‘Not possible,’ Barrington said. ‘The baroness’s maid said she saw your father take the necklace.’
‘That’s right. Eliza was Julia’s maid.’
‘Wrong,’ Barrington said. ‘I interviewed all of the household help. No one matching Miss Paisley’s description worked there at the time of the robbery.’
‘That’s because Eliza wasn’t there the day you questioned the staff. Her sister, Justine, was.’
‘But I didn’t interview a Justine Paisley,’ Barrington said. ‘The baroness’s maid was a girl by the name of Eliza Smith.’
‘Exactly. Eliza Smith is Elizabeth Paisley,’ Anna said patiently. ‘She changed her name when she went to work for Julia. And she asked her sister, Justine, to stand in for her on the day you went to interview the staff because she was afraid that if she spoke to you, her nerves would give her away. Justine knew nothing of what Eliza had done so Eliza knew she would be entirely convincing.’
‘Are you telling me the baroness didn’t know she had two different girls working for her?’
‘Not when the only difference between them was the colour of their eyes,’ Anna said triumphantly. ‘Justine and Eliza are twins.’
There it was. The missing piece of the puzzle. Barrington hadn’t been able to trace Elizabeth Paisley because she had changed her name to Smith and because she and her twin sister were pretending to be the same person.
He picked up the crystal paperweight and turned it over in his hand, the sunlight sending shards of silver dancing around the room. Elizabeth and Justine Paisley. Damn.
‘So it all started,’ he said slowly, ‘when Edward saw Elizabeth Paisley…or Smith as she was then, at the baroness’s dinner party.’
‘Actually, it started a little before that, but I suspect they first became lovers that night. Eliza told me she spotted Edward the moment she walked into the dining room and he must have noticed her because I saw them together later that night.’
‘Where?’
‘In the study. After you and I…parted company on the balcony, I went back into the house through another door and came upon Edward and Miss Smith.’
He watched the colour spring to her cheeks and his eyebrows rose a fraction of an inch. ‘In flagrante delicto?’ When her colour deepened, he couldn’t help smiling. ‘That must have been awkward.’
‘Apparently more so for me than for Edward,’ Anna said ruefully. ‘A few days later, I overheard him telling two of his friends that he had installed a new mistress at his house. I put two and two together.’
‘So she went to him willingly,’ Barrington said.
‘Oh yes. Eliza said that while Colonel Tanner had been good to her, she wasn’t in love with him.’
In love with him. So, his hunch had proven true. ‘Is that how Edward convinced her to steal the necklace?’ Barrington asked. ‘By telling her he loved her?’
‘Of course. He told her she would be doing it for them, so they could be together.’
‘And she was gullible enough to believe it,’ he said wryly.
‘A woman in love is all too ready to believe anything she’s told,’ Anna pointed out. ‘Edward made her believe that selling part of the necklace would provide the money they needed to start a new life together. And Eliza was too much in love with him to see how impossible a reality that was.’
‘Of course. We always think the best of those we love,’ Barrington murmured. ‘Only to discover that love blinds us to the truth. Eliza was no different.’
‘Until she found out it was all lies. When she threatened to leave, Edward realised she had the power to expose him and his method of persuasion took on a more…physical form.’ Anna looked at him and Barrington saw the anger in her eyes. ‘That’s why I had to take her away.’
He froze, hardly able to believe what she’d said. ‘You took her out of his house? Dear God, Anna, do you realise how dangerous that could have been?’
‘The only danger would have been to Eliza if I’d left her there!’
‘And what if Edward had arrived whilst you were helping her to escape?’ he said.
‘He likely would have been angry and put a stop to it.’
‘He might have done a damn sight more than that.’
‘Why does everyone insist on believing that Edward would hurt me?’ Anna asked in exasperation. ‘He’s my brother, for heaven’s sake!’
‘He’s also a man with a grudge and guilty of having plotted a serious crime,’ Barrington retaliated. ‘He attempted to destroy your father’s reputation and apparently had no qualms about using violence against Miss Paisley or her sister. Speaking of which, we have to find the other sister as quickly as possible. Once your brother discovers what’s happened, she won’t be safe.’
‘I know. That’s why a carriage is on its way to pick Justine up now and take her to the Marquess of Bailley’s house,’ Anna said. ‘I asked Lydia if the girls could stay with her until I’ve had a chance to contact some friends of mine in the country who might be able to provide positions for them.’
‘Good girl,’ Barrington said approvingly. ‘While I don’t like involving anyone else in this, Lady Lydia’s house is probably the safest place in the short term. Your brother would never think to look for Miss Paisley or her sister there.’ He turned away from her, dragging a hand through his dark hair. There was still much to be done, but when he thought of what Anna had already endured, and what could have happened…‘I’m sorry you had to get involved in this, Anna. I would have spared you, if I could.’
‘I know,’ Anna said softly. ‘But none of this is your fault, Barrington. Edward’s turned out to be the villain. I would never have believed him capable of such treachery, but it seems I didn’t know him or Peregrine as well as I thought.’
‘You can’t know what people don’t want you to. That’s what makes this such a dangerous business,’ Barrington said, walking towards her. ‘Please don’t do it again.’
His voice was soft, barely above a whisper, yet it reverberated through her with the force of a hurricane. ‘You don’t have the right to tell me what to do,’ she whispered back.
‘No, but I’m going to regardless. And do you know why?’ He came to a halt in front of her, so close that he could see the pulse beating beneath her skin. ‘Because if something were to happen to you, I would never know peace again.’ He raised his hands and placed them on either side of her face. ‘If I never had the chance to kiss you again, I would slowly go insane. Much as I’m doing now…’
He waited for her to pull away, but when she leaned into him and closed her eyes, Barrington knew there was no turning back. He took her face between his hands and angled her mouth to his, desperate to feel the softness of her mouth under his.
It was more than he expected. Her lips, sweet, soft, and maddeningly erotic, wiped every thought from his mind but how much he wanted her. He touched his tongue to her upper lip, heard her breath catch and felt his world shift when she opened her mouth to him.
The taste of her nearly drove reason from his brain. The warmth of her in his arms, the hunger he tasted in her kiss, were all that mattered. And when her arms came around him and her fingers pressed into his back, urging him closer, he knew he couldn’t let her go. With a groan, he slipped one hand around to cup the nape of her neck, tilting her head back, exposing her throat. She smelled like heaven and, like a starving man, he feasted on her, savouring the scent and the taste of her skin. Her breasts were warm and heavy against his chest, rising and falling as the tempo of her breathing increased.
He reclaimed her mouth, his kiss no longer gentle, his tongue exploring the shadowy recesses of her mouth. He kissed the pulse beating at the base of her throat, and when she groaned and arched against him, he cupped one breast, feeling the nipple harden through the slight material of her gown.
Anna moaned, a whisper into his hair, and he went as hard as iron. God, he needed her. Needed to peel away the layers of clothing until they lay skin to skin, to caress her unt
il they were both aching with desire, to hear her cry out his name as he claimed her for his own…
‘Anna,’ he whispered against her throat. ‘Oh, my love…’
He spoke without thinking, the endearment slipping naturally from his lips. He no longer cared if she knew how he felt. All he wanted was to be close to her, as though, in this intimate embrace, all the reservations he’d felt had suddenly evaporated.
But something was different. Anna was pulling back. Her arms fell away, leaving him cold where he had been hot. Empty where he had been full. And when he looked at her, it was to see tears rolling down her cheeks. ‘What’s wrong, my love?’
‘Don’t call me that,’ she protested, her voice tremulous. ‘Don’t talk to me of love when, by your own admission, you have none to give me.’
Her words stabbed at him like the point of a rapier. ‘You know why I said that. I told you of the risks—’
‘But you kissed me as though you cared—but you don’t.’
‘I do! Just—’
‘Just not enough to marry me, yes, I know,’ she threw at him. ‘Then why torment me like this, Barrington? I won’t be your mistress.’
‘I would never ask that of you,’ he said, aware that his own heart was thundering in his chest. ‘But neither will I be the cause of you putting yourself in danger. You’ve already seen what I bring to your life: Rand’s life in shambles; your father held up for ridicule; and you, forced to speak out against your brother and forcibly remove a woman from the prison he was holding her in. Do you not see the dangers of being involved with me?’
‘What I see,’ she said huskily, ‘is a man trying to put right what others have put wrong. A man who chooses to expose the weaknesses that turn good people bad and which destroy families along the way. You did not ruin Peregrine’s life, Barrington. He did that by involving himself with Lady Yew. And you certainly didn’t hold my father up for ridicule. That was all Edward’s doing.’
‘And what of the dangers from Edward now? You’ve seen what he’s capable of,’ Barrington said. ‘And while you might not want to believe it, all men are capable of violence. All it takes is one spark to ignite the fire.’
‘Does that include you?’ she asked.
He swallowed hard as an image of Hayle raising his hand to her appeared in his mind. ‘If it came to the possibility of your being hurt by another, yes, I would most definitely be capable of violence.’
He had no idea if it was the answer she expected, or even the one she wanted. But it was the only one he could give and he knew that she was shaken by the intensity of his declaration.
‘I have no wish to inspire such behaviour,’ she said in a low voice. ‘It has always been my desire to bring out the best in people, not the worst. And violence of any kind can only be the worst.’
‘That’s why I need you to be careful,’ Barrington warned. ‘Your brother is guilty of having tried to implicate your father in the theft of the necklace. If he suspects you of going public with that information, how do you think he’s going to react? His standing in society means a great deal to him. He won’t look kindly upon anyone who exposes him for what he really is.’
‘Maybe not, but how can I expose him, Barrington? He’s a member of my family. Think of what it would do to my father. How disloyal it would be—’
‘Did Edward consider loyalty when he asked the Marquess of Yew to persecute Rand over the affair?’ Barrington said brutally. ‘Knowing it would cause Rand public humiliation and disgrace?’
She blanched. ‘Edward asked Lord Yew to bring charges against Peregrine?’
‘Yes. The marquess is actually quite proud of his wife’s ability to seduce younger men. He doesn’t care that she slept with Rand, and neither did Edward. All your brother wanted to do was humiliate Rand in the eyes of society.’
‘But why?’
‘Because he’s jealous.’
‘Jealous! Why on earth would Edward be jealous of Peregrine? He’s heir to an earldom, for heaven’s sake! Peregrine is merely my father’s godson—’
‘No, Anna. Edward hates Peregrine Rand because he is your father’s other son—’
‘What?’
He’d gone too far. The moment he saw the look of disbelief on her face, Barrington knew he’d said too much, because contrary to what he’d believed, she hadn’t worked it out. As astute as she was when it came to analysing and fixing relationships between other people’s families, she was blind to the truth when it came to her own. ‘You didn’t know,’ was all he said.
‘Didn’t know?’ she demanded in a tortured whisper. ‘How could I possibly have known? Papa introduced Peregrine as his godson. I had no reason to believe he was anything else.’
‘What about the physical resemblance between them?’
‘I thought it barely noticeable. Even Edward doesn’t resemble
my father all that much. Or are you going to tell me he’s not really my brother either?’
Barrington heard the tension in Anna’s voice and, though his first instinct was to apologise, he knew silence was the better choice. It was too late for apologies now. The damage was done. Anna hadn’t moved an inch from where she stood, but she was as distant from him as the moon was from the earth. ‘It was never my intention to hurt you, Anna.’
‘Then why would you say such a thing to me?’
‘Because I know it to be the truth. I did some digging into your family history,’ Barrington said, not bothering to mention that it was Lord Richard Crew who had discovered the truth about Peregrine’s background. ‘It was all there, in the parish registers.’
Anna didn’t move, but her eyes grew suspiciously bright. ‘So that’s why Edward hates Peregrine so much,’ she whispered. ‘He worked it out as soon as Peregrine arrived.’
‘I suspect so, yes.’
She was silent for a long time, her expression one of mute despair. Barrington didn’t say anything either, knowing it was better that she work matters out for herself. Anything else he said now might only make the situation worse.
Finally, she spoke. ‘Why didn’t Papa tell us? Surely we had a right to know.’
‘Perhaps he thought to spare you the hurt you’re suffering now. And while it pains me to say it, he wouldn’t be the first nobleman to father a child outside marriage.’
‘How dare you!’ she cried. ‘My father loved my mother. He was faithful to her until the day she died! How do I know you’re not the one telling lies? You could be making this all up!’
‘Why would I do that?’
‘I don’t know.’ Anna wrapped her arms around her chest, as though to stop herself from shattering into a million pieces.
‘You once told me that people lie to protect themselves or someone they care about, but we both know those aren’t the only reasons. People lie to influence others, or to make them feel better about themselves. They lie to inflict hurt.’
‘So you believe I’m deliberately trying to hurt you by lying to you about your father’s relationship to Peregrine Rand?’
Anna shook her head. ‘I don’t know what you’re trying to do. All I know is that my father is an honourable man. He would never have done something like that. It would have destroyed our mother. And he would never bring a child he’d had with another woman to live under the same roof as Edward and me. It would be too painful for all of us.’ Her chin came up. ‘If Peregrine is my father’s child, he would have told us. I know he would.’
Barrington said nothing. What could he say? She was a daughter defending the father she loved. She trusted him, as she’d trusted her brother, believing that she knew the ways of the world. The ways of love.
Yet she didn’t know how love could twist and warp until it was unrecognisable to anyone who saw it. She didn’t know how it could wound with a single word, or destroy with a single glance. For what was jealousy but love without trust? What was obsession but love without reason?
Hayle was jealous of Rand because he was the product of his father�
��s love with another woman. Elizabeth Paisley had stolen for the man she loved because she believed it would strengthen their bond and allow them to start a life together. And the earl had lied to his family in an effort to protect them from a devastating truth. He probably had been faithful to his wife while he was married to her, but Peregrine was his child by a woman he’d met before he married Isabel. Likely before their marriage had even been arranged or the two of them had met.
Sadly, none of that mattered now. Anna was looking at him as though he was the serpent in the Garden of Eden. As though he was the source of all the rumours and lies. There was nothing he could do now but finish his investigation and walk away. Out of the case, out of her life.
‘I will call upon your brother this evening, Lady Annabelle,’ Barrington said quietly.
‘Not at home!’ she gasped.
He shook his head. ‘Lord Hayle spends Thursday nights at his club. I shall speak to him there.’
‘What will you say?’ she asked, not looking at him.
‘That is between your brother and myself. But when the interview is over, I shall send word to your father of the outcome.’
‘And what about me, Barrington?’ Anna said, finally raising her eyes to his face. ‘What would you say to me?’
He stared down at the blotter, knowing there was only one thing he could say. ‘I will say goodbye. Because after what’s happened between us today, I can’t imagine there possibly being anything else appropriate.’
Chapter Fourteen
Contrary to what he’d told her, Barrington did not find Hayle at his club that evening. He called in at White’s on his way to another society event, only to be informed by the manager that the earl’s son had not yet put in an appearance.
Thanking him, Barrington left and climbed back into his carriage. Where did he go next? There were any number of hells to which Hayle might have gone, but it would take the entire night to investigate them all. Had he gone to see his mistress? Possible, Barrington reflected. And if so, he would have found the house in darkness and Eliza gone. How would he react to such a development? With anger? Or with fear? Would he suspect Eliza of having revealed the part he’d played in the theft of the necklace and realise that information now existed that could connect him to the crime, thereby exonerating his father?
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