by Laura Landon
“Yes, and I’m oh, so glad that they found such a good home.”
“Well, please don’t be alarmed, but at some point after I purchased them and before I paid for them and arranged to take them home, someone switched them with replicas.”
“No!”
“Yes, I’m afraid they did. Fortunately, we discovered the identity of the thief and were able to retrieve them. Now, here is where it becomes delicate. No one knows I am in possession of the original vases. The thief still believes I haven’t realized the vases are forgeries. And I want to keep it that way for the moment.”
It was obvious that Lily’s news shook the dowager duchess. Her hands trembled and the color drained from her face.
“Jackson,” the dowager duchess said. “We must involve the authorities, mustn’t we?” Her tone had lost its confident ring as she looked to Jack for his advice.
“Let’s not do that just yet. I’ll handle this. But you could help us by explaining why you decided to auction the vases in the first place. And please, don’t leave anything out, Your Grace.”
The dowager duchess nodded. “Well, it’s really quite simple. As you know from our conversation with my nephews last night, Russell and perhaps Wesley, too, believe they are the rightful heirs to my possessions.”
“Bloody rogues,” Jack hissed through clenched teeth.
“Vincent has them convinced that there was a mistake made at his birth and he is the rightful Marquess of Riverdon.”
“I’m sorry,” Lily put up her hand to interrupt the dowager duchess. “Who is Vincent?” Lily asked.
Jack and his godmother exchanged a long look, and at last his aunt sighed and clasped her hands in her lap. “My brother Vincent is Russell and Wesley’s father. Jackson’s father’s twin brother.”
Lily kept her silence, sensing there was more.
“Jackson’s father is the Marquess of Riverdon, and Vincent holds the title Earl of Southby, since he is the younger of the twins. But, he has always thought it possible that he and not Jackson’s father is the elder.”
“The Earl of Southby.” Lily gasped and swallowed the exclamation that threatened to fly from her lips.
“Jack, could your uncle be our earl?”
Jack was silent, but the dowager duchess had not missed his reaction. “I don’t understand. What do you mean, our earl?”
Lily couldn’t bring herself to explain and looked to Jack with pleading in her eyes. But he, too, wasn’t ready to reveal their suspicion.
“What reason does Vincent have for believing that he is the rightful heir?” Lily asked.
“There is no reason,” the dowager duchess said, her disgust evident. “He only says it when he’s had too much to drink, but he doesn’t really believe it’s possible. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for his sons. They are convinced that their father is the legitimate heir and therefore Russell is next in line.”
The dowager duchess paused long enough to take a deep breath. “The more often they hear their father boast about it, the more convinced they are that the riches of the Riverdon title should be theirs. And, the more jealous they become.
“Russell is certain that all the Riverdon wealth and prestige will in time be his. He thinks he was robbed of the title and the wealth.”
“Is there any truth to his belief?” Lily asked.
“None. But the more convinced Vincent is that he should inherit the Riverdon title, the more violent and deranged Russell is becoming.”
The dowager duchess paused and lifted a delicate handkerchief to her cheek, clearly dismayed by her brother and nephew’s delusion.
“Please, continue,” Lily encouraged.
“The difficulty is, my dear, that for as weak and harmless as Vincent is when it comes to talk of the title, Russell is the opposite. He has a violent temper. He’s mean, and jealous. When he was young, he constantly accused his father of letting Jackson’s father run all over him. He accused Jackson’s father of barely giving Vincent’s family enough to get by.”
The dowager duchess paused. Her hand trembled as she took a sip of water from the small table at her side. “None of us can understand how he can be so different from his mother or father. They are both quite mild mannered. But Russell…Russell has no friends, only his brother Wesley, and the few friends he did have he didn’t keep long. His uncontrollable mean streak drove everyone away.”
“Who came to you to demand that you sell the Qing vases?”
“No one. I made that decision on my own.”
“Why?” Lily asked.
“To keep the vases out of Russell’s hands. He came to see me and wanted me to give him the vases. I wasn’t so foolish as to believe his claim that he was sentimental about them. I knew he only saw their value once he managed to sell them. So I refused and put them up for sale myself instead. I knew Russell couldn’t afford them so I decided to sell them to keep him from getting his hands on them.”
She squared her shoulders. “It was selfish, I know, and in truth, there was a time when I would have happily given him the vases to assuage his anger. But now he is so mean-spirited and I simply can’t abide his vile language so I—I wished to put his heart’s desire once and for all beyond his reach. Forgive me, Jackson, but I hoped to send Russell a warning by putting the vases out of his reach.”
Lily saw conflicting emotions pass across Jack’s face, and knew she could give both he and his aunt a small bit of comfort.
“Your Grace, you mustn’t apologize. A man like Russell will never stop. If it’s not the vases, it will be something else. It’s completely within your right to place your precious pieces where your conscience dictates they best belong.”
Lily’s words brought a feeble smile of appreciation from the dowager duchess and a look of relief from Jack, so she continued, hoping to carry the discussion out of the past and forward into a solution.
“Has Russell been to see you since the auction?”
The dowager duchess nodded. “He was here early this morning, in fact. It was very odd, Jackson. He was so complimentary about how wise I am to have sold the pieces. In fact, he even made suggestions as to which pieces I should sell next. It was strange, Jackson. Very strange. He practically fawned all over me.” She shuddered.
Lily and Jack remained silent, absorbing her explanation. Finally, Lily spoke. “That tells me he already has the forgeries made, Jack. Forgeries of the pieces he just suggested Her Grace should consider selling.” She thought a moment about what she had just said. “He’s most likely spent the last of his fortune on them because he expects to reap large prices on the black market.” She turned to Jack. “But why risk such a scheme here? Where he’s known?”
Jack straightened. “It’s me.” Jack took a long, deep breath. “He intends to destroy me.”
“What?” The dowager duchess was incredulous. “What could you possibly have done to him that makes him want to destroy you?”
Jack ran a worried hand across his forehead. “Shortly after I opened Broadmoore’s Treasures, Russell came to see me. He wanted to go into business together.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this, Jackson?” the dowager duchess asked.
“There was no reason to worry you. I refused Russell’s offer without even hearing him out. I knew what he was up to. The last thing I wanted was to have any connection with him.”
“I don’t suppose you told your father, either.”
“I can fight my own battles, Your Grace.”
“But what if you come out the loser?”
“Well, there is nothing to concern yourself over, Your Grace. That was in the past.”
“There is no past where Russell is concerned. There was a reason that wretched nephew of mine wanted to go into business with you. And that reason wasn’t to your benefit. Only Russell’s.”
“What reason did he give you for wanting to go into business with you?” Lily asked.
“He said he and his father had access to any number of valuable art
objects. That they would provide a majority of the objects to sell and we would split the profits. I asked where he and Vincent acquired these art objects and he was evasive, only saying that he found them all over the world.”
“You know what he meant by that, don’t you, Jack?” Lily asked.
“Well, I certainly do now. The objects he intended to provide would either be forgeries or stolen goods.”
“Oh Jackson! That would have ruined you!”
“Exactly.”
The dowager duchess sank back in her chair, stunned by the revelation that Jack and Lily saw so clearly, an explanation she herself had never suspected.
“What did he say when you refused him?” Lily asked.
“He became violent. Broke up half my office. He said that I would regret not taking up his offer. But that has been nearly a year ago. I should have known he was merely biding his time, waiting to retaliate because I’d refused to let him use Broadmoore’s Treasures as a front.”
“Because he needed the time to prepare his forgeries, Jack.”
“He can’t help it, Jackson. It’s what his father taught him.” The dowager duchess sniffed delicately. “Vincent is always looking for a way to use other people’s money,” the dowager duchess said. “My brother is penny wise and pound foolish, and rather than look for an honest way to support his lavish lifestyle, he relies on usury.”
“If they’re in this together,” Lily pondered, “they’ll try to force Her Grace to sell all her art works.”
“If that happens,” Jack said, “play along, Your Grace. I assure you, Lily will spot the forgeries the moment they’re switched. You won’t lose a thing, and we’ll catch him out.” He sighed. “I’m guessing that I only have to wait a little while for him to come to see me. He’ll want to brag about stealing the Qing vases out from beneath my nose.”
“You’re not going to tell him that you have the originals and that the joke is on him, are you, Jack?”
“No, Your Grace. I’m not going to tell him. But it will be very difficult to listen to him brag about what he did with a sober look on my face. I’m hoping that in his bragging he will divulge more of his plan.”
“Do you have any idea what that will be?”
Jack shook his head. He couldn’t be sure what Russell wanted, but it was most likely the same offer he’d made Jack before—let him use Broadmoore’s Treasures as a front to sell stolen and fake art or he would plant rumors of the incident in order to destroy Jack’s reputation.
Jack’s stomach roiled with anger and worry.
That was something he wasn’t sure he had the heart to survive.
BEHOLD THE THIEF by Laura Landon
Chapter Ten
Jack escorted Lily to the carriage and assisted her inside. He followed her, then reached for the reins and urged the horse onto the street.
“What do you think Russell’s next move will be?” Lily asked.
“I wish I knew. I doubt he’s given up trying to force me to take him in as a partner. I expect him to come to see me with what he believes are the real Qing vases, just to rub my nose in it. That, and to blackmail me into selling more of his fakes or he’ll expose me.”
“You won’t allow him to use your business to sell his illegal pieces, will you?”
Jack turned his head and let his gaze rest on hers. “What do you think?”
“I didn’t think you would,” Lily answered. “I just needed to hear you say it.”
“No. I will never allow him to put one piece of artwork in Broadmoore’s Treasures, real or forged.”
Jack steered the carriage toward Hyde Park.
“Are you in a hurry to return home?”
Lily shook her head. “No one is home. Liam is at the warehouse, and Millie is resting before going for tea with her mother this afternoon.”
Jack turned the carriage into the east entrance of Hyde Park and followed the path that most people drove along when they didn’t want to be trapped in the crush of carriages carrying people who wanted to be noticed.
“Tell me about your family,” Lily said as they made their way down a semi-secluded path.
“What do you want to know?”
“Well, what is your father like compared to his brother? His twin sounds as if he has his head in the clouds and doesn’t quite realize what he’s getting into with his son.”
Jack wanted to laugh. “That’s a perfect way to describe Vincent. He’s always been the dreamer, while Father has his feet planted firmly on the ground. Father is a wonderful manager of the Riverdon estates. He has doubled the profits many times over and made our estates profitable for both himself and the tenants. And for Uncle Vincent, too, for that matter.”
“And your own brother? Is he like your father?”
“Gideon has a level head on his shoulders. He’s the perfect manager for the many properties that he’s in charge of. He takes after Father in that respect.”
“And you?”
Jack smiled. “I am doing exactly what I was born to do. I’m running my own business. I’m surrounded by artifacts from all over the world and people who have the same love for them that I have.”
Jack stopped and focused his gaze on Lily. There was a smile on her face that told him she understood what he was saying.
“You are very fortunate,” she answered. “But what about your parents? I gather that neither your mother nor your father attended the auction the other night. Or your brother. Are they not interested in what you do?”
Jack couldn’t stop his smile from fading. “No, my father doesn’t approve of his son working for a living. Neither does my mother. Although, while Gideon doesn’t disapprove of what I do, neither does he understand my love of precious artifacts.”
“That’s a shame,” Lily said, and the expression on her face told him she truly meant it.
His gaze locked with hers as a wave of emotion surged through him. He lowered his hand and placed his fingers over hers. Lily turned her hand into his, and palm to palm, their fingers twined. Jack brought Lily’s hand to his lips and kissed it.
The emotions that raced through him defied description. Both her cleverness and compassion were so very refreshing. And her genteel modesty that so brilliantly complemented her valiant spirit had simply captivated him. And did so more and more each day. Here, on this shaded path, she was not just a friend. She was so much more, so that at times she even seemed to be a part of him.
It was mad. Mad and marvelous.
In that moment, with her beside him, her hand in his, her eyes gazing up into his own, he had no other thought than to show her the depth of his feeling. He lowered his head and kissed her on the cheek. Only as an afterthought did he realize what he’d done in public view of anyone who was traveling on the same path as they.
Jack lifted his gaze and his breath caught in his throat.
The carriage approaching them wasn’t just any carriage. He recognized the golden crest on the carriage door as well as the two people it carried.
“Is something wrong, Jack?”
Jack opened his mouth and struggled to speak. “No, Lily. Nothing’s wrong.”
When he lifted his gaze again, the carriage had stopped on the side of the path. Jack knew he had no choice but to stop beside it.
“Jackson,” the driver of the carriage said. “What a surprise.”
“Yes, Father. Greetings, Mother.”
“Jackson,” his mother nodded in response.
So far, the expressions on his parents’ faces simply expressed curiosity. But Jack knew those would change once he made the introductions.
“Mother. Father, allow me to present Miss Lily McGregor. Lily, my mother and father, the Marchioness and Marquess of Riverdon.”
“My lady. My lord,” Lily said in her most refined voice. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“I can’t quite place your name, my dear,” Jack’s mother said. “Unless you’re the Abbotsbury McGregors? From the vicarage?”
�
��No, my lady. I’m afraid not.”
“Then perhaps the MacGregors of Leed? Such a beautiful property.” Jack’s mother persisted.
Jack resisted the urge to fidget. His mother refused to give up. From the look on Jack’s father’s face, he already suspected that the female accompanying Jack wasn’t anyone a son should be introducing to his parents. In his mother’s innocence, it hadn’t dawned on her that her son was accompanying a female from outside Society. A female less than one step up from an actress, or mistress, or local strumpet. In his parents’ eyes, there was no middle ground. One was either a blueblood or a peasant.
“I’m afraid I’m not related to anyone you would know,” Lily said as her cheeks grew an even brighter red. The blush made the rest of her complexion the palest white he’d ever seen it.
She withdrew her hand quickly. That was the moment Jack realized what she was going to do.
“Lily—”
“I am not from Abbotsbury or Leeds or anywhere near here, my lady. You see, I was born in Whitechapel.”
There. It was out. Lily was from the slums of London and their son had the audacity to be riding with her in public where everyone could see them together. As far as his parents were concerned, this was no different than Jack accompanying a mistress in broad daylight.
Jack first looked at his mother’s shocked expression. Her dainty fingers were clamped over her open mouth and her eyes were as wide as saucers. “Surely not!”
“Jackson.” His father barked his name with a gruff tone. “You will escort the…the…lady…to her residence, then call on me before the evening is out.”
Without waiting for Jack to answer, his father snapped the reins and his horse took off at a jarring pace.
Jack’s carriage remained in the middle of the path where he’d encountered his mother and father. He couldn’t move. He wanted to say something to Lily that would make their confrontation with his parents an insignificant event. But there was nothing he could say that would make it any less dramatic than it was. Nothing that would make the slight to Lily any less obvious.
