Sins of a Duke (16 page)

He inclined his head. “Certainly, Your Highness. We will need a chaperone for you, however.”

She narrowed her eyes for the briefest of seconds, clearly annoyed at the suggestion. “Lieutenant May will accompany us, then. Though I hardly think either of us could be accused of an impropriety in so public a setting.”

“Melbourne is right, my dear,” Embry said. “One can never be too cautious. Lieutenant, please accompany my daughter.”

The young man saluted. “Of course, Your Majesty.”

Sebastian offered his arm, and she wrapped her warm fingers around his sleeve. They descended from the box again, May on their heels. “Shall we head for the lake?”

“That is acceptable.”

They passed two boxes before the occupants of the third one caught his attention. Stiffening, he stopped. “And what are you doing here tonight?” he asked in the coolest voice he could manage.

Valentine raised a glass of wine in his direction. “You know how Eleanor loves acrobats,” he said with a jaunty grin.

If they’d been alone, Sebastian would have told him precisely what he thought of this damned poor excuse for a spying expedition. On the other hand, their presence was partly his fault for mentioning where he was going. “Sarala, Nell, Shay,” he said curtly. “Where are Zach and Caroline, then?”

“In the midst of Witfelds,” Shay answered, his gaze on Josefina and her bodyguard. “We thought it best not to risk Mrs. Witfeld’s health by keeping her out-of-doors at night.” He bowed. “Good evening, Your Highness.”

“Lord Charlemagne, Lord Deverill.” She smiled, her eyes lighting. “Hello again, Eleanor, Sarala. And thank you again for asking me to luncheon. I miss having female friends to chat with.”

Eleanor smiled back, though Sebastian knew her well enough to see that the expression didn’t go past skin deep. “You have friends here now.”

“Excuse us,” Sebastian broke in before fists began flying, “we’re touring.”

“Shall we join—”

“No.” He looked directly at Shay. “Enjoy your dinner.”

As they walked on, Josefina glanced back over her shoulder. “Your family seems very close. To one another, I mean.”

“We are friends as well as siblings,” Sebastian agreed.

“And you like that. I can see it in your eyes.”

“Their presence is precious to me,” he admitted, telling
himself that if he spoke candidly, she might be convinced to do the same. “I don’t rely on many people, but I know I can rely on them—that they’ll help me even when I can’t admit that I need it.”

She gazed at him. “You’re talking about when you lost your wife, aren’t you?”

He couldn’t quite hide his flinch. “Yes.”

Josefina cleared her throat. “It must be…comforting, to know you always have someone you can go to, talk to, when you need a sympathetic ear.”

Was she just commiserating? Or was she hinting that she wanted to talk to him? “I have a pair of ears,” he said slowly.

“Yes, but will they listen?”

“I suppose that depends on what you wish to say to them.”

“Nothing in a third or fourth’s company. With only two, who knows?”

Sebastian turned to greet an acquaintance, at the same time sending a glance at Lieutenant May, a dozen feet behind them. “If you’re up to something, Josefina,” he said in a low voice, “I will wring your neck. I swear it. I am through with games.”

“No games,” she whispered back, waving at someone and half-facing away, “I need to speak with you in private.”

“We have to make it look like an accidental separation. Do you see that archway ahead and to the right?”

“Yes. And may I point out that this would have been easier if you hadn’t insisted on a chaperone?”

“No, you may not.” Considering the level of mistrust he felt toward her, she should be thankful he’d chosen a chaperone over a pistol. Of course he also carried one of those. “Meet me on the other side of the arch.” As he spoke, he unclipped his pocket watch and placed it in another pocket, letting the chain hang free. “You!” he roared at no one in
particular. “Stop, thief!”

Josefina slipped backward into the surging crowd as Melbourne grabbed Lieutenant May by the elbow and snapped something at him about doing his job. With a gesture toward his absent watch, he sent May in one direction, while he disappeared in another.

That was well and efficiently done. Her own heart pounding at the enormity of what
she
was about to do, Josefina made her way in the general direction of the archway, moved past it, then slipped into the middle of a group of revelers and out again as they passed the rose-covered arbor.

Ducking beneath it, she found a dimly lit path beyond. She felt far too exposed there, and stepped behind the hanging, twining branches of a huge wisteria. Every logical, self-concerned bit of her mind screamed at her to go back to the box and keep her blasted mouth closed. With only a fortnight remaining in London, she and her parents had a very good chance of getting away completely unscathed. Especially when her father declared that he would take care of the difficulty the Duke of Melbourne represented.

And that declaration was why every bit of bone and muscle and blood demanded that she stay exactly where she was until she could warn Sebastian. Whatever might be at stake, she would not allow him to be harmed. And she would not allow those people who were happily and hopefully buying up acres of Costa Habichuela to be harmed, either. She couldn’t.

A large man in the garb of a gentleman entered the path beyond the archway and turned around. Just after him a thin woman with scarlet red hair pounced forward, wrapping her arms and legs around him. They kissed noisily, and the man yanked the tight bodice of the woman’s dress down to expose her breasts.

As Josefina watched, fascinated, a hand swept around her mouth from behind. “Lord Castleton and his latest purchase,” Sebastian’s low murmur came against her ear.

He shifted his hand to her shoulder, turning her to face him. Finally they were alone again, as briefly and precariously as it might be. And he was angry with her, she knew—and he had a good reason to be. Still…

She put her hands against his chest to steady herself. “So, Seb—”

His mouth closed over hers, hungry and hot and tasting of port. Barely remembering to be silent, Josefina wrapped her arms hard around his neck, holding herself against him as desire speared through her.

When he backed an inch away from her, she licked his jaw. “Do those two arouse you?” she whispered unsteadily.

“You arouse me. You’re a witch, aren’t you? This is a bloody spell.” He kissed her again, plundering and breathless. His left hand cupped her breast, his touch burning through the thin silk of her gown.

“St-stop,” she managed, pushing him back.

“Right.” He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “We don’t have much time. This way.” Turning, he vanished between the wisteria and an oak tree.

Barely able to make out his dark form in the night shadows and thick foliage, she followed as silently as she could. Finally they reached a tiny clearing and he faced her again, his eyes silvery orbs beneath the faint sliver of moon. “You wanted to talk to me, I believe?”

And the passionate, arousing Sebastian of a moment ago was vanished, replaced by the hard, unyielding Duke of Melbourne. They
were
almost like two different entities sharing the same body, she realized, and she wasn’t certain whether it was the private or the public persona she needed tonight.

“Thank you for trusting me this much,” she said, match
ing his hushed voice.

“I don’t trust you at all,” he returned. “But apparently I continue to hold out a hope that you may have some small bit of decency left to you.”

It was the worst thing anyone had ever said to her. And she couldn’t even dispute it. “There are two things I wish you to know.” She kept her chin up, meeting his gaze. “And they’re both the truth.”

“Why don’t you tell me, and I’ll decide whether to believe you or not?”

“Very well. I…I had no idea my father meant to sell property to anyone.”

“Why is this fraud worse than taking the bank’s money and encouraging sales of bonds to finance the theft?”

God, he did know everything
. “Because only the bank is harmed. It would have to buy back the bonds. The land sale is different. It’s more than a…theft,” she answered, surprised that she was willing to say the word aloud. It was one her father never, ever allowed to be spoken. “He actually means to have settlers go there. People could die, Sebastian. Families.”

“What do you actually know of Costa Habichuela?”

“I knew it wasn’t Eden, but I didn’t actually care about the weather or the terrain. Now, it matters.”

“So you are completely innocent of any wrongdoing, and have only been led astray by your dear papa?” The cynical skepticism in his voice hurt more than a slap to her face would have.

“Obviously you don’t care about what I did or didn’t know, and if it comes to saving my neck from the gallows I’d rather you not be able to use my own words against me. All I’m telling you is that no one can be allowed to sail to Costa Habichuela thinking of it as they do now.”

He gazed at her, his expression undecipherable in the
darkness. “What was your second truth, Your Highness?”

“I told my father that you knew the prospectus was a fiction. He—”

“Ah. And what sense of honor bade you do that?”

“Because I was frightened,” she snapped. “When we first began this, the state of Costa Habichuela didn’t signify. But with the land sales…I borrowed that book you were looking at in the Allendales’ library. I hoped he might have been telling the truth about San Saturus and Black Diamond Bay.”

Melbourne nodded coolly. “So now you’ve told me, and your so-called conscience is clear. Let’s go back before they come looking for us.”

She put a hand on his shoulder before he could turn away. The muscles beneath her fingers jumped. She
did
affect him, whether he liked it or not. Just as he affected her. “There’s more,” she muttered.

“What?”

“When I told my father about you, he said he would take care of it, and he said that Vauxhall Gardens was crowded.”

“Very well,” he said a moment later. “You’ve warned me, and you’ve threatened me. I suggest that—”

“I’m not threatening you, Sebastian. I’m worried.”

“Then you shouldn’t have become involved. I am going to put a stop to this, Josefina. The penalties will be severe. If you want to avoid the gallows, I suggest that you tell me everything you know and pray that I can protect you.”

“You’re the one who needs protection, you fool,” she countered. “Being a duke doesn’t make you immune to injury. And I’m not telling you anything that would harm my father. This is not about betrayal. It’s about my conscience, whether you happen to believe that I have one or not.”

She turned around, but this time he grabbed her elbow. “Eventually, my dear, you’re going to find that you can’t
remain neutral. You will have to choose a side.”

Josefina pulled her arm free. “Don’t expect that I will choose yours.”

Obviously Sebastian either didn’t believe that he might be in danger, or he thought that being a Griffin constituted enough protection. Either way, when he set off into the gloom Josefina had no choice but to follow him.

Just inside the archway he stopped again. “We are finished, you and I,” he said, his back to her and his words like a knife blade. “I appreciate that you’ve told me of your disapproval of your father’s actions, but your information is nothing I didn’t already know.”

“Well, aren’t you wise,” she retorted to his broad shoulders.

“Not wise enough, evidently. At the conclusion of tonight, don’t expect to have contact with me again except in a court of law. No more of your little games, whoever you are.”

“I know who
you
are, Melbourne,” she snapped, fighting unaccustomed tears. “You are a heartless, soulless man. And I want nothing further to do with you.”

“Then we’re agreed.” He gestured her to precede him. “You go first. I’ll find my watch and join you in a moment.”

“Of course,” she returned stiffly, brushing past him. “We wouldn’t want you to have to put your courage or your heart where your body has been.”

Before he could return the insult she moved back into the Vauxhall crowd. She didn’t know why they called it the Pleasure Gardens, because to her it was the worst place on Earth. Oh, she’d been so stupid. Warning him, telling him what she could without absolutely condemning her father—it had seemed so important.

Sebastian neither needed nor wanted her help; apparently he’d already had all he wanted of her. So now he
would see her in prison and hanged, because she’d committed a fraud and her father had turned it into worse. At least Melbourne would be able to prevent an exodus to Costa Habichuela.

“Your Highness,” Lieutenant May panted, trotting up to her. “I couldn’t find the cutpurse. And I apologize for leaving you unattended. Your father will have my head. But when His Grace sent me to—”

“No harm has been done,” she said easily, knowing how difficult it was to refuse Melbourne when he gave an order. “My father doesn’t need to know anything. I only hope the duke has had better luck, so that we won’t need to even mention it.”

“I have, and we won’t.” Melbourne materialized at her shoulder, his watch in his hand. “I ran the rapscallion down halfway across the gardens.”

“And did you have him arrested for daring to cross you?” Josefina asked, taking May’s arm when the duke offered his.

“No. He was just a boy, probably doing as he was bid. I expect an adult to know right from wrong, but I make an exception for children.”

“I only hope whoever put him up to stealing doesn’t carry a grudge, Your Grace,” May said with a rare smile.

Josefina’s insides jolted. Whether he chose to believe it or not, Melbourne might just have laid out the plot for his own murder. And she was supposed to sit idly by, his own story at hand to provide proof of who’d done the deed. Of course according to him, she was already guilty of everything, so one more murder wouldn’t matter. With him gone, he would only be the first of many, anyway, because no one else would be able to stop her father. Stupid man. He had more than his own arrogance to consider tonight.