Ducal Encounters 03 - Portrait of a Duke

by Wendy Soliman

  “Cannot someone else go to the Park? I ought to stay here and lend you support.”

  Vince flexed his jaw before setting it in a rigid line of determination. “Go!” he said.

  Trafford went.

  ***

  “What do you have there?” Nia asked Annie is a castigating tone.

  Annie looked up, her eyes red and swollen from crying, her face a blotchy picture of misery.

  “He lied to me,” she said bleakly, the earlier belligerence Nia had perceived in her stance replaced by raw misery. “He told me he loved me, that we would be together for always if only I would help him to…”

  Fresh tears rendered the rest of Annie’s words unintelligible.

  “Who did, Annie? Who have you been helping?”

  She held up the letter she had been reading. “It must have fallen from his coat pocket when he…he took the boys. I wasn’t supposed to see this.”

  Anger radiated through Nia. Her precious nephews were in danger and all Annie could think about was her broken heart. But she needed Annie’s co-operation to find them, and in order to obtain her assistance she first needed to understand what had motivated Annie to act in the way that she had. She took the letter from Annie’s shaking fingers and quickly perused it, drawing in a sharp breath when she saw to whom it was addressed. And who had written it.

  “Kenton!”

  The man whose proposal she had rejected. She shook her head, thinking it made no sense. She was absolutely convinced that his feelings for her were entirely imaginary and that he bore her no ill-will for rejecting him. But why else would he target her family quite so aggressively?

  Nia returned her attention to the letter, anxious to see if it lent any clues. When she realised it had been written by Lady Fairstock, Annie’s former employer, the pieces fell into place. The forgeries, and Annie being placed in their household, was a carefully orchestrated plan, presumably put into place because Nia had not accepted Kenton. If she had done so, of course, it would have been so much easier for him to exploit Grandpapa’s reputation.

  Swiping away tears of anger, Nia’s brain was slow to realise she was reading a love letter, full of plans for Lady Fairstock’s future with Kenton. Nia quietly seethed. The lady in question wielded considerable influence in society’s circles and could help to secure Kenton’s reputation. Was Kenton exploiting her in the same fashion as he had exploited Annie’s trusting nature? In the same manner he had tried to exploit Nia? Or was it true love this time?

  “He was just using me,” Annie sniffed. “They both were. It’s as clear as day, and I was fool enough to believe every word he said to me.”

  A thousand questions rattling around inside Nia’s head, but explanations would have to wait. The boys were her most immediate concern.

  “Kenton took the boys so you would have the house to yourself and could damage the duke’s portrait?”

  Annie nodded, hugging her torso, looking pathetic and miserable. Nia felt no sympathy for her, wondering instead how far Kenton would be prepared to go to protect his illegal activities. Surely he would not murder two innocent boys?

  “Where has he taken them, Annie? What does he plan to do with the boys?”

  “He won’t hurt them. I wouldn’t have countenanced that.” Nia suppressed the urge to question this sudden fit of conscience. The time for recrimination would be after the boys had been rescued. “He just wanted to hide them until…until I could…” She sniffed, wiping her nose on the back of her hand. “He blindfolded them so they wouldn’t see him and be able to recognise him, but…” More sniffing. “I saw this at first, not the letter.” Nia’s heart lurched when Annie held up a knotted handkerchief. “I think one of them must have managed to shake it off and somehow found that letter in his pocket.”

  “And dropped it for us to find.” Nia nodded, well able to imagine her nephews doing just such a thing. They must be terrified half out of their wits but still had the presence of mind to try and leave clues for them to follow. “Where are they, Annie? You can make amends by helping me to get them back.”

  Annie stopped crying and set her chin pugnaciously. “I was to meet him on the other side of this track, on the edge of Sheridan land. There is an old barn and I was to go there and let him know the portrait had been destroyed. I wanted us to go off together at once, before I could be held to account for what I had done. I knew it could only a matter of time before suspicion fell upon me, and I thought he would care enough to take me to safety.” She glowered at the branches above her head. “Anyway, he said we had to wait a little longer. He had one more commission to complete first, so I agreed. And all the time he was just stringing me along. I have been a blind fool. Can you ever forgive me, ma’am?”

  “You are not the first to be taken in by a smooth-talking rogue.” Nia offered Annie her hand and pulled her to her feet, feeling little compassion for her. The brutal manner in which she had treated her grandfather could not go unpunished, nor could the fact that she had aided the abduction of eight-year-old boys. But her misdeeds would have to be addressed at a more convenient juncture. “Come, let us go and confront him.”

  “Let me go alone. If he sees you, there is no telling what he might do to the boys.”

  Nia thought quickly. “I will stay just behind you. If one of the boys has dislodged his blindfold and seen Kenton, then Kenton cannot allow them to live.” Nia’s heart quailed. “Is he capable of killing innocent children to save his own hide?”

  “If you had asked me that question yesterday, I would have denied it absolutely.” Annie’s expression hardened. “Now I don’t know what to think. It’s obvious to me now that he thinks of no one but himself.”

  “I can’t let you near him,” Nia replied. “You have outlived your usefulness and he might try to do away with you as well, especially if he realises you know his true intentions. I shall stay here and keep watch. You run back to the house and fetch help. My brother should be back from the Park by now.”

  Annie opened her mouth to protest but before any sound could emerge, other than a surprised gasp, her knees buckled and she crumpled slowly to the ground. Kenton stood behind her, holding the pistol with which he had just struck Annie on the head. He waved it now in Nia’s direction.

  “Miss Trafford,” he said politely, sweeping an elegant bow. “How very pleasant to see you again.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  “What have you done with my nephews?”

  “They are asking for you,” Kenton replied affably. “Please come this way and you will soon be reunited.”

  “Why did you strike Annie?” Nia demanded hotly.

  He answered her question with one of his own. “How do you think I knew of your arrival? I was looking out for Annie and heard your voices before I even saw you.” He shook his head. “It is impossible to buy loyalty in this day and age.”

  Nia decided not to point out the irony of that statement.

  “Come along now, ladies.”

  Still holding the pistol in a disconcertingly steady hand and keeping it trained upon Nia, Kenton used his free hand to drag Annie to her feet and pull her along. Annie, who had regained her senses, stumbled awkwardly, a string of unladylike curses spilling from her lips as she fought Kenton like a wildcat every step of the way.

  “You deceived me!” she spat at him.

  Kenton sent a contemptuous glance her way as he ushered the two of them into a dilapidated barn. “After you, ladies,” he said with the utmost politeness.

  Nia walked through the door with her head held high, fraught with worry for the twins’ welfare, anxious to see them with her own eyes. Leo and Art were sitting back to back on the cold floor, their small torsos bound together with a length of rope, their mouths gagged; their faces filthy, their clothing torn and dishevelled.

  “If you have harmed them it will be the worse for you” Nia said in a glacial tone as she crouched beside her nephews, tousling their hair while she checked them for signs of injury. “Are you
all right, boys?” she asked.

  They nodded in unison, eyes bulging with a combination of fright and, presumably, indignation. They were unable to answer her due to the gags.

  “They wouldn’t stop talking. I had no choice but to gag them.”

  “Oh, so it is their fault for objecting to being abducted” Nia sent Kenton a scorching look and the boys a reassuring smile. “We shall soon have you home again,” she told them.

  “I hesitate to disagree with you, Miss Trafford, but through no fault of my own, that is no longer possible.”

  “You have achieved your objective in that you created a diversion, Annie has destroyed Grandpapa’s finest work, and you are free to do whatever it is you planned to do.” Nia tossed her head as she told the lie, striving for an aloof demeanour that would disguise her fear. Kenton was deranged: the manic light in his eye gave him away. But surely, even he must realise he could not kill them all and possibly hope to get away with it. “You can take yourself off. By the time we get back to the house, you will be long gone.”

  “If these tiresome brats had not dislodged their blindfolds, then that is what I would have done.” Kenton shrugged. “As it is…well, you only have yourselves to blame.”

  “I recall now that one of your most irritating traits is a propensity to blame others for your own shortcomings,” Nia replied disdainfully. “Did you really imagine I would fall for your quite disgusting self-centred charm and agree to marry you?”

  “It would have been convenient if you had. I confess, I did not expect you to decline. In fact I thought you would be delighted to receive my proposal; a mousy little thing like you.” He screwed up his nose as he rudely ran his glance down the length of her body. “Although, in the interests of fairness, those expressive eyes of yours prevent you from being absolutely plain, and your body hints at certain delights that might cause a man to overlook other defects of nature.”

  “How very reassuring.”

  “However, your refusal to see reason was most inconvenient and required me to rethink all my plans.”

  “You thought if we were married there would be nothing to stop you from passing off your own inferior paintings as Grandpapa’s work?”

  “Inferior?” He arched a brow. “Hardly that. The ones that I have sold so far have fooled many so-called experts.”

  “Many, but not all. I am so very sorry to have put you in the position of having to deceive them, which is what I did, I suppose, when I declined your proposal,” Nia replied, imbuing her words with a wealth of sarcasm. He was unbalanced and it was probably unwise to antagonise him but Nia was too angry to play the shrinking violet. “I put you to all the trouble of having to adapt your plans. How very fortunate that Sir Edward happened to pass away when he did, leaving a very vulnerable widow at your mercy.”

  He smirked. “Quite so.”

  From his manner, it was evident that Nia was missing something. She was filled with horror when the truth dawned. “Just a moment,” she said slowly, aware that her eyes had flared wide and she was no longer able to hide her anxiety. “Sir Edward did not die in an accident, did he? His demise was a calculated act on your part.”

  “How very clever of you to have reached that conclusion.” Kenton smirked, obviously keen to boast about his achievements. “Arabella was more than happy to warm my bed, but if I needed her to introduce me to good society, she had to be more than a willing mistress. So…” He spread his hands and smiled. “Needs must. Sir Edward is no great loss. In fact, Arabella is heartily glad to see the back of him and very much obliged to me.”

  “You used me,” Annie said sullenly.

  “Oh, come now, Annie.” He chucked her under the chin, keeping a rock-solid grip on his pistol as he did so. “You are a sweet, obliging girl, that is undeniable, but did you really imagine society would accept me with a parlour maid as my paramour?”

  Annie screamed and launched herself at Kenton, aiming to gouge his eyes if Nia was any judge. He clearly anticipated the attack and struck her face hard before she got close enough to inflict any damage. She crumpled to the ground and did not move.

  “How gentlemanly of you,” Nia said, sending Kenton a withering glare as she crouched beside the fallen girl to ensure she was still breathing.

  Annie slowly regained her senses and Nia helped her into a sitting position, leaning against the wall. The boys were watching their every move; eyes agog. It was almost as though they were enjoying this adventure because they did not understand the perilous nature of their situation. Unfortunately, Nia did. Damnation, where was Sean? Why had he not come to look for her? She had to believe he was on his way and if she kept Kenton talking, presumably he would hear their voices and not simply barge in, making matters worse. There was nothing else she could think of to do that would save them. The boys were bound together, Annie was insensible and it probably wouldn’t be long before Kenton tied her and Nia up, also.

  Or worse.

  “My grandfather showed you the utmost encouragement and generosity. This is a sorry way indeed to repay his kindness.” Nia sent him a scathing look. “Stealing his identity, making profit from his reputation. Shame on you, Mr. Kenton.”

  “That was his mistake,” Kenton replied, abandoning his polite tone and sounding almost thuggish; and distinctly Welsh. Of course, that was why the name Griffiths and a Welsh accent had struck a chord when Lord Vincent mentioned those characteristics in connection with the forger. In happier times, when Kenton had been a member of their household, they had involved themselves in play-acting once or twice to pass away wet evenings. Kenton had excelled as a Welsh ne’er-do-well and mentioned Welsh relatives on his mother’s side with the name Griffiths. How appropriate. Nia realised now that he had not needed to call upon any acting skills.

  “Do you never take responsibility for your own actions?”

  “At your grandfather’s age, life ought to have taught him that no good deed goes unpunished,” Kenton replied with an evil grin. “He has had more than his fair share of fame and acclaim. It’s time to move aside and give younger talent its opportunity to shine, especially now that he has become so…hmm, shall we be charitable and call it muddled? I offered to become his one and only apprentice, and to take over from him eventually, but he would not hear of it.”

  “And then I made matters worse by declining your proposal. How vexatious for you.” She noticed him wince as he turned away from her and Nia had the satisfaction of noticing a rip in the back of his breeches, the fabric covered with blood. Ruff’s work, she imagined, hoping it hurt like the devil. She wondered what had become of the boys’ dog, hoping he had had the good sense to run back to Stoneleigh Manor and guide the rescuers in the right direction.

  “I will confess that your refusal surprised me, Miss Trafford. I did not realise you were quite such a cold, frigid chit.”

  “Oh, I can assure you I am not.” She thought of Lord Vincent and sent her antagonist a sinful smile that clearly surprised him. “Before accusing me of lacking finer feelings, perhaps you should take a closer look at yourself and apportion blame where it belongs.”

  “You tell ’im,” Annie muttered.

  “Charming as this discussion is,” Kenton said. “I must bring it to an end. I believe you have told the truth in one respect, Miss Trafford, in that someone else will soon come this way looking for you. Unfortunately, I cannot allow any of you to be found.” He paused. “At least, not alive.”

  Nia audibly gasped. “The game is up, Mr. Kenton. Your deception has been exposed. If I were you, I would forget about us and concentrate upon making good your escape before you are overwhelmed. After all, putting your own welfare first is an area in which you excel.”

  “I hesitate to disagree with you, but I have not the slightest intention of abandoning my rather profitable scheme. I had thought one more commission would be sufficient for my needs, but further consideration has convinced me that I need at least two before I shall be in a position to support Lady Fairstock in t
he style to which she is accustomed.”

  “But you cannot—”

  “Oh, but I can.” His chuckle was disconcertingly confident. “If you imagine I will permit this little setback to alter my plans, then you are sadly mistaken. I have worked too hard to get this far, only to have my future derailed. Only the four of you know my identity. If I am not at the unveiling of the duke’s portrait, which obviously cannot now be unveiled anyway because it has been destroyed, then I cannot be identified.”

  “You are insane!” Annie screamed.

  “Very possibly, but I am alive and intend to remain that way. You four, on the other hand…”

  “I hesitate to spoil your party,” Nia replied, her sweetly sarcastic tone belying her disgust at Kenton’s behaviour, to say nothing of her increasingly fear, “but I caught Annie before she could do any harm to the painting.”

  “What?” Kenton glared at Annie. “Is this true?”

  “I would not help you if you were the last man in England,” Annie spat in response.

  “Which does not answer my question.” Kenton took several deep breaths and the madness Nia had espied in his expression was replaced by disconcerting calm. “Not that it really matters. If the unveiling goes ahead, I shall not be there, so I cannot be identified.”

  “You will be identified by your absence,” Nia pointed out. “We have known for a while that the forgeries could only have been painted by one of three people, including you…” She allowed her words to trail off without stating the obvious.

  “Your family will have greater concerns in a short time than a mere art exhibition. It would be the height of bad manners to go ahead with it while they are in mourning.”

  His smile was pure evil as he produced more rope and bound Annie hand and foot. Dear God, Nia had made the situation worse by goading him! A squealing noise caused her head to swivel in the boys’ direction. They were fighting against their bonds, their faces puce with rage, and Leo was trying to say something around his gag. Nia’s heart went out to them when it occurred to her that they were trying to protect her. She sent them a reassuring smile.