‘Love, pah!’ Mardon’s arm swished through the air. ‘Love matches that endure are rarer than black diamonds. Your earl would have tired of you, my dear. More beautiful, better bred females would have got their claws into him and he wouldn’t have spared you a second thought.’
‘Did you not love Mama?’
‘More fool me.’ He kicked at the leg of his stool.
‘You blame me for her being taken from you?’ Lady Cantrell shook her head. ‘That is why this is all my fault and why you have such a jaded opinion about love. You loved Mama and she was taken from you when she fell victim to the fever that I survived. Therefore, I was to be punished and not permitted to marry the man I adored.’
‘Believe it or not, I acted with your best interests at heart.’
Lady Cantrell eyed her father with bitter contempt. ‘I cannot believe it.’
‘You should. You have lost your soul-mate and will probably never recover from the agony of that loss.’ Mardon lowered his gaze. ‘I hoped to spare you from that. It is better never to have loved than to take the risk and have that love snatched away from you.’
‘You made money your god instead,’ Jake said briskly. ‘Its beauty doesn’t fade and it earns you respect, albeit grudging, from all walks of life.’
Mardon nodded. ‘That’s why I ensured that Megan was so well educated.’
‘Even though you didn’t want her to marry into the English hierarchy?’ Charles asked.
‘Most of ’em don’t have two halfpennies to rub together. I didn’t want my precious girl scrimping and saving in order to keep up appearances. Times are changing and if she was married to a wealthy young man from a decent background she would have found her place in a society that doesn’t rely upon titles and heritage as gatekeepers.’ Mardon’s eyes gleamed with almost manic conviction. ‘She and her husband would have been respected for their achievements, not their heritage.’
‘You were in partnership with Warburton,’ Jake said, frowning as he pieced it all together in his mind. ‘You wanted your daughter to wed to Warburton’s son in order to cement your business relationship with him and ensure that it endured over the generations. Your only child would be financially secure for the rest of her days, earning the respect on which you set such store.’
‘The middle-classes have their own hierarchy,’ Charles added. ‘And their respect would not be afforded to her as an automatic right. She would be judged upon her husband’s achievements.’
‘Something of that nature,’ Mardon replied evasively.
Jake and Charles exchanged a prolonged look, probably both thinking along the same lines. Mardon had been skirting the trading laws enforced by the Company and importing—very possibly smuggling—something of value into England. Either something illegal or something that would earn them a greater profit if the Company’s name was excluded from the contract. Jake leaned towards the former.
‘Exotic animals,’ he said slowly. ‘Zoological gardens exhibiting such creatures are increasing in popularity, as are collections on private estates. It’s not against the law to import them. But heavy duties apply, making their resale value less profitable.’ Jake paced as he thought the matter through. ‘Warburton has the means to capture the creatures and you, presumably, have been using Company vessels with legitimate cargos abroad as cover to bring the animals into England or other parts of Europe.’
‘Why would Warburton bother to take such risks if he is already so rich?’ Olivia asked.
Jake directed a contemptuous sneer towards Mardon. ‘Men of his ilk are never rich enough. They will never feel secure with what they have. Besides, by not returning to England and associating only with Indian women, it is apparent that Warburton holds a grudge against the country of his birth. It would give him a feeling of immense satisfaction, I should think, to know that he’d outwitted Company officials and cut them out of lucrative deals. To his way of thinking, men who presume to live in his adopted country and pocket the profits from that country’s labours deserve to be put in their place.’
‘I am not privy to his reasoning but have assumed it was something of that nature,’ Mardon muttered when Jake fixed him with a steely look, making it apparent that he required a response.
‘I thought as much. And you, I imagine,’ Jake said, pointing an accusatory finger at Mardon, ‘blackmailed him into promising his son to your daughter, thereby ensuring her financial security. Or was their betrothal part of your voluntary agreement? For the sake of appearances, Warburton would have wanted to see his only legitimate son and heir married in the hope that a child would eventually result from the union. He must have known that was a vain hope. We have already discovered that his son is not naturally inclined towards women, so I’m sure he must know it too. That was why it didn’t much matter whom he married, just so long as she was biddable and would turn a blind eye to her husband’s nefarious activities with members of his own sex.’
Lady Cantrell gasped. ‘Is that true, Papa?’ she asked.
***
‘It was for your own good, my dear. You would have come to see that, given time.’
‘Of course it was!’ Megan replied contemptuously. ‘You were thinking only of me.’
Megan was in danger of exploding with anger at her father’s astonishingly casual admission. She stood and towered over him, her fists clenched with impotent rage. The man she had looked up to and admired for her entire life had become a stranger to her and at that moment she truly hated him.
‘You made sure Warburton couldn’t report your activities to the Company when he had no further use for you by using me as a bargaining tool.’ She shook her head when her father’s gaze slid sideways and he made no effort to refute her claim. ‘I suppose you were defrauding the Company in other ways, as well. And Warburton would have known about all your schemes, even if he was careful to ensure that his name wasn’t associated with them, which made you his to command.’
‘Calm yourself, Lady Cantrell,’ Charles said, taking her arm in a gentle yet firm grasp and guiding her to the nearest chair. ‘You will make yourself unwell if you permit your father’s irresponsible and ill-judged actions to overset you.’
‘When did you return to England, Mardon?’ Lord Torbay asked.
‘Just before Cantrell’s accident,’ he replied sullenly. ‘Warburton and I disagreed violently when Megan married Cantrell.’
‘He could no longer guarantee your loyalty and blamed you for allowing Megan to marry against your wishes,’ Olivia said.
‘And you did not even come back when Luke died.’ Megan sent him a damning look. ‘You must have known how badly I needed you and yet you allowed your anger and disappointment to keep you away. I shall never forgive you for that!’
‘I wanted to be with you. You can have no idea how much. But things had become more complex by that point,’ Mardon said. ‘It wouldn’t have been safe.’
‘What could be more complicated than your only daughter and your grandson needing your help?’ Lord Torbay treated Papa to a disdainful glower. ‘What sort of father are you?’
‘I couldn’t go back. As I just explained, it wasn’t safe.’
‘You were worried about your own skin.’ Charles fixed Papa with a withering look. ‘Somehow that doesn’t surprise me.’
‘The complication has to do with railways,’ Lord Torbay said into the ensuing silence. ‘Am I right?’
Megan knew that he was. She could tell by the way that her father’s body jerked upright.
‘What makes you say that?’ he asked evasively.
‘Don’t treat me like a fool!’ Lord Torbay thundered, slapping his palm against the surface of a small table. The sound echoed around the room like a pistol shot, causing Megan to flinch.
‘You’re right,’ Megan said slowly. ‘You must be. I had quite forgotten but Luke mentioned something early on when we had not long been acquainted about investors being sought for a railway in the Goa area. He had been approached but couldn’t affo
rd to become involved and didn’t think it would be a success anyway. Attempts had been made to lay tracks on the other coast but there had been accidents.’
‘You are in the right of it, Lady Cantrell,’ Lord Torbay replied. ‘But someone, an ambitious someone, did manage to pull together a cartel of British investors.’ His glance landed briefly upon Papa. ‘But it wasn’t you. It would have to be someone with the ear of society’s wealthy. As you said earlier, Mardon, an agent wouldn’t get past most of the doors he would need to breach, so it would have to be someone with a title and authority.’ He shared a look with Charles. ‘Or someone with expectations of acceding to both in the fullness of time.’
‘Joseph Cantrell in league with Arabella,’ Charles said with vitriolic contempt.
‘Joseph Cantrell arranged to have my husband murdered?’ Megan felt as stunned as she probably looked and wilted against the cushioned back of her chair. ‘I can scarce believe it.’
‘If I am right,’ Charles replied, leaning down to give her hand a reassuring squeeze, ‘it was not marriage to you that made it necessary for Luke to die, it just made it a matter of greater urgency.’
‘I imagine it would,’ Megan replied, feeling dazed and light-headed.
‘Joseph and Arabella had always intended that he would meet an untimely end. I am sure Arabella brought Luke’s…excuse me—’ he sent Megan an apologetic smile. ‘His previous peccadillos to their father’s attention and made him believe they were damaging the family’s reputation, even though that wasn’t the case. Bear in mind that Luke’s father died not two months after Luke arrived in India. If he really was as unwell as we believe, his mind afflicted by his illness, he would have been easy to influence into thinking it would be better if Luke was sent to India to look after the family’s interests there. She mistakenly assumed that he would not be able to interfere with her plans if he was out of the way.’
‘And Joseph was probably already in India as the guest of either the Raja or Warburton, pretending that he was working on Luke’s behest,’ Lord Torbay said. ‘He would have kept his presence a secret from Company officials for fear of word of it getting back to Luke.’
‘If you are right, Jake, then we have underestimated Joseph,’ Olivia said, wrinkling her nose. ‘He is not nearly as indolent as he permits the world to think. Arabella doesn’t dominate him and they are working in tandem.’
‘I agree,’ Charles said with an emphatic nod. ‘If he had investors and engineers ready to put the railway project into action then he could assume that the Raja and Warburton would deal with any difficulties that arose to put their project in jeopardy. All he had to do was tell Warburton that Luke was having second thoughts about the viability of the scheme Joseph had supposedly negotiated on his behalf, and was advising his friends against investing. That would be reason enough for Warburton to make the problem that was Luke disappear. Joseph probably didn’t know that Warburton had his own reasons for wanting Luke out of the way, since he still hoped to salvage his arrangement with Mardon by marrying Megan off to his son after a decent interval.’
‘The birth of Luke’s child, his male child, must have forced their hand,’ Olivia remarked, ‘since it’s obvious that Joseph acted in part to ensure he inherited the title.’
‘That was no impediment. The Cantrells declined to acknowledge Megan and her child and had sufficient influence to make the paper trail that proved her claim disappear,’ Lord Torbay firmed his jaw. ‘Unfortunately for them, they did not anticipate our involvement.’
‘Nor did they anticipate yours,’ Olivia said with a contemptuous look for Megan’s father. ‘You saw an opportunity to mend bridges with Warburton and continue with your lucrative trade in wild animals. You were already here in England and offered to abduct your own grandchild so that there would be nothing to prevent Joseph Cantrell from inheriting the title.’
‘No!’ Mardon cried with enough conviction to give Megan pause. ‘No,’ he added in a more moderate tone. ‘You have got it all wrong. I wasn’t trying to harm the child. I was trying to keep him safe.’
‘What!’ Megan shook her head in disgust, wondering if there was anything her father would not say in order to save his own skin. ‘We know about Faulk, Father, and he told us he was hired to abduct Sebastian and then kill him.’
‘To abduct him, certainly, but he was supposed to bring him to me unharmed. And you too, if he was able to get to you.’ Papa spread his hands and sent Megan a beseeching look. ‘Can you not see? I left you in India because you were safe there. Far safer than you realised. No one would risk harming you or Sebastian on Indian soil so soon after your husband’s death. Even the dullest magistrate would become suspicious in that event.’
‘Have you not heard of letters?’ Megan asked, wishing rather than believing that her father spoke the truth. ‘If I had known where you were, that you were alive and thriving, and that you had a valid reason for keeping your distance, I would have felt reassured.’
‘Letters aren’t safe. The people working with Cantrell have eyes and ears everywhere and nothing within Company circles remains confidential for long. Take it from one who knows. No, my love, it was better for you to remain in ignorance.’
‘If Faulk was not engaged to do away with Sebastian, why did he strip the child of his clothing and give us the impression that those where his instructions?’ Charles asked.
Papa shrugged. ‘Joseph Cantrell ran me down in London and told me you were on your way back to England with the child and travelling with Lord Charles. As one of your husband’s closest friends he had taken it upon himself to offer you his protection.’
‘It’s fortunate that someone did,’ Olivia said acerbically.
‘Joseph said I could retrieve my position with Warburton if I lured Megan and the child to me and then handed them over to him. I agreed because I knew that if I did not then someone else would. I fully intended to take you both somewhere safe. They knew of your connection to Lord Charles so it could only be a matter of time before they got to you both through him.’
‘But in my naiveté I went directly to Cantrell Court with Sebastian. They threw me out. Why did they not simply do away with us when we were there?’
‘They couldn’t let anything happen to you on their property,’ Lord Torbay replied. ‘Too many people would have seen you. Servants, villagers. Their silence couldn’t be relied upon.’
‘How frustrating for them,’ Megan said, flashing a humourless smile.
‘You were saying,’ Charles prompted Mardon, giving no indication as to whether or not he believed what Papa had just told him. Megan didn’t know if she believed it either. He was a stranger rather than a man she had looked up to and respect for her entire life, and it seemed he would say or do anything he thought she wanted to hear.
‘I can only assume that Faulk decided to up his price and intended to bring me an item of Sebastian’s clothing to prove that he had him in his clutches. It’s just the sort of ploy a man of his ilk would attempt but I cannot know it for a certainty. I would suggest that you ask him.’
Perhaps, Megan thought, Joseph Cantrell had someone follow Papa, discovered who he approached with a view to abducting Sebastian and altered Faulk’s instructions. It would explain the argument that was overheard and Mrs Faulk’s insistence that Sebastian be sold rather than killed. Faulk was holding out on Lord Torbay after all and had not told him the complete truth.
Lord Torbay and Charles peppered her father with further questions but it was evident he had told them all he knew.
‘Take him into the kitchen and clean him up,’ Lord Torbay said to Franklin, ‘while we discuss this matter alone. How did you get your injuries anyway, Mardon?’ he asked, with a meaningful look at Mardon’s hands
Mardon shrugged. ‘Cantrell was not best pleased when I failed to take Sebastian to him. He can be a very violent man when crossed.’ He winced as he eased himself to his feet. ‘We must find time to talk alone, my dear,’ he said to Megan. ‘I know
you don’t believe it, but I really do have your best interests at heart. We have fences to mend. Besides, I would like to become acquainted with my grandson.’
Chapter Twelve
Olivia and Megan both declined Jake’s offer of something more substantial than the coffee that Green was despatched to organise. Jake and Charles helped themselves to brandy. In her concern for Megan, Olivia was grateful to Jake for so effortlessly taking control in her drawing room, managing to do so without seeming presumptive.
‘That was certainly illuminating,’ she said. ‘How did you arrive at the assumption that Megan’s father was smuggling exotic animals into Europe, Jake?’
‘I have been deliberating at length upon his connection to Warburton and have been told that he runs a lucrative side-line in the exportation of such animals. It seemed logical.’
‘Not to me,’ Charles said with a rueful smile. ‘And it should have done.’
‘I also asked myself why a man as well established in India as Warburton is would be willing to commit his son in marriage to the daughter of a man whom he probably considers beneath him,’ Jake added. ‘It had to be something unethical. Something that Warburton would infinitely prefer not to have generally known but which he was in an ideal situation to manage.’
‘He was attempting to buy Papa’s silence,’ Megan breathed.
‘Either that or your father suggested the marriage in order to secure his own future,’ Jake replied with a sympathetic smile. ‘That is more likely to be the case, given what he told us a few moments ago, and always assuming that we believe him. Anyway, I had a brief word with an acquaintance in the Foreign Department earlier today and what he told me was highly illuminating.’
‘About Warburton’s reasons for leaving England?’ Charles asked.
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