“Remove your hand at once.”
Jack glanced over his shoulder as a tall man with steel gray hair, a determined jaw, and eyes of the same brilliant blue as the girl’s came up beside him. Ephraim Holland, he knew at once, and he noted the older man’s clenched fists and powerful physique with a grin. If it came to giving Van Hausen a good thrashing, he’d be happy to step aside to allow an outraged father to do the honors. It seemed quite fitting, in fact.
“I said, remove your hand,” Holland ordered through clenched teeth, “or I will do it for you.”
Either Van Hausen had more courage than Jack had given him credit for, or he was desperate enough to take his chances, for he didn’t move to comply with the older man’s demand. “It’s permissible for engaged couples to hold hands,” he said instead. And Linnet and I intend to marry.”
“Over my dead body,” Jack muttered.
Holland didn’t seem much more amenable to the idea of Van Hausen marrying the girl than he was. The man started forward as if to carry out his threat, but his wife put a hand on his arm. “Ephraim, don’t,” she pleaded. “Surely, we can discuss this without physical violence.”
Holland paused, taking a deep breath. “I’ve already refused Linnet my consent to marry you, but I’m happy to repeat it. I will not allow you to marry her, not under any circumstances whatsoever.”
This unequivocal statement did not cause Van Hausen to back down. “We don’t need your consent. Besides, you must know by now what’s happened tonight and what’s being said in the ballroom.” His hand tightened around the girl’s. “Linnet’s reputation is in jeopardy.”
Jack decided he’d better speak up before this reminder of the precarious state of Miss Holland’s reputation could force her father to reconsider his refusal. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing, old chap?” he asked with a pretense of concern. “After all, without her father’s consent, how will you ever obtain a loan?”
“You bastard.” Van Hausen spat out the words like a bad taste in his mouth. “You interfering British bastard.”
“You watch your language, young man,” Ephraim ordered, and turned to Jack. “As for you, who in Sam Hill are you?”
“My apologies, Mr. Holland, that there hasn’t been time or opportunity for formal introductions,” he said, and bowed. “I am Lord Featherstone.”
“Featherstone?” Holland roared, causing Jack to grimace. “So you’re the one responsible for my daughter’s name being dragged through the mud. By God, I ought to horsewhip you.”
“Indeed, you should,” he agreed at once, “but might I suggest you postpone it to a later time? You have, I fear, a more immediate problem before you.”
His gaze slid to the couple across the room and, much to his relief, the reminder seemed to change Holland’s mind about taking out his paternal fury on Jack. “I suppose that’s true,” he conceded, his eyes narrowing. “For the moment anyway.”
Glad of the reprieve, Jack went on, “Van Hausen is desperate for money, you see, and that’s why he attempted to become engaged to your daughter earlier this evening. Once an engagement was declared, he could borrow against his expectations as your future son-in-law.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Van Hausen scoffed, but there was a hint of fear in his voice. “I don’t need to borrow money. And even if I did, I could get it from my father.”
“Could you?” Jack countered. “Your father disowned you a year ago, refusing to pay any more of your debts. And who could blame him? He’s paid for your mistakes so many times already.”
“What?” Miss Holland’s soft gasp of astonishment made it clear she’d been unaware of this. “Frederick, that’s not true. It can’t be true.” When the man beside her didn’t answer, she turned on Jack. “How do you even know something like that? How?”
He met her resentful gaze with a level one of his own. “I’ve had Pinkerton men investigating him for over a year.”
“You can’t be swallowing any of this,” Van Hausen blustered. “It’s absurd.”
“It does sound that way,” Mr. Holland put in. “Frederick has his own money, Lord Featherstone. Why, when I left last September, his father had just sunk a huge sum into his investment-banking firm.”
“Yes,” Jack agreed at once, “to cover his losses and keep his company solvent. When he handed over the money, Albert Van Hausen told his son that was the last time he’d cover any of his losses, and from that point on, Frederick would have to manage on his own. But he hasn’t been able to, because he’s a terrible investment banker. His company has been bleeding money, and he’s had to borrow from other bankers, friends, even moneylenders to stay afloat. He keeps trying to recoup his previous losses by funding investments of higher and higher risk, which has caused him to lose even more. Now he’s in a very deep hole, without his father to bail him out. If you doubt me on this, go into the ballroom and make inquiries. Some of his former friends will be glad to confirm what I’ve said. He owes money everywhere.”
“But how are Frederick’s financial troubles any of your concern?” the girl demanded. “What have you to do with it?”
He gave her the same part of the story he’d given her mother earlier in the garden. “The man you were about to marry, Miss Holland, owes me a great deal of money. Along with several other investors, we put an enormous sum of capital with his firm. He placed those funds in an investment he created called East Africa Mines. The understanding was that our funds would be held in trust pending engineering reports, and repaid to us if those reports showed no gold in the mines. That circumstance was realized two weeks ago, at which point we demanded our investment money be returned, and we gave him until this coming Tuesday to do so. He’s been trying to raise the funds, but as I said, no one will grant him a loan. He’s in so deep, not even the crooked moneylenders will touch him.”
“Lies,” Van Hausen said. “All lies.”
Everyone ignored him.
“Having been out of the country, you were unaware of his financial troubles,” Jack went on. “He knew that, and he knew he didn’t have much time. An announcement tonight of your betrothal would enable him to borrow against his expectations straightaway, pay everyone off, and avoid ruin. Thanks to my interference, his plan to use you to save himself has failed.”
Her face was composed but pale, and her eyes reminded him of frost-encrusted crocuses peeking out of a snowbank. “My father knows all about your interference, Lord Featherstone.”
“I do, indeed,” Holland put in. “And by now, so does everyone else in that ballroom. You have a lot to answer for, young man, but I intend to deal with one scoundrel at a time.”
The older man returned his attention to Van Hausen. “If what Featherstone says is true, it won’t do you any good. In light of this, Linnet has too much sense to marry you, and even if you could get round her, you can’t get round me. I continue to refuse my consent. Try borrowing against your expectations when I declare my refusal publicly.”
Van Hausen lifted his chin, trying to maintain a shred of dignity, but in Jack’s view, all he managed to do was look even more like a pompous ass. “Declare your refusal in all the papers. It doesn’t matter. I want to marry Linnet because I love her. I just didn’t realize it until she went away.”
Jack almost laughed. Deuce take it, the fellow almost sounded sincere. He couldn’t possibly be in love with the girl. And yet . . .
His gaze slid to Miss Holland.
She was jaw-dropping gorgeous. Any man, even a villain, could be enraptured by those eyes. Jack’s gaze lowered a fraction. And that mouth, he knew full well, was luscious indeed. Jack supposed even a dog like Van Hausen could be smitten. But love?
He glanced at their joined hands. The memory of them walking toward the door as he and her mother came in entered his mind, and with that, any glimmer of doubt went to the wall.
“Love?” he scoffed, giving a laugh. “In a pig’s eye. You were spiriting her off. You meant to elope with her.”
&n
bsp; Van Hausen gave a start, and Jack knew his guess had been right. He pushed his advantage. “Cutting things a bit close, aren’t you? Tuesday isn’t far off, remember.”
“But what you say makes no sense,” Holland put in before Van Hausen could reply. “If he elopes with my daughter, I’d never reward him with her dowry. He must know that.”
“I don’t want her dowry,” Van Hausen cut in, but though his voice was calmer now, in his eyes, Jack still saw fear.
“How commendable,” Jack replied, “but we both know there are ways to get money from her father other than a dowry.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, and I don’t need to listen to any more of your vicious lies, nor does my fiancée. Linnet, shall we go?”
“Linnet?” Mrs. Holland cried, but if she feared the girl would walk out with Van Hausen, that fear was allayed at once. Despite his pulling at her, the girl didn’t move.
“What does he have in mind, then?” she asked Jack. “Since you seem to know so much, explain that.”
“I would be happy to give you my theory, Miss Holland. I have no doubt that when he returned to the ballroom, he heard the gossip about us and realized his plan to borrow against his marital expectations had failed. But he also knew that if he could persuade you to elope with him at once, he could still gain his ends. He probably told you an elopement was the only way you could be together, given your father’s refusal.”
She flung her head back as if startled, and not for the first time, Jack thanked heaven Van Hausen was so predictable.
“Don’t listen to him, Linnet,” the other man urged before she could reply. “He’s the one who wants your dowry. Isn’t that obvious?”
The girl lifted her free hand in a bewildered gesture, then let it fall. “This still doesn’t make sense. If I eloped with Frederick, my father wouldn’t give him anything, even if he is in debt. He’d demand Frederick make good. He might bring him into the company and give him a salary to support me, or assist him with investments, but he wouldn’t pay the debts of his banking firm. He just wouldn’t do it.”
“Not even to keep his son-in-law out of prison?”
“Prison?” Miss Holland and her parents echoed the word in astonished unison.
“Yes, prison. The funds we gave him were to be held in trust, and instead, he used them to pay other debts and make other investments. That is embezzlement and fraud. If he doesn’t repay us by Tuesday, we will press charges, and he’ll be indicted by New York prosecutors for his crimes.”
“That’s enough.” Van Hausen turned on him in a blaze of fury. “You shut your mouth.”
“Or what?” Jack laughed. “You’ll shut it for me? You tried that already tonight without much luck. Do you want another go? No,” he murmured as the other man didn’t move. “I thought not.”
Van Hausen drew a breath, working to regain what was left of his temper and his dignity. “I won’t listen to any more of this, and Linnet won’t either.” He turned to the girl. “Don’t let them ruin things for us. Come with me, Linnet, now, while we still have the chance.”
The girl did not comply with this plea. Instead, she studied him for a moment, then she slowly pulled her hand out of his grasp. When she took a step back, shaking her head, Jack felt a jolt of jubilation and relief so strong, he wanted to haul her into his arms and kiss her all over again.
“Damn it, Linnet,” Van Hausen cried, “you don’t believe any of this, do you? It’s all lies.”
“If that’s so,” she replied softly, “then we have no reason to rush off in the night, do we?”
“But if we don’t go, now, tonight, your reputation will be destroyed. I can’t let that happen.”
“But you said you don’t care about my reputation, so waiting a few days shouldn’t matter much to you.”
“It matters for your sake.”
“What if I say I don’t care? It seems to me,” she added when he didn’t reply, “that by Tuesday, the truth of your situation will be known, which ought to clear you of any wrongdoing.” She paused, watching him. “Won’t it?”
“I can’t wait!” he shouted at her. “Don’t you understand? Waiting will ruin me.”
“I do understand.” She gave a nod. “I understand that a man doesn’t have to be British to be a fortune hunter.”
“Damn it, Linnet, you’re my last chance.” Van Hausen’s voice was shrill with panic. “If you don’t marry me, I’ll go to jail, and it will be your fault.”
Her face turned cool and hard, like a face carved in marble. “If you go to jail, it’s your own actions that will have put you there,” she answered, and there was an edge to her voice that was reminiscent of her father. “Not mine.”
Jack looked at Van Hausen, saw the purple flush of rage come up in his face and the curl of his hands into fists. When he took another step toward Miss Holland, Jack was ready for it. He moved, putting himself in front of the girl before the snarling words, “You bitch!” were even out of Van Hausen’s mouth.
Jack wrapped a hand around the other man’s throat and hurtled forward, using all his weight as he slammed the cur against the wall beside the door. His rage, held so long in check, surged up until he almost couldn’t contain it.
“You will depart at once,” Jack told him through clenched teeth, his hand tightening until the other man couldn’t breathe. “Because if you don’t, I will beat you to a bloody pulp. And I can assure you, I will take great pleasure in doing so.”
He left off choking Van Hausen and reached for the doorknob with his right hand as he grabbed a handful of the other man’s evening jacket with his left. He opened the door and shoved Van Hausen over the threshold, sending him stumbling down the corridor. He waited until the other man had vanished around the corner before he closed the door.
“Well, this is a fine kettle of fish,” Mr. Holland muttered behind him.
Jack couldn’t help agreeing with that. He took a deep breath and turned to face the man who it seemed was about to become his father-in-law. “Mr. Holland,” he began, but he got no further before the older man interrupted.
“I ought to kill you.”
“An understandable reaction,” he agreed at once. “But it might be better for all concerned if you don’t. We know what’s already being said about your daughter, and I am the man responsible. Honor demands I marry her.”
“I won’t marry you,” the girl cut in before her father could speak. “And the idea that you think I would proves you are out of your mind.”
“There are many people who know me well enough to share your opinion of my sanity,” he answered as he turned to face her. “Nonetheless, we must marry. No other choice is possible.”
“I can think of plenty of choices.” She folded her arms, glaring at him. “Homicide comes to mind.”
“Linnet,” her mother remonstrated, “that is no way for a lady to talk.”
“I’m not a lady, Mother, and as we have discussed many times before, I have no intention of becoming one. Let’s not forget that Lord Featherstone’s oh-so-noble effort to marry me in order to restore my reputation wouldn’t have been necessary had he not so conveniently ruined me in the first place.”
“Conveniently?” Jack echoed. “I find nothing convenient in this situation, believe me.”
“No?” Her dark blond brows lifted in disbelief. “You’d be the first British lord, then, who didn’t find a fat American dowry convenient.”
He stared at her as the implications of her words sank in. “You think I ruined you to gain your dowry?”
“Well, you didn’t do it to regain your investment,” she countered. “If that was all you wanted, you’d have let Frederick become engaged to me and borrow what he needed. Then you’d have gotten paid. But instead, you took me for yourself, a much more lucrative investment, I’d bet.”
“I didn’t do any of this for money.”
“Let’s not pretend your actions were born of any tender regard for me. You don’t even know me.�
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“The man is desperate, Miss Holland. I could not be sure what he would do if he got you alone. He—” Jack stopped. He couldn’t reveal Van Hausen’s deeper sins without offering proof, and that would mean naming the women Van Hausen had raped, something he could never do. He couldn’t even hint such a thing, without jeopardizing the duchess’s secret. “The man is a cur and a cad,” he said instead. “I stopped him from taking advantage of you the only way I could think of on the spur of the moment.”
“By taking advantage of me yourself. How heroic of you.”
“You’d have been disgraced either way once Mrs. Dewey arrived. The only question was who would be the one to commit the disgrace, me or Van Hausen. You’ll have to forgive me if I decided I was a better option for you than a despicable swindler.”
“Yes, that’s the point, isn’t it? You decided. I had no say in the decision.”
“There wasn’t time for a discussion of your preferences on the subject,” he shot back, fully aware that she’d just put him on the defensive.
“But you needn’t have interfered in the pagoda,” she pointed out, shrewdly honing in on the weak spot of his actions. You could have gone to my father instead and told him of Frederick’s true intentions. Daddy would have postponed any promise of a dowry, and Frederick’s fraud would have been revealed without jeopardizing my reputation. But you didn’t do that. Instead, you followed me, got him out of the way, and stepped into his shoes. Why?”
He stared at her, helpless to explain the risks to her safety. With the arrival of Mrs. Dewey and her mother, proposing marriage had been the only honorable thing to do. As for kissing her, well, that had been an irresistible impulse of the moment. Fighting it would have been like fighting forces of gravity or tidal waves. And even now, despite that he’d tainted her good name, he couldn’t find cause to regret that kiss, for it had been like nothing he’d ever felt in his life before. “I couldn’t be sure what Van Hausen intended. I certainly didn’t plan to step into his shoes, as you put it.”
Catch a Falling Heiress: An American Heiress in London Page 8
