Defiant Impostor

by Miriam Minger

  “How did you find out all of this?” Dominick demanded, scarcely able to believe what he was hearing, yet finding it difficult not to.

  “A constable was summoned, and I watched ev’rything from a nearby alley, way back in the shadows. The baroness decided t’ take Susanna ‘ome with ‘er rather than send the chit t’ an orphans’ work’ouse, I s’pose out o’ pity. The rest I found out the next day. It’s easy enough t’ bribe a constable’s clerk fer information, Mr. Spencer, and I learned wot I needed t’ know.”

  When Keefer paused to roll himself on one elbow, grunting in pain, Dominick said impatiently, “Go on, man!”

  Throwing him a resentful glance for the misery he was suffering, the convict nonetheless continued. “A few weeks later, I followed Susanna t’ Fairford in Gloucestershire t’ try and get ‘er back. I’d paid good money for that wench! She owed me a tumble! I couldn’t get near the manor, but that Sunday mornin’ I saw the two girls comin’ out o’ church lookin’ like peas from the same pod. That’s wot made me realize today in an instant that me Susanna is now playin’ a much cleverer game than pickin’ pockets and beggin’ as she once did in London. I only wish I knew ‘ow she managed it.”

  “I think I know,” Dominick murmured, everything suddenly making perfect sense to him. “Camille’s ship was struck by typhus fever during the crossing.”

  “There ye ‘ave it, Mr. Spencer! The real Camille died, God rest ‘er soul, while her waitin’-maid became the lady. Ye ‘ave t’ ‘and it t’ her. Susanna’s managed quite a swindle.”

  Until now, Dominick thought grimly, feeling as if a crushing load had miraculously been lifted from his shoulders.

  Adam Thornton had married an impostor. Was it possible that he already knew? Could that be why Camille … Susanna had so abruptly married that scum? He must have found out the truth about her and, wanting to carry out his revenge, had married her anyway, probably forcing her into it by threat of exposure. Well, now the tables were turned to Dominick’s favor for once in his life. Fortune had finally smiled upon him.

  “You never said if you got your tumble or not,” he prompted Dunn, the woman who called herself Camille now nothing more than a whore in Dominick’s eyes. How could she be anything but that, having been both a thief and a beggar, and knowing the likes of this man?

  Keefer shook his shaggy head. “One o’ me own paid thieves who envied me position in London alerted the parish constable that I was at Fairford, and I was arrested before I got a chance t’ talk to ‘er, let alone touch ‘er. I was carted t’ Newgate Prison where I spent five years, then they shipped me ‘ere t’ Virginia.”

  “Hard luck.”

  “Not anymore. I’ve come a step up in the world, eh, Mr. Spencer?”

  “That you have,” Dominick said smoothly, moving to the foot of the cot. “Get some rest, Dunn. I’ll have one of the house girls bring you some ointment for your back, and a hot meal. She can help you wash … and whatever else you might fancy her to do for you.”

  “That’s right decent o’ ye. I ‘aven’t ‘ad a woman since I left Newgate, and buggery with the lads ‘as never been to me likin’.” Keefer glanced at Dobson, who was still waiting in the distant doorway, his pleased expression fading to a scowl. “Do ye think ye could call off yer burly watchdog there? I don’t fancy another slam in the face while I’m recuperatin’.”

  “I’ll tell him to leave you alone,” Dominick replied, starting to walk away.

  “One more thing, Mr. Spencer.”

  Irritated but trying not to show it, Dominick paused. “What?”

  Keefer gestured to the rusty length of chain that bound his left ankle to the cot. “When will this bloody shackle come off me leg?”

  “First thing in the morning,” Dominick promised, thinking of the deadly punishment with currycombs and salt that he still intended to have enacted. This man couldn’t be allowed to live knowing what he did, nor Dobson either, if the overseer chose to give him any trouble. Such astonishing information was for him alone, especially when he was now going to use it to save his own neck and the future of Raven’s Point. “There’s something I must ask of you, Mr. Dunn.”

  Appearing startled that Dominick would address him with such courtesy, the convict blurted, “Anythin’, Mr. Spencer. Joost name it.”

  “Don’t mention our discussion to your mates when they return from the fields later this afternoon, or to anyone else for that matter, not even Dobson. Until you’re out of here tomorrow, you don’t want to risk the other convicts finding out that you’ll soon be the one wielding the whip over their heads. Oh, yes, and the girl will have to be gone back to the house before they arrive.

  Keefer grinned a lusty, gap-toothed smile. “I should be through with the wench by then, and ye’ ‘ave me word about the other. I’ll not suffer a lynchin’ just when me luck’s about t’ change.”

  Dominick said nothing more and quickly left the building, desperate to escape the foul air. He gestured for his overseer to follow him outside; his eyes were watering when he turned to face the man.

  “It was nonsense, Dobson, all of it. Just lies made up to try and save his skin. Say nothing more to that prisoner, do you hear? In fact, don’t even go near him. I’m sending over a girl to see to his back and give him a little pleasure before tomorrow morning.”

  “That’s unusual, isn’t it, Mr. Spencer?”

  “Are you questioning my orders?” he snapped angrily.

  “No, sir. Not at all.”

  “Good. Keep it that way.”

  Without another word to the startled overseer, Dominick strode back to the house, his thoughts already upon the damning letter he planned to write to Adam Thornton, to be delivered by messenger that very afternoon. If what that fool Dunn had told him was true, and he had every reason to believe it was, then he imagined he would be receiving by nightfall an equally swift reply that met all of his demands.

  Murder was no longer necessary, nor must he marry that slut to save himself. Simple blackmail would suffice. Adam and his London whore had fallen right into his hands. They would soon know it was folly to attempt to best Dominick Spencer.

  Chapter 25

  “Master Thornton, your wife’s up from her nap now,” Corliss informed him, popping her head into the game room where Adam had been playing a solitary round of billiards for the past twenty minutes. He had occupied himself with any number of things since arriving home from Raven’s Point two hours ago, while Susanna, complaining of a headache, had gone immediately to their room to lie down. Yet his mind hadn’t been on his diversions, but upon her.

  “Did she say how she’s feeling?” he asked with deep concern, hanging up his cue. It had been torture, not allowing himself to check on her, but he had decided to let her rest since she had seemed unable to do so in the carriage.

  Besides, he had needed time to sort out his thoughts and emotions. Finally achieving his vengeance had paled against his realization that he had savagely misjudged Susanna about plotting with Dominick. He didn’t know how he could ever make it up to her, but he was resolved to try.

  Corliss opened the door a little wider, and reproach shone in her dark eyes as she rested her hand on her hip. “Well, she looks better, not half so pale, but she sure doesn’t seem very happy to me. I hope you don’t mind me saying so, but I wish you two would make up from that fight you had at the Byrds’ party. I can’t imagine that it could have been anything so serious to keep you fussing at each other two days later!”

  “I’m not angry anymore,” Adam said honestly, thinking the maid’s outburst was wholly justified. Things had been strained and uncomfortable at Briarwood since Saturday night, not only for himself and Susanna, but obviously for the servants as well, and it was time harmony was restored.

  “I’m very glad to hear that, Master Thornton, but maybe you might want to go upstairs and tell Mistress Camille, too. She’s the one who needs to hear those words.”

  “You’ve read my mind exactly, Corliss. Woul
d you run out to the kitchen and tell Prue that my wife and I will be taking dinner in our chamber this afternoon? Supper as well, for that matter.”

  “I’d be happy to!” the maid said, beaming. She whirled and fairly flew through the music room to the hall beyond, then he heard the front door close behind her.

  Leaving the game room, Adam’s own smile was fleeting as he turned his thoughts again to Susanna and the fervent apology he had been mentally rehearsing.

  He had been such a bastard to her! If she threw his apology right back in his face he wouldn’t blame her at all, but he planned to tell her again and again, a thousand times if necessary, until she believed he was truly sorry for the callous way he had been treating her.

  Her biting words to Dominick had sent a shock through him, convincing him at last that his suspicions had been of his own making. She had told him she would never plot against him and she hadn’t. He had won his revenge and now it was time to think of the future. Their future.

  Susanna might hate him, but he loved her desperately, and it was time she knew exactly how he felt about her. He couldn’t go on deceiving himself. He needed her as he needed air to breathe, and if he was very, very patient, maybe her desire, pity, and even her hatred for him might evolve first into affection, and someday, if he was lucky, into love. But for now their reconciliation needed to start somewhere, and it would have to start with him—

  “Master Thornton!” came Corliss’s breathless voice behind him just as he reached the stairs.

  He turned to find the maid standing inside the doorway, her expression strained and anxious. She must have burst right in, for the young footman had barely caught the door before it crashed into the wall.

  “Corliss, what’s wrong?”

  “I was on my way to the kitchen, but there was a man outside who just rode up the drive, calling out and asking where he could find you. When I heard he’d come all the way from Raven’s Point, I came right back in to tell you.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Here he comes now!”

  “Move out of my way, girl,” the sweat-soaked rider said coarsely, pushing her aside. “I asked you to find your master and you skittered off on me—”

  “Don’t touch her!” Adam commanded, his deep voice ringing in the hall. Recognizing the man as one of Dominick’s overseers he’d seen that morning, he strode angrily to the door, although he softened his tone as he addressed the wide-eyed maid who had retreated to stand next to the equally startled footman. “Go on to the kitchen, Corliss.”

  “Yes, sir, Master Thornton,” she murmured, giving their rude visitor a wide berth as she fled from the house.

  “If you ever have cause to visit Briarwood again,” Adam warned, his eyes dangerously narrowed, “remember that I don’t take kindly to abuse of my servants. Do you understand?” When the overseer nodded silently, Adam demanded, “What’s your business here?”

  The man reached into his coat pocket and thrust a wax-sealed letter at Adam. “This is from Mr. Spencer. He told me to wait for your reply.”

  Feeling a twinge of apprehension, Adam took it, saying tersely, “Then do so by the stable. You can get water from the trough… and don’t forget what I said about my servants.”

  Without replying, the overseer stomped from the house while Adam broke the blood-red seal and ripped open the letter.

  Scanning the brief contents, he was suddenly oblivious to everything around him except the words screaming in triumph from the page, the first floridly written line in particular … Does the name Keefer Dunn mean anything to you, Mr. Thornton?

  “No. This can’t be happening,” Adam told himself.

  He read the short letter again, this time more carefully, his hands shaking from the fury swelling within him and the chilling sense of betrayal clutching like icy fingers at his heart.

  Susanna had done this to him. She must have told that bastard on Saturday who she really was. How else would Dominick have known that name? No other explanation was given in the remaining lines:

  Since I strongly suspect that you’re familiar with the name, these are my terms. If you wish to continue your charade as the husband of “Camille Cary,” plan on paying well for my silence. I shall expect a reply this evening with your full agreement not only to absorb my debts, but also to award me a substantial annual sum, to be arranged later, which will support me in the grand style deserving of a man of my social standing. Be assured, Mr. Thornton, that if I don’t receive a satisfactory reply before I retire for the night, I will expose your charade with great pleasure before the magistrate tomorrow. Then who shall find himself in prison? D.S.

  “Damn you, Susanna Guthrie,” Adam whispered, the gloating tone of the letter fanning his rage. “Damn you!”

  How could he have been such a fool? he berated himself, crushing the paper in his fist. He had thought she hadn’t plotted against him… that finally, together, they could begin anew. He should have known that a clever, quick-witted actress such as she would find a way to thwart him, despising him as she did.

  He had fully anticipated that Dominick might attempt some treachery before they met in court tomorrow, and he had been prepared to face it, his loaded pistol accompanying him wherever he went. But he would never have suspected after what Susanna had said today at Raven’s Point that his revenge would turn to ashes because of her!

  Enraged, Adam took the stairs three at a time.

  Susanna and Dominick must have staged that outrageous and convincing performance this morning because of William Booth’s presence. Why else would they have gone to such trouble? Dominick knew he couldn’t have said anything about Keefer Dunn in front of the attorney. He would have foiled his only chance to save himself, the chance that had been granted to him by Susanna.

  Yet how did she figure into the scheme? Adam seethed furiously, storming down the hall. Dominick hadn’t mentioned her once in that letter. Was this only a temporary trap until those two could figure out a way to get rid of him permanently and still make it look like an accident? God in heaven, that she would do this to him, that she could betray him so mercilessly … the woman he loved!

  Adam shoved open the door so violently that it slammed against the wall, sending several small framed landscapes crashing to the floor. His gaze flew to where Susanna, seated at her dressing table, spun on the cushioned stool to face him, her eyes wide and alarmed, their startling hue a perfect match for her jade-green dressing gown. Her brush slipped from her slender fingers and thudded to the carpet.

  “Adam … ?”

  Fear clutching at her for the murderous expression twisting his handsome features as he slowly approached her, Susanna felt as if her heart was beating in her throat.

  “Adam?” she repeated when he didn’t answer, his angry eyes daring her to look away. “What’s happened? What’s wrong?”

  “This is what’s wrong!” he spat, tossing the crumpled letter onto her dressing table. “Read it!”

  Forcing her numbed body to respond, Susanna picked up the balled paper with shaking fingers, and began to smooth it out.

  “Who … who is it from?”

  “Just read it!”

  Spreading the crinkled letter in front of her, she could scarcely focus her eyes upon it. The first thing she noticed was the initials at the bottom, and her heart sank, cold dread seizing her. Then she saw the name Keefer Dunn in the first line. She turned her head away, unable to read further.

  Dear God, the worst had come to pass. Her selfish prayer had gone unheeded.

  “Adam, I was going to tell you,” she began, looking up at him imploringly. “I—I just didn’t know how to do it. I knew how much your revenge meant to you, and I couldn’t bear the thought that you might not obtain it because of me. I still can’t believe it was him—”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Adam cut her off so angrily that she jumped, gasping in fright. “Did you read the letter or not?”

  “I … I can’t,” she said, shaking her head. “I saw the name Ke
efer Dunn … and I couldn’t go on.”

  “Then I’ll read it for you,” Adam said, snatching up the paper, “and listen well, my love, for you are the cause of this!”

  As he rushed through the letter, his hate-filled tone cut into Susanna’s heart like a razor-sharp knife.

  The situation was as bad as she had imagined. No, worse. Keefer Dunn must have identified her to Dominick and then told everything about her, probably in an attempt to save his own miserable life. Now Adam would never complete his revenge, and he was blaming her, but it wasn’t her fault. Fate had worked against them, thrusting in their path a man she had hoped never to see again.

  “Adam, I’m truly sorry this has happened,” she said, rising from the stool to face him, “but you can’t say it’s my fault. If you hadn’t made me go with you this morning, you’d still have your revenge. How could I have known that Keefer Dunn was a convict at Raven’s Point?”

  His eyes widening, Adam suddenly threw back his head and laughed, a harsh, humorless sound. Startled by his unexpected reaction, she went on nervously.

  “It was a horrible trick of fate that Keefer tried to escape today … that he was one of the men dragged to the house to be whipped. He recognized me the moment he saw me, and I recognized him” —she shuddered, remembering— “those dark-yellow eyes, like a snake’s, and his ugly pocked face behind that scraggly beard. I tried to tell myself it wasn’t possible, but it was him, Adam, and I should have told you sooner—”

  “Good God, woman, do you expect me to believe this tale?” Adam shouted, grabbing her by the arms and shaking her hard. “A trick of fate? I knew you would come up with some fantastic story, but this … this is incredible!”

  Susanna gasped at him in astonishment, tears smarting her eyes.

  “And don’t dare start crying either, because it won’t work,” he railed at her, his hands tightening their painful grip. “What a consummate actress you are to summon tears so effortlessly. I have to grant it to you, Susanna Guthrie, you’re as clever and devious as they come.”