by Laura Landon
“I needed to take an inventory of all the spring clothes to be repaired or replaced. And Cook left a list of items that are running dangerously low. I thought to go over the list and see what can be done to—”
“How ambitious. You have your hands in a number of ventures. Don’t you?”
Josie felt the grip of warning tighten and squared her shoulders. “I’m not sure I understand what ventures you’re talking about.”
“Don’t you?”
Blood rushed through her veins, crashing inside her head. She didn’t answer him, but waited. He took another step toward her and for the first time, she felt threatened by him. Not in danger, but threatened. His next question gave her cause.
“Where were you last night? It’s obvious you haven’t slept. Where have you been?”
“I was…”
She couldn’t finish. She couldn’t lie, yet she wasn’t ready to admit the truth. Something about the accusatory tone in his voice and the way he watched her with the wariness of a predator anticipating the kill held her back. This was a side of him she hadn’t seen since the first time she’d met him. She felt the need to escape.
“Where I was is none of your business. Now, if you will excuse me.”
She took her first step away from him but stopped when he spoke.
“I saw you.”
She shook her head, at first unable to comprehend his meaning. Then, the magnitude of his words and the assumption he’d drawn from seeing her last night hit her full force.
“Where did you see me?”
“Beneath the cliff. Standing in front of the cave while the men unloaded their supply of smuggled goods. Did everything meet with your approval?”
“I… It’s not what it seemed. I—”
“Isn’t it?”
She opened her mouth to continue, then stopped when she realized how lame her words would sound. He would never believe she hadn’t known they were smuggling in opium. Not after he’d seen her with his own eyes.
He took another step toward her and she noticed his drawn features. The dark circles that shadowed his eyes seemed even blacker and she realized he hadn’t slept any more than she had.
“I finally understand why you bargained for a month when Lady Clythebrook issued her demands. I thought the reason was that you had so little faith in me you thought I’d soon grow tired of the country and head back to London.” He laughed. “I couldn’t wait to prove you wrong.” He took another step toward her. “How long have you been involved in the smuggling?”
She opened her mouth but no words came out.
His second demand was more forceful. “How long?”
“Two years. The children—”
“No!” He swiped his hand angrily between them. “Do not use the children.”
Josie’s first instinct was to stop and let him think what he wanted but something made her go on. Perhaps just the belief that this would be the only chance she had to explain why she’d involved herself in the smuggling.
“Two years ago the children’s needs were greater than we could supply. Lady Lindville had always offered assistance in the past but was unable to help as much as we needed.”
“So you resorted to smuggling.”
She heard the disdain in his voice and fought to stomp down her rising temper. “The children were going without food!”
“Smuggling was your only answer?”
Josie turned her gaze away from him. How could she explain that it had been? There’d been no other way to provide for the children.
“How is Lindville involved?”
“He contacted Captain Levy each quarter to make the arrangements.”
“Why did he involve you? Why not someone else? Surely there were others he could have—”
“He needed me. I was the only one who…”
Josie hesitated. This was the most damning of all. The part that would incriminate her and leave no room for escape. “You know how steep the incline is from the cove. It’s nearly impossible for anyone to make the climb either up or down without being observed. But, there’s a network of tunnels beneath the orphanage that smugglers used more than a hundred years ago. Very few people know they exist.”
“But you knew?”
“Yes. Evidently, so did Baron Lindville. He came with a proposition to bring in goods that we could then sell to Cornelius Sharpe. The goods we brought in weren’t illegal, just items Baron Lindville managed to purchase for far less than Cornelius could get them. The orphanage received half the profits and Lindville kept the other half.”
“How convenient. Except you’ve failed to explain how your contraband changed to opium.”
Josie looked into his eyes, hoping she’d see some hint of softness there, but all she saw was a steely-gray hardness that didn’t conceal his intense anger. Her heart felt like a leaden weight anchored in her chest.
“Would it be expecting too much to ask you to believe I didn’t know about the opium?”
His hollow laugh stopped her. “Far too much,” he said with more bitterness than she thought he was capable of.
He turned his back as if he couldn’t stand the sight of her. His words proved it. “I have to give you credit, though. You played the game with amazing ingenuity. Giving yourself to me was a very calculated move.” He spun back to face her. “Did you think it would be your insurance? Was sleeping with me part of the plan to assure that if your role in the smuggling was discovered, you could use what we’d done to your advantage?”
“No! What we did had nothing to do with this. I slept with you because—”
The pain inside her chest hurt too much. She couldn’t go on.
“I’m waiting. Please, enlighten me. Why did you sleep with me?”
She reminded herself this might be the last chance she ever had to speak with him. She did not want this final time filled with lies. “Because I realized that I lo—”
He slashed his hand through the air in a violent arc. “No! Use any excuse but that! Tell me you wanted to be able to brag that you’d been bedded by a notorious rake. Or that you wanted to be intimate with the Rainforth heir whose father had betrayed his country. Or, try the truth, Miss Foley. You slept with me because you thought it would benefit you. Any excuse, but don’t speak to me of love.”
Josie felt as though she’d been slapped. She lifted her chin and glared at him. “Very well. You want the truth? Then you shall have it. I slept with you because I was a fool.”
His eyes opened wide, as if her words had surprised him.
“If anyone was a fool, it was I. I know prostitutes who are more honest! At least they’re up front about the reason they sell themselves.”
The lump lodged in Josie’s throat threatened to choke her. Before last night, she’d only cried once before in her life and that was when Lord Clythebrook had died. She would not let it happen again. Not now. Not in front of him.
She needed to get away before she embarrassed herself. She jerked her skirts to the side and started to walk past him. He held out his arm and stopped her.
“I was given one chance to redeem the name my father destroyed. Not just for myself, but for Charlie. So Charlie could claim the Bennett name with pride. Your greed and deceit took that opportunity away from him. I hope you can live with yourself.”
The vice clamped around her heart tightened until she could barely breathe. But he didn’t intend to give her a respite.
“Major Bennett and Agent McCormick are here. They knew about the shipment and were waiting for the signal so they could arrest the opium smugglers—a signal I was supposed to light.”
Josie’s mind was a muddle of confusion. That was how he knew. She lifted her gaze and saw the blatant fury in his eyes. “You were to signal them?”
He smiled but it wasn’t a smile she ever wanted to have directed at her again. “Yes. They trusted me and again a Rainforth turned traitor.”
He stepped away from her as if her nearness was too much to bear. “I have t
o meet Sam and McCormick at the caves later this morning. They’re going to investigate where the opium came ashore to see if some evidence might still be there to identify the smugglers. I hope you didn’t leave anything incriminating behind or you may not be in the clear yet. And this time I won’t do anything to prevent them from arresting you. Or from watching you hang.”
He turned to step away from her then stopped and faced her again. “Where did you hide the opium?”
She glared at him. “Where no one will ever find it.”
The look he gave her was more murderous than before and it took all her willpower not to shrink from him.
“When I am finished with Sam and McCormick, I intend to come back for Charlie. See that his things are together. You might want to take a few moments to gather your own belongings, too, Miss Foley. I cannot in good conscience allow an opium smuggler to have anything to do with the children.”
The ground shifted beneath her. She wanted to grab hold of something to steady herself but Rainforth was the only solid object within reach and she couldn’t bring herself to touch him. “You can’t mean that.”
“Oh, but I do. If I find you anywhere near the children after today I’ll do everything in my power to see that Sacred Heart is closed and the children moved to another orphanage.”
“But the children—”
“The children need to be protected from you! If you care for them at all you will leave.”
Josie stared at him, every inch of her body numb. “Do you hate me that much?”
She watched the change in his features and felt as if the glaring blackness in his countenance pulled her deeper into a pit of despair.
“I don’t hate you, Miss Foley. What I feel doesn’t come close to hatred.”
Each word was like a pointed dagger being thrust through her heart. Keeping her back rigidly straight, she walked past him and made her way back to the orphanage.
She didn’t run. Even though she wanted to, she slowly placed one foot in front of the other and walked away from the only man she would ever love.
She made her way to the little room that had always been her sanctuary and closed the door. Then, for the first time in her life, she bolted it, keeping out those who were most dear to her. When she was alone, she walked to the tiny closet where she kept a spare dress in case she ever had to stay the night with one of the children, and folded it into a worn valise.
It wouldn’t take her long to gather what was hers. She’d never had much. The children had always needed so much more than she did.
The children. How could she survive if she had to leave the children behind? But she would. What choice did she have?
When she was finished, she set her valise by the front door, then asked Mrs. Lambert to assemble the children outside. She wanted to gather them around her one last time and read them one of their favorite stories. She wasn’t sure which one yet. Perhaps she’d let one of the children decide.
Perhaps Charlie.
Josie waited in the garden, knowing this would probably be the last time she’d be welcome here. The door to the orphanage opened and she watched as the children filed down the path. She greeted them all, hugging the ones who hadn’t outgrown the need to be hugged, just touching the ones who had. When they were all seated beneath a sturdy beech tree, she read to them from one of their favorite books while they munched on a cookie she’d talked Cook into giving them. All this she accomplished without a tear. As if she were watching every painful event from somewhere outside her body.
She was nearly to the end of her story when a cold chill raced down her spine. She finished quickly, then closed the book, afraid she’d dallied too long and Rainforth had returned already to take Charlie with him. Oh, she didn’t want to face him again and had hoped to be gone before he came back.
The prickly warning grew stronger and she forced herself to look down the path that led to the orphanage. Her heart thudded in her breast, then slammed against her ribs. It wasn’t Rainforth but Baron Lindville, and even from a distance she could see the fury on his face.
He covered the ground in long, angry strides, with hands clenched into tight fists at his sides. Josie remembered the last time she’d angered him. A fresh wave of fear raced through her and she jumped to her feet.
The children.
“Take the children inside,” she said to Mrs. Lambert, who’d recognized that something was not as it should be and had rushed to her side. “And don’t let them come back outside.”
Mrs. Lambert looked at Baron Lindville then turned back to Josie. She started gathering the children. “Something’s wrong. What is it?”
“Nothing. Take the children inside. Hurry.”
Mrs. Lambert looked back toward Baron Lindville. “You can’t stay out here. Not alone.”
“Go! Now!”
Mrs. Lambert ushered the children toward the orphanage and Josie moved in the opposite direction. She knew why he’d come. She knew the reason for his furious expression. And she was afraid.
“What the hell have you done?” he bellowed before he reached her. “What the bloody hell have you done?”
Josie glanced over her shoulder toward the orphanage. Mrs. Lambert nearly had the last of the children safely behind the doors. The minute they were all inside, she stopped moving. She knew trying to get away from him would do no good. He was intent on punishing her and the more she tried to escape his wrath the more furious he would become. She didn’t know what she would do, but she had to get him away from here. Away from the children. Someplace where she stood a better chance of protecting herself.
Josie took a deep breath and turned around to face him. “I stopped you from using the orphanage to smuggle in the opium that was destroying hundreds of young men and women.”
“You fool!” he said and drew back his hand. He slapped her hard across the face.
Josie staggered. “Hitting me won’t change anything. I told you I wouldn’t let you use the children for something so vile. Besides, the authorities have come. They know about the smuggling. They know about the opium.”
“I don’t give a damn what they know. They can’t prove anything. There are ways to get around anyone the government sends.”
“No, you can’t. They’re going to—”
Before Josie could finish her sentence, his hand reached out and struck her again. This time harder than before and she fell to her knees. He grabbed her arm and jerked her to her feet.
“Where did you hide it? Captain Levy said you were there when they unloaded the chests and you told him there wouldn’t be any more deliveries. I went to the caves this morning and there’s nothing there. Nothing except the boxes and barrels that will go to Cornelius Sharpe. What did you do with the opium? I want it now or I’ll—”
“Miss Josie. I need to tell you something.”
Josie spun her head in the direction of the orphanage and took in a huge, painful gasp. Little Charlie was running toward her as fast as his short, pudgy legs would carry him.
“No, Charlie! Go back!”
“But I need to tell you something. Guess what?” he said, coming to a halt in front of her. “Lord Rainforth wants me to come to—”
Josie reached for Charlie but she wasn’t fast enough. Before she could push him behind her, Lindville had the boy by the back of the neck and was squeezing so hard tears swelled in Charlie’s eyes.
“Let him go! No! Don’t hurt him.”
“Then tell me where you’ve hidden the opium.”
“All right. Just let him go.”
Lindville hesitated a moment then pushed Charlie to the ground. He fell hard but didn’t seem hurt. Josie squatted down in front of him and pulled him up to her. “Go inside, Charlie. And stay there.”
“But—”
“Tell Mrs. Lambert to put a cool cloth on your knee, then see if Cook has any cookies left.”
Charlie gave her a weak smile and limped toward the house, taking a wide path past Lord Lindville. Josie didn’t
breathe again until Charlie was safe behind the doors.
“Now, where is it?” Lindville demanded.
“It’s where you’ll never find it.”
“Show me!”
Lindville grabbed her elbow and led her to the front where his horse was tied to the brass post. He pushed her up into the saddle and mounted behind her.
“Where to?”
Josie remembered Ross’s words, “I have to meet Sam and McCormick at the caves later this morning.”
“The cliffs,” she said, knowing leading him there would protect the children from him.
Knowing the cliffs was the place she could least protect herself.
Jaded Moon
by Laura Landon
Ransomed Jewels Series Book Two
CHAPTER 21
Do you hate me that much?
Josie’s question echoed over and over with each step Ross took as he followed Sam and Agent McCormick down the steep incline to the caves below the cliffs. Did he hate her that much?
He clenched his hands until his fingers ached. No, he didn’t hate her that much. He loved her so much that what she’d done had nearly killed him.
A boulder blocked the path and he stepped around it. They were almost to the bottom now, to the place where he’d seen her standing last night inspecting every item the smugglers brought ashore. How could she involve herself in something so vile? How could she love and care for the children to the point she was willing to go without herself, while at the same time, smuggle in a deadly drug she knew destroyed countless innocent lives?
If someone would have asked him that question yesterday, he’d have said it wasn’t possible. But he’d seen her with his own eyes. He’d seen her stand right here while the smugglers carried ashore one crate of opium after another.
And yet, as he sorted everything out in his mind, so many things didn’t make sense. The sale of opium on the black market was extremely profitable. Profitable enough that Josie and Lady Clythebrook should be living in grand style. And the children should never want for a thing. Instead, from everything he’d seen, no one was living in opulence, and neither Josie nor Lady Clythebrook had worn a new dress in years. The only thing in abundance at the orphanage was love. That had been obvious the first time he’d stepped through Sacred Heart’s doors.
