But he’d never behaved like a rake with her. Not once. He’d only ever tried to be honorable.
And there would be time for proper answers later.
A shaky hand cupped her cheek, his thumb pressing fiercely into her skin as though he was afraid she was not real. He glanced down at her neck and smudged something away. Blood from where the knife had been pressed she assumed. She’d felt no pain, only the pressure of the knife so close to killing her.
“You are lucky he did not slice your throat when you punched him.”
“I knew you would protect me.”
His jaw pulsed. “I could not have endured it had something happened to you, Cass. I...” He muttered a curse under his breath. “I am simply going to say it. I love you, Cass. I’ve probably loved you for some time.”
Cassie could not fight the broad smile that spread across her lips. Her chest warmed and she pulled him closer, careful to avoid his limp arm. “Thank goodness you finally said it.”
“You knew?”
“Not until very recently.” She tilted her head. “Do you forget that I am extremely good at observation? And you, my lord,” she tapped his chest, “gave yourself away today.”
“I tried hard not to.”
“You can hide nothing from me,” she whispered, bringing her lips close to his.
His gaze searched hers. “I have no wish to. Which is why—”
“What the devil is going on here?”
Cassie dropped her arms from Luke’s shoulders and spun at the sound of Anton’s voice. He wore no hat or gloves and one of the grooms and his valet followed him. He stepped over to Luke, glanced him once over and swung.
Luke didn’t even raise his fists to protect himself. The hit struck, landing on his jaw.
Cassie screamed and darted between the two men, glaring up at her brother. “Anton!”
From the corner of her eye, Chastity ran to join them, followed by Aunt Sarah, Demeter, Eleanor and the hired men. The two men who had held Luke captive were held at gunpoint by the hired men and shuffled over.
“Oh thank goodness you are well.” Chastity paused briefly to bend double and draw in a breath. “I lost you and feared...” She glanced between them all. “You look like hell,” she said to Luke.
“That’s hardly ladylike, Chastity,” Anton scolded. “Now step aside, Cassandra, and let me finish him.”
“You will do no such thing.” Her height at least allowed her to almost stare into his eyes. Cassie set her jaw and hardened her gaze. Anton shared her fair hair and blue eyes but there was nothing soft about him today. She’d never seen him look so furious. But she would not let him cow her. “You will not harm him. He just saved my life.”
“What are you doing here anyway?” Chastity demanded.
“I received a letter from a concerned servant.” Anton spoke to Chastity but did not remove his gaze from Luke’s. “He said there were men protecting the house and one of the servants had been attacked. I wonder, why it is my sisters did not inform me of such.”
“We did not wish to concern you and we had it in hand,” Chastity said firmly.
“Oh yes, it looks like it.” He glanced up and down Cassie. “Why does my sister have blood on her neck and why was she in the arms of this rake?”
Cassie scowled. “Luke is your closest friend.”
“He was,” Anton spat.
Cassie drew in a breath and held it. “Luke has had nothing but my welfare in mind since you left. He has watched over me, even when I did not wish him to.”
“He watched you very closely by what I just saw.”
“Anton—” Luke started.
“I am not talking to you, Whitehurst.” Anton’s fists flexed. “If I can help it, I shall never exchange words with a bastard like you again.” He looked at Cassie. “Now who is going to tell me what occurred here today?”
“It’s my fault,” Cassie said, pressing a hand to her chest. “I wanted to help a friend and—”
“It’s not just Cassie.” Demeter stepped forward. “We all wanted to help Jane.”
Anton scowled. “Jane? Mr. Parsons’ sister.”
Cassie nodded. “His death was suspicious, and no one would listen to Jane. So I—” She looked at her sisters. “We wanted to help. Essentially, that led us here. These men are somehow responsible.”
“God almighty, and you allowed this, Whitehurst?”
“Not really,” Cassie said before Luke could respond. “He did shut me in the parlor room.”
“He also kissed you.” Her brother shook his head and eyed Luke. “I should have known I could not trust you. I should have realized your history would never allow you to be a true gentleman. I kept it secret all this time and now you have ruined my sister.”
“It was hardly ruination,” Chastity protested. “No one but us saw.”
Cassie glanced between the two men. Luke appeared resigned as he clasped his arm. Prepared to take whatever Anton would give him. A vein in Anton’s head pulsed. She’d never seen him so furious in his life, even when she’d spilled ink on his favorite and most expensive book.
She frowned and held up a hand. “Wait? Secret? What happened?”
***
BROKEN ARM CRADLED in one hand, Luke eyed Anton coolly. If his friend thought he revealed him, he was wrong. Luke thoroughly intended to tell Cassie everything. He regretted her finding out this way, but he’d known the minute he saw Cassie try to come to his rescue that there was no going back from this.
He needed Cassie more than his next breath. More than Anton’s friendship. Hell, more than his honor. If he was to ever fix the wrongs of his past, he was going to do so by being the best man he could be—for Cassie.
Cassie twisted to view him. “What is this secret my brother speaks of?”
He briefly glanced at Anton’s smug expression. “You know I am not exactly an innocent.”
“I do.”
“During our time at Oxford it was worse.”
“Worse?” she repeated.
“I drank, gambled...slept with whores and any other woman who would take me.”
“There were many,” Anton muttered.
“I highly doubt you are entirely innocent, Anton,” Chastity muttered. “You did keep a townhouse before you married Eliza after all.”
Luke ignored Cassie’s brother and sisters. Cassie deserved the full truth if she was to ever accept him. “It was not so much that my behavior was unusual for a man taking his first taste of freedom, it was that I indulged so heavily. I was scarcely sober, and my debts were many. My education meant nothing to me.” He shrugged. “I was to be a viscount. What did it matter?”
“I see.” Cassie’s expression gave little away. So strange considering he could always read her. “And that is your great secret?”
“No.” He glanced at the ground. “The people I associated with were not good people. The only good person was your brother. He saved me from a wretched future.”
“Damned right.” Anton folded his arms. “And you owed me better.”
“One of the women with whom I associated claimed a pregnancy by me.”
Cassie gasped and he heard Aunt Sarah mutter something about knowing where this was going.
“I did not recall even bedding her but I was so deep in my cups it might well have happened. She wanted money—vast sums—or marriage. I could not ask for more money from my father so I intended to take her hand, even though I knew my family would never accept her.”
“But clearly you did not,” Cassie said. “You are not married.”
“No. Anton discovered her plot, you see. I confided in him my troubles and he investigated the woman. It seemed she worked with a group of men who would pretend to be members of her family and threaten her latest victim to pay up or wed her. They moved about the country, and if she ever wed, she took what valuables she could and fled. Anton had them all charged with fraud and theft.” Luke shoved a hand through his hair. The relief had been great but the realizati
on of what a fool he was had been worse. “I cannot claim that even wholly changed me but I ceased drinking heavily and concentrated on my education after that.” He looked over her shoulder to Anton. “Your brother saved me, Cass.”
She eyed him for several sickening heartbeats. If she declined him, so be it. At least he had told the truth. At least she would fully realize why he was not good enough for her.
“So this is why you kept forcing me away?”
“Forcing you away?” Anton asked, his voice tight. “How long has this been going on?”
Luke offered a grim smile. “For me, several years.” He shrugged when Cassie’s eyes widened. “I have loved you for longer than I’d like to admit.”
“It was less for me,” she said, her lips curving. “But my feelings are no less deep.”
Anton snatched Cassie’s arm and hauled her back then stepped in front of Luke. Luke bunched his hand at his side, fighting the temptation to strike Anton for his manhandling of his sister. Anton was the best of men usually and Luke did not blame him for his anger. He would feel no different were it his sisters.
“That’s enough,” Anton bit out. “He is not good enough for you. You can do better.”
“Like the Duke of Marsbeck?” Cassie asked.
Anton spun on his heel. “How did you know about that?”
“I may have overheard,” Aunt Sarah piped up. “It hardly seemed fair to keep it to myself.”
“You were prepared to arrange a marriage to an older man whom I barely knew, Anton.” She tapped his chest. “And you were negotiating in secret.”
“You need looking after,” he protested and took a step back.
Cassie shadowed his steps, continued to tap on his chest with each point made. “You are meant to love me, dear Brother. Trust me. Care for me. Mother believed you would always do best for us. How is marrying me off to a stranger the best for me?”
“I have three unmarried sisters and one who has been a widow for far too long,” Anton said tersely.
“Well, you are not marrying me off,” Eleanor murmured.
“Nor me,” Demeter agreed.
“But you need looking after, Cassandra,” Anton insisted. “You are always getting into messes. I should have known it would not be long before you ruined yourself and wound up in trouble so grave.” He gestured to Jameson who remained knocked senseless.
“You should be proud of your sister, Anton. She has uncovered criminal activity and fraud here.” He smirked. “Seems investigating fraud rather runs in the family.”
“Well, I—” Anton rocked back on his heels. “Of course I am damned proud but that does not mean I support this.” He gestured between Luke and Cassie. “I cannot.”
“I am sorry, Anton.” Luke sighed. “Truly. I tried my darndest to resist but I love her too much.”
Cassie eased her brother aside. “I won’t marry that duke, Anton,” she said, her gaze locked onto Luke’s. “I cannot.” Her lips slanted. “I love him too much.”
Anton cursed under his breath.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Jane’s eyes widened, her cup held halfway up to her mouth. She set the cup promptly back on the saucer and put it on the lace-covered table in front. “You caught the men responsible?”
Cassie nodded. Thank goodness she could give Jane some answers. Her usually bright eyes were rimmed with shadows and though her hair had been styled into a chignon it was severe, as though she had declined any beautifying elements.
“The man in charge—a Mr. Jameson—would not say a word but his companions told the magistrates everything.”
Mr. Harding twisted slightly, eyeing her over his shoulder. His posture remained stiff, his mouth tugged into a disapproving line. “I hope you are giving Viscount Whitehurst suitable credit for this capture, Lady Cassandra.” He turned fully. “Of course, I had my suspicions. I was in the process of speaking with a private investigator myself. I was not to let my circumstances sway my judgement.” He lifted his chin.
“Did you not hear, Colin? Those men were following you. You might well have been harmed had it not been for Cassie figuring out where they were.”
His upper lip curled. “I highly doubt anything as dramatic as you ladies might wish to be would have befallen me.”
“Colin, I do not wish you ill!” Jane protested.
He waved a hand. “I merely mean, you ladies have a taste for the theatrical and I do not share in it. Had those men attempted anything, I should have been able to turn them in myself, and this would have been ended.” He moved over to Jane and offered a thin smile as he leaned over. “You see, dear Cousin, I am more conscientious than you give me credit for. I knew something was odd about the circumstances of Theodore’s death, and I would have unraveled this without interference if you had let me.” He glanced at Cassie. “We are lucky this has not been cause for gossip.”
Jane gave Cassie an apologetic smile.
“Well, I have little time for idle chit chat. If your brother should be so inclined to appraise me of the situation himself, please do ask him to send me word, Lady Cassandra.” He dipped his head, bowing deeper than Cassie might have expected given his rudeness. “Good day, my lady.”
Jane closed her eyes briefly as her cousin stalked out of the room. “I apologize for him. He cannot let himself believe a woman might have uncovered such things, especially one of your rank.”
Cassie chuckled. “Anton knows little so he will have no luck speaking with him.”
“To give him credit, he did think something was odd, but only when he realized the house in Scotland had not gone to him. I do not think he wished to disprove his inheritance but to increase it.” She took up her tea once more and sipped it. “Please, tell me all the details. Have you…have you discovered where Teddy is.”
“No.” Cassie leaned forward and wrapped her fingers over the back of Jane’s hand. “But do not fear. The main thing is, he is alive.”
“How can that be?”
“It seems your brother became involved with these men some years ago, when his debts were great. He paid his debts to them but his position as a Member of Parliament was useful to them. They could persuade him to discourage the use of customs men at the docks. But he refused of course. One man—a Mr. Hayes—said Jameson threatened your safety. It appears Theodore fled in the hopes that if they could not use him, they would have no reason to harm you.”
“Goodness.”
“The only problem we have is we still do not know where he is. Word of the arrests will be in the newspapers before long but who knows if Theodore will get word of it, especially if he is not in London.”
“Do we know who the poor man is who was burned?”
Cassie shook her head. “I imagine some poor wretch who would not be missed. I believe they decided if they could not use your brother to aid them, they would gain financially from him. The house—your house—was to be used as a base for their activities on the coast.”
“My word.” Jane finished her tea in one gulp and let the cup and saucer rest on her lap. “Were the solicitors involved? I am certain Teddy will never let them do business again.”
“It seems they were in ignorance though I wish I could have spoken to them myself. They utterly refused to answer my questions when I tried to confront them. Lord Whitehurst spoke with them and the will appeared to be an excellent forgery. It seems it was switched the night of the supposed night of your brother’s death.” Cassie pressed her lips together.
These men were much better at slipping in unnoticed and she did not wish to be rankled by it but one of the good things that had come out of this, is she had learned to be more cautious. Not to mention to work with her sisters.
Oh yes, and Luke. She smiled to herself. He was something exceedingly good that had come out of this.
“So how do we find my brother?”
“I have a suspicion of where he is, but I need you to confirm it.”
“What do you have?”
�
�There was a list of addresses on a slip of paper found on Jameson. The man would not speak of it and the other men were in ignorance, but I believe he was actively searching for your brother.”
“What sort of addresses?”
“They were all in Oxford.”
“Where he went to college.”
Cassie nodded. “Indeed.” She tugged the crumpled paper from her reticule and handed it over. “Do you recognize any of them?”
Her friend sighed. “I was only ten when he was in Oxford—I wrote to him of course but only at the university.”
“What about this one?” Cassie leaned over and pressed her finger to an address. “I am told this is the address of a professor at Oxford.”
“Oh!” Jane near bounced the cup out of her lap and forced herself to settle. “Professor Underwood. I recall that he was a favorite of Teddy’s. They talked on philosophy and his ambitions to become a Member of Parliament for hours apparently. I remember telling him how boring I thought it must be. Do you think he could have sought shelter with him there?”
“I think it very likely but either way, we shall find him, Jane, I promise.”
“And then you can tell me all about this engagement to the viscount.” Jane grinned.
“How did you know about that? It has not even been announced in the newspaper.”
Jane gave her a look. “You know how servants talk. Nothing is kept private in London during the Season.” Her lips curved. “I am glad something good came out of this.”
“Me too,” Cassie admitted. “Me too.”
***
“DO YOU THINK it was really necessary to bring everyone?” Luke twisted to eye the progress of the following carriages, regretting the movement when his arm knocked briefly against Cassie and twinged. The sling did little to prevent any pain but at least the break had not left his arm buckled or mangled in any way and appeared to be healing well.
“We could hardly leave my sisters behind.” Cassie patted the back of his hand.
“And you are absolutely not being alone with my sister,” Anton practically growled, his gaze fixed upon Cassie’s hand.
Secrets of a Duke's Daughter (The Duchess's Investigative Society Book 1) Page 20
