‘You are planning to elope and need access to my fortune in order to provide yourselves with enough to live on.’ Leona gave an arch smile. ‘Sorry to disappoint you, but that won’t happen, so coming to this district so precipitously in order to keep me in your sights was a miscalculation.’
‘You flatter yourself, my dear. Your being here had nothing to do with my visiting my own property.’
‘You own this cottage?’ Leona recalled Mr Adler saying that the owner wished to keep his identity secret. They had all assumed it belonged to a man.
‘There’s no need to look so surprised.’
‘Since we are in the mood to exchange confidences, perhaps you will have the goodness to explain Devonshire’s connection to my late husband’s cousin.’
‘You will have to ask the cousin that. It is not my business.’
‘Since you and Devonshire seem to be so intimately acquainted then I venture to suggest that it is very much your business.’
‘You might as well tell her, my dear.’
Leona gasped when a familiar voice preceded another door into the room being opened. Devonshire strolled through it, thoroughly enjoying the dismay that Leona was too shocked to disguise.
‘You have gone,’ she said, realising as soon as the words slipped past her lips just how ridiculous they sounded. Very clearly he had not gone, and her situation was now perilous. The woman wouldn’t have hurt her with anything more debilitating than the sharp side of her tongue, Leona imagined. But the look in Devonshire’s eye—amusement warring with evil—truly terrified her.
‘Rumours of my departure were greatly exaggerated,’ he replied carelessly, as he perched on the edge of the still unnamed lady’s chair and caressed her cheek in a gesture of such gentle intimacy that ridiculously, Leona felt like an intruder who ought to leave. If only she could. Escape from this room, until Devonshire decided to let her go—and in all probably he would not—would be impossible.
‘My wife and her mother have gone ahead to London, expecting me to follow shortly. They believe I have unfinished business here, which,’ he said, fixing her with a hard, speculative look, ‘I had given up hope of accomplishing. I am obliged to you for coming here and making things so much easier for me.’
‘Before you do anything else you might regret, I think it fair to warn you that they know at the Park where I intended to go.’
Devonshire threw back his head and laughed. ‘You are a very poor liar, Lady Marlowe. I have amused myself these past couple of days watching you all trying to decide what I might be up to. Oh yes, I was well aware that you suspected me of something, but I was unsure if you had linked me to Yaris. It seems I underestimated you in that regard. Even so, none of you came remotely close to guessing the truth,’ he added, glancing with obvious adoration at the lady. ‘Be that is it may, the duke and more especially your admirer, Conroy, would not have permitted you to come here alone, or indeed at all.’
‘Not permitted…’ Leona allowed her words to trail off, thinking now was not the time to argue semantics.
‘But since your curiosity has brought you here, I don’t mind you knowing.’
Oh lud, Leona thought desperately. He obviously wanted to boast but he would hardly do so and let her live to tell the tale. She had no choice but to appear unconcerned and encourage him to keep talking while she tried to think of a way to save herself. There didn’t appear to be any servants in this small house, other than the old maid who seemed loyal to the woman. And the cottage was in an isolated spot, so anyone who did pass by would be blithely unaware of the drama taking place inside this very ordinary room. Even so, she would be missed at the Park sooner or later and they would come looking for her. The thought gave her hope, until she was obliged to accept that they were unlikely to look for her here, at least until it was too late.
‘Then I am all ears,’ she said, sitting forward expectantly. Part of her wanted to laugh hysterically. These two ruthless individuals clearly planned to kill her. She had no means of escape, yet she had fallen back on the impeccable politeness of drawing room conversation.
‘Dear me, where are my manners? Allow me to introduce Mrs Sadie Hislop.’ He allowed a significant pause, waiting for Leona to make a connection to the name. None was forthcoming, until Devonshire obligingly supplied the missing link. ‘Formally Miss Sadie Yaris,’ he said with a wide smile.
The penny dropped along with Leona’s lingering hopes that the lady would temper Devonshire’s violent tendencies. She assumed Hislop was dead and had little doubt that Devonshire had sent him to meet his maker, most likely at his lover’s suggestion. Mrs Hislop was as amoral as her lover. She now had absolutely no doubt that Devonshire had been in Paris in order to do away with George too. No one who stood in the way of this pair’s schemes could look forward to achieving old age.
And Leona very much feared that would also apply to her.
‘You must be Yaris’s sister,’ she said, with commendable calm. ‘I was unaware that he had one.’
‘I was married, most unhappily, at an early age. Hislop was a great disappointment to me, much as Amelia has been to my dear Bertie.’
Bertie?
‘Happily, Bertie released me from the chains of an unhappy union.’
Leona suppressed a shudder. ‘I still fail to understand your mother’s determination to rob me of my rightful inheritance.’
‘Ah well now, that’s her tale to tell, but since you are so curious, I don’t mind giving you the abbreviated version, without the tedious need for the vitriolic spite that always accompanies her frequent accounts of her ill-usage.’ Mrs Hislop yawned behind her hand but her catlike eyes were wide and calculating. She knew Leona was terrified and enjoyed toying with her. ‘You see, your husband’s father was my mother’s beau, until her sister stole him from her.’
It was Leona’s turn to give a dismissive wave. ‘You make him sound like a man with no mind of his own.’
‘My brother was a result of their passion.’
‘Ah, I see.’ And Leona did see, all too clearly. ‘Your mother gave herself to George’s father out of wedlock, assuming he intended to marry her. But the moment he realised that she was a woman of low moral standing, he turned his back on her after he’d had his fun.’
Mrs Hislop chuckled. ‘I’ve always privately subscribed to that view as well, but would never hurt my mother’s feelings by telling her so. I am not completely heartless.’ Leona was tempted to take issue with that contention, but held her tongue. ‘It was bad enough that Marlowe threw her over, especially since she had most unwisely fallen in love with the rogue, but that he should then marry her own sister…well, even I can see how that must have rubbed salt into a very recent wound. Anyway, pregnant and desperate, Mama married Yaris, who had always idolised her and accepted my brother as his own progeny without question. I came along a few years later and have been listening to my mother’s tale of ill-usage since the cradle. As I say, it becomes tedious. Anyway, since Yaris died ten years back, Mama has grown daily more determined to have her revenge, so I decided to help her make it happen.’
‘None of this was my husband’s fault,’ Leona pointed out.
‘Perhaps not, but when my mother went to him, showing him letters between her and his father in which he acknowledged that my brother was his illegitimate issue, your husband promised to remember Mama in his will and leave a substantial amount of his estate to Tom in the event that he didn’t have a son of his own.’
‘Ah, I see.’ It explained a great deal. George had probably felt safe in giving the assurance, assuming that Leona would give him a dozen sons before he died. No wonder he became increasingly anxious and violently inclined towards her when it didn’t happen. ‘You have this assurance in writing?’
‘Mama trusted a Marlowe’s word for the second time,’ she said, her voice an angry hiss, ‘and when she was again disappointed, it tipped her over the edge. I feared for her sanity, and there was no appeasing her.’
‘And yet George died,’ she said, hoping to prompt Devonshire into admitting his guilt in that regard.
‘He’d helped mother and Tom from time to time when they hit financial difficulties,’ Mrs Hislop said, yawning again. ‘But their latest request was rudely refused. George told them to stand on their own feet. He had honoured his obligation and they’d had all they would get from him. Obviously, Mama was distraught and incandescent with rage, so something had to be done about it.’
Realisation dawned and Leona involuntarily placed a hand over her mouth to prevent a terrified gasp from escaping. ‘It’s you,’ she said, pointing an accusatory finger at the woman. ‘I assumed that Mrs Yaris was the driving force behind the scheme to disinherit me because Yaris doesn’t have the backbone or the intelligence. But it isn’t her at all, is it? You’ve planned this every step of the way.’
Mrs Hislop beamed. ‘How very gracious of you to recognise my talents.’
‘I didn’t intend it as a compliment,’ Leona replied with a repellent shudder. ‘It must have come as quite a shock when you realised that Mr Conroy and I had joined forces with the duke against you.’
‘Oh, the business with Conroy’s land was just a ploy on my brother’s part to make some quick money. He assumed Conroy would pay up and provide them with the funds to keep fighting you off. I told them it was a mistake and not to do it. My brother is not capable of rational thought. I told him…Anyway, we knew we would never get our hands on your Irish lands, given the nature of that country’s law, but we are not greedy. I wouldn’t have you think that. We have possession of your London home and possession, as we all know, is nine-tenths of the law. Mama frightened you off, and in all honesty I don’t blame you for that. I couldn’t live for two nights under the same roof as such a bitter woman. We assumed you would run to Ireland, and while you were away your husband’s latest will would have miraculously surfaced and we could quickly have tied things up.’ Leona shook her head, wondering if the woman was deluded. ‘If you had not kept control of his finances, it would have been found before now, but that was an eventuality we could not have anticipated.’
‘Am I expected to feel sorry for you?’ Leona asked with an arch smile.
‘One must manage the hand life deals one, my dear. I married Hislop in the best of faith, even though he was twenty years my senior, with grown children who despised me.’
‘For love, obviously,’ Leona said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
‘He purchased this cottage not five miles from our home for his mistress and took delight in rubbing her tenure here beneath my nose. It was one insult too many. I’d had enough of being looked down upon by his precious son, who took against me because he couldn’t entice me into his bed.’
Leona wondered at her hypocrisy since it was obvious that she’d been sharing Devonshire’s bed since before her husband’s death. She had worked her magic on him and he had ensured that Hislop met with an accident. He seemed rather proficient at that sort of thing, but she resisted the temptation to say as much since she’d prefer him not to keep his hand in by practising on her. Besides, it seemed prudent to keep the woman talking.
‘I had every reason to suppose that I would be a wealthy widow.’ A dark anger radiated from her eyes. ‘But my husband left everything to his horrible children and added insult to injury by bequeathing me his mistress’s cottage.’
Devonshire squeezed her shoulder and Leona sensed the tension draining out of her as she looked up at him and sent him a sensual smile. Two amoral people without consciences, Leona thought, who egged each other on to ever more depraved actions. They had to be stopped, but as things stood she was hardly in a position to do the stopping.
‘Something had to be done,’ Mrs Hislop continued, ‘so I remembered my mother’s justifiable complaints and decided to exact revenge on her behalf. I honestly thought that George would honour his promise, but he did not, which just goes to show that men can never be trusted despite the stock they supposedly put by their word. Well, if he wouldn’t support Mama and my brother whilst he was living, he had become nothing more than an inconvenience.’
‘And that, I’m afraid, my dear, is what you have become,’ Devonshire said with a wintry smile. ‘With you out of the way there can be no disputing Tom’s claim to your estate.’
‘You came here to spy on me when you learned I was in the district. That man who accosted me when I arrived in Shawford has been camping out on the duke’s land.’
‘Only until I sent him on his way again. I had a feeling you’d found his lair, and I didn’t trust him not to talk if he was caught, if only to save his own neck. Yaris found out from your coachman that you were planning to come to Winchester and petition the duke so I decided to detour here.’ He smiled at Mrs Hislop. ‘God alone knew I had sufficient incentive.’
‘Why are you doing this?’ Leona asked him, wanting to understand despite her fear. ‘You inherited a valuable estate and married Amelia, presumably because you wanted to, but you have squandered it all.’
‘Have I?’ A conceited smile touched his lips.
‘Ah, now I understand. You have deliberately let things slide and taken funds away from the estate in order to make good your escape. I suppose you are so far in debt that it would be pointless attempting to sell your property. You owe more than it’s worth.’
Devonshire tilted his head. ‘It wasn’t deliberate neglect. More a case of misfortune. Failed harvests, diseased cattle, dissatisfied tenants always complaining about something or other instead of getting on with their work. What am I supposed to know about such things?’ He yawned. ‘Such a bore. The thought of building it all up again exhausted me. I was not born to be a country squire.’
‘You would prefer to live a life of gambling and debauchery, frittering your funds away on hedonistic pleasures.’
He flexed a brow. ‘Something of that nature.’ He smiled at Mrs Hislop and squeezed her shoulder again.
‘But Amelia—why marry her?’
‘To please the old man. He understood my lack of interest in the estate and threatened to disinherit me if I didn’t knuckle down to a dull life of domestic routine. He approved of Amelia’s connection to the duke.’ A thunderous look invaded his features. ‘Always the blasted duke. But the child is too wrapped up in herself to understand a man’s baser needs, and I soon lost interest in her. Father died…oh, natural causes, don’t worry,’ he added in response to Leona’s suspicious look. ‘Anyway, enough of this talk—’
He reached for her arm but she shook his hand off. ‘My horse is outside,’ she said, unable to keep the panic out of her voice.
‘Is it?’ Devonshire appeared amused. Against her better judgement, Leona glanced out of the window.
The horse was gone.
‘Don’t be ridiculous!’ She tried to appear unconcerned. ‘You will never get away with this. When I am missed the duke will turn his full might upon investigating you, and he will find you, no matter where you run to. He knows about this cottage, obviously.’ She was delighted when they shared a concerned look. They had been so preoccupied, boasting about their achievements, that they appeared to have overlooked that vital fact. ‘And once they discover who owns it, they will piece things together quickly enough.’
‘I am not here, remember. You only came to call because you assumed you would find Sadie here alone.’
‘If your wife is applied to—which she will be—she will say that you did not return to London with her.’
‘Will she?’ Devonshire cocked an arrogant brow. ‘I think you underestimate her devotion to me. I only have to bestow a little attention upon her, tell her the coffers are full again and that we can return to mixing in society and she will say anything I ask her to. Besides, if she thought I was in danger of being arrested, she would automatically lie for me in preference to being branded the wife of a criminal and becoming a social pariah.’ He rolled his eyes. ‘Believe me, nothing matters more to my beloved wife than being seen and admired by t
he right people in the right places.’
Leona suspected that much was true. ‘Mrs Brooke cannot be depended upon to lie.’
‘Mrs Brooke is a bitter woman. Amelia tells me how distraught she was to be obliged to go cap in hand to Lord Amos for support that she should not have needed to ask for. I knew she would broach the subject with him as soon as I arranged for us to break down in this district. She has never got over being excluded from Winchester Park despite her daughter being married to a member of the duke’s family. Believe me, I know.’ He rolled his eyes. ‘I have listened to her litany of complaints on the matter time without number. I’m sure she will toe the line rather than be branded by association and see her favourite daughter’s future in tatters.’
‘Which will not prevent the duke from getting to the truth.’
‘Perhaps, but that is not something you will need to concern yourself about. Now then, Lady Marlowe, I really must insist that you accompany me upstairs. You only have yourself to blame for this situation, you know. If you had quietly ceded ownership of your house to Yaris and retired to Ireland then none of this would have been necessary.’ Leona shuddered. He sounded so reasonable that she almost believed she was the one at fault. ‘Once we have you settled, Sadie and I will have a charming discussion about your future, which sadly will not be of long duration—but as I say, you only have yourself to blame for being so greedy.’
*
Doran and Lord Amos spent several hours in the stud. Doran lost himself in the activity, enjoying it immensely, impressed by what he saw.
‘An excellent set up,’ he told Lord Amos as the men made their way back towards the house. ‘I am thinking about diversifying into horse breeding myself and you have given me a renewed appetite for the idea.’
On the Duke's Authority (Ducal Encounters series 4 Book 3) Page 23
