To Love a Libertine

by LeFey, Liana

  “I feared for you, Eden. I thought him playing a cruel game with your sentiments. Everything was going so well, and then he came along and distracted you—he very nearly ruined everything!”

  Her blood froze. “How long have you been planning this?”

  All the color leached out of her stepmother’s face, leaving it chalk white.

  “My God,” Eden gasped. “How long ago did Ravenwood buy you?”

  “I did what was necessary to save us all. You cannot fault me for that.” Two bright spots appeared in Catherine’s pale cheeks. “Lord Ravenwood’s father approached me at the start of the Season about a match; however, in my defense I did not consider it until after you set your cap for Tavistoke and cast off all your other suitors. Chilton, Mallowby, Edgeworth—all of them, gone! All that work, all that expense, to build you up into the Season’s most sought-after prize, only to see you throw it all away on a rake who is sure to play you false. When Ravenwood personally expressed his continued interest in you, I thought it a godsend. I tried to make you see him as the better alternative, but you were blind to him.”

  “Apparently not as blind as you,” Eden retorted. “You closed the door on a good man and opened the window to let in a snake.”

  “Snake or not, he has given us no choice,” replied Catherine grimly. “Eden, you must marry him. He will ruin us if you don’t.”

  Eden spoke quietly, withholding none of her contempt. “Had you but the smallest bit of faith in me, you would have had my love, my gratitude, and the resources of a marchioness to see our family through this misfortune. Instead, you’ve sold me to a man who does not love me and whom I can never love, thereby robbing me of my heart’s desire.” She blinked back tears. “For that I will never forgive you. You have earned my enmity for as long as I draw breath. Once I leave my father’s house I will never again speak to you.”

  Her stepmother’s face paled another shade, and she swayed on her feet.

  Marshalling her strength, Eden continued. “For my father’s and brother’s sakes, I’ll bind myself to Ravenwood. When you attend my nuptials, you can bear the cross of knowing the vows I speak at the altar will be empty.” She laughed without humor. “You shall have your thirty pieces of silver for my pound of flesh, but your precious standing will suffer far more for it than it would have had you let me marry Percy.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “The man you force me to spurn has a reputation for taking other men’s wives for his lovers,” Eden said bitterly.

  Catherine gasped. “You would cast a shadow of bastardy over your own children? Subject them to the censure of the world for your own selfishness?”

  Eden’s heart broke a little. “I’ll be more discreet than Lady Sotheby, but I will not give up my only happiness. You may have robbed me of its legitimacy, but you will not take it from me entirely.”

  “But you will be an adulteress!”

  She nodded slowly. “I will become so the moment Ravenwood’s ring is placed upon my finger, for in my heart I already belong to the man with the prior claim, and he to me. Let it weigh upon your soul at night and rob you of sleep.” She turned away, but then paused before walking out. “You should advise your lord and master to have the solicitor draw up the marriage contract with terms to prevent Ravenwood from withdrawing the money he’s paid for his bride. I’ll see the marriage is consummated so he cannot annul it, but don’t expect anything more of me. And don’t expect a warm welcome should you dare darken my doorstep.”

  With that she strode out, leaving her stepmother behind along with all her hopes. The joy and excitement of that morning were now no more than cold, dead ashes in her devastated heart.

  …

  “I will speak with Eden now,” Percy demanded. “Is my fiancée your prisoner to deny her the right to tell me to my face why I am refused entrée?”

  “She is not your fiancée!” hissed Lady Catherine. “She is engaged to Lord Ravenwood.”

  “She was engaged to me first,” he growled, rage burning in his gut. “Now tell me where Eden is!”

  “I’m here.”

  “Eden!” gasped Lady Catherine, turning. Her hand fluttered to her chest. “My God, the servants—it will be all over London before sunset!”

  Her stepdaughter looked on her with eyes like twin glaciers. “If so, then the fault is yours. Had you allowed me to better explain it in my letter he might not be here now. As he is here, I will give him the truth he deserves. In private.” Without waiting, Eden beckoned him and made for the drawing room.

  With one last glance at his irate hostess, Percy followed. The moment the door closed behind them, he crushed Eden in his arms.

  “My hand was forced—I had no choice!” she whispered brokenly. “I could not refuse him without endangering my entire family including my brother. He’s but an innocent child. I could not allow—”

  “What leverage has Ravenwood against you to elicit such fear?” he asked her, tilting up her tear-streaked face. He listened in growing fury as she explained. “Your father should have come to me first. I would have helped him.”

  “My stepmother convinced him otherwise. Then, Ravenwood approached Papa knowing our financial situation and offered him a way out that would protect his dignity. Papa considers it a fair bargain, a wife for the restoration of his fortune.”

  He ground his teeth. “No man pays fifty thousand for a bride unless she’s of the peerage.”

  “I agree.” She shook her head in bewilderment. “I cannot understand why Ravenwood wants me when any number of women would give their right eye to marry him.”

  “He wants you because I want you.”

  Her brow puckered. “I don’t understand.”

  God… He could not tell her the truth—not all of it. It would crush her entirely and change nothing of her situation. “Ever has he striven to emulate me. Many have done so, but never as persistently as Ravenwood. The man has practically been my shadow. Now he seeks to further usurp me by taking what is mine.”

  Something flared in her eyes, something that made his vitals tighten with need. “Percy, we may not get another opportunity to talk like this before it is too late,” she said, her voice barely even a whisper. “Though I marry Ravenwood out of necessity, you must know he will never be anything to me but a curse. You are the only man I have ever wanted.”

  He stared into her eyes. Still she withheld her feelings. It didn’t matter. He loved her enough for both of them. “Eden, I will find a way to get you out of this. I swear it.”

  She shook her head. “Ravenwood will follow through on his threat. He will ruin Papa.”

  “I would marry you and pay those debts myself. I’d do it a hundred times over.”

  “Even if you did, Ravenwood would ruin him still. My stepmother said so. It’s more than just money. I’m sure of it. I know she’s not telling me everything, and I saw real fear in her face when she talked about the man.” She closed her eyes and drew in an unsteady breath. “Something awful will happen if I don’t do this. If for Thomas’s sake only, I must honor this bargain. He is innocent, and I must protect him.”

  His tongue cleaved to the roof of his mouth. He understood all about making sacrifices for the sake of the innocent. Since opening the school, he’d kept dangerous secrets and had lied time and again, risking his reputation and, even on occasion, his life, to protect the innocent.

  Eden’s blue eyes pierced him. “I don’t wish to lessen your opinion of me, but it must be said my marrying Ravenwood changes nothing of my feelings for you. I may take his name, but I want no part of him, and I will give him no part of me not taken by force. As such, I would ask you to—”

  The door opened and there stood her father, his face an immovable stone. “Sir, you have violated the sanctity of my house against my wishes. I ask you now to depart forthwith and never return.”

  Percy considered for a moment challenging him, but Eden’s eyes pleaded with him not to. There was nothing he could do. Not here
and now, at least. He bowed to Eden. “I remain, now and forever, your most devoted servant, Miss Lowther.” Turning, he addressed Sir Geoffrey and Lady Catherine. “In spite of what you think of me, I only ever sought an honorable union with your daughter, and your friendship.”

  “What you sought is no longer of any significance,” said his unwilling host. “Eden is to be married within the month. I expect you to behave with honor and not interfere.”

  He would make no such promise. “I take my leave of you, sir,” he said instead, bowing shortly.

  As he sat in the carriage on his way back to Leicester Square, Percy’s thoughts returned to Eden’s unfinished question. What had she been about to ask him? He determined to find out.

  He knew exactly why Ravenwood had singled Eden out for his bride. Ravenwood believed if Society saw him steal her from under his nose, they would never suspect him of having a penchant for buggery. Quite the contrary; they’d applaud him for wresting the rakehell’s crown from its current holder.

  Me.

  If the man were discovered, he would be hung. God only knew how he’d force Eden to continue the charade once she learned the truth. Ravenwood didn’t have a reputation for violence, but the threat of death had a way of making men do things they wouldn’t normally consider. Eden was in danger of more than just a case of the pox.

  When he arrived home, it was to an urgent summons from Loxdon. Turning around, he strode right back out the door and bellowed for his driver to wait.

  “What news?” he demanded upon entering his friend’s messy office.

  Loxdon smiled without cheer, his eyes hard. “Rowell has returned. According to Nick, he looked none too well. Has a limp now.”

  “Any luck finding the girl?”

  “No, not yet. But something else of interest happened. Within an hour of his return, he had two visitors. One was received, the other was not. My boy Nick had them both followed.” He lowered his voice. “The one that wasn’t allowed in departed in a right temper and went straight to the bawdy house we spoke about last time you came to see me, the one Ravenwood frequents. He was overheard complaining about not having been paid yet. I reckon that’s worth looking into a bit. I’ve taken the liberty of placing a watch on the fellow.”

  “Good. Let me know if anything comes of it. What of the other one?”

  “That one managed to give us the slip. We suspect Rowell warned him he might be followed.”

  “Damn,” Percy breathed. “If Rowell learns who it is watching him…”

  “My men are the best in the business,” said Loxdon. “They know to check their arses for a tail, and they know every bolt-hole and burrow in this town. They’re trained to hide and lay quiet several times on the way back to be sure they aren’t followed.”

  “And if they are?”

  Loxdon’s mouth compressed into a thin line. “Depends. If there’s a real danger in it…” He made a slicing motion with his hand. “If not, the rabbit gets to pass and our man doubles back to return by another way. Then he gets reassigned so as not to be recognized by our mark.”

  Percy nodded. “You really ought to be in the king’s service, you know. I think I’ll just suggest it when next I see him.”

  “Bah!” Loxdon scoffed, his jovial manner returning. “Then I’d have to follow all sorts of rules that’d just get in the way of the job. Most times the crown’s enforcers take too long to bring to justice those as deserve it anyway—if they ever manage to collar the culprit. This is better.”

  Percy supposed it was. “Do you think she’s still alive?”

  The other man chewed the inside of his cheek for a moment before nodding. “Rowell, as far as we know, hasn’t been in the business of killing any girls.” He squinted. “I also suspect he’s not our direct link to the buyer, but a middle man. Bastard knows someone’s on to him, so he wouldn’t have come back to his lair if he didn’t think it was safe. I’ll wager he delivered the girl to the next in the chain right after giving us the slip.”

  “And how do we find out who that is now that Rowell has no further need to contact him?”

  “That other fellow we’re watching, the one who was so put out Rowell hadn’t paid him yet? Rowell himself is likely waiting to get paid in order to satisfy that debt. We’ll watch all his visitors and have them followed. If after any one of them the other fellow comes back to Rowell looking for his money, I think we’ll have learned who it was took the girl and from where. If it is that particular bawdy house…”

  “You think the madam brought Abigail there to lay low after disappearing with her?”

  Loxdon nodded. “It’s a possibility. If so, then the end buyer has to be one of the clientele. Has to be. The madam wouldn’t have sold the girl to one of her old regulars for fear of word getting out where she’s hiding. We know she owed several people money. The sale of the girl is likely her only means of getting the funds to quit London.”

  Ice clawed its way through Percy’s veins. “If the buyer is one of that clientele—”

  “Then God help her.”

  “Watch him, then. Watch them both. If the man shows up again, I want to know within the hour. And I want a client list for that bawdy house.”

  “I’ll see it done. I may not be able to provide a full list, but even a partial list will give us somewhere to begin.”

  “All it takes is one,” Percy muttered. “The right one. If we can get him to talk—and we will—he can give us the buyer. Keep me informed.” Taking his leave, he returned home to ponder the situation over a glass of sherry.

  Abigail had been missing now for many weeks. That they’d been unable to locate her disturbed him. Until now, it had been relatively simple to track down those reported missing. There was always someone willing to talk, and he had ears all over London.

  He’d wondered how long it would take London’s flesh peddlers to finally figure out there was someone after them. They mustn’t find out who it was. Not only would it put him in danger, but Miss Trouvère and the school would be at risk, as well.

  Innocent lives, indeed. How he wished he could warn Eden and her parents about Ravenwood, but the fellow might make the connection between him and Loxdon. From there all else would unravel. There was too much at stake to allow that to happen.

  Sighing, he drained his glass and leaned back with a groan.

  He needed to find out what it was Eden had been about to say before her father had interrupted them. He needed to see her.

  She’d mentioned a while back that she was to attend the upcoming Dunsany house party and ball this Thursday. It was one of the few events to which he had not been invited, thanks to the Earl of Dunsany’s dislike of him—he’d once made the grave error of expressing admiration for the man’s wife. He’d not been invited to any of their functions since.

  A grin pulled at his mouth. Being a marquess was good for some things. Inviting oneself to parties was just one of them.

  …

  Percy smiled at the frowning man before him. “Dunsany, I’m so pleased you decided to invite me to your little party. It has been a long time, has it not?”

  Dunsany’s bewildered frown turned into a thunderous scowl. “Indeed it has,” he said from between clenched teeth. “Though perhaps not long enough for some.” Beside him, Lady Dunsany stood, her cheeks flushed with color and a not-displeased look in her eyes.

  The lady was due for a disappointment; his reason for being here had nothing to do with her. He bowed before his hostess and made sure to shoot her a winning smile as he murmured, “I look forward to our renewing acquaintances over breakfast.” Straightening, he turned and departed before the purple-faced Lord Dunsany could pass out from lack of blood to his extremities.

  He’d come in late on purpose, hoping to slip in relatively unnoticed and keep his head down, so to speak. So far so good, but it wouldn’t last long. He needed to find—

  Eden. There she was, dancing—with someone other than Ravenwood, thankfully. He skirted the ballroom floo
r until he stood within her line of sight and waited. She stiffened the instant she spied him. On her next pass, she flicked her eyes to the right toward the musicians’ blind. He nodded and began moving in that direction.

  Clever girl. The potted plants and decorative screens set up to conceal the musicians would work to conceal his presence as well. He reached it just as the music ended.

  A short while later, Eden appeared. “Be quick,” she whispered. “I have only a moment.”

  “Tell me what you were about to say before I had to leave you,” he urged, fighting the impulse to take her in his arms. He had to settle for devouring her with his eyes. “I must know.”

  Her cheeks pinked. “I cannot. Not here. Are you staying tonight?”

  “I am.” He couldn’t help grinning. “I wasn’t on the guest list, but I’ve managed to secure a room nevertheless.”

  “Tell me which, and I’ll come to you.”

  He blinked at her boldness, but nodded. There really was no other way for them to talk—and they needed to talk. “West wing, third floor, fourth door on the right.”

  “I’m here tonight with Genevieve and her parents,” she told him. “Papa and Catherine were obliged to be elsewhere this evening, but if Genevieve’s parents see you…”

  “They won’t. I’ll go up now and wait for you.”

  “I’ll have to wait for Genevieve to fall asleep before I can come to you. It may be very late…”

  What he saw in her eyes told him there might be more than talking on her mind. “I’ll wait for you,” he repeated, despite knowing it was madness to agree. He didn’t care. He needed to be with her. If they were caught, so much the better and so be it. Anything was preferable to being without her.

  Chapter Fourteen

  All the while Eden danced, her mind was elsewhere, with Percy. What would she tell him? There was so much she wanted to say, so much they needed to discuss. The sight of him had sent a bolt of longing through her, awakening every sense, fanning the dying embers of her soul back to life.