“I apologize for wasting your time,” Evan said, though his eyes flickered to her breasts. “Or for anything I may have done in the past toward you.”
“We shared in wine and…other things a lady should not speak of,” she said in a near whisper. “However, it was those other things that have kept me wondering.” She touched his arm. “Shall we go for a walk?
Rather than smiling, Evan narrowed his eyes at her. “Who are you really?” he demanded. He grabbed her arm, and she yelped in pain. “Tell me now, for I do not know or recall you.”
Fear ran through Caroline. “We had wine…” she began, but she cried out once more when he tightened his grip. If the man would betray his own brother by framing him for murder, she had no doubt he would do worse to her. “Let go of me!” she shouted.
“I will not!” he said, through a clenched jaw. “Who are you?”
Caroline tried to pull away, but her back hit one of the columns behind her. Evan glared down at her, his eyes livid, and Caroline feared he would hurt her.
Then a shout made them both turn, and Caroline looked with relief as William raced toward them.
Chapter Twenty-Three
William eased the drape back just enough to allow him to watch as his brother spoke to Caroline. The man had not changed much, his fine suit and neatly combed hair showing the life of luxury he continued to enjoy. Even though William was angry at his brother, he could not help but also feel a sense of regret. Regret for the squabbles over money and women they had endured. Regret that William had wanted to please Evan so much that he had agreed to go with the man to see a prostitute.
So lost in his thoughts was he that it was Caroline’s screams that brought him back to reality. His heart thudded against his chest when he realized that Evan had pinned Caroline against a column. Fear was etched in her features, and anger overtook him as he threw open the carriage door.
William had never run so fast. Evan turned, bewilderment on his face. The man went to speak, but William grabbed him by his suit jacket with one hand and threw the fist of his other hand into the man’s stomach, causing him to double over.
“You betrayed me!” William shouted. “I rotted away because of you and your lies!”
Evan raised a hand and looked up. “William?” He placed his hands on his knees, clearly struggling to catch his breath. “I had no choice.”
It was as William suspected; his brother had no remorse for the part he played. He doubled up his fist once more, pulled his arm back, and sent it crashing into his brother’s jaw, sending the man to the ground. Then William turned to Caroline. “Return to the carriage. I do not wish you to see this.” He then grabbed his brother by his hair and forced the man to stand.
“For God’s sake, William,” Evan pleaded. “Listen for a moment.”
His brother’s begging had no effect on William. “You will listen to me,” he seethed. “For four years I fought daily to stay alive. I lost my family, my friends, everything!” His rage was great, and he wanted nothing more than to hurt his brother as much as he had been hurt. “All because of you! I admired you, and you used it against me.”
He shoved Evan, who fell backwards down the steps to land on his back. As he took a step toward his brother, a hand grabbed his arm, and he turned to see Caroline beside him.
“Do not lower yourself to his level,” she said in a soft tone. “You will find no gratification in hurting him. All it will do is destroy you and what you stand for.”
He did not want to listen to her words. What he wanted was to inflict revenge on the man who had stolen his life from him. To give him a taste of the medicine he had been forced to take. However, he knew her words to be true.
She nodded and then released his arm. She trusted him to make the correct decision. Yet, did he trust himself to do the same? Then he let out a heavy sigh. He knew what was right.
Evan groaned as he tried to right himself. Then the door opened and a woman in her early twenties with red hair emerged.
“Evan!” she cried. “What have you done to my husband?” She ran over to Evan, her green skirts swirling around her ankles.
William stared at the couple. His brother was married? The man who swore he would bed every eligible woman in the county of Sussex before he was thirty?
The woman threw her arms around Evan and then gasped. “Please, do not hurt him! He is a good man!”
William could not stop himself. He reared his head back and laughed. “Good? This man is far from good. He is evil in its purest form!”
“Linda,” Evan said as he gazed down at the woman, “go inside.” Was there a softness to his tone? To the look he gave her? Who was this man!
“I will not,” she said firmly. “They mean to hurt you.”
“Now.”
The woman shot William a look of disgust and hurried into the house in a huff, but William paid her little heed.
“I have been expecting this day,” Evan said as he held his stomach. “You have come to seek payment for being wronged.”
“Payment?” William asked. “I have no desire for payment. What I want is an apology. I lost everything because of you. My home, my family. Mother and Father vowed never to speak to me again.”
Caroline put her arm through his, and he glanced down at her, glad she had stayed with him.
Evan looked down at the ground and shook his head. “It is because of me they are now dead,” he whispered.
William’s legs grew weak and his stomach churned. “Dead?” he asked, hoping he had misunderstood the man. “No, it cannot be.”
“Father died two summers ago,” Evan replied. “Mother fell ill soon after. And both because of me.” William could hear the pain in his brother’s voice, and a bit of the anger he held inside waned.
“How is it that you are responsible for their deaths?”
“Because of what I had done,” Evan replied. “When they learned the truth, it destroyed them.”
“What truth?” William demanded.
“That the son who was innocent was in prison and the one who caused it was free!” He took a step forward, and William had to fight off the urge to hit the man again. “I did betray you, William. It is a decision I have regretted. I suppose you would like to know why.”
“Indeed.”
“Then I shall tell you, but let us go inside. There is no need to stand here where every servant can see us.” He glanced at Caroline. “Is this your wife?”
“She is…” William turned to the woman on his arm. “This is Caroline.”
Evan bowed his head. “I apologize we have met under these circumstances. Come now, there is much to discuss.”
***
William watched as Caroline applied a thin layer of ointment to the cut on his brother’s cheek. At first, he had not approved of Caroline lending aid to his brother, the man who had betrayed him in so many ways. However, he recalled this same woman coming to the prison and helping him though he did not deserve it. Who was he to dictate anything Caroline did? If it had not been for her forgiveness, he would have rotted on the streets of London and probably have joined his parents in death.
When a tea tray arrived, Linda served them all a cup of tea and then Evan had asked his wife to leave them alone so they could speak. Though she did not seem happy about it, she did as he asked.
Now, William sat on the couch he had always found comfortable, fighting back the memories of this room. His heart and mind still reeled over the loss of his parents, but there would be time for grief later. At the moment, he needed to hear what had brought about all his troubles.
“It will heal easily enough,” Caroline said as she closed the medical bag and returned to sit beside William. She gave him an encouraging smile, and it brought peace to William. He was ready to face his brother once and for all.
“How long have you been married?” William asked. Though he was interested, it was the least of his questions.
“Three years next month,” Evan replied. “Linda i
s a wonderful woman.” He looked at the door in a loving manner William found odd on the face of the man who had tormented him most of his life. “That night, when I sent you to…” He stopped and turned to Caroline. “What I am to speak of is cruel and horrible. Perhaps it would be best if you were not forced to listen.”
“She is fine,” William said. “Please, continue. And do not hold back for her sake, or for the sake of anyone else.”
Evan sighed. “Very well. For years, we competed in everything. Horses, our clothing, even women. You may not know this, but although you were younger, I was often jealous of you.”
“Of me?” William asked in shock. “It was I who was jealous of you!”
Evan chuckled. “You had a way about you, a kindness to help others that made people notice you. However, in that, I grew resentful and therefore ridiculed you for it. The night with the prostitute, my objective was simple. I was to send you to her in hopes you would become enamored by her.”
“But why?” William demanded. “Why her?”
“It was because it would keep you away from the parties during the season. You see, even my own friends ridiculed me about how the women whispered about you. Never did I ever receive the attention you did.”
Anger and resentment coursed through William. “She was killed and you told the courts that I was a rogue, a man consumed by gambling and drink! Because of jealousy?”
“No.” Evan stood and walked over to a liquor cart. “Would you like a brandy?”
William shook his head. “You are stalling.”
Evan shrugged and returned to his chair with a glass of brandy. “It all happened because the Duke of Chesselberry ordered me to.”
William’s head began to swim, and his heart pounded in his chest. “What does Gregory Colborn have to do with all this?” And how was it the man was named at every turn?
“The Duke owns many businesses along St. Williams Place with the luxurious appearance of gentleman’s clubs, while in other parts of London, mere flats and derelict buildings are used for other aspects of his secret businesses.”
“Such as the killing of women,” William whispered. “That woman, Evan, she did not deserve to die! Why was she killed? What interest did the Duke have in me? None of this makes any sense! Was your jealousy so great that you used Colborn as a means to get me out of the way?”
“No!” Evan shouted. “I found out how the Duke came to get the woman who worked for him. He divulged the information to me and then asked for my help.” He took a drink from his glass. “I refused.”
When he paused, William thought he would get up and pummel the man once more to get him to speak faster, but he grasped for patience. Perhaps this telling was not as easy for Evan, either.
“He told me he understood, so I thought I was safe.” Evan sat back down with a sigh. “It was perhaps a week later, when you arrived in London and spoke of some sort of regret for that servant woman you had thrown out…” He glanced over when Caroline gave a sharp intake of breath but continued. “With you returning to London, I worried you would find a better woman. I happened to mention my concerns to Colborn, who urged me to send you to the prostitute.”
William could not believe what he was hearing. “You were so jealous of me that you listened to a madman in order to get your revenge on me? I suppose you are going to say that he threatened you in some way…”
“He did exactly that,” Evan said. “He knew I knew of his lurid business dealings, so he threatened me. He said the only way for me to prove my loyalty to him was to do as he requested, and you, Mother, and Father would remain alive.”
“By betraying me?” William said.
Evan nodded as he looked into his glass, and from what he had heard about the Duke of Chesselberry, William did not doubt his brother was telling the truth.
“I was scared,” Evan said. “That is why I did what I did. A single day does not go by without me regretting it. If you wish to take me outside and beat me, I will not stop you, for I deserve far more than that. However, I only ask one thing.”
“And what is that?”
Evan looked up at him, his eyes sparkling with unshed tears. “That you forgive me. I am no longer the immature man you once knew. I have lived with the shame of my actions and the trouble I have caused.”
William snorted. “While I lived in squalor, you lived in luxury. It seems more than a bit disproportionate in comparison.”
“Do not believe that I did not suffer,” Evan said in a low voice. “I may not have been in prison in the same sense as you, but my prison was not any less agonizing.”
Caroline’s hand came to William’s and he gripped it as if holding a log while riding the current of a strong river. His anger fought against the urge to forgive his brother, but it was during those thoughts that he turned to the woman beside him. A woman whose life he had destroyed and yet came to his aid when he needed her most. She was selfless, kind, and above all else, forgiving.
He squeezed her hand once and then stood. Walking over to his brother was like trudging through the underbrush of a dense forest. “In my darkest hour, a woman came to me, a woman I had treated no better than rubbish. Yet, she possessed the ability to forgive me. Therefore, I have no other choice than to forgive you.”
The smile that appeared on his brother’s face was like none William had ever seen him wear before. And when Evan threw his arms around him, William could do nothing more than to return the embrace. For the first time in a very long time, a weight was lifted from William’s shoulders, a weight that he had carried for as long as he could remember.
“Thank you,” Evan said as the embrace broke. “We still have much to discuss, but I would like you to come with me; I wish to show you something.”
Many things had changed for William over the last years. Everything he once held dear had been taken from him and destroyed. His name was ruined, his hope removed. However, as he followed his brother, Caroline at his side, he was thankful in so many ways, for some of those things he believed destroyed were now restored.
***
William stood over the two newest grave markings in the family cemetery. He found it difficult to believe his parents were truly gone.
“After I confessed to them what I had done,” Evan said in a low voice, “Father was destroyed. His health made a turn for the worse. So many times he voiced his regrets for the words he spoke to you. When he passed on, Mother lost the will to live, and she followed Father not long after. However, it is important for you to know they could not send word, nor could they go to see you, for they feared their doing so would reach the duke.”
“I understand,” William said. From what Ezra had told him, Colborn was well-known for removing anyone who wronged him. Ezra’s brother had been a victim of the man’s anger, and Ezra had voiced on more than one occasion his shock he had lived as long as he had.
“You must know,” Evan continued, “they both loved you. I promised Father that, the day you returned—if you did—I would tell you the sorrow he had for the words he spoke to you. All because of me. I’m so sorry.”
William studied the man who had been more rival than a brother all his life. Like him, the man had truly changed. “I know,” he replied. “And I am sorry, too. We were young and full of pride and resentment. I’m as much to blame as you.”
“If there is anything I can do in order to make right what I have wronged, I swear on everything I own I will do it. Just tell me and allow me to ease my guilt.”
William considered for a moment. His next steps were important, and he could use his brother’s help. “The Duke. Is there a way you can gain an audience?”
“Unless it is under the pretense of selling a servant to him, then no. Why? Do you want to see him?”
William turned away from the headstones and looked at his brother. “For four years, I sought to destroy the man who put me in prison. I now have the means to do so, but I will need your help.”
Evan shook his head. “Tha
t would not be wise,” he said, almost pleading. “The man is powerful. Any threats made against him would be in vain and would only lead to him sending men to hurt us—me, Linda, and even your Caroline.”
“He has hurt many people, and I have a way to bring down his empire. However, I will not lie, I cannot do it alone. I will need your help. I promise you, however, that his reign will end if we do this. So? Will you help?”
Evan glanced around and then sighed. “The man has brought fear to each day of my life for four years. You are right; he destroyed our family, and I suspect others, as well. I do not wish to live under that fear any longer.” He stopped and smiled. “Tell me, Brother, what do you have in mind?”
William returned the man’s smile. “I have a book. You have connections in the House of Commons that I do not. Together we will destroy him.”
Evan gave him a look of curiosity. “A book? What kind of book?”
“One filled with names,” William replied as he clapped his brother on the back. “Names of people such as myself who seek redemption.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Caroline sat back and listened to the brothers as they spoke late into the night. She could not help but smile at the former enemies who were now friends. Or accomplices. Either way, it did not matter, for they were on the road to healing old hurts. She was concerned, however, that they could not devise a plan beyond leaving for London. They offered ideas only to discard them for one reason or another, and it was clear they would not have a plan before the end of the night.
“It will serve no purpose for me to arrive without a woman he is able to purchase,” Evan stated. “The man is secretive and extremely cautious. I assure you, he makes no mistakes.”
“Then what do we do?” William asked in clear frustration. “He must be confronted.”
Evan sighed. “Tomorrow I will send a rider with a letter requesting a meeting with Lord Alan Cooper. He is one of the few men I can trust, and more importantly, who will listen.”
Redeeming The Rake (Delicate Hearts Book 3) Page 15