suppose, given her unhappy marriage, that is not so surprising.
And I do not blame her for seeking her happiness elsewhere.
Truly, I do not. But, oh, Matthias, why did she use me? I thought
she was my friend."
He felt his gut clench. He had known it would be something like
this." Lucy used you?"
That was why she invited me to visit her three years ago."
Imogen dabbed at her eyes with a hankie." Indeed, that was the
only reason she wanted me here in London. She hoped to prevent
Vanneck from learning of the affair, you see. She was afraid that
he would cut off her funds. Perhaps send her to rusticate in the
country. He was furious with her already because she had not
given him an heir."
Matthias walked slowly toward Imogen." I see."
Lucy writes that she could not abide Vanneck's touch. She
married him for his title and his money." Imogen shook her head
as though she could not fully comprehend what she had learned.
She is quite forthright about it all."
Matthias stopped in front of Imogen. He said nothing.
She thought that if I were her constant companion here in
Town, Vanneck would assume that I was the object of her lover's
affections."
Matthias put the pieces of the small puzzle together in his mind.
Alastair Drake."
What?" Imogen slanted a sidelong glance at him as she blew
her nose." Oh, yes. It was Alastair, of course. He was her paramour.
She seems to have loved him with a great passion. She writes that
she intended to run off with him, but until the time came to do so,
she wanted to be able to be in his company as much as possible."
And you made it possible for her to be in Drake's company
without arousing Vanneck's suspicions."
Yes." Imogen dried her eyes with the edge of her hand." Alastair
conspired with her to make it appear that I was the lady who had
captured his affection. Vanneck and everyone else, induding me,
believed him. He certainly gave a . a convincing performance.
For a while I even considered . Well, that does not matter now."
I'm sorry that you had to learn the truth in this manner."
Do not blame yourself, Matthias. You could not have known
what I would discover in Lucy's journal." She gave him a small, sad
smile." I have been obliged to conclude that you were right. It
seems I am rather naive in some respects. And gullible."
Imogen
It is astonishing, when I think about it. All that time that I spent
in Alastair's company and I never once sensed that he was in love
with Lucy. I never guessed that he was using me to meet with her
openly as well as secretly. No wonder she was in such fine spirits
whenever the three of us went about together."
I'm sorry," Matthias whispered. He could think of nothing else
to say. He reached down to haul her gently up out of the chair.
Matthias, how could I have been so foolish?" Imogen leaned
her head against his chest." She wrote such unkind things about
me. She mocked me. It is as though I never knew Lucy at all."
Matthias had no words with which to comfort Imogen or
himself. He folded her close and gazed out into the night.
He wondered if he really did possess weak nerves. Then again,
perhaps the savage sense of despair that had turned his insides to
ice was the price one paid for trampling on the fragile flower of
innocence.
Chapter 16
Two days later Imogen paced Horatia's small parlor, a teacup in
her hand." I still cannot bring myself to believe that I was so
entirely mistaken in my judgment of her."
I know you do not wish to think ill of Lucy." Horatia, seated on
the sofa, watched Imogen with deeply troubled eyes." You imagined her to be a friend, and it is your nature to be fiercely loyal to
those you care for."
She was my friend. I did not imagine it." Imogen paused in
front of the window and gazed out into the street." She was kind
to me when we were neighbors in Upper Stickleford."
You were kind to her. You were forever inviting her to stay the
night."
She gave me her gowns."
Only after they had gone out of fashion," Horatia muttered.
Fashion was not important in Upper Stickleford."
It was to Lucy."
Imogen ignored the comment." She often came to visit and
share a cup of tea with me after my parents died."
She visited you because she was constantly on the verge of
expiring from boredom. Life in the country was not to her taste."
We talked of ancient Zamar."
You talked," Horatia said deliberately." I fear Lucy only
pretended to take an interest in Zamar."
Imogen whirled around so quickly that her teacup clattered in
its saucer." Why do you say that?"
Horatia heaved a small sigh." I will admit that I did not know
your friend Lucy well, but what I did learn of her character was
not inspiring."
Gossip," Imogen insisted." Nothing but gossip."
I am sorry, my dear, but all indications were that she was self
ish, willful, reckless, and possessed of a strange, unpredictable
temperament."
She was desperate to escape her uncle's house. George
Haconby was a most unpleasant man. My parents never cared for
him."
I know," Horatia admitted.
Imogen remembered Lucy's eyes the first night she had come
to the door and asked to spend the night." Haconby frightened
her, especially when he was in his cups. There were many times
when she begged to stay with me rather than be alone with him."
And you took her in." Horatia lifted one shoulder in a tiny
shrug." Imogen, I certainly do not wish to quarrel with you about
the matter. Lucy is dead. Nothing is to be gained from probing her
past at this late date."
No, I suppose that is true."
Horatia watched her with an expression of grave disapproval.
You say you learned about this liaison between Lucy and Mr
Drake from Lucy's journal?"
Yes. I know it was not right to read it, but Colchester was
convinced that it might contain some clues about why Vanneck
was shot. I am two-thirds of the way through it, but thus far I have
found no information that would explain murder."
Horatia frowned." I thought Vanneck was killed by a highway
man."
We are not entirely certain of that. In any event, Colchester
said that if I did not read the journal, he would. I felt I had an
obligation to Lucy to protect her personal writings from a
stranger's gaze."
Indeed. And may I ask how Colchester came into possession of
this journal?"
Imogen cleared her throat." He, er, discovered it when he paid a
call at Lord Vanneck's residence."
Why on earth did he go to Vanneck's house?"
He has been concerned about some of the details surrounding
Vanneck's murder," Imogen explained. She thought quickly." He
believed he would learn something of the truth if he talked to
some of the servants."
I see."
Imogen did not
like Horatia's skeptical tone of voice." Perfectly
natural, given his circumstances," she said quickly." After all, gossip
has linked Colchester's name to Vanneck's murder. But I do wish
he had informed me of his intentions."
Horatia's brows rose." I'll grant you that Colchester is in a
rather awkward situation. But that is nothing new for him."
Imogen glared at her." He wished to clear his name and put the
gossip to rest."
I fear that is an impossible task and I suspect he knows it,"
Horatia said dryly." People have always enjoyed gossip about
Cold-blooded Colchester. A little thing such as the truth of the
matter is unlikely to change that."
Do not call him cold-blooded."
My apologies." Horatia did not sound the least apologetic. She
sounded quietly furious.
Imogen frowned in consternation." Aunt Horatia? What is
wrong?"
Nothing important, my dear," Horatia said smoothly." Let us
return to the matter at hand. You say Colchester discovered
Lucy's journal and gave it to you to read?"
Yes. I intend to finish it tonight. But I doubt I shall learn
anything other than what I already know. Poor Lucy was clearly
obsessed with Alastair Drake. She was determined to run off with
him. She dreamed of going to Italy, where the two of them could
be free to celebrate their love."
I presume that while in Italy, Lucy wished to live in the style to
which she had become accustomed?"
She notes in her journal that Alastair appeared to have a
liberal income."
Indeed."
But he was unwilling to take her to Italy." Imogen recalled the
tone of rising desperation in Lucy's journal entries." She was
distraught. She loved him very much, you know."
Did she?"
She wrote that Vanneck often flew into a rage because she
tried to refuse him whenever he attempted to exert his marital
rights. He forced himself on her on several occasions." Imogen
shuddered." And I can well believe it. At one point she actually
took steps to rid herself of Vanneck's babe which she did not want
to bear. There is something in the journal about consulting a
woman in Bird Lane who dealt in such services."
I see."
I believe that Vanneck either learned of the abortion or discovered her plans to leave him."
And became so enraged that he murdered her?"
Yes." It was a neat summary of events, Imogen told herself. But
every time she repeated it, she thought of how Vanneck had
strongly denied any involvement in Lucy's death.
Well, if Vanneck killed Lucy, he has paid for his crime," Horatia
said.
Yes, but who killed him?" Imogen asked quietly.
We shall likely never know."
You are right, I suppose." Imogen gazed out at the row of town
houses across the street.
Is something else troubling you, my dear?"
I have been contemplating a theory about Lucy's behavior for
two days," Imogen said slowly.
What is that?"
It occurs to me that she might have been ill."
A form of madness, perhaps." Imogen swung about to face
Horatia with a sense of growing certainty." That would explain so
much. Her recklessness. Her desperation. Her strange moods."
Oh, Imogen, I really don't think"
It makes sense, Aunt Horatia. I suspect that she suffered much
at the hands of her uncle, perhaps more than she ever admitted.
Perhaps it affected her mind. It was no doubt a condition that
gradually worsened through the years. No wonder she seemed so
different after she left Upper Stickleford."
I am not at all certain that she was so very different," Horatia
said.
Imogen paid no attention. She was consumed by a growing
enthusiasm for her new theory." Now I understand why she plotted to use me to conceal her affair with Alastair Drake. Don't you
see, Aunt Horatia? By the time I came to stay with her here in
London, Lucy was desperate. She was no longer herself."
Horatia gazed at her for a long time." Perhaps you are correct,
my dear."
It is the only reasonable explanation," Imogen said firmly.
Lucy was never very strong. The dreadful treatment that she
received, first from her uncle and then from her husband, no
doubt made her unbearably anxious and distraught. It destroyed
her in the end, just as surely as the laudanum. Yes. An illness of the
brain explains everything."
A sense of peace descended on Imogen. She had not been
wrong about her friend after all. Lucy had been ill and desperately
unhappy. She had not been in her right mind when she had writ
ten those cruel things about Imogen in her journal.
Imogen alighted from the carriage and went up the town house
steps with a far lighter heart than she'd had when she set out for
her aunt's house. Nothing would bring Lucy back, but the warm
memory of her friendship was safely enshrined once again in
Imogen's heart. Poor Lucy. How she had suffered.
The door opened at the top of the steps. Ufton stood in the
opening.
Welcome home, madam."
Thank you, Ufton." Imogen smiled at him as she untied her
bonnet strings." Is Colchester in the library?"
No, madam. His lordship has gone out."
Imogen was alarmed." Gone out? Where?"
He did not say, madam."
But what of his wound? Surely he should be resting here at
home."
Ufton closed the door behind her." His lordship is not inclined
to take advice in such matters, madam."
I shall speak to him about it the moment he returns."
Of course, madam." Ufton hesitated." Will you be needing the
carriage this afternoon?"
Imogen, one foot on the bottom of the stairs, paused to glance
back at him." No. I do not plan to go out again. Why do you ask?"
Ufton inclined his head." I merely wanted to be certain that you
did not require transportation. Lady Patricia mentioned that she
wished to pay a call on Lady Lyndhurst. I thought we might need
two carriages today."
That won't be necessary." Imogen smiled and hurried on up the
stairs.
When she reached the landing, she strode down the carpeted
hall to her bedchamber. She was determined to finish Lucy's journal that afternoon. Now that she had a clear understanding of
Lucy's illness, she would be able to study the volume with a more
detached, analytical eye. She had been so sunk in melancholy by
what had appeared to be Lucy's betrayal of their friendship that
she had not been thinking at all clearly.
She opened the door to her bedchamber and swept into the
room. She tossed her bonnet onto the bed and then came to a startled halt.
She was not alone in the bedchamber. Patricia stood near the
window, clutching Lucy's journal. She gazed at Imogen with a
stricken expression.
Patricia?" Imogen took a step toward her." What on earth are
you doing in here? Why have you got that journal? It belongs to
me."
Imogen, please forgive me. I know you must think me a terr
ible person, but I pray you will understand when I tell you that I
have no choice."
What on earth are you talking about?"
The Rutledge Curse."
Not that ridiculous curse business again."
Don't you see? Matthias was nearly killed the other night
because of it. I am the only one who can put an end to this before
someone dies."
Rubbish."
It's real, Imogen. We all promised not to discuss it, but I have
been so anxious. I cannot bear it any longer. Everything is happen
ing just as the inscription on the tablet predicted."
What tablet?" Imogen asked sharply.
Lady Lyndhurst has some ancient Zamarian day tablets. The
curse is written on one of them."
Impossible. Calm yourself, Patricia." Imogen took another step
toward her and paused as a thought struck her." What has the
Rutledge Curse got to do with my friend's journal?"
I overheard you and Matthias discussing it. I know he took it
from Vanneck's house the night he was wounded. That was why he
nearly died."
What do you think happened?" Imogen asked cautiously.
Don't you see? Vanneck was a victim of the Rutledge Curse.
This journal is linked to him. Matthias took it from his house and
was nearly killed because the journal is tainted with the curse.
Everything that was Rutledge's is tainted."
Oh, for heaven's sake, Patricia"
I cannot allow this to go any further. Someone has to stop it.
Lady Lyndhurst has studied Zamarian curses. She will know what
to do."
Nonsense." Imogen walked to the bed to retrieve her bonnet." I
have heard quite enough about the Rutledge Curse. It is time to
put an end to the foolish gossip."
Patricia watched uncertainly as Imogen retied her bonnet
strings." What do you plan to do?"
Isn't it obvious?" Imogen gave her a bracing smile." I shall
attend Lady Lyndhurst's salon with you today, Patricia. I want to
see the curse that is inscribed on that day tablet for myself."
Matthias arrived home shortly after the Colchester carriage had
departed. He had sought refuge from his bleak thoughts first at his
club and then in Tattersall's auctioneering yard. But not even the
prime horseflesh paraded in front of the crowd of eager buyers
had elevated his mood.
He was disappointed but distinctly relieved to learn that
Imogen was not home. He ached to hold her in his arms, but a part
of him dreaded looking into her eyes. He feared the dawn of truth
Amanda Quick - Mischief.txt Page 29
