The Regency Season

by Ann Lethbridge

  ‘I’ve known it all along,’ he ground out through a jaw clenched hard.

  ‘But—’

  ‘It didn’t suit me to hand it over.’

  An odd sensation ran down her spine. Her scalp prickled and tightened. What was he not telling her?

  Again he thrust it towards her and this time she took it, running her palm over butter-soft leather, still warm with the heat of his body. She started to open the cover.

  ‘Wait,’ he commanded. The usual shiver ran down her spine, but this was not the game they played at night. He was not in charge of what she did or did not do.

  She lifted the cover and moved to the window for more light.

  ‘Please, Rowena,’ he said.

  The agony in his voice halted her, made her look at him. She’d been wrong—he wasn’t angry, he was suffering from some sort of dread.

  ‘What is it?’ she asked.

  ‘There are some things I must tell you. Before you read what is there. Before you learn them from others.’

  She’d always known he was a man with secrets. That he would want to share them with her made her feel warm inside. She glanced down at the book, and then nodded. ‘Very well.’

  ‘It might be better if you sat down.’ The wry humour was back in his voice. ‘If you would.’ And he wasn’t telling her, he was asking. She returned to her seat by the hearth, the book clasped in both hands.

  He looked as if he wanted to continue his pacing, but instead he took the chair opposite and leaned forward, hands clasped between his knees, his gaze fixed on them. ‘I told you that I left Scotland in disgrace.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘I didn’t tell you why I left Scotland. My brother Ian banished me from these shores.’

  ‘Does it matter? Your younger brother seemed delighted—’

  He cut her off with a quick shake of his head. ‘Likely Niall doesn’t know the full story.’ He raised his gaze to meet hers and there was sorrow and regret in the shadows of his eyes. ‘I seduced a woman and ruined her in the eyes of London society.’

  Shock stole her breath and she gasped. ‘Why?’

  His laugh was short and bitter. ‘She was an heiress. We needed money at Dunross. It was the quickest way to fill our coffers.’

  Her heart stilled. ‘Are you married, then?’

  ‘No. I picked her because she seemed such a practical wee lass. Not one to engage in flights of fancy. Or want to live in my pocket. I was wrong. It turned out she fell head over ears in love and then discovered I was just marrying her for her money.’

  ‘Oh.’ Just like Samuel. A pain seemed to grow around her heart.

  ‘Aye, oh. But it was too late by then. Everyone knew she’d been in my bed.’

  Shocked, she stared at him. ‘And you didn’t marry her?’

  ‘She wouldna’ have me. Not even to save her reputation. Ian got to learn of what I’d done. He was verra angry. Said he was ashamed of me. I’d dishonoured the family name. You would never have known he was only a year older than me, he gave me such a bear-garden jaw. He said it was best if I left the country and arranged with our clan chief for work in America.’

  She waited, terrified of what he might say next.

  He huffed out a breath. ‘Ian arranged that I would never come back.’

  She blinked. ‘He said you could never come home again?’

  ‘He arranged to have me killed. And I should have been, if I hadna’ stumbled right at the moment his henchman made his shot.’ He touched his cheek. ‘He was aiming for my heart. Not my head. My head is a lot harder.’

  ‘Oh, Drew.’ She reached out a hand.

  He shook his head, refusing her sympathy. ‘The thing is, I have come back. And Ian is going to pay for what he did.’

  ‘What do you mean, pay?’

  ‘With his life.’

  The words were spoken flatly. The sound of it made her heart stand still. Then race. ‘Drew, no. You can’t mean that. I understand your anger, but he’s your brother. How can you be sure of his intentions?’

  ‘His man told me, right before he took his shot.’

  She felt sick. ‘But what does this have to do with the journal?’

  ‘It has the proof of the date of Samuel’s death. I’ve always known it.’

  ‘And you never said.’

  ‘No. I never said.’

  ‘But why?’ She looked down at the little book.

  ‘You’ll know, when you read it.’

  Her stomach fell away. Her heart began to ache as she realised what he was telling her. ‘You knew he was the duke’s heir? You seduced me to...to...’ Wealth? Position? Was that his motive?

  He was staring at her. For a moment, she thought he would deny the charge. He got up and took a short, jerky pace away from her. Then turned back. ‘Aye. He told me. He told me he never expected to inherit, though. But I guessed the family would pay handsomely to know what had happened to him. And then there was you. A woman I guessed was about to become a very wealthy widow.’

  Anger bubbled hot through her veins. ‘You guessed? And never said a word? What, did you think I would marry you?’

  ‘Would you no’? Had I asked you?’

  Oh, heavens above. She would have. She had fallen for him, hard. Made the same mistake again.

  He smiled cruelly, yet she could almost imagine his eyes told a different story. One of regret.

  ‘Aye, you would have,’ he said in harsh tones. ‘Any fool would grasp that it would serve my purpose, do you see? With that much money in my pocket, I’d be well able to deal with my brother and no one the wiser.’

  ‘Then why are you telling me this now? Why not just carry on with your foul scheme of ruining another woman’s reputation and forcing her to wed you?’ The bitterness in her words shocked her, but the hurt in her heart was far worse. She felt as if a knife had pierced right to her soul and she wanted to hurt him, too.

  He flinched, then straightened his shoulders and looked down at the journal. ‘Because they will no’ accept my word about the date. And I find I canna rightfully deprive you of what should be yours.’ He gave a bitter laugh. ‘And once they see the journal, they will know what sort of man I am. Rowena, if I thought an apology would make a difference, I would make one. You’ll be fine, lass. The journal will prove your claim. You’ll be set up for the rest of your life.’

  He headed towards the door.

  ‘Where are you going?’ she demanded.

  ‘To hell.’ He opened the door, then turned to look back at her, his face a mask of beauty and destruction. ‘I’m going to do what I set out to do when I boarded that ship with your husband’s body. I’m going to see justice done.’ There was a wealth of agony in his voice.

  He walked out.

  He was going to kill his brother. And if he did, there was no doubt Niall would seek his own justice. Through the mighty arm of the law.

  The pain in her heart at the way he had used her for his own ends was nothing to her fear for him. He might not have fallen for her, the way she had fallen for him, but that didn’t mean she wanted to see him die on the gallows. She had to stop him.

  And the only way she could do that was to tell his brother Niall of his plan. She glanced down at the journal and opened it at the length of silk between its pages.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Yellow Dog melted into the shadows. Watching. Waiting. Patient, the way only a predator could be. Unfeeling as stone.

  Yet he wasn’t unfeeling. There was a cursed pain behind his ribs like the ache of a festering sore. A wound that would never heal. It was the recollection of the way she had looked at him. Her. Rowena. Of the devastation in her expression. The realisation of betrayal.

  Betrayal hurt.

  Yellow Dog snarled at the fates that had made him cause that look on her face. Made him say the lie about caring only for the money, for her sake. So afterwards she could live with herself. And forget him. But he would never forget her. Not if he lived to be a hundred. Which he woul
dn’t. He would be lucky if he lasted the night.

  He didn’t care. He had nothing left. Except his revenge.

  A pedestrian strolled along the street, sauntering with no idea death lurked in the shadows of New Town.

  Yellow Dog became one with the darkness as the Indians had shown him.

  No. Not Yellow Dog. Damn it. Where the hell had that come from after all these months? He was Drew Gilvry. And he was standing opposite his brother Niall’s house for a just purpose. He was waiting for Ian. He was waiting with his loaded pistol and the knife in his boot, because they would not let him in the house with his pistol.

  She would have told Niall his intentions.

  He had no reservations or doubts on that score. Once the hurt had worn off, anger would have set in. And she would have betrayed him, just as he had betrayed her. And he could not but feel glad of it. For her sake. Tonight, they would both have their justice. And he would love her for it.

  Love. Hell. He had never believed in love. Not for him. Not for the way he was. And yet he’d found the one woman who did not revile his disgusting needs and habits. She almost made them seem...acceptable. Despite that his first woman had told him that his proclivities were unnatural. Perverted. Only when need drove him hard had he let them get the better of him.

  Until Rowena.

  With Rowena, it was like being transported to a different world. He’d felt clean. And he had thought he never would again, after what she had forced him to do.

  They would all know the truth of it now. Know what he’d been called. And how he’d been used. The slavery. The obedience. It was all in MacDonald’s journal. Not quite all. The worst of it, even MacDonald hadn’t known. But enough that they would guess.

  And so tonight Ian would finally have his way. Drew would die. But so would Ian. And they’d both go to hell.

  It didn’t matter to him. He’d been in a living hell for the past two years. Death would be a welcome relief.

  If it wasn’t for Rowena.

  Perhaps she wouldn’t be there.

  He’d seen Logan arrive. So tall. And broad shouldered. He knew him by his yellow hair, which had caught in the lamplight as he removed his hat to enter the house. His wife had been bundled in fur and he’d seen nothing of her but her height. She was tall for a woman. For a moment, he’d thought it might be Rowena, but he’d known it was not.

  The north wind tugged at his cloak, but he didn’t feel its bite. He was dressed warmer than he ever had been with the Indians. He’d been lucky they’d given him anything to wear at all.

  A carriage rolled down the street.

  He let his breath go and remained perfectly still. Not a puff of misty air through the muffling scarf would betray his presence to his prey, because instinct told him this was Ian.

  A large man stepped down swiftly and waved off the footman who, instead of letting down the steps, hurried up to the front door to knock. A carriage and a footman. It appeared Ian’s fortunes had improved considerably. Anger rose in his throat. He unclenched his fists. Time enough for anger when he faced the man with his crime.

  Ian bent to let down the steps. Drew could see him, a moving shadow on the other side of the coach, which was lit by a street lamp. Not one, but two others alighted. Two ladies.

  His heart lurched. One was short and the other tall. Rowena. Without doubt. How the hell? This he had not expected.

  Niall must have somehow got word to Ian earlier in the day. After his meeting with Rowena, when she would have revealed all. It didn’t matter. He’d expected her to be there. To be at Niall’s house, awaiting his arrival. He’d assumed Niall would smuggle her in through a back door from the mews behind the house. Ian was taking the threat pretty calmly, then, if he was strolling in through the front door.

  Drew eyed the distance between him and his target. And then saw through Ian’s plan. If Drew tried to kill him on the doorstep, he might miss and hurt one of the women. He put his hand on the pistol in his pocket. He could make the shot. Rowena was ahead of Ian, her head rising above him as she mounted the steps. In the lamplight, he easily recognised her bonnet. But as he knew only too well, even a clear shot could go awry. He touched his cheek, reminding himself why he was here. Why he could not make any mistake. A man didn’t take kindly to being shot at. A near miss would only prolong matters.

  The door was already open when Rowena reached the top step. She stepped inside. The others followed.

  Drew couldn’t help but feel a spark of admiration for his older brother. Not once did he look around him. Nowhere in his bearing did he show any worry. Yet he must know Drew was out here. Watching. Waiting.

  The door closed.

  Now to enter the house.

  * * *

  The tension in the drawing room was palpable. Rowena had been introduced to the Gilvry men and their wives, the vivacious little Lady Aleyne sitting beside the hearth, the tall, beautiful and coolly sophisticated Mrs Logan Gilvry on the couch beside Lady Selina, who was as tiny as she was fair. Gorgeous women.

  And her. In her shabby governess clothes.

  Even dressed as fine as five pence she would have been nowhere near as elegant or lovely as these women. They must wonder at Drew. What he’d seen in her. But of course they didn’t. They knew he’d seen money. Nothing else.

  The pain of it stabbed her heart anew.

  ‘Are you sure your men will see him if he should arrive?’ the Laird of Dunross said, his stern face set in harsh lines as he addressed the golden youngest brother, Logan.

  He was what Drew would have been without the scar. Stunningly handsome. His wife had an aura of hardness about her, until she looked at her husband as she did now, with a smile. ‘You don’t have to worry about Logan’s men doing their duty,’ she said.

  English. Like Lady Selina.

  ‘I have them on all the roofs,’ Logan added. ‘Not even a wee mouse can creep by without them seeing.’

  Ian Gilvry grunted. ‘I don’t want him hurt, ye ken. Just immobilised and brought in.’

  Some of the tension went out of Rowena at the knowledge they wouldn’t hurt him. Some. But not enough to make her neck stop aching. ‘He’s very skilled,’ she said and, aware of all the eyes in the room swivelling her way, lifted her chin, giving them her best governess stare. ‘He learned from the Indians.’

  ‘One Highlander is better than ten savages, I can assure you, Mrs MacDonald,’ Logan asserted with his charming grin. He walked to the window and made as if to part the curtains to look out.

  ‘Logan. Keep back,’ the laird ordered.

  ‘If he’s out there, he’ll ken I’m not you by the hair,’ Logan replied, but he let his hand fall.

  ‘Why take the chance?’ Niall said. ‘If he’s been waiting all these years, he’ll be ruthless. And desperate to bring it to a close.’

  ‘Then it is a good thing we took your mother and the children to stay with the Carstairs,’ Jenna said, her voice a little wobbly.

  ‘He would never harm Ma or the children,’ Ian said. ‘Not Drew.’

  ‘He’s changed,’ Niall said. ‘I—’

  The door swung back slowly. A man in a black greatcoat, head swathed in a scarf, slipped silently into the room and stood with his back against the wall, a pistol in each hand, both cocked, one pointed at Ian’s heart.

  Someone, perhaps Lady Selina, gave a little scream.

  ‘Your men should be watching the basement windows,’ Drew said.

  Logan cursed and stepped forward.

  ‘Stay out of it,’ Drew said, lining the other pistol up on him. ‘I’ve nae quarrel with you, lad. This is between me and Ian.’ He moved the pistol slightly, so it was pointed at Lady Jenna.

  Logan halted, looking at Ian, whose face was grim. ‘This is nonsense, Drew.’

  ‘Nonsense, is it? That’s why you have your men lying in wait for me. No doubt with orders to kill on sight. They failed last time. And they have failed again.’

  Ian let out an exasperated sigh. ‘The
y are there to prevent you from doing anything stupid.’

  ‘Why not just admit the truth, Ian?’ Drew said, his voice cold and hard. ‘Tell them what you did.’

  ‘I did nothing but send you away,’ Ian said. He took a step towards Drew, who straightened, his eyes narrowing a fraction.

  She couldn’t bear it. He was just so damned angry. He wasn’t going to listen to reason. Not from his brother. But would he listen to reason from her?

  She rose from her chair and stepped between Ian and Drew. ‘Don’t do this. Please, Drew.’

  ‘Damn you, Rowena. Stay out of this. You have everything you want.’

  ‘Everything except you.’

  He flinched. Then shook his head. ‘You don’t want me. Not now.’

  The journal. Her heart ached. Feeling helpless against the barrier he had thrown up, she pressed on. ‘Drew, I won’t let you do this. It isn’t right. He’s your brother.’

  ‘A brother who wanted me dead. Well, he’ll have his way after tonight. But he’ll no’ be around to know it.’

  Trembling deep inside, she took a step closer. She knew he wouldn’t shoot her. But he could so easily sweep her aside. ‘He says it isn’t true.’

  ‘And you’ll take his word over mine.’ The hurt in his voice shattered her heart.

  ‘Please, Drew.’ She held out a hand. ‘I love you.’

  His gaze flew to her face. ‘No,’ he said. ‘You’re with them.’

  The denial pierced her soul. Hot tears welled at the back of her nose. She reached for the pistol. ‘Drew—’

  ‘Rowena,’ he said, his voice cracking. ‘Don’t make me choose. You know I need this.’

  ‘No, Drew.’

  The pistol wavered. Logan and Niall launched themselves at Drew and threw him to the floor. His hat fell off, his scarf came unravelled as he fought like a wild man to keep his pistols.

  Ian stepped in and wrenched one away. Niall took the other and tossed it aside.