine Lettie. I know we can be assured of his absolute discretion.’
Howard stepped forward. ‘As you know, Grant,’ he said in a brusque, businesslike manner, ‘I am reluctant to make common gossip of my patients’ private health matters. Not even among friends. Miss Osborne, I am happy to be of assistance in any way I can. Will you take me to Miss Leighton? In cases such as this I doubt there is much I can do, but we shall see.’ He looked at Grant. ‘Wait here, Grant, until I’ve examined her.’
Left alone, Grant stood for a second to try and calm himself—for the thought of Lettie at the hands of Jack Cunningham and the doctor he had employed to perform an illegal, life-threatening abortion on her was almost more than he could bear. He was certain that Lettie would never have done anything like this without being forced into it. Unable to control all his confused emotions—anger, hatred, bitterness, love for Lettie and the soul-destroying feeling that he had failed her—he knew his rage was so red he wanted to shout, to snarl, to hit someone, to kill someone. Peferably Jack Cunningham. But he must pull himself together before he saw Lettie.
Having woken Emma and left her to sit with Lettie, who was now quiet and seemed to be sleeping, Adeline returned to the drawing room with Dr Lennox and poured both men a good measure of much-needed brandy.
‘How is she?’ Grant asked, feeling he was holding onto reality by the merest thread.
Howard shook his head, then tipped his glass and swallowed the brandy in one gulp, shaking his head when Adeline offered him another. ‘I have to say she is very ill.’
‘She must not die,’ Adeline whispered.
‘Do not upset yourself, Miss Osborne. While there’s life there is hope.’ He looked at Grant. ‘Some infection has set in, and her temperature is high. She is also in deep shock. But she is your sister, Grant. She’s strong, and I believe she will pull through this.’
‘Dear God, let us pray that she does.’ His set features relaxed, his relief evident.
‘I’ve examined her as best I can. There is some comfort in the fact that the operation was performed by a doctor,’ Howard said. ‘Some doctors can be found who will perform abortions—although they extract a high price.’
‘That wouldn’t be a problem for Cunningham,’ Grant growled. ‘But I am of the opinion that the doctor who did this to Lettie owed Cunningham. This doctor would have had no option but to submit to illegal practice.’
‘That is a matter of opinion, Grant. Abortion is legal if performed by a doctor. You have made enquiries into Cunningham’s background?’
Grant nodded. ‘Cunningham controls a hierarchy of individuals who owe him—ranging from beggars at the bottom to specialised lawyers at the top. A quiet word and almost anything can be accomplished. What do you advise we do with Lettie?’
‘Well, for the time being she shouldn’t be moved.’
‘That’s not a problem,’ Adeline was quick to say, dismayed that Grant had jumped to the wrong conclusion and was blaming Jack Cunningham for Lettie’s condition. But she would wait until Dr Lennox had left before she told him he was mistaken. ‘She can stay here for as long as necessary. I’ll look after her.’
Grant looked at her gratefully. ‘Thank you, Adeline. Hopefully it won’t be for too long.’
‘Lettie must have been desperate—she must have seen her future as precarious to have done what she did,’ Howard remarked. ‘Her recovery will take time, and she will require patience and understanding as she comes to terms with what she has done and tries to rebuild her life.’ Carrying his bag, he crossed to the door, where he turned and looked back at Grant. ‘I understand you’re leaving London for the continent shortly, Grant?’
‘I am—in a few days, as a matter of fact.’
‘Business?’
He shrugged somewhat wearily. ‘What else? I expect to be away for several weeks.’
‘I’ll return in the morning to take another look at Lettie. But if you need me in the meantime you know where to find me.’
Chapter Nine
When Dr Lennox had taken his leave of them Adeline moved to stand close to Grant. His dark head was slightly bent as he contemplated the glowing embers in the hearth, his foot upon the fender. Beneath his coat his muscles flexed as he withdrew his right hand from his pocket and shoved his fingers through his hair—which, as Adeline had discovered, had an inclination to curl when he combed his fingers through its brushed smoothness.
‘Would you like to go up and see Lettie now?’ she asked softly.
Grant turned and looked at her, fear tightening his eyes. He nodded. ‘Yes, I would.’
When Adeline opened the door to Lettie’s room Emma rose from her seat beside the bed and quietly went out. Along with every other servant in the house she knew something dreadful had happened to Miss Adeline’s friend—how could she not when her arrival, followed so quickly by her brother with a doctor, had caused such a commotion? They were all agog with curiosity, although so far Miss Adeline was saying nothing. But Emma, more worldly than her mistress, was no fool, and, having undressed Miss Leighton and seen the state she was in, had already reached her own conclusions.
Grant moved towards the bed. The tightly huddled woman, impervious to everything that was going on around her, did not resemble his sister. He would have said so, but the hair draped over the pillow, the familiar curve of her cheek, brought back memories of the vital, laughing face. Her eyes were tightly closed, the lashes forming shadowed crescents on her cheeks. She lay in a stupor partly induced by the heavy draught of laudanum Howard had administered.
Bending over, he gently touched her cheek. ‘How did she come to this?’ he murmured. ‘I blame myself. I should have made more of an effort to see her.’
‘It’s too late to worry about that now,’ Adeline whispered, silently wishing he had. If so this wretched catastrophe might have been averted. ‘What’s done is done.’
Standing upright, Grant moved away from the bed and turned his gaze to Adeline’s face. If he hadn’t been so anxious about Lettie he would have smiled as he wondered how Adeline had come by her prim and practical streak. Although there was nothing prim about those full, soft, generous lips and the compassionate, caring look in her green eyes, looking darker than usual in the dimmed gaslight.
‘Dr Lennox gave Lettie some laudanum to rest her, and some other medication,’ Adeline told hi
m. ‘She should sleep for a while. I’ll ask Emma to sit with her, and when she goes to bed I’ll stay with Lettie. I cannot rest while she is so ill.’ She looked at Grant. ‘Will you stay?’
‘I’d very much like to.’
‘Then I’ll have a room prepared.’
‘That won’t be necessary. Sleep is the last thing on my mind right now.’
‘Then we’ll watch over her together.’
Leaving Emma to sit with Lettie a while longer, they returned to the drawing room. Without saying a word, with his hands shoved into his trouser pockets and his eyes hardened into slits of concentration, Grant stood staring into the hearth, listening to the sharp tick of the ormolu clock on the mantelpiece and watching the flames of the rejuvenated fire licking and dancing. He wasn’t aware of Adeline standing close until he felt the pressure of her hand on his arm. Turning, he saw her eyes were anxious and suffering.
‘When Lettie arrived here tonight, did she say much to you?’
‘No. She was in no fit state. What will you do?’ she asked quietly.
‘I am a shrewd man, Adeline. All my business life I have looked men straight in the eye as they tried to convince me that black is white and vice versa. And though Cunningham is a clever and devious black-hearted villain, it will take a better man than him to hurt any of mine.’
‘Are you saying you are looking for vengeance?’
‘You’re damn right I am. If that bastard thinks he can get away with near murder he’s damn well mistaken.’
‘You can’t,’ Adeline whispered. ‘One thing Lettie did tell me is that what she did was her decision alone. He wanted the baby—and I suspect he has no idea what she has done.’
Grant was incredulous. ‘Dear God, Adeline—are you saying that Lettie aborted her own child?’
‘Yes. I—I don’t know what Jack Cunningham has done to Lettie—it must be something quite dreadful to have made her want to do what she did—but all of a sudden she hates him with an intensity I was shocked to see.’
‘If he’s laid one finger on my sister in violence I swear I’ll kill him. I might do that anyway.’
‘Don’t you see, Grant? Vengeance is a private sin to repair damaged pride. Try not to reduce this to a question of marksmanship. Lettie wouldn’t want you to do that. Aside from the fact that the crime has been committed by the doctor who—who—did what he did, and Jack Cunningham for getting her pregnant, there is only one other person who is responsible for Lettie being in the situation she is.’
His shoulders tensed, Grant turned his head slowly and looked at her for a long time. ‘Who?’
‘Lettie herself.’ Adeline stopped short, seeing those silver-grey eyes flare. Then she went on firmly. ‘She went with Jack Cunningham of her own free will. She found him terribly exciting and fun to be with, and she was attracted to him from the start—she admitted as much to me. It’s just one of the realities of human nature, I suppose.’
‘You and Lettie must have had some interesting conversations,’ Grant retorted, unable to calm his anger.
‘We have. Plenty. That particular snare—sexual attraction—has kept the human race alive since time immemorial, so Lettie cannot be condemned for that. She probably loved Jack Cunningham in her own way—misplaced as that love was. She told me he had proposed marriage and she’d refused. The decision to abort her baby was hers.’
Grant’s eyes glittered like glass. ‘Are you telling me I should simply let that low-down bastard off scot-free?’
Adeline swallowed hard as she courageously faced him, seeing the rage and the steel inside him. ‘Yes. I think you should consider long and hard before you tear open issues of which you do not know the nature or the extent.’
‘I do not think you appreciate the gravity of the situation, Adeline. This is not some Society parlour game. Lettie’s wellbeing is at stake. Cunningham deserves no such consideration.’
‘It doesn’t matter. What does matter is that you don’t create a scandal over this that will sink Lettie for ever.’ The way Grant was looking at her sent a chill of fear through her. But she went on bravely. ‘Dr Lennox doesn’t think Lettie is going to die, Grant.’ She looked up at him. ‘It is to her mind and heart that the damage lies. You said it would take a better man than Jack Cunningham to hurt any of your family. You would be a bigger and better man if you could put this behind you. As far as Lettie is concerned the whole sorry business is over.’
‘I will not let it pass. I would not be Lettie’s brother if I did that.’
‘What you will tell your mother and everyone else is up to you. But for now Lettie is going to need you. She is going to need both of us over the coming days.’
He nodded, accepting the sense of this. ‘I shall do nothing at all—at least until we know Lettie is out of danger. The less everyone knows about this unsavoury mess the better. But one thing is certain. Cunningham needn’t come looking for her after this.’
‘He will. He still thinks she is with child—his child, don’t forget—in which case he will think he has some claim on her.’
Grant’s eyes narrowed as he looked at her curiously. ‘How can you know so much? I thought you said Lettie was in no fit state to—’ Grant began, and then the enormity of what she had said sank in. He felt the blood draining from his face, and his eyes, full of accusation, slid towards Adeline, trapping her in their burning gaze. ‘You also said the decision to go through with this was hers, so some conversation must have taken place between the two of you when she arrived—a great deal, in fact.’
His gaze raked Adeline’s guilt-stricken face, and she watched in agony as his eyes registered first disbelief and then anger—an anger so deep that all the muscles in his face tightened into a mask of fury.
Adeline stared at him and seemed confused, which further heightened his anger. ‘Grant, let me explain—’
‘You already knew, didn’t you?’ he demanded. ‘You already knew Lettie was pregnant.’ Anger began to gather like a hard ball somewhere in the vicinity of Grant’s stomach. ‘When Lettie recovers I’ll find out the truth from her—but that does not excuse you from not telling me.’
‘It—it was what Lettie wanted. I thought it was for the best at the time—’
‘You thought it was for the best? Since when were you an authority on what is best for Lettie?’ he said, cutting her off, passion making his voice shake. ‘You knew. You knew when we met this morning. We were together a whole hour and you said nothing. You had no right to keep a matter as important as this from me.’
‘I knew, yes—but Lettie had promised me she wouldn’t do anything,’ Adeline said, coming to her own defence. Forcing herself to keep calm, she spoke in a controlled voice. ‘The last forty-eight hours since Lettie told me of her affair with Jack Cunningham haven’t been easy. In fact they have been very difficult indeed. Lettie promised me she would do nothing drastic, Grant, and I believed her.’
‘But she did mention getting rid of it, didn’t she?’
‘Yes—but—’
‘Adeline, don’t you see?’ he flared accusingly, his emotions storming inside him, his composure in shreds. ‘Had I known about any of this I could have stopped her. She wouldn’t be in the state she’s in now.’
‘I don’t believe that. Looking back, I realise that when she came to see me she had already made up her mind to go ahead with it.’
‘And you really believe that, do you? Well, I don’t. Lettie would never have done this appalling thing had she not been forced into it by what Cunningham did to her.’
Adeline had to summon all her patience to stop herself bursting out in a fury. Grant’s inquisitorial, aggressive manner angered her beyond belief. He was playing the part of the injured party a little too well—demanding explanations without the slightest trace of consideration.
‘At least she is safe, and Dr Lennox says she should recover. We must be thankful for that.’
‘Safe, yes—no thanks to you,’ he snapped unfairly.
It wa
s as if he had thrown a bucket of icy water over her. ‘That’s a dreadful thing to say to me, Grant. It isn’t due to me.’
‘The facts speak for themselves, Adeline.’
The injustice of his accusation brought an angry flush to her face and she looked as maddened as him. ‘When Lettie came to me she wanted to confide in someone she could trust. I broke that trust when I sought you out at your hotel after the first time she came to speak to me in confidence. I wasn’t prepared to do that again,’ she told him, throwing back her head indignantly. ‘I did the best I could to prevent Lettie going ahead with aborting her child, and now you storm at me for not telling you. When I left you after our ride, I truly thought you would go and see her—as you said you would—and that she might tell you herself. Clearly you had other matters to attend to that were more important.’
‘That was my intention. But when I returned to the hotel, D—’ He stopped himself from mentioning Diana’s name, knowing how it never failed to kindle Adeline’s ire, but it was too late.
Drawing herself up, Adeline looked at him sharply, knowingly, and nodded. ‘But Diana Waverley turned up?’ she uttered scornfully. ‘Don’t bother to explain, Grant. I’m not interested. If your affair with Diana took precedence over Lettie’s troubles it has got nothing whatsoever to do with me.’
‘God in heaven—there is no affair between Diana and me,’ he gritted coldly.
‘No? You certainly behave as if there is—and anyway, I don’t believe you. Still, how you spend your time is up to you. However, that woman has done enough damage to my life, so kindly refrain from speaking of her again in my presence. Perhaps now you will realise how serious I considered Lettie’s situation to be. I truly thought you would go out of your way to do something about it. I was relying on you—fool that I was.’
‘You still had no right to keep it from me.’
Slowly Adeline moved closer, and her eyes met Grant’s proudly, with a look as cutting as steel. ‘How dare you? How dare you put me in the wrong? How dare you transfer the blame to me to ease your own conscience? That seems a nice, easy way out of a difficult situation—a coward’s way out. I would not have believed it of you, Grant.’
Wicked Pleasures Page 18