“I have known John Edgerton since I was eighteen years old, new to London, and he was a polished gentleman of thirty. He is well liked. He has access to so many decisions, to so many men. This is hard to believe. You’re not a Bonapartist, are you?”
“If I were the only one involved, I would willingly have died before betraying my country or you.”
The duke thought about the vagaries of fate that had brought her to him in the first place. “You would have told me but for Edgerton’s threat toward Edmund?”
“He more than threatened. He painted a picture in words what he would do to Edmund. He said that my father and Edmund could be buried together. I knew then that he’d won. Edmund was my boy, you see. Nothing was worth Edmund’s life.”
He lowered his face to rest against her hand, held between his. “No one will hurt Edmund,” he said finally. “But your father. What do you think will happen?”
She swallowed. “I don’t know. Soon Edgerton will discover what happened. He will return to Paris, and then my father will die. Perhaps he will come here first to kill Edmund and me, naturally.”
“I will see what I can do about your father. I will see that you and Edmund are both protected.” “I forgot to tell you. Drew was frantic about those spies who are already here. I kept a journal with all their names and to whom they’d be assigned in London. It’s in the bottom of the cushion of the window seat. Remember Conan DeWitt at the Sandersons’ ball? He’s one of them. He was threatening me that night. He’s a very dangerous man, perhaps even more dangerous than John Edgerton.”
“Jesus,” he said, the enormity of it for a moment overwhelming him.
“One of the men last night, Paul Treyson, he was bound to London to become an assistant to Rothchild.”
He began to laugh. “Here I believed that I led the most mundane of lives. I wish I could tell my mother about all of this. She would find it as incredible as I do, but we won’t tell her.” He sobered then, saying, “Now, there’s something else I want to know. Why did you make love with me?”
For the first time she smiled. “I couldn’t help myself,” she said, and he saw that it was true.
“You came to me because you saw no future for us?”
“There was no future. There was just one night with you, and I wanted it very badly. I didn’t know that a man could tell if a woman was or wasn’t a virgin.”
“I was surprised,” he said. “Actually, I was very surprised, but that’s not important now.” He kissed her fingers. “If you ever try to keep even the flimsiest secret from me again, I’ll beat you.”
“There still is no future,” she said, then closed her eyes. “I’ve failed, yet won, but Mrs. Needle died and now my father will die as well.”
He lay next to her on the bed, pulling her into his arms. He stroked her hair, pulling the pins out as he whispered to her that everything would be all right, he promised, she would see. She cried quietly for a long time.
“Hush, you’ll make yourself ill. Now that you’ve told me everything, I swear to you that I’ll do my best to see that your father survives this. And you as well. I don’t want you at the center of an appalling scandal. I want you to be my duchess. Now it’s no longer just you. Now it’s both of us. I fancy that the two of us can overcome just about anything or anyone.”
Every chance word, every detail, was recalled and discussed to the duke’s satisfaction. They pored over Evangeline’s journal. The duke sent a message to Drew to come immediately to Chesleigh. The Bow Street Runner, a small man Evangeline had occasionally seen in the kitchen, was assigned to stick to Lord Edmund closer than his skin.
The duke said, “John Edgerton will learn quickly enough that Paul Treyson hasn’t yet arrived in London. How much time we have, I don’t know, but we can’t assume it will be very long. Perhaps a day, two at the most. Damn, where’s Drew?”
Evangeline, now dressed, against the duke’s wishes, said as she paced back and forth in front of him, “I must return to Paris, it’s the only way. I will see Houchard myself, I must, to plead for my father’s life. Surely now that Napoleon’s in Paris, and everything is in motion, there’s no reason for him to kill him. I’m not responsible for everything falling apart. Indeed, it was Edgerton who was responsible when he had Mrs. Needle killed. Houchard will see that, he must.”
“Rubbish,” the duke said.
When he saw that she would argue, he caught her in his arms, kissed her ear, and said, “Dear one, listen to me. I believe I have found a way that won’t extricate just you from this mess but your father as well. I’m going to go find Drew. We must move quickly. Damn the fellow for not coming instantly when I called him.” He lightly pressed his fingers against her lips. “Evangeline, do you remember our first night together—it was all of two nights ago? You trusted me then. Trust me now. Stay close. Don’t think of leaving. Bassick knows that no stranger is to be allowed inside. I’ll be back very quickly.” He kissed her hard and was gone.
Chapter 38
The duke returned to Chesleigh an hour later to find Evangeline ferociously pacing the library. As he tossed his driving cloak onto the back of a chair he said, “I’d hoped you’d be resting in bed or letting Edmund try to hunt you down, yet here you are instead wearing holes in my carpet.”
She ran to him, ready, he thought, to embrace him, something that pleased him immensely, and he caught her against him and squeezed her tightly. She reared back in his arms. “You’re back. Oh, goodness, what happened? Did you see Drew? What will he do?”
He pulled her against him again and kissed her hard.
“He believes I’m a traitor, doesn’t he?” He saw the burst of terror in her eyes, saw the color drain from her face. He was shaking his head even as he said, “Oh, no, Evangeline. There’s been no talk of any of that, trust me.”
She nearly fainted, she was so relieved. “You’re smiling. Tell me, what have you done?”
‘’ I told you I had an idea that needed both Drew’s approval and some refinement. I made it clear to him that you, my dear, the unwilling Eagle, possess a good deal of information that would be his if he is amenable to forgetting your past transgressions. When I told him that the very beautiful, very feminine chattering female he’d just seen was indeed the notorious Eagle, I thought he’d expire on the spot. Indeed, he was so incredulous, it took me some time to convince him that it was true. As I recall, he said, ‘Damn, Richard, that a woman could do this, it makes me afraid for the future of men everywhere.’ Then he drank two snifters of brandy. He received an even greater shock when I told him that John Edgerton is the Lynx, a Bonapartist, and a traitor to England for as long as both Drew and I have known him.
“Once I had told him all the facts, he became like a man possessed. In short, dear one, one of Drew’s men will pose as the dead spy, Paul Treyson, and seek out Edgerton in London. Once Edgerton makes it clear to his esteemed audience that he knows the code, we will have him.”
Evangeline was shaking her head. “No, no, listen to me. He has no reason to see Edgerton, none at all. I cleared him through. He is supposed to go directly to Rothchild.”
The duke smiled. He gently cupped her face in his hands. “Don’t you remember the letter you gave Paul Treyson to be given to the Lynx? Yes, you remember now. Our man will be with Edgerton when he reads your letter. Once he shows that he can easily translate the code you used, we’ve got him. It’s that simple.
“Then Drew and I, and of course Lord Melberry, one of the highest-ranking members of the Ministry, will be close by. When it’s done, our man will give us a signal, and we will be on Edgerton immediately. Then it will be over. Why are you wringing your hands again? You don’t like the plan?”
“Oh, yes, it’s a good plan.” She pulled away from him and began pacing. “It’s just that I don’t trust Edgerton to do the expected. He’s very smart. He’s always seemed to know more than he should. I’m scared that something will happen.”
“I will tell Drew what you’ve
said. Incidentally, he’s in the carriage outside. When I asked him to come in, he couldn’t bring himself to face you just yet. He said he was going to have to revise the way he regarded young females. He said he wasn’t so certain that Felicia was as guileless as he believed her to be, to which I said that Felicia was smart, loved him, and would thus hide any guile she possessed from him. He was gnawing his thumbnail in the carriage when I left him.
“Now, you will remain here at Chesleigh, quite safe. No, you won’t come to London with us. Once we have Edgerton, Drew is certain that the Ministry will agree to exchange him for your father, and for all the information you will freely provide them.”
For several moments she was speechless. “This is too simple. You believe Napoleon will exchange my father for Edgerton? Drew is willing to allow Edgerton to go free? What if Napoleon will not accept the trade? What if the gentlemen in the Ministry refuse to allow it?”
“You have lived under an enormous strain far too long. Listen to me. Trust me on this. Napoleon, whatever else he may be, is loyal to his men. As to the gentlemen in the Ministry, ah, believe me, I do have some power. Now I must leave you. We must move very quickly before Edgerton realizes something is amiss. I should be back tomorrow or the next day at the latest. Stay close. Have you met Mr. Bullock, the Bow Street Runner?” “Yes. Edmund thinks he’s here to assist me with his lessons. I heard Mr. Bullock telling him about a highwayman who was hung just ten years ago. This pleased Edmund enormously.”
He pulled her against him, kissed her, and said into her mouth, “When this is over, you and I will marry, and I won’t let you out of my bed until next winter, if then.”
“Maybe,” she said as he released her, “I won’t let you out of my bed until the following spring.”
“Good God,” he said, grinning widely, “I have indeed found my mate.” He said at the doorway, “All will go well, Evangeline. Don’t fret.” He added, his eyes clear and brilliant, “Guard my son.”
He was gone. She walked to the wide bow windows and watched the carriage with its four horses until it disappeared from view. Nothing, she thought, nothing could ever be counted on to go well, could it?
It happened so quickly she barely had time to draw a breath, no time at all to yell. A man’s hand was over her mouth, his body pressing her hard against her mattress.
“You’re such a fool,” he whispered against her cheek. “Such a fool for believing for even a moment you could beat me.”
She stared up into John Edgerton’s face, leached of color in the pale dawn light. She knew utter terror. They’d failed. He’d somehow gotten into Chesleigh Castle, somehow found her bedchamber. She didn’t make a sound, just looked up at him, as if mesmerized, thinking, thinking.
“How lovely to have you speechless, my dear. Usually all I’ve seen in you is that helpless rage that quite enchants me. I’ve known you wanted to kill me to save yourself and your dear papa, but you knew just as well that you couldn’t. Impotence in a woman is a wonderful thing. But now you’re silent. You’re afraid, to your very bones, and you deserve to be.” Still she remained silent.
He straightened up a bit, smiled down into her face, and lightly pressed his palm over her mouth. “In case you decide to scream. Yes, just the light pressure of my hand will remind you that silence is best. Do you know I watched you sleeping for a little while, wondering what I was going to do with you after I killed Lord Edmund?” “No,” she said against his hand. “No.” “Oh, yes, I promised you what would happen if you betrayed me. Yet you did it anyway. That was beyond stupid, my dear. I hadn’t expected it of you, truth be told.”
She felt his dry palm against her lips as she whispered, “I didn’t, not really.”
His hand was heavier now. He didn’t want her to speak further. He ignored her words, saying, “You’re quite beautiful, you know that? Naturally, you do. You took the duke for your lover, didn’t you? How long ago? Did he make you scream? I’ve heard it said that he’s had women begging him to bed them. Do you think that’s true? Did you beg him?”
He lifted his hand just a bit then and she bit him as hard as she could. But she couldn’t bite deeply enough to hurt him. He lifted his hand again and slapped her hard, then slammed his palm back over her mouth. He paused a moment, then said, “You’re not a weak little girl, are you? No, I move an inch and you’ll be fighting me, perhaps even yelling. Do you feel the pressure of the gun barrel against your ribs, Evangeline? Good, you do. Try to hurt me again and I’ll simply pull the trigger and leave you here in your bed to bleed all over these lovely white sheets. Of course, you won’t care. You’ll be dead. I don’t want to do that, but I will. No, what I want to do is have you watch me kill Lord Edmund.”
“No,” she said again. “Please no. I’ll do anything you ask, just not Edmund.”
He laughed. “Tell me about how the duke pleasured you until you told him all about your transgressions.” He lifted his hand just a bit even as he pressed the gun barrel harder into her ribs.
“He believed me a traitor. I told him nothing until it was all over and there was no other choice. Don’t you understand? It made no difference. Drew Halsey and his men were already there on the cliffs above the beach, waiting.”
“Yes, I know all about that. Indeed, I managed to escape London just in time. That was a pathetic ruse they were attempting. Poor Drew, he does try so very hard, but he isn’t as smart as I am. Now he will realize that and he will be broken. As for your duke, he will lose you and his son. It is sufficient punishment for a man, I believe.”
She heaved up against him, jerking her arms free, and tried to smash her fists against his throat.
“Now you give me no choice. Well, there’s no hope for it.” He slammed his fist against her jaw.
When she opened her eyes, Evangeline didn’t know where she was. A sharp pain went through her head. She tried to raise her hand to rub her jaw, then realized he’d tied her wrists together, but at least in front of her and not behind her back. She lightly rubbed her fingers over her face. He hadn’t broken her jaw, the bastard. Her ankles were tied as well. There was a gag stuffed in her mouth, another cloth tied over the gag and tied behind her head.
“What a remarkable girl you are,” she heard Edgerton say. She shook her head and looked up. He was sitting in a chair, facing her. She was still in her bed, still in her nightgown, only now the covers were at her feet. “I’ve never told you how much I admired your lovely hair. And now it’s all tangled about your face and down your back. Does the duke enjoy that hair of yours? Ah, you aren’t going to say much to me right now, are you? I’ve always believed that a woman silent is a blessed thing.” He grinned at her. Then he rose. “Pray that we don’t see any servants, Evangeline, or I’ll just have to shoot them. Now, as much as I would like to remain alone with you, perhaps caress you and make love to you, I haven’t the time. Yes, I must leave very soon now. At least I will be with my beloved emperor again, very soon now. You betrayed me. I mustn’t ever forget that, else it makes me feel a certain amount of sorrow and regret. No, you’re nothing but a perfidious bitch, nothing more, nothing less. You have to die now. But remember that once I’m in Paris again, your father will follow you shortly to death. Yes, once I make a promise, I keep it. I can’t allow any weaker emotions to rule me, not like you let them rule you. Now, you and I are going to see Lord Edmund.” She heaved and bucked, but he managed to pull her over his shoulder. “Hold still,” he said finally, panting, “or I’ll just slam this gun down over your right ear. When you awake from a blow like that, you’ll wish you were dead.”
She held completely still. “Good,” he said.
She was hanging upside down, growing more dizzy by the moment. No, she had to keep her wits about her. She couldn’t let the fear swamp her. But her father, her boy, Edmund. No, she couldn’t let him kill them, she just couldn’t.
Her brain squirreled about madly.
Thank God they saw no servants on the way to the nursery because she ha
d no doubt whatsoever that Edgerton would shoot them with no hesitation.
Ah, but Ellen would be in the nursery. Evangeline closed her eyes and prayed. She remembered Mr. Bullock, short, bowlegged Mr. Bullock. Seeing him in her mind’s eye didn’t bring her a great deal of confidence, not now. He didn’t stand a chance against Edgerton. She was a fool to have believed that he would be sufficient to guard Edmund.
But the duke had believed him ready and able. She had to believe that he knew how to protect Edmund. Surely Mr. Bullock slept in the same room with Edmund? If he did sleep in Edmund’s room, then Edgerton would get them both. Who could be prepared for this? Poor Mr. Bullock, the chances were good that Edgerton would kill him as well.
One last chance. She reared up and brought her fists into Edgerton’s back. He nearly fell forward with the weight of her blow. He cursed, low and viciously. Then he simply turned quickly and her head struck the wall. She fell instantly into blackness.
She regained her wits when Edgerton was easing open the nursery door. “Come now, Evangeline, I didn’t hit you against the wall all that hard. You’re awake again and chastened, I hope. Now, which way is Edmund’s bedchamber? Ah, I keep forgetting you’re blessedly mute. Perhaps behind that door on the left?”
He slowly eased the door open. He heard nothing. He stepped inside. He saw Edmund lying there, surrounded by piles of pillows. “Edmund,” he called out softly. “Edmund, come, lad, it’s time for you to wake up.”
Edmund sat up, scratching his head, then rubbing his eyes. “Who is it? Where is Ellen? Oh, no, what’s happened to Eve?”
“Come up, my little lordling. I’ve got your cousin Eve over my shoulder. She’s all trussed up because I can’t trust her to hold still and be quiet.” “Eve? Are you all right?”
She tried to rear back, but Edgerton twisted to the side, nearly slamming her head against the door.
“Come now, Edmund, the three of us are going to take a little trip.”
Edmund looked at Eve, helpless, silent, slung over Sir John’s shoulder. He raised his chin. “No, sir. I won’t go anyplace with you. You will lower Eve now, very gently. If you don’t, my papa will hurt you.”
The Deception Page 30