Amanda Scott (40 page)

“You don’t want to know what I think. Good God, borrowing money from him does not explain sneaking out of this house today, which must be what you did if no one saw you leave. Nor does it explain your presence in that damned flat of his.”

“But it does. I went there to repay him. I could scarcely take my maid or a footman on such an errand.”

“Why the devil not? Just what did he demand in payment, Melissa? That’s what I want to know.”

Every impulse cried out to tell him he was wrong, but she could not lie to him. Facts were facts, and Yarborne had expected exactly what Nicholas had inferred. “He did think I might be willing to do what you imply, sir,” she said quietly. “I am sorry to find that you believe I might willingly submit to such horrid demands, however.”

“Don’t throw idiotic sanctimony at me! He had every right to expect just that, once you’d agreed to meet him privately.”

“You say that as if you believe he gave me a choice in the matter.”

“Of course you had a choice. You need only have said no. You could also have brought the matter to me, you know. I’d have dealt very speedily with Yarborne.”

“Would you?” She kept her voice under control, but her lips were dry. A familiar instinct stirred her, and she wanted to lick them, to look at him from under her lashes, to move in the sensuous way she had long since learned would divert a man’s thoughts from his temper. Even as her mind sought wildly for those words least likely to infuriate him again, she realized she was behaving just as she had years before when faced with her father’s wrath. The thought brought tears to her eyes, which she dashed away with the back of her hand. Strenuously, she fought her instincts. Even more than she wanted to soothe Nicholas did she want to retain what little dignity she had left.

“I’m afraid tears will not move me,” he said. “You have behaved badly, Melissa. It is of no use to pretend remorse now in hope of lessening your punishment.”

“I’m not remorseful,” Melissa snapped, surprising herself. “I’m becoming angry, Nicholas! I am trying to tell you what happened and how I came to find myself caught in such a predicament, but when you stand there glowering at me, all I can think about is the way my father used to look before he punished me.”

“Damn it, don’t fling that in my teeth! I’ve not lifted a finger to you, nor will I, but you lied to me. You went to another man’s flat, and I found you alone with him. Don’t blame me if I’m angry about that, and don’t dare to imply that my anger puts me in a class with that damned father of yours.”

“But you blame me for being afraid to tell you what happened,” she retorted. When he looked about to protest, she added quickly, “Yes, Nicholas, that’s just what you are doing. You tell me I ought to have come to you. You say I should have known that you would deal with him, but how could I know
what
you would do? I thought you would be angry, and when you get angry, you frighten people, even those who care about you. I do care, and I care what you think of me. Don’t you understand? Things had been going well for us, and Yarborne threatened to spoil it. I wanted to make it right by myself, so you would never know how foolish I had been.” She took the pistol from her reticule and held it out to him. “I would never have let him touch me. Once I’d got the money from Great-Aunt Ophelia—”

“How much?” He took the pistol, staring at it in bemusement.

“A hundred pounds,” she said reluctantly, “and before you demand to know why I didn’t ask you for it, I couldn’t. I had already cost you far too much, and the sum seemed enormous, but Great-Aunt Ophelia didn’t even blink or ask any questions. She certainly trusted me more than Yarborne did, for he demanded surety in case I denied later that I owed him the money. That’s why he made me give him my bracelet.”

“What bracelet?” he demanded grimly.

She explained, adding, “I know now that I was foolish to trust him, especially since he demanded such surety, but somehow he made it seem like the most sensible thing to do. I wasn’t thinking altogether clearly, either. I’d been drinking champagne. You weren’t there, and there was no one else to advise me, because Aunt Ophelia was in the card room and Charley had wandered off. What should I have done?”

“Leave the damned supper and come home,” he retorted ruthlessly. “Only an idiot compounds his wagers at the hazard table.”

“Had you explained that before Yarborne told me my luck was bound to hold, I would no doubt have taken your advice rather than his,” she said, spreading her hands. “Yes, and furthermore, as I look back on that night, I think he enticed me to play the way I did from the very first. Furthermore,” she added without thinking, “your precious Lady Hawthorne helped him. I hadn’t realized that before, but if she was not helping him on purpose, she certainly was at hand, both at the faro table, and later, at the hazard table. I think she was the one who demanded a change of dice.”

He glared at her but did not reply. He had put the pistol down on the desk, and to her surprise, he seemed to be thinking.

She looked steadily at him.

He straightened, looked at her intently, then said in a more normal tone of voice, “Just how good was your luck that night?”

“I won several times at faro,” she said, “and then Lady Hawthorne suggested I try hazard. Yarborne taught us the rules, but Charley soon left to do something else. Once I began casting, Nicholas, I seemed to throw only chance—six times running! Yarborne wandered off about the same time Charley did, but once I began winning, he came back. I told him I was going to throw once more. When I did, someone called the dice. I rolled chance again, but he said the throw didn’t count. Is that true?”

“It is,” he said, but she saw that he was looking more intent than ever. “What happened when you threw the new dice?”

“I threw my main. I had to pay everyone at the table.”

“Uphills and downhills,” he murmured, “or—No, by God, Fulhams!”

“What?”

“The dice were weighted, both sets, the one to turn up only what would win for you, the other only what would lose. They set you up for a dupe,” he said, shoving a hand through his hair. Then he frowned and looked at her thoughtfully. He said, “I’ve just remembered that we encountered Yarborne at Vauxhall.”

Melissa stopped breathing.

“I see how it was,” he said slowly. “You weren’t looking for me. You were looking for him, and I’ll wager a year’s income that your disappearing escort was my idiot brother. I was wrong to think you stopped at the Dark Walk because you were afraid of me, wasn’t I? You stopped because you had expected to meet Yarborne there to pay him. That’s why you asked me about that damned statue, isn’t it, Melissa?”

Before she could reply, the door opened with a bang and Charley burst into the room with Preston right behind her.

“Lissa, Uncle Geoffrey has been found in Hyde Park—dead! Someone bashed him over the head and robbed him, and they say it was footpads. Isn’t it dreadful? Uncle Geoffrey was a terrible man, but even I never wished him such a fate as that. And we can’t find Penthorpe,” she added, in what was apparently an afterthought.

Melissa felt dizzy. Nick said to Charley, “I thought Penthorpe took your Aunt Susan for a drive in the park.”

“Yes, he did, but they returned some time ago, and he went out again. He said he was going to find some friends of his and tell them he meant to stay in London with Aunt Susan, and not go to the Derby tomorrow, but he neglected to say where he was meeting them, and you know how he is. We could have sent servants running all over town, of course, but I thought you might know—”

Interrupting her, Nick said, “I’ll find him. Preston send someone to the stables and tell them to hitch a fresh pair to my tilbury. And take Miss Charlotte to the—”

Charley said indignantly, “I’m not going anywhere. I came to lend Melissa my support and comfort. Not that she ought to require much, because she didn’t even like him, but he was her father, after all, and my uncle, and I don’t intend to leave her alone at such a time as this. You men always think—”

“Preston, take her away. No, Charley, I won’t listen to you. Chalk it up to masculine arrogance if you must, but go.”

“I won’t! You can’t order me around, Nick. I’m not—”

“Oh, stop, both of you!” Melissa’s head was spinning. When Nick touched her arm, she turned and looked blindly at him, saying, “He’s really dead?”

“So it appears.” He glanced at the butler. “Preston, take Miss Charlotte to the green salon. If she protests any more, put her out of the house. If she behaves herself, order tea for two to be served in the salon.”

He looked at Charley, daring her to oppose him further, but Melissa saw without much surprise that her cousin had been silenced.

When Charley and Preston had gone, Nicholas said quietly, “I agree with Charley that Penthorpe must be run to ground as soon as possible, so I must go, but I want you to stay right here. Don’t leave the house for any reason.”

“But I must! Mama will be terribly distressed. I must go to her at once.”

“Lady Ophelia will look after her. I mean this, Melissa. Don’t defy me again.”

“But why?”

“It’s the only way I know to protect you until I can find out more about this.”

“To protect me, or control me?”

“Now, look—”

“No, Nicholas, you look! From the first night you brought me to this house, you have reacted to every unexpected turn of events by trying to lock me up—like a dog guarding his bone, or,” she added bitterly, “like a gambler guarding his winnings!”

“It isn’t like that.”

“Then tell me how it is. You expect me to anticipate your thoughts and your wishes—like a good servant—and to assume that your reasons are wise. You can’t explain feelings, Nicholas, but you can certainly declare commands. Am I wrong?”

He opened his mouth, shut it, then said, “Just do as I tell you. Until I know more, I can’t be expected to explain myself.”

“But you never—”

“Look, Melissa, I just want to protect you. Rumors will be flying. I believe Yarborne’s concern for his reputation will keep him quiet about this afternoon, but I can’t guarantee that. As to your father’s death, I have some ideas of my own on that subject, but I need the answers to some questions, and since everyone who hasn’t already left town will certainly do so for the Derby tomorrow, I mean to go to Epsom, just as I’d planned, in the morning. I know you won’t like that, but—”

“You would go to a horse race at such a time as this?”

“Some answers to this puzzle may be found there. Moreover, I’ve got horses running. People expect me to go, my parents will be there, and none of my friends or family will expect me to shed tears over your father’s death.”

“People might expect you to support me while I do so. What will they think?”

“That I’m the same man today that I was yesterday,” he said ruthlessly. “As soon as I get back from Epsom, however, I’ll take you to Owlcastle.”

“Owlcastle! You’re just angry about today. I won’t go!”

“It isn’t that. I want you away from the gossips. I’ll make it clear to everyone that our visit to Owlcastle is planned and quite ordinary, even understandable in view of your father’s murder. But until I get back, you will stay in this house. Don’t leave for any reason. Do you understand me?”

She glared at him. “Perfectly.”

He returned the look steadily, and she saw that the fires of his earlier anger were only banked. The silence lengthened uncomfortably before he said quietly, “If you defy me again, you will be sorry. And there is one more thing. You would be wise to say nothing about your visit to Yarborne, even to Charley.”

“On that issue, sir, you may certainly have my word. I’ve no wish to reveal my stupidity to anyone else.”

“Good.” He gave her another measuring look. “I’ll say nothing more now, but we’ll have another talk when I’ve found Penthorpe and learned all I can about your father’s death. I’ll take this with me,” he added, picking up the pistol

When he had gone, Melissa found Charley awaiting her in the green salon, looking subdued for once. She did not instantly censure Nicholas’s behavior, as Melissa expected. Instead, she said, “This is all dreadful, I know, but isn’t it just like Uncle Geoffrey to cause as many difficulties with his passing as when he was alive?”

“What difficulties? Nicholas will soon find Penthorpe, if that is what you mean. And as to causing difficulties, I should say that his death resolves at least a few. Mama can no longer be accused of adultery or bigamy, for one thing.”

“But that’s exactly my point.”

“What are you saying?” Melissa demanded. “Not that Mama—”

“Don’t be a goose,” Charley said, getting up to hug her. “I meant only that some mean-spirited person might suggest Penthorpe had reason to murder Uncle Geoffrey.”

“Good gracious, Charley, I just remembered that you said the other day, that Penthorpe
ought
to kill him.” But she thought of someone else who might have had even better cause to murder Seacourt, and found herself suddenly glad that Nicholas had come after her at Yarborne’s.

Charley said, “Penthorpe didn’t do it, of course, and despite the fact that there must be hundreds of other persons in this world with cause to kill Uncle Geoffrey, I’m quite sure the authorities are right to suspect footpads. Look here, are you being driven to distraction by all this? I must say, you look as if you’ve been utterly torn apart.”

“In a manner of speaking, I have,” Melissa said, “but don’t ask me to explain, for I won’t. I gave Nicholas my word.”

“Well, I saw his face when I burst in upon you. He had obviously been scolding you, for he looked ready to eat you. I can’t think how you manage to infuriate men so. You were always such a quiet, obedient little thing, but he is a typical man, of course, always bullying and carping. Dreadful creatures, all of them.”

“He is not dreadful,” Melissa snapped, adding instantly, “Forgive me, Charley. I must be more distressed than I thought. I am just a little angry, too. He is taking me to Owlcastle, you see, just as soon as he returns from the Epsom races.”

“Well, you might be wise to leave town for a time,” Charley said frankly. “If a hue and cry is raised over Uncle Geoffrey’s death, it could become very unpleasant.”