Baron: The Deception Part 22

He laughed at her. "Why not? I'm certain you've worked on your explanations a good long while. After all, you've been playing a very dangerous game. Naturally, you'd have to come up with good excuses to lay out when you were finally caught."

It was then that he couldn't help himself. He grabbed her and began shaking her. She opened her mouth, then blinked at him. "No," she whispered. "Oh, no, this can't happen," and then she slumped, unconscious, against him.

Chapter 37.

He caught her in his arms, feeling both frustrated and afraid. d.a.m.n her. He wouldn't yell at her now, couldn't confront her further, because she'd had the gall to faint. He carried her to his bedchamber, past a gaping maid and two frozen footmen, and laid her on his bed, jerking loose the high muslin collar about her throat. Several angry scratches slashed downward to her shoulder. He cursed as he quickly stripped off her clothing, furious with her, wis.h.i.+ng he could strangle her, for she could be seriously hurt. He gazed down at the ugly, mottled bruising over her ribs, on her legs, and on her shoulders, at the many scratches and cuts, and drew a deep, steadying breath. It struck him with blinding force that she could easily have been killed. She'd managed to climb up that b.l.o.o.d.y cliff, by herself, in the dark, terrified. Oh, G.o.d, he didn't think he could bear it. He pulled the covers to her neck.

Evangeline slowly opened her eyes to see the duke staring down at her. "d.a.m.n you," he said.

"I fainted," she said, astonished. "I've never fainted in my life. You took off my clothes. I'm a mess, but it's nothing serious. My ribs aren't broken, but it was a close thing for a while last night."

He closed his eyes against her words because he himself had been out there searching. He knew the sheerness of that cliff, knew how she'd had to swim against that icy incoming tide even to gain the beach that gave onto the cliff. Then he looked down at her, murder in his eyes, and said, "I'm glad you didn't kill yourself last night. Now I can kill you."

"I will be punished, never fear. But you must let me escape. You must. You can't be the one to hang me." "So you'd disappear from me just as suddenly as you arrived? No, Evangeline, I'm not about to let you out of my sight." He pulled back the covers and looked at her. "You are really quite good, do you know that? You have my compliments. And to have you a virgin, despite all your blatant interest in me-why, it wasn't at all necessary. I was expecting a woman with a bit of skill, but no, you'd saved your maidenhead for me. To think, I, the duke of Portsmouth, a man who wants to see Napoleon in a very deep grave, a man who hates all who want to bring down England, that proud fool was brought low by a woman, and it wasn't all that difficult for you to do. There's sure to be something edifying in all this, but I doubt I'll see it for a long time to come." He jerked the covers down to her ankles. She made no move to cover herself; she had no more fight. He laid his hand on her belly. "The only part of you that isn't sc.r.a.ped or cut or scratched."

She tried to jerk away from him, but he held her down.

"Cover me," she said. "I can't fight you." "You would be a fool to fight me now. I'll cover you soon enough. First I'm going to make sure that you've done yourself no lasting injury." He changed from the man who'd been her lover, from the man who'd spewed his anger at her, to a man who simply didn't care. She turned her head away and closed her eyes. She felt his fingers lightly probing her ribs.

"You were right. Your ribs aren't broken. You should count yourself very lucky. No, don't move. Otherwise, you're a mess, but there isn't anything serious. Hold still. I'm going to put some of Mrs. Needle's healing ointment on you."

She lay there naked, wondering what would happen to her, to her father, to Edmund. When he came back to the bed, his face was set, his hands were steady. He said only, "Hold still."

She felt his fingers lightly ma.s.saging an ointment into the worst of the scratches. He realized that his hands were shaking. He stared down at her averted face.

As if she sensed that he was looking at her, she slowly turned her eyes to his face. There was a bitter, helpless smile on her mouth. "I never wanted to hurt you, never. Now it's too late. You must protect yourself, you must protect Edmund."

"You can spill your innards to me in a moment. Right now, just keep your pleas to yourself." He turned her onto her stomach. There were scratches and bruises on her back and hips, the backs of her legs. He cursed. She didn't move as he rubbed in ointment, lightly touched his fingers to the bruises. She heard his heavy breathing.

He was seeing her struggling back to Chesleigh, her life in the balance. Unwillingly, he found himself marveling at her force of will. If Drew had somehow come to suspect her, her performance would have convinced him of her innocence. Drew doubtless believed her a foolish, quite frivolous woman.

"There," he said finally, helping her onto her back again and pulling up the covers. "It's done."

He drew a chair to her bedside and sat down, formed his fingers in a steeple, and tapped them thoughtfully together.

He said in a very controlled voice, "Certain things are now quite clear to me, Mademoiselle. Your unexpected arrival at Chesleigh, your indigent status, and your unremitting insistence on remaining at Chesleigh. Even your claimed widowhood. Had you arrived as a supposed innocent young lady, the proprieties would have demanded that I provide at the very least a chaperone-that, or you couldn't have remained." He paused for a moment, recalling Evangeline's grief at the death of the old woman. He frowned. "I'm certain that you were innocent of Mrs. Needle's murder. Indeed, it very nearly destroyed you. But you know who killed her, don't you, Evangeline? If I hadn't taken matters into my own hands, if I hadn't brought a Bow Street Runner, why, you would still be bringing in spies." "Yes," she said.

He suddenly remembered her insistence upon visiting Drew at the Ministry. "Ah, another little something. Your visit to the Ministry. That wasn't a lady's frivolous request, was it?"

"No, I was ordered to leave an envelope in Lord Pettigrew's office, in one of the books on the second shelf. I don't know what was in the envelope."

"I believe it's time for you to tell me everything, Evangeline." He saw such pain in her eyes that he nearly stopped. But he had to know. He had to know every d.a.m.ned thing she'd done and why. Still, she said nothing. He said, "I see. You would have me believe that you're nothing more than a devious traitor who has, in the most calculating manner, deceived me and my entire family."

"No," she said, her voice cold and dull. "It wasn't like that. Please, your grace, I had no choice at all about anything."

"Tell me. No more dancing around it. Trust me, Evangeline. Tell me why you did it."

"My father isn't dead. He's being held prisoner by a man named Houchard in Paris."

She told him in a halting voice of the night the two men had broken into their home, of the journey to Paris, her meeting with Houchard. "He knew all about my family and yours. You were to be my dupe, my cat's paw; else he would have my father killed as a traitor. Only the Lynx would know the truth." "Who is the Lynx?" "John Edgerton is the Lynx." He started forward in his chair. "The devil, you say."

"That's what I think he is. He or one of his men murdered poor Mrs. Needle. That first night I met him, I knew I couldn't succeed at this. I told him there was already someone who thought something was wrong. I mentioned her name to him. Oh, G.o.d, he killed her. I think it was more a lesson to me than to silence anything that she might have said. He wanted me to know that if I told you, asked for your help, there would be consequences that I wouldn't be able to bear." She drew a breath, remembering. "I had made up my mind to tell you. Edgerton must have guessed I was wavering. He told me that if I ever let anything out to you, he personally would kill Edmund. I never said a word then. I never would, except now this has happened." She swung her legs out of bed, grabbing the covers to keep herself covered. "Listen to me, your grace. You must get Edgerton now or Edmund is in danger."

"You would have confessed all to me but for his threat against Edmund?"

"Yes. Believe me, Edgerton isn't mad. He's simply willing to do anything, even murder a child and an old woman, to gain what he wants, and that is Napoleon's success."

"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 a.s.signed in London. It's in the bottom of the cus.h.i.+on 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 a.s.sistant 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 d.u.c.h.ess. 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 a.s.signed 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 a.s.sume it will be very long. Perhaps a day, two at the most. d.a.m.n, 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. d.a.m.n 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. Ba.s.sick 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, 'd.a.m.n, 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 a.s.sist 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 G.o.d," 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 b.a.s.t.a.r.d. 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 b.i.t.c.h, 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 G.o.d they saw no servants on the way to the nursery because she had 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.