The Rules of Seduction (3 page)

Hayden guessed why. “Did you steal her meager funds too? I did not check the small accounts.”

Longworth’s face reddened.

“You are a scoundrel, Longworth. Thank God on your knees tonight that I owe your dead brother a debt of duty and honor.”

Timothy was not listening. His eyes glazed as he looked into the future. “Irene was to come out this season, and—”

Hayden closed his ears to the litany of grief that was coming. He had devised a way to save Longworth’s life and to avoid revelations that would make the current panic burn out of control. He could not spare Longworth the ruin this solution would entail.

A profound weariness saturated him, one born of a long night full of calculations and anger and moral deliberations. “Sit. I will tell you how much is needed, and we will determine how you will repay it.”

CHAPTER
TWO

R
uined.

The word hung in the air. The room went silent.

Alexia’s blood chilled. Tim appeared very ill now. He had retreated to his chamber after Lord Hayden left today but had risen from his bed this evening. He had just summoned her and his sisters to the library and informed them of this disaster.

“How, Tim?” Roselyn asked. “A man does not go from this”—she gestured to the house around them—“to ruin in one day.”

His eyes narrowed and bitterness hardened his voice. “He does if Lord Hayden Rothwell decides he does.”

“Lord Hayden? What has he to do with this?” Alexia asked.

Timothy stared at the floor. He appeared limp from lack of strength. “He has removed his family deposits from the bank. Our reserves were not sufficient to pay it out, and I had to pledge all I have to supplement the reserves. Darfield too, but his pockets are deeper. He paid part of my obligation and took my share of the bank in return. Still, it was not enough.”

Alexia battled a mind-scathing fury. What did it matter to Rothwell where all that money rested? He had to have realized what this would do to Timothy, to all of them. He entered this house knowing that he intended to destroy the Longworths’ futures.

“We will manage,” Roselyn said firmly. “We know how to live more simply. We will release a few servants and eat meat only twice a week. We will—”

“You did not hear me,” Timothy snarled. “I said I am
ruined
. There will be no servants and no meat at all. I have
nothing.
We have
nothing.
”

Roselyn gaped at him. Irene, who had been listening with a confused frown, startled as if someone had slapped her. “Does this mean I don’t get my season?”

Timothy laughed cruelly. “Sweet, you can’t have a London season if you aren’t in London. The scoundrel is taking this house. It is Rothwell’s now. We are going back to what little we still have in Oxfordshire to starve there.”

Irene began to cry. Roselyn stared in mute shock. Timothy’s laughter dissolved into a sound between a cackle and weeping.

Fear crept through Alexia. Timothy had not once looked at her since she entered the room. He avoided her eyes now. A quiet panic pattered in her chest, wanting to become something bigger.

Roselyn found her voice. “Timothy, we can live in the country again. We still have the house and some land. It will not be so bad. It was not starvation.”

“It will be worse than before, Rose. I will have debts from this to pay. A good part of the rents will go to that.”

The beat quickened and spread to Alexia’s blood. She flashed hot and cold. The fate she had feared since her father died had finally found her. She held on to her composure by a hair.

She would not make Timothy say it. That would be unfair, and poor repayment to the family that had given her a home.

She stood. “If your situation will change so drastically, you will not need the burden of one more mouth to feed. I have a small amount saved and it should keep me until I find employment. Now I will go to my room so you can freely discuss your plans.”

Roselyn’s eyes misted. “Do not be silly, Alexia. You belong with us.”

“I am not being silly. I am being practical. Nor will I force Timothy to say the words that put me out.”

“Tell her she does not have to go, Tim. She is so sensible that she will help, not be a burden. He does not want you to leave us, Alexia.”

Timothy did not respond. He still would not look at her.

“Timothy,” Roselyn cried in admonishment.

“It will be all I can do to keep the two of you, Rose.” He finally turned to Alexia. “I am very sorry.”

Alexia forced a trembling smile and left the library. She closed the door on Irene’s and Roselyn’s weeping and Timothy’s embarrassment. She hurried up to her bedchamber, cursing with every step the man responsible for this tragedy.

Hayden Rothwell was a scoundrel. A monster. He was one of those men who lived in luxury and destroyed lives on a whim. He did not have to remove those deposits all at once. He had no heart and no soul and trampled people under his boot if it suited him. He was as hard and cold as he looked, and she hated him.

She threw herself on her bed and buried her face in her pillow. She poured venom on Rothwell while she wept into the feathers. The panic coursed all through her now.

Ruined.
She could not believe she was enduring this again. Her father had been ruined two years before he died. His legacy had been much diminished as a result. Most likely that was why she had not been taken in by his heir. Fate had now played a cruel joke on her, making her relive the worry and fear.

She groped for control. She had wondered sometimes what she would do if she found herself in this situation. She had always known it could happen. She poked through her misery to the calculations she made on those terrible nights when her precarious existence loomed in the dark.

She could possibly become a governess, if she could get references. She had the breeding and education for it, although the life was a dreadful one.

She could also seek work in a milliner’s shop. She possessed a knack with hats and enjoyed making them. Working in such a shop would be the final humiliation, however. She was not born to such things, even if the idea held more appeal than being shut in night and day caring for another woman’s child.

She might also marry, although at present there were no suitors. She had never even hoped for one after Benjamin. He lived in her heart and always would. The girl who survived, hidden in her soul, loathed the notion of a loveless match made only to ensure security. Having tasted great love, such a marriage would be horrible. However, with neither beauty nor a fortune to entice a man, marriage was one practical compromise that she did not expect to face.

Enumerating her options gave her some heart, even if it was a sickening sort of confidence. She had twenty pounds a year and would not starve. She could make a future for herself if she ate her pride. As it happened, she had a lot of practice in doing that.

She gazed around her room at the furniture showing dimly in the lamp’s light. It was not a big room. It lacked the luxurious fabrics of Irene’s and Roselyn’s and the new chairs and beds they had purchased last year too. But it was her room and had been her home since Tim moved them here from Cheapside right after Ben sailed to Greece four years ago.

She closed her eyes and wondered how long it would be before Hayden Rothwell threw her out onto the street.

Three mornings later Alexia sat in the breakfast room, reading the advertisements in the
Times
. The house quaked with silence. Servants barely made any noise, but their absence was noticeable. Only Falkner remained while he sought another appropriate situation. She could hear him in the dining room, packing the china that Timothy had sold yesterday.

Very little of the luxuries purchased over the last few years would return to Oxfordshire with her cousins. Rothwell would get the furnishings, and everything else would be sold. Right now men were in the carriage house, dickering over the equipage.

Roselyn entered the breakfast room and sat beside Alexia. She poured them both some coffee. “What are you studying there?”

“Rooms to let.”

“Piccadilly would not be too bad, if you are not too far east.”

“I don’t think I can avoid going east, Rose.”

Rose looked like a woman who had cried for a month. Red puffs swelled beneath her eyes. “I should have married one of those men who were after my fortune. It would have served him right when my brother was so ruined that he had to sell the pewter. The
pewter,
for heaven’s sake.”

Alexia bit back a laugh. Roselyn caught her at it and giggled too. They both laughed while tears streamed down their faces.

“Oh, heavens, that felt good,” Rose gasped. “This is all so drastic it is almost ridiculous. I half-expect Tim to sell my nightdress off my body while I sleep.”

“Let us hope a bailiff isn’t with him when he does. That would give the town even more to gossip about.”

Roselyn laughed again, sadly. “I will miss you, Alexia. What are you going to do?”

“I asked Mrs. Harper for a reference, since she knows me best of all your friends. I have applied to an agency to seek placement as a governess. I am hoping it can be here in town.”

“You must let us know where you are, always. You must promise to visit.”

“Of course.”

Rose’s eyes brimmed. She embraced Alexia firmly. As Alexia accepted the warmth that would soon be denied, she saw Falkner arrive at the doorway.

“What is it?” she asked.

Falkner gave her the same look he had three days ago. The one that said a storm was brewing. “He is here. Lord Hayden Rothwell. He has asked to see the house.”

From the way Falkner’s pointed nose twitched, Alexia suspected Rothwell had not “asked” for anything.

“I will not receive him,” Roselyn said. “Send him away.”

“He did not ask for you, Miss Longworth, but for your brother, who is not here. He then commanded me to accommodate him.”

“Tell him you will not. I forbid it. He will have this house soon enough,” Roselyn cried.

How soon had not been determined, a matter of some worry to Alexia.

“You are not being practical, Rose. It does no good to anger the man now. Nor should Falkner serve when he is no longer obligated. I will see to our visitor so you do not have to.”

Lord Hayden waited in the reception hall, surrounded by walls that had already been stripped of paintings. As Alexia entered, he was bent, examining a marquetry table in the corner, no doubt calculating its worth.

She did not wait for his attention or greeting. “Sir, my cousin Timothy is not on the premises. I believe he is selling the horses. Miss Longworth is indisposed. Will I do for whatever your purpose in coming might be?”

He straightened and swung his gaze to her. She grudgingly admitted that he appeared quite magnificent today, dressed for riding as he was in blue coat and gray patterned-silk waistcoat. His expression, bearing, and garments announced to the world that he knew he was handsome and intelligent and rich as sin. It was rude to look like that in a house being deprived of its possessions and dignity.

“I expected a servant to—”

“There are no servants. The family cannot afford them now. Falkner remains only until he finds another situation, but he no longer serves. I fear you are stuck with me.”

She heard her own voice sound crisp and barely civil. His lids lowered enough to indicate he noted the lack of respect.

“If I am stuck with you, and you with me, so be it, Miss Welbourne. My purpose in intruding is very simple. I have an aunt who has an interest in this house. She asked that I determine if it would be suitable for her and her daughter this season.”

“You want a tour of the property so you can describe it to potential occupants?”

“If Miss Longworth would be so kind, yes.”

“Kindness is in her heart in most situations. However, she is far too busy to honor your request. Being ruined and made destitute is very time-consuming.”

His jaw tightened enough to give her a small satisfaction. The victory was brief. He set down his hat on the marquetry table. “Then I will find my own way. When I said my aunt had an interest, I did not mean a casual curiosity but rather that of ownership. This property is already my aunt’s, Miss Welbourne. Timothy Longworth signed the papers yesterday. I presented my requirements as a request out of courtesy to his family, not out of any obligation.”

The news stunned her. The house had already been sold. So fast! She quickly calculated what that might mean to her plans and to Roselyn and Irene.

“My apologies, sir. The new ownership of the house had not been communicated to either Miss Longworth or me. I will show you the house, if that will do.”

He nodded agreement and she began the ordeal. She led him into the dining room, where his sharp gaze did not miss a thing. She heard him mentally counting chairs and measuring space.

The rest of the first level went quickly. He did not open drawers and cabinets in the butler’s pantry. Alexia guessed he knew they were already empty.

“The breakfast room is through that door,” she said as they returned to the corridor. “My cousin Roselyn is there, and I must beg you to accept my description instead of entering yourself. I fear that seeing you will greatly distress her.”

“Why would my presence be so distressing?”

“Timothy told us everything. Roselyn knows that you brought the bank to the brink of failure and forced this ruin on us.”

A hard smile played at the corners of his mouth. The man’s cruelty was not to be borne. He noticed her glaring at him. He did not seem embarrassed that she had seen that cynical smile.

“Miss Welbourne, I do not need to see the breakfast room. I am sorry for your cousin, but matters of high finance exist on a different plane from everyday experiences. Timothy Longworth’s explanations were somewhat simplified, no doubt because he was giving them to ladies.”