by Lucy Monroe
“Both your parents deserve to be horsewhipped.”
She shuddered. “Jared didn’t hate me, but everything changed after that. Papa no longer loved me and Jared grew quiet, as if something inside him had died.”
“He probably learned of your beating and felt responsible.”
Irisa’s gaze flew to his, her eyes wide with shock. “Why would he think that?”
“For the same reason you felt responsible for his suffering. You were both children and not mature enough to realize that what happened was no one’s fault.”
“I disobeyed my nurse and Jared was nearly killed because of it. Every time I behaved in a wayward fashion after that, my parents reminded me what my willful disobedience could cause. I know very well whose fault it was.”
“Small children disobey on occasion. It is the way of life. What happened to your brother was unfortunate, but it was not malicious on your part and you are not to blame for the estrangement between Ravenswood and your parents. All responsibility for that lies squarely at your father’s door.”
“My parents—“
“Behaved abominably.”
She looked at him with an expression both infinitely sad and terribly vulnerable. “I have often thought I could not treat my own child so harshly.”
Unable to resist the temptation any longer, he moved to the bed and pulled her into his arms. She cried all over him and he was glad because he knew she needed to release these tears. She’d carried a false burden of guilt far too long.
When she eventually calmed, he asked, “Is that why you tried to run again even though you knew I didn’t want you to go and neither did the rest of your family?”
“Papa and Mama would have approved my decision.”
“They are unnatural parents in my opinion.”
“I think perhaps you are right.” She sighed and snuggled closer to him. “I could not stand the idea of hurting you as I had hurt my brother. The scars might not be visible on your face, but marriage to me will mar your pristine reputation beyond redemption.”
“To hell with my reputation. I cannot let you go.”
“But you want to marry the perfect paragon.”
“I love you, Irisa. To me, you are everything that is perfect.”
She shuddered against him. “I was so glad you stopped me from leaving Town this morning.”
It was not the reaction he wanted to his declaration, but he had to allow for the fact she probably did not believe him yet. It would take time. Her parents had done her a huge disservice and she was only slowly coming to realize how wrong they had been.
“Why were you glad?” he asked, trying to draw her out.
“Because I love you.” She raised tear drenched eyes to his and spoke with conviction that went to the very depths of his soul. “I want to marry you. I want to bear your babies and help you with your estates. I want to experience the indescribable pleasure I find in your arms and I want to give you pleasure. Lots of it. I never again want to worry you are another woman’s lover because you will be mine. I want to sit across from you at the dining table and discuss all of life’s important subjects. I want to grow old with you.”
Lucas could not move. He could barely breathe. He pressed his lips to hers. She sighed and responded sweetly, twining her arms around his neck. It was a kiss of commitment. A promise. A vow. And when it was over they were both shaking.
He released her and stepped away from the bed along with the temptation it represented. There were still things that needed to be said.
“Irisa, you are not responsible for your family’s troubles and you aren’t selfish for wanting to marry instead of giving into the blackmailer.”
“But everyone is going to be touched by the scandal, Lucas. Everyone except Papa and Mama pretend it doesn’t matter, but it does. I’m bringing disgrace to my family and I can’t seem to stop myself.”
Black rage churned inside of Lucas, but he kept it hidden. He wasn’t angry with Irisa. He was furious with her parents for making an innocent girl feel responsible for their sin.
“You aren’t bringing disgrace on your family. Your father is the one who terrorized his wife into running away. He’s the one who never went after her and married another woman while the first countess was still living. You didn’t do any of that and you aren’t responsible for making it happen.”
“But if Mama had not gotten pregnant with me, she could not have trapped Papa into marriage.”
“If Langley had not been unfaithful, your mother could not have gotten pregnant. But regardless of how it happened, I’m bloody glad it did. I want to marry you, Irisa. Your honor and courage far exceed those of any other lady I know. You will make me a very suitable countess.”
She flew off the bed and hugged him much as she had that morning. He wrapped his arms around her and returned the embrace and that is how Clarice found them when she came to help Irisa get dressed, Lucas’s chubby niece in tow.
***
Indescribable happiness bubbled inside of Irisa as she carefully organized her papers and ledgers for movement to Ashton House and she reveled in the sensation. She was marrying the man she loved and he said he loved her.
She was not sure she trusted the words. After all, not so long ago he had scoffed at the very idea as romantical drivel. Indeed, if he did love her, it was an image of perfection that went only as deep as the façade of her behavior. Not the real Irisa Sellwyn, illegitimate and somewhat headstrong daughter of the Earl of Langley.
Even so, if he was willing to overlook the episode with Miss de Breiuse, Irisa vowed she would never again behave in a way that would invite comment by the ton. She would not make him sorry he married a woman with a less than pristine past.
Tomorrow, she would become the Countess of Ashton and even if her illegitimacy were exposed, nothing would change that. As her sister and Drake had pointed out, among the ton, marriage covered a multitude of sins and she was determined to add no more to feed the gossip mill.
She looked up at the sound of a light tap on the door. Pansy had gone to Ashton House to oversee Irisa’s things being put away in the Countess’s bedchamber.
“Enter,” she called as she closed the lid on the traveling case full of papers.
One of her aunt’s upstairs maids walked in and curtsied, then handed Irisa an envelope. The thick white linen paper looked all too familiar and Irisa almost shrank away from it before silently admonishing herself not to be a coward. It was one thing to refuse to dwell on the blackmailer’s threats, it was another thing entirely to hide from them. She was not her mother. She would face whatever problems might arise with her eyes firmly open.
Reaching out for the note, she was about to dismiss the maid when she realized that unlike the other one, this note had not been franked. It had not come via the post.
“Did you see who delivered this?” Her voice came out harsher than she intended and the maid’s eyes widened.
“No, milady. Cook said it come to the back door. A boy delivered it. One what runs errands and such for small bits o’ change.”
Irisa’s heart sank. “Thank you.”
The maid curtsied again and left.
Irisa’s hands trembled as she opened the envelope and pulled out the missive. The virulent words made her ill, but soon her discomfort turned to satisfaction. The blackmailer had given her all she needed to defeat his nefarious schemes.
***
She smiled with anticipation as first Lucas, and then Jared read the note. She had sent for Lucas immediately after having received the second threat. Jared had arrived at Aunt Harriet’s at the same time as Lucas and she decided to take him into her confidence as well. They were seated around a table in her aunt’s small library. The same table she had been sitting at when the first note arrived.
Lucas looked up from the note and met her eyes. “You do not seem upset.”
She grinned. “How can I be upset when the blackguard has given us such a prime opportunity?” She clasped h
er hands in delight. “We will set a trap with myself as bait and catch him before he can do any damage. The family will be safe and I will have my wedding.”
“You’ll have your wedding regardless.” Lucas’s tone did not suggest she argue the point and she didn’t.
Touching his arm, she soothed him. “Of course.”
“You believe Ashton will allow you to set yourself up as bait?” Jared made it sound like her plan was as rickety as a three-legged stool.
She frowned. “Naturally. How else are we to catch him?”
“He demands you come alone carrying a great deal of blunt,” Lucas reminded her, not looking at all like he was falling in with her plan as she had expected.
Crossing her arms, she sat back in her chair and fixed both her brother and her fiancé with a look that told them she meant to have her way. “I assume that between the three of us we can be sufficiently clever to outwit one little blackmailer.”
“I will not allow you to be put at risk.” Lucas’s expression was every bit as set as her own.
“Then protect me.”
Jared rocked back on the legs of his chair. “I know that expression. We either agree to help her, or she’ll go on her own. It’ll take tying her to the bed to keep her here.”
She did not consider this in the same vein as behaving with impeccable decorum. She had no choice but to stubbornly insist on taking action. It was for Lucas’s own good.
His expression was unreadable. “And who said I was adverse to tying her to the bed?”
She gasped in outrage. “Lucas, that is a terrible thing to say.” Turning to her brother, she said, “You can quit your laughing. You should be offended on my behalf.”
Jared shrugged. “I’m thinking your marriage bed might be bloody interesting if your husband isn’t adverse to tying you to it.”
It was Lucas’s turn to laugh, but her face felt like it had caught fire. She could not believe her brother had said that. Did ladies and gentlemen truly do such things? She wasn’t about to ask Lucas in front of Jared. Enough was enough.
“The topic of discussion is our plan to catch the villain trying to prevent me from marrying Lucas, not my marriage bed.” Even saying the words in front of Jared mortified her, but she could pretend to be as casual as they.
Lucas gave her a wickedly sexy grin and winked. Thankfully, his next words did not match his teasing actions.
“You expect me to protect you while you wait in the middle of Hyde Park in the dead of night?” He sounded merely curious.
“Yes. Surely for a former intelligence agent, such an undertaking should not be too difficult.” She gave up trying to shame him into it. “Please, Lucas. We have to try.”
“No, we don’t. Your aunt was right. Secrets do have a way of getting out. I’m not going to put you at risk to keep this one. It isn’t worth it. You’re too precious. Do you understand me?”
The words and the intensity with which they were spoken went straight to her heart, but she couldn’t give in. She tried to formulate an argument in her head that would sway him, but before she came up with anything Jared spoke.
“If it were just the gossip, I’d agree with you. But what about the incident at Ashton Manor? We don’t know if the bastard is dangerous to Irisa, but we can’t take that risk.”
Lucas’s expression turned chilling. “You’re right, but there are too many variables in this circumstance we cannot control. She could be hurt in our effort to protect her.”
“Let us discuss what we can control,” Irisa said, refusing to be left out of the conversation. It was her plan, after all.
“You are instructed to arrive in a hansom cab. It would take very little to arrange the use of one and have either Jared or myself disguised as the driver.”
She considered that, looking first at Lucas and then Jared. “I don’t think so. You are both rather distinctive in your size.”
Lucas narrowed his eyes while looking at Jared. “You’re right. It will have to be me. Ravenswood’s bulk is unmistakable.”
She had said they were both too big, but would not quibble. She assumed Lucas knew how to disguise himself.
Jared shrugged. “I’ll get to the rendezvous point early and conceal myself as close as possible.”
“We’ll bring Drake in on this and he can do the same.”
Irisa smiled. “There. You see. With you, Jared and Drake so nearby, nothing could possibly happen to me.”
Lucas did not return her smile. “Does it strike you that your impulsive nature must be quite well known amongst the ton? You will notice the blackmailer thought nothing of demanding you come to Hyde Park in the middle of the night. Alone. Most ladies would faint at the very idea.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Poor-spirited creatures.”
But his words touched on a nerve. Perhaps he was right and the impulsive nature she thought she’d suppressed so well, had shown itself once too often. After this adventure, she would do her best to curb that tendency once and for all.
***
Late that night, Irisa rode in the cab, according to plan. It stopped. Taking a deep breath and saying a quick prayer for courage, Irisa opened the door and stepped down. The park looked very different at night with its trees casting ominous shadows in the moonlight. The fog had rolled in during the carriage ride from Aunt Harriet’s house and soon it would be difficult to see Lucas and the hansom cab at all.
He had instructed her to return to him if no one showed up before the fog got too thick. She shivered in the cold air and was reminded of the night she spied on Lucas and Clarice.
At least tonight she had a warmly lined cloak covering an equally warm gown. Lucas had insisted she wear something woolen, which was not at all fashionable, but imminently practical.
She walked along the path that led to the dictated meeting place, the satchel full of blunt banging against her leg. Lucas had insisted she carry the money demanded in case something went wrong. Her gaze darted to the right and left of the path, but she could not make out Jared or Drake. Good. With any luck, neither would the blackmailer. When she arrived at the well constructed replica of a ruin that was her destination, it was empty except for a piece of white stationary held in place on the ground by a rock. She stepped forward and picked the paper up. It gave detailed instructions for a secondary meeting place further along the path.
Should she go on? If she wanted to catch the blackmailer, she had no choice. It would not hurt to go to the next rendezvous point, not if she stayed on the path and hurried before the fog became so thick she was entirely cloaked in its pooling brackish mass. Irisa stepped out of the ruin on the opposite side from where she had entered it. She could only hope her movements were observed by Jared or Drake.
Walking swiftly, she reached the fork in the path indicated on the paper. She saw no sign of anyone. Nor did she see another note. Had the blackmailer changed his mind? As the thought entered her head, a hand landed heavily on her shoulder.
“So you decided to show up after all, Lady Irisa.” The voice was low and gravelly, but the accent was cultured.
She stifled the shriek that crawled up her throat and tried to turn around, but the hand on her shoulder stayed her.
So did the hard object poking into her shoulder blade.
“Do not make a sound and I won’t have to hurt you.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Rage lent strength by fear swept through Lucas as Irisa and the darkly clad figure behind her started moving down one of the side paths.
What did the little idiot think she was doing? He had told her not to move from the ruin. He had abandoned his position by the hansom cab the moment Irisa walked out the other side of the ruin, but he was still too far away to stop them. Bloody hell.
Where were Ravenswood and Drake? They should have intervened already, but Irisa and her companion were drawing farther away unimpeded. Her silent acquiescence bothered Lucas. Either she was being a bloody fool and straying from the plan willingly, or the cl
oaked figure behind her had threatened her in some way.
Lucas moved with the silent tread he had perfected in his younger days, steadily closing the gap between himself and the two people ahead of him on the path. He picked up his pace, realizing that with the gathering fog he would be unable to see them in a few minutes unless he got much closer. The sound of their voices floated back to him and he tried to make out what they were saying.
“Where are you taking me?” Irisa asked.
“It is imperative you maintain your silence, Lady Irisa. I will have to ask you not to speak again.” The cultured voice had an unreal quality that put Lucas further on his guard.
“Why do I have to be quiet? There’s no one around this time of night to hear me.” Irisa’s voice rose slightly, sounding irritated. Good girl. Her next words, however, made his blood run cold. “There’s also no need for you to hold a pistol on me. I’ve brought the money and you’re welcome to it.” She stopped walking. “Don’t you want to see it?”
Then a multitude of things happened at once. Two familiar figures rose out of the fog and rushed Irisa and the man standing behind her. Drake grabbed her and lifted her away in one clean move. Ravenswood didn’t give the blackmailer a chance to react, but kicked the gun from his hand and then cold-cocked him with a single powerful punch.
Lucas arrived in time to watch the blackguard fall to the ground. He would have liked the satisfaction of hitting the bastard, but he would settle for questioning him once he woke up from his forced sleep.
Lucas bit back the urge to ask Irisa what the bloody hell she thought she’d been doing when she left the ruin. The fog was so thick now, he couldn’t see anything beyond a few feet and there was no reason to believe the blackmailer worked alone. His cohorts could be waiting close by in the shrouded darkness. Ravenswood and Drake’s silence said their thoughts ran along the same lines. Irisa, however, showed no such reluctance to speak.
