‘My dear, Janet tells me you’re indisposed. I am distraught at the news. You really must take more care to…’ A despairing gasp, more in the nature of a feral moan, echoed round the otherwise silent room when he espied Nick standing directly behind Alicia’s chair. ‘You know.’
It wasn’t a question and Nick merely nodded.
‘How?’
‘Did you really take me for such a clunch, Woodley?’
He spread his hands, a defeated man. ‘I was desperate.’
‘Why didn’t you confide in me, Uncle?’
‘You have far too much integrity to countenance what I was doing.’ He shook his head and took to pacing the room. ‘I thought it would all work out, and had it not been for that virus it most likely would have done. But still I didn’t give up hope. My beautiful Maria was sure to find a wealthy husband, you see, and he would save us from ruin. When she didn’t take, I thought to invite a gentleman not from around these parts to view the stud. Naturally, when he saw Maria, heard her playing the pianoforte with such passion, he couldn’t fail to fall under her thrall and all would be well.’
‘But I didn’t oblige you.’
‘It was immediately obvious to me that I had miscalculated. I shouldn’t have aimed so high but, you see, I wanted only the best for my beloved girl. And she was so confident she would succeed that I let her persuade me to invite you.’ He paused. ‘I never imagined you would accept. When you did, Maria was ecstatic and I dared to hope it would all work out.’
‘And when it didn’t, you hatched the plan to have your son propose to Alicia.’
‘Yes, I should have thought of that sooner. It was the obvious answer, and the whole family would benefit from the alliance. Alicia would be able to stay in the house she loves, and once they were married she could hardly object to the use of Fabian since he would become my son’s property.’
‘Why did Frederick agree to be a party to the scheme?’
Woodley scowled. ‘He had little choice in the matter. He has run up horrendous gambling debts, in spite of the fact that I have already bailed him out on several previous occasions and forbidden him to play high. I told him if he wanted me to meet his obligations this time, then he would have to marry his cousin and secure the future of the stud by that means. Not that he objected, mind,’ Woodley said, only now appearing to recall that Alicia was in the room. ‘He is devilish fond of you, Alicia.’
‘Oh, well,’ she said acerbically. ‘That makes it all right then.’
‘It must have come as quite a shock when she turned him down,’ Nick said.
‘Indeed, but I didn’t believe she would persevere with her rejection. Frederick had taken her by surprise but I was convinced that when she’d had the opportunity to reflect, she would soon come to her senses.’ Woodley dropped his head into his cupped hands and shook it. ‘You have no idea how upset I was when she steadfastly refused to see reason. I was at my wit’s end. But then Frederick showed a little gumption for once. He renewed his suit and Alicia agreed to reconsider.’
‘No, that is not right!’
Woodley looked genuinely bewildered. ‘But Frederick told us all that you were undergoing a change of heart.’
‘That being the case,’ Nick said in an icy drawl, ‘why did you think it necessary to try and kill your niece?’
Woodley’s head shot up. ‘No! It was never the intention to seriously injure her. Had she left at her usual hour she wouldn’t have been out in the open and her horse wouldn’t have been able to bolt on that narrow lane.’ He lifted his shoulders. ‘I merely wanted to promote Frederick’s cause by demonstrating how dangerous it would be for her to live unaccompanied in the village.’
‘You have a warped manner of conducting your business.’
‘Have you never been desperate, your grace?’ Woodley sighed. ‘Frederick was supposed to ride to her rescue but he couldn’t even get that right. He overslept, you see. And the villain I hired was not supposed to actually hit Alicia with his shot. The fool should have used his head and aborted the plan until the following day.’
‘This is all too much for me to comprehend.’ Alicia frowned. ‘First you, uncle, and then Maria, have both tried to kill me.’
‘Maria?’ Woodley looked perplexed. ‘What has she done?’
Alicia explained about the poisoned tea. ‘What iniquitous behaviour on my part has caused you both to take me in such dislike, Uncle?’
Woodley looked totally bewildered. ‘I cannot believe Maria would stoop to such wickedness.’
‘Yet you had no difficulty in believing I attacked her last night, Woodley.’
‘Actually, I began to suspect almost immediately that something wasn’t quite right about that,’ Nick’s host admitted. ‘I confronted Frederick and Maria as soon as you left us. At first they denied any wrongdoing, but Frederick has never been able to cut a wheedle over me and eventually they confessed to their ploy. They planned the whole thing in the hope, at the very least, of extorting money from you. They appeared to think I would endorse such wickedness.’ Woodley bowed his head. ‘I am deeply ashamed of them both and thought they were genuinely contrite.’ He threw up his hands. ‘Now you tell me Maria deliberately tried to poison Alicia, but I cannot believe she would.’
‘Then I suggest you send for her and let her deny it with her own lips,’ Nick said.
Maria responded to her father’s summons almost immediately, as though she had been anticipating it. She clearly hadn’t expected to discover her cousin alive and well and glowered in her direction as though she held Alicia to blame for her own ineptitude. She demonstrated no reaction to Nick’s presence and remained sullen.
Her father relayed their suspicions, almost apologetically, clearly still not believing that she was actually the guilty party. When she made no attempt to deny her culpability, Woodley groaned aloud. He clutched his head in his hands and visibly appeared to shrivel beneath Nick’s quelling gaze.
‘Alicia had all but agreed to marry Frederick,’ Maria wailed, pointing an accusing finger at her cousin.
‘I think not,’ Nick said with disdain.
‘She had! You know nothing about it. She should have remembered the duty she owed my father, who kindly permitted her to continue living here when he need not have done. And she shouldn’t have kept Frederick waiting for an answer. If that were not bad enough, she most certainly shouldn’t have encouraged your advances, your grace, and deflected your attention away from me. She deserved to be punished for her ingratitude.’
‘Get out!’ her father roared. ‘I will deal with you later.’
‘But I did nothing you hadn’t already done, Papa.’ Maria looked puzzled. ‘Frederick told me you were responsible for the attack upon Alicia. Since that failed, I thought I might have better fortune.’
‘You foolish girl! I never intended to kill your cousin, merely to bring her to her senses.’
Alicia focused her gaze on the fire, looking pale and dazed by the nature of the conversation buzzing around her. It was clear to Nick that she was in a deep state of shock. These revelations must be upsetting her badly. She shouldn’t be exposed to any more of her cousin’s vitriolic spite and warped attempts to justify her actions. He motioned everyone out of the room with an imperious wave of his hand. Gibson closed the door behind them but, at a nod from Nick, opened it again so that he and Janet could also leave.
Chapter Seventeen
Nick crouched in front of Alicia and took both her hands in his. ‘I am sorry you had to hear that,’ he said softly.
She slowly shook her head. ‘At least now I know the truth about my family.’
‘You look all done in. Perhaps I should call Janet to—’
‘No.’ She turned toward him. ‘Your grace, I…that is to say, I must thank you—’
‘Shush.’ He placed a finger against her lips and stilled her words. ‘No thanks are necessary. The pleasure was entirely mine.’
‘Whatever must you think of us all?’
/> What indeed? For her family he spared barely a thought. All he cared about was the compelling creature huddled before him, studiously avoiding his eye. He had never seen her look so defeated before; her spirit comprehensively quashed.
In a blinding moment of clarity, everything became clear to him. The feeling of deep, unmitigated oneness he felt for this wild, unconventional hoyden would not be quelled and at last he understood why. He loved her with a passion he no longer sought to deny. Suddenly, being in love—a situation he’d fought to avoid for fear of complicating his life—seemed like the most natural thing on earth. It had taken two attempts on her life to make him understand that he was no longer afraid of a commitment that required emotional investment.
Alicia Woodley was destined to become his wife. Perhaps he had subconsciously understood that from the first, which was why he had behaved in such an out of character manner. All he had to do now was to convince her. Something told him that wouldn’t be easily achieved, but Nick had learned an important lesson over the past few days. Something worth having was worth fighting for. And he was fiercely determined that no other man on this planet would ever have Alicia. She was, and always would be, exclusively his.
‘I think your family are rather ridiculous. Your uncle is completely out of his depth with the stud.’
She sighed. ‘I think I have always known it.’
‘But worse, due to his inability to control the females under his care, he’s allowed them to develop ideas above their station.’
‘Which has resulted in this farrago.’
‘Never imagine I include you when I brand them as ridiculous. You are quite remarkably lovely and principled and brave, and I—’
She looked away from him, her eyes suspiciously bright. ‘If you leave now, you will be able to make good progress before nightfall.’
‘Look at me, Alicia.’ When she didn’t comply, he shifted his position until she was forced to do so. ‘You must realise that you cannot stay here now.’
‘Of course not. I shall go to the village a little earlier than planned. I dare say it can all be arranged with—’
‘I think not.’
She looked at him, her eyes widened with surprise. ‘I have no choice. I cannot bear to look at my family.’
‘There are always choices, and I have something else in mind for you altogether.’
‘You do?’
‘Absolutely.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘You, my darling,’ he said, pulling her to her feet and into his arms, ‘are my responsibility. And, since you are incapable of taking proper care of yourself, I shall don that mantle in your stead.’
She struggled but he refused to release her. ‘Don’t be ridiculous! Let me go.’
He tweaked her nose. ‘Do you realise that you are the lady I had almost given up hope of ever finding?’
‘What!’ She stared at him in stupefaction. ‘Why must you speak in riddles?’
‘Then let me make myself plain. Alicia, will you do me the inestimable honour of becoming my wife?’
Alicia’s mouth dropped open and she reeled in his arms. Nick tightened his hold on her waist, sensing that her legs were about to buckle beneath her.
‘I don’t…I mean, you can’t possibly be in earnest. I am no duchess.’
He chuckled. ‘No, you’re not. But as soon as I can obtain a special licence, you most assuredly will be, if only you will say yes.’
‘I feel that I ought to say yes,’ she mused, tilting her head and plucking abstractedly at her lower lip, ‘because I owe you so much. And yet it would be a sorry way to repay you if I accepted you out of a sense of duty.’
‘Who said anything about duty?’
‘Stop kissing me, Nicholas, and allow me a moment to gather my wits. I cannot seem to think rationally when you keep distracting me with your wretched lips.’
‘Take all the time you need, darling. There is at least a half-hour to spare before we need to leave here.’
‘What about the lady Mr. Gibson thought you had found?’
Nick laughed. ‘He was referring to you.’
‘Me!’
‘Yes, he understood it before I did myself.’
‘But I cannot marry you.’ This time she succeeded in escaping from his arms. ‘You’re high-handed, dictatorial and quite lacking in human decency. You ride roughshod over everyone you meet and expect them to do exactly as you tell them, just because you are a duke. With authority comes responsibility, you know.’ She wagged a finger at him. ‘I do not approve of your attitude and besides, I couldn’t live beneath a dictatorship.’
‘I admit to being all of those things.’ He offered her the benefit of his most winsome smile. ‘But don’t you love me just a little for all that?’
‘Possibly,’ she conceded with a rebellious toss of her head. ‘You do have a rather coercive sort of charm, I suppose, when you choose to deploy it. And one or two other redeeming features. I am sure their precise nature will eventually occur to me.’
‘I am not altogether a lost cause?’
‘That’s not for me to say.’ A tiny smile tugged at the corners of her lips. ‘I dare say the right lady might be able to nurture your redeeming qualities.’
‘Ah, my love.’ He pulled her back into his arms. ‘You ought to know that, thanks to you, I am no longer quite so dictatorial, or high-handed, or any of the other damned things you’re so fond of calling me.’ His hands moved to her posterior and closed gently over it. ‘I behave in the manner I do because I never realised until now that there was anything wrong with it.’
‘Well, that just proves my point.’
‘I thought that was how dukes are supposed to behave, you see. No one has ever told me any different or dared to question my attitude.’
‘Because they are afraid of offending you and losing your patronage, perhaps.’
‘You have tamed me, Alicia, with your total lack of interest in my material wealth and social position.’ He shook his head. ‘No one, with the possible exception of Gibson, has ever been so dismissive of those advantages before. And I can assure you I have no intention of marrying Gibson.’
Alicia stifled a giggle. ‘I dare say he will be very relieved to hear it.’
‘You have made me ashamed of what I once was, but if you don’t marry me, there is a very real danger that I shall slip back into my old ways. I will probably become more irascible than ever as I endeavour to overcome my disappointment. Think how your friend Gibson will suffer then. Would you have that on your conscience?’
She folded her arms and narrowed her eyes at him. ‘Now you are just being melodramatic.’
‘If I am it’s because I’m desperate. I need you beside me, Alicia, to remind me who I ought to be.’ He dropped his head and looked at her from beneath the curtain of hair which fell across his face. ‘I have never begged anyone for anything in my life before, but I am begging you now.’
‘And so you should. Displaying a little humility would do you the world of good.’
‘Fabian and Matilda would do famously at Dorchester Park.’
She glowered at him. ‘That’s blackmail!’
He smiled complacently and said nothing.
‘Even if I was tempted to accept your proposal, I couldn’t do it. I am not duchess material.’
Nick sent her a bewildered look. ‘Why ever not?’
‘I have no interest in the accomplishments that such creatures set so much stock by.’
‘Such as?’
‘Well, I can’t play any musical instruments, nor can I sing to save my life.’
‘Thank the Lord for small mercies!’
‘You don’t care about that?’ Alicia looked rather discouraged.
‘Not in the least.’ He offered her a predatory grin. ‘I can think of much better ways to occupy our time.’
‘Nor can I embroider.’
‘Dorchester Park is full of servants who can perform that duty.’
‘And
,’ she added, her expression triumphant as she prepared to deliver what she clearly considered a killer blow, ‘I cannot sketch or paint, or—’
‘Highly overrated pastimes.’
She impatiently shook her head. ‘You might think so but society doesn’t share that opinion. You would be shunned by everyone who matters if you marry me.’
‘No one will shun me. I am too important to be ignored. But if they do, then all to the good. I don’t give two figs for society’s view. You are all I care about.’
‘Now perhaps, but will those feeling endure?’
‘You set so little stock by my constancy.’
‘I am trying to prevent you from making a massive mistake. Apart from anything else, my family have behaved atrociously. How could you bear to be related to them through marriage?’
‘It is you I want to marry, not your wretched family.’
‘So we allow them to get away with attempted murder?’
‘They didn’t succeed, which is all that concerns me. But you love Ravenswing Manor and fear for its future, I fancy. Is that what bothers you so?’
‘I have not been at leisure to consider the future of the stud.’ She sighed. ‘But since you mention it, it would be a pity for my father’s work not to continue. Still, I suppose my uncle will have no choice but to sell the estate and get what he can for it.’
‘I will give him a fair price. Enough for him to be able to buy a small house in the country and live modestly, well away from society. I will also find employment for Frederick. I have enough connections to ensure his nose is kept well and truly to the grindstone. That will be punishment enough for him, having to get up every morning and put in a full day’s work.’
‘But—’
‘And your cousin Maria will have to forget her ambition to marry well. Being buried in the country will be slow torture for her. But better yet, knowing that you and I are married and that she will never be invited to spend a single night under our roof will be a constant source of resentment and bitterness. What better punishment could we devise for her?’
Of Dukes and Deceptions: Dangerous Dukes Vol 4 Page 22
