“It’s gorgeous.”
“I know.” Claire beamed. “Then we talked about a date. Next spring, in May.”
Claire would make a lovely spring bride. Rose would pray for a mild winter and early thaw. “We’ll start planning immediately if not sooner.”
“Moreover, we are most decidedly not going to live with his mother. I think we’ll take a place in the Back Bay because the cost is so dear here on the Hill. Perhaps you and William can reside there as well, and we can be neighbors again.”
Claire twirled in a circle for no reason at all, looking like a child on Christmas morning. While she spun, she talked. “So tell me, why didn’t you return for the play’s conclusion?”
Rose sighed. She didn’t want to relive it.
“Are you hungry? Come, sit down and eat something.”
“I’ll sit,” Claire said, and she did. “I’m not hungry, however, and don’t change the topic. Where did you and William go? Was there kissing involved?”
It was Rose’s turn to blush.
“Ah-ha.”
“Well, not at first. Didn’t you read the papers?” Rose had read over the papers her mother had mentioned earlier, and she’d seen that she and William were mentioned by name. Finn was called the “mystery man.”
“Of course I did. I clipped out any news of my engagement and put copies in my trunk. Why?”
Rose pushed a sausage around with the tip of her knife. “I’m afraid I was part of a ‘scene’ in the lobby last night.”
Claire sobered at once. “Tell me.”
“I’m sorry to say that Finn was correct about men wishing him harm. They found me and tried to abduct me.”
“Dear God! Were you hurt?”
“As it turned out, Finn was at the show last night, as well. He scared them off.”
“Thank goodness!”
Rose nodded. “Then William found us.”
“Dear God!” Claire said again.
“Indeed. So the remainder of my evening was spent with William, explaining everything that I’ve kept hidden from him for so long.”
Claire reached over the table and touched Rose’s hand. “So he knows everything?”
“He does and he was unbelievably kind and understanding. We ate snacks in his kitchen, and he forgave me. I didn’t get home until very late — or rather, very early this morning. Mama has already had words with me about that.”
“I’m so sorry,” Claire’s voice was low. “So because of the newspapers, does your mother know about . . . you know?”
“No. Still only you, Reed, and now William. I can’t see any reason to tell Mama until the situation is resolved. She’ll only worry.”
“You should go to the police.” Claire sounded emphatic.
“Most likely, I should.” Rose considered going to the station and giving the police a description of the villains. “Yes, I will. Today, I suppose. I expect my brother will be demanding some answers from me and from Finn, too, for that matter, if he read the society pages.”
Could she not escape the mess in her life for one day?
“Never mind all that,” Rose said, ready to put it behind her. “When are you going to meet again with the Dragon? I believe she owes you an apology.”
“Soon. I will be gracious and not make her grovel. Too much.”
“That is kind of you.” Rose grabbed Claire’s hand and admired the ring again. “We must go show Mama. She is thrilled for you.”
Before they could do so, Reed’s solid frame filled the doorway.
“Hello, you two. Congratulations are in order, and I read how your engagement was accomplished with such style,” Reed said to Claire, whose cheeks reddened again.
“Thank you.” Automatically, she held out her hand to show Reed her ring, causing an amused grin to brighten his expression.
Dutifully, he took Claire’s hand and pretended to examine the ring with great interest.
“A fine-looking one,” he declared. “Has our mother seen it yet?” he asked, turning to Rose.
She shook her head, her heart sinking. If he knew of the engagement, then he, no doubt, knew everything. “We were just going to—”
Reed interrupted her. “I need to speak to my little sister,” he said to Claire. “Why don’t you go find Mrs. Malloy and show her your ring.”
Claire looked from Reed to Rose, who nodded before watching her best friend head for the door.
“Please tell Mr. Brewster that I said he is a lucky man,” Reed added.
Claire gave a smug smile over her shoulder before disappearing down the hallway.
He turned back to Rose, looking nearly as angry as concerned.
“What happened last night?”
Rose sighed. “Not you, too.”
“Yes, me, too. I suppose Mother was worried, seeing your name in the newspapers, and I also suppose that the mysterious unnamed man was Bennet.”
“Correct on both counts, Attorney Malloy.”
Reed grimaced. “Not a time for witticism.”
“It’s not what you think. Finn didn’t harm me. He saved me from a couple of men who tried to kidnap me from the theatre.”
“Kidnap you? Dammit all!” Reed fumed. “I was actually planning on seeing him today to have him sign the papers, then Charlotte pointed out the incident in the morning’s Post. We can only hope that anyone threatening Bennet, and you, will understand that you care nothing for him once your marriage ends. And as quickly as possible.”
He ran a hand through his hair. “Nearly kidnapped?” He swore again.
“Bennet has brought nothing but trouble.”
“That’s not fair,” Rose protested. “If not for Finn last night, I don’t know that I’d be speaking to you now.”
“If not for him,” her brother said, his teeth practically grinding together, “you’d be a happily engaged lady with no worries of being kidnapped.”
True though beside the point.
“If I hadn’t married him—” she began, breaking off when she heard a gasp.
Too late, Rose realized her mother had entered the room.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Rose and Reed turned as one at the sound of their mother storming across the floor with Claire trailing behind her.
“Married! Married?” Evelyn said repeatedly, getting louder. “Married!” The tenor of her voice betrayed her shock. “That’s why you were out until the wee hours. You eloped with William!” She sounded thoroughly peeved.
Intent on disavowing her mother’s assumptions, Rose opened her mouth, but Evelyn stood before her, nose to nose.
“That was very wrong of you, Rose Olivia Malloy, after all the time Elise has put into planning your wedding. I am most disappointed in you.”
Rose felt all the blood drain from her face. If her mother was upset at her secretly marrying William, how much worse would she take the news that—
“And think of how let down people will be,” Evelyn continued, “all those who were coming to the ceremony and to the luncheon.”
Claire stepped forward, her eyebrows knitted in confusion, and Rose’s heart began to pound. She could practically see the gears turning — and sticking — knowing what her friend was going to say before she said it, yet utterly helpless to stop her.
“I don’t understand,” Claire began, and Rose lifted up her hands to ward off the words. “How could you marry Mr. Woodsom when you are already married to Mr. Bennet?”
Rose smacked her own forehead with her palm and held her hand there, head bowed, shaking it back and forth, knowing the consequences that would follow. Everything had changed in the briefest of moments.
“Married to whom?” her mother practically shrieked this time. She looked at Claire. “Mr. Bennet? Who in God’s name is this Mr. Bennet?”
Turning back to Rose, Evelyn demanded, “What is the meaning of this?”
Before Rose could speak, Evelyn rounded on her only son.
“Did you know about this? Of course you did! N
othing gets by you. Obviously Claire knew,” she said, gesturing at the diminutive blonde, who looked a little sick at having spilled her friend’s secret.
Evelyn threw her hands up in the air. “Have you all gone mad?” she raged. “We have planned a wedding, a large one. How can Rose be already married? To a man whom I’ve never heard of? Does the whole household have to crumble when I relax for five minutes?”
Reed and Rose exchanged a look as Evelyn finally paused to take a breath.
“Nothing’s crumbling, Mother,” Reed said.
Evelyn headed for the closest chair, tossing herself down and closing her eyes.
“So close to getting four of them respectably married. So close.” She continued to murmur this to herself.
Rose lifted her head and glared at Claire who seemed to have shrunk into an extremely small version of herself.
“I’d best be going,” she whispered to no one in particular and darted from the room.
Too right! And it was the only time in Rose’s long relationship with Claire that she’d had unkind thoughts about her best friend. Particularly thoughts about strangling her.
Rose shared a very different look with her brother, glad for the first time that he had already been apprised of the situation. This moment would have been infinitely worse, like a deluge instead of a thunderstorm, if she’d had to deal with both Reed’s interrogations and censure as well as her mother having a conniption fit.
The siblings approached Evelyn on either side. Reed took one of her hands in his, and Rose crouched down and held her mother’s other hand.
“Mama, I was going to tell you after the situation was resolved in some manner, one way or the other.”
“Dear God,” her mother said, not opening her eyes. “A situation.”
Rose looked to Reed for assistance. His expression said, “I told you so,” yet he proceeded to pat their mother’s shoulder.
“It’s not as bad as it sounds,” he said. “Actually, it is rather bad. However, not without remedy. What’s more, I’m handling it.”
“Our Rose is married,” Evelyn whispered, and a little moan escaped her. “Since when?”
“Is that detail really important?” Rose asked.
“Four years,” Reed responded, and their mother flinched as if she’d been struck.
“Not exactly four,” Rose corrected, glaring at Reed. “Almost. Yet I thought I was widowed for nearly all of them.”
At that, Evelyn’s eyelids snapped open. “Sherry,” she ordered.
“But, Mama, it’s not yet two o’clock,” Rose pointed out, recalling her mother’s usual rule about drinking spirits early in the day.
“Sherry,” Evelyn repeated. “Immediately.”
Reed nodded, so Rose jumped up and ran to the sideboard where they kept the sherry service. She quickly poured a generous amount of the sweet liquid into one of her mother’s delicate short-stemmed green glasses.
Not another word was spoken until Evelyn had taken her first sip and then another.
“I will not pry into the whats and wherefores,” she said at last. “Only tell me, are you still marrying William?”
“Yes, Mama,” Rose didn’t hesitate. “If he will still have me.”
“He knows about your . . . about this other man?”
“Yes, Mama. He found out last night. I stayed late with him to tell him everything.”
Evelyn sipped again. “I see. And he still wants to marry you?”
Rose sighed. “It would seem so.”
Their mother turned to Reed. “You are making this happen by procuring a divorce for your sister?”
Reed nodded. “I have the papers ready for Mr. Bennet to sign.”
Rose started slightly, wishing for some reason that Reed hadn’t said Finn’s name again.
Evelyn took another sip and then abandoned the pretense and drained her glass entirely.
“Then we will put all this behind us. As soon as you are div . . . free, we will proceed as planned, and no one outside our immediate circle need be the wiser regarding your youthful indiscretion.”
Her mother got up and left, still clutching her sherry glass. She must have been quite upset for she didn’t offer Rose a smile of encouragement or even spare her a backward glance.
“She is very disappointed in me,” Rose said. A bubble of sadness expanded in her chest.
Reed wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
“I’m sorry she found out that way. Mama was shocked, obviously, but only because she wants you to be happy with William.”
“I know.” Rose considered the current state of affairs. “I’m sure you want to get on with serving Finn the papers. Should I go to the police station and tell them about last night?”
“Yes, absolutely. In fact, I’ll go there with you first. You never know what nefarious types might be hanging around. I always hated it when Charlotte went to the station on investigative business.”
I should tell him that Charlotte hasn’t finished investigating. I should tell him right now.
“I’ll be ready in a minute,” she told her brother. “Let me get a hat.”
Coward, she berated herself as she left the room.
***
“This is larger than we imagined,” Reed said to Rose when they finally left the police station. “Do you understand that?”
“Of course, I’m not dim witted.” She hurried to keep up with her brother’s long stride.
Men died last night.
That had been a shock to learn from the police, though finding out it was not Finn had been such a relief, she’d been left feeling lightheaded.
Reed had left her at his office with strict instructions to wait for his return. He’d headed straight for The Parisien, divorce papers in hand and determination in his expression. However, when he’d returned unsuccessfully from his mission and told her Finn was once again not there, Rose withheld a promise not to visit her husband herself.
Instead, she’d waited precisely an hour, browsing in the nearby shops, and then entered the dimly lit restaurant. Rushing up the back stairs to Finn’s room, Rose heard voices before she even crested the top step. Finn and . . . William!
As she came into view, William’s gaze swung toward her. He stood in the hallway facing Finn, who was standing in his own doorway, arms crossed. Both men looked heated, angry.
“What are you doing here?” William asked her, irritation lacing his voice.
She stopped in her tracks. Before she could answer, Finn spoke up.
“Don’t speak to her that way.”
William’s full attention returned to Finn. “You shut up,” he ordered in clipped tones, sending him a baleful glare. “Rose is my fiancée, and I will speak to her however I see fit when I find her sneaking up to another man’s room.”
“To her husband’s room,” Finn pointed out unnecessarily.
William offered a hollow-sounding laugh. “In name only, or so she tells me.”
Finn paled, and both men looked to Rose again, each one wearing an expression of betrayal.
She ignored the insult to Finn’s manhood. It was not her concern at the moment.
“I came because I have more information. One of the men who tried to abduct me the other night has turned up dead. He was shot and his body dumped in the harbor.”
“Christ!” Finn said.
William stared at her as if he didn’t know her.
“Do you hear yourself? Is this the life you want to lead, talking of men being murdered and bodies in the harbor?” He shook his head in wonder. “And then you came directly here, to the center of all the danger in your life. For God’s sake, Rose, why?”
She swallowed. No, William was wrong. She wanted the peaceful life that she’d had before Finn’s return, filled with nothing more than cooking and music, and being with William and her family. It was all she wanted. However, she couldn’t have any of that until the threat had passed.
“Reed thinks that some important person was wo
rried that his identity would be traced through one of those — what did you call them,” she turned to Finn, “those goons. I thought it important to tell you. The other one was most likely killed as well and perhaps his body went out to sea.”
Rose glanced nervously at William since she had started talking about dead men again.
“You should have sent someone in your place,” he said, his tone still sharp. “I’m sure your brother doesn’t know you’re here as he would have gladly come in your place.”
True on both counts. Reed would be livid, and she should not have come. However, Rose had yet to be able to refrain from seizing on each opportunity to see Finn in the flesh. It was still a miracle every time she saw him, as if he had truly arisen from his grave, hale and hearty.
“Reed did come here first,” she looked at Finn, “but you weren’t here.”
“I was at work,” Finn said, surprising Rose. Immediately, though, he directed his attention back to William.
“The lady can come see me whenever she likes,” Finn stated, obviously trying to get under her fiancé’s skin.
“You say that because you’re a selfish bastard,” William practically growled. “What about her safety?”
Finn tilted his head. “When she’s with me, I keep her safe.”
William made a sound of disgust. “She’d have been better off if you’d stayed dead.”
Rose gasped. “You’re both speaking as if I’m not even here.”
“Better for you, maybe,” Finn retorted, ignoring her words and still addressing William. “It’s harder to take someone’s wife when that someone is still alive.”
“No,” Rose protested, wanting to correct him.
William said nothing. He simply cocked his arm and punched Finn squarely in the mouth. It happened so fast that Finn neither ducked nor swerved. In the blink of an eye, blood was flowing where his own teeth had cut into his lip. At the same time, William shook out his hand as if in pain.
Rose ran forward, putting herself between them as Finn started to roll up his sleeves.
“No,” she said again, this time to both men. “Stop it. Please.”
“You are worth fighting for,” Finn said.
William still said nothing, but he held her gaze as she turned her back on her husband and looked at her fiancé squarely.
An Inconceivable Deception Page 25
