The Perfect Impostor (22 page)

“I was discovered standing over his dead body, his blood on my apron where I’d touched him to see if he was still alive. Which is when Amos came upon me. Soon after that he started his horrible rumours.” Her eyes were moist. “If you hadn’t intervened, people might actually have believed him.”

“No father would have done less for his daughter.”

“I knew Amos wouldn’t give up on me. Which is why I took my mother’s name and tried to lose myself in London. It seems I didn’t manage it.”

“Your gown,” Leo said gently. “How did it come to be torn?”

In a voice shaking with emotion, she explained how Amos had accosted her when she left the ball. The hostility in Leo’s expression when she related how Amos had tried to rape her was frightening. Surely he didn’t hold her to blame?

“That must be what you heard, Boscombe.” Leo’s jaw was rigid with tension as he asked his next question. “Did he harm you in that damned linen cupboard?”

“Not physically.”

“But he struck you.” Leo took her chin in his hand and gently turned her head to one side, running a finger lightly over her split lip. “It’s a good job he’s already dead,” he said with quiet mordancy. “What did he say to you precisely?”

“He warned me against you. He said that just because you paid a fortune to dance with me, that didn’t mean—”

“Leo danced with you?” Julia said. “But you can’t dance. It’s the one and only thing I can do better than you.”

“We must decide what to do about Katrina’s situation,” Lord Coulton said. “How can we prove that she didn’t murder Fisher?”

“Did you encounter anyone else when you left the ballroom?” Leo asked.

Katrina shook her head. “Not to speak to.”

“So if anyone disputed your account, they could maintain that you argued with Fisher not up here but in that courtyard.”

“But I didn’t! I didn’t go outside. Why would I?”

“Anyone wishing to build a case against you might suggest that Fisher was blackmailing you. Why else would he be here?”

Her expression was scornful. “And I overpowered a man twice my size and managed to kill him?”

“Desperation can lend the slightest person extraordinary strength.”

“Whose side are you on?” she demanded, glowering at Leo.

“Yours, naturally. I don’t for one moment suppose you capable of murder. I’m merely playing devil’s advocate.”

“Well, I wish you wouldn’t.” She pushed hair away from her face. “What happens now? Am I to be clamped in irons and thrown into a damp dungeon?”

“Nothing quite so dramatic. We’ll get to the bottom of this later. But first I have a tiara to recover.” Leo turned to Celia. “You’re sure he’s gone to Hawkenbury? If he always intended to cut you out, he might have told you that to put you off the track.”

“Oh no, it’s where he’s gone all right. And he didn’t care if I knew because I wasn’t supposed to survive that fall in the lake. He knows I can’t swim and that I’m terrified of water.” Her glower encompassed the entire room. “I’ll see him swing for his deeds, the feckless bastard, even if I have to join him on the gallows.”

“Right, take her down to the cellars, Boscombe, and make sure she’s locked in somewhere secure. We don’t have time to deal with her now. Dawkins can be trusted to keep her out of sight of curious eyes.”

“Just don’t forget that I helped you.”

“No.” Leo spun to face her, his eyes flat and hard. “What you did was help an enemy of the state commit treason. Do you know what the penalty for that is?”

Celia’s mouth hung open. “Treason? I don’t know anything about treason. We just stole a few baubles. The owners could afford the loss.”

“Take her away, Boscombe.” There was disgust in Leo’s tone. “Then organise your men and come back immediately. We’re for Hawkenbury.”

Katrina stood up. “I’m coming with you.”

“Out of the question!”

“I insist.”

“Which cuts no ice with me.”

“Evidently not, but I’ve earned the right to see this thing through. I’ve been used, faced with the very real prospect of having to share another man’s bed, and threatened by a ruffian whose intention was to rape me and then set me up as a prostitute.” Leo gaped at her. “Oh, did I forget to pass on that little snippet of information?” She tossed her head. “Well, now you know. It’s been made to look as though I’m a thief. I’ve been pursued by Lord Gower, who thought I’d specifically summoned him here for the purpose of seduction, and now I’m accused of murder. Again.” She stood mere inches from Leo, refusing to back down. “I think I deserve to see these men get their just deserts.”

“We don’t always get what we deserve in this life, Kat,” he said gently.

“You hardly need to tell me that.”

“Besides, Lord Marshall only agreed to put off notifying the authorities about the murder until the morning if I kept you here.”

“Being with you would be the same thing.”

“No, I gave him my word that you would stay at Upton Manor.”

“You think I’ll try to escape.” Pangs of bitter disillusionment ripped through her. “You think I’m guilty.”

“No, not at all.” But he wouldn’t meet her gaze. “It’s merely that—”

“Go then, if that’s the case! I have no wish to be in your company.” The pain it caused to know he didn’t trust her was almost her undoing. “And you need have no cause for concern. You have
my
word, for what it’s worth, that I won’t leave here.”

In her agitation Katrina had forgotten all about Lord Coulton and Julia. Belatedly realising they were watching the fierce exchange with differing degrees of interest brought her to her senses. She dragged her eyes away from Leo’s face and subsided into a simmering silence.

He paused for a moment and reached out to touch her face. She slapped his hand away.

He turned towards the door. “Take care of them both,” he said to Lord Coulton. “I should be back shortly after dawn. Don’t let them be seen together by any of the servants.”

“I understand.”

“Lock the door after me.”

“I knew you wouldn’t take my word,” Katrina said bitterly.

“It isn’t that. It’s more a case of keeping out curious eyes whilst you’re here together, otherwise Dupont
will
hear about it and all your efforts will have been in vain.”

“I no longer care.”

“Until later.” He cast a lingering glance Katrina’s way, almost as though he was caressing her with his eyes. And then he was gone.

* * *

Boscombe strode along at Leo’s side. “Do you think she told the truth?”

“Celia?”

“Yeah. She might be trying to put us off the track.”

“She loved James but he used her and then tried to kill her.” Leo nodded decisively. “She spoke the truth.”

“A scorned, bitter woman. I guess she did.”

“Now then, tactics,” Leo said. “We’ll need to go light-handed and leave our horses somewhere short of the inn so James doesn’t hear us arriving. You sent Andrews and Coombes ahead and they know to wait on us?” Boscombe nodded. “All right. Four of us on foot ought to be able to get to those stables without him being any the wiser. We’ve done far riskier things in our time.”

“Aye, right enough.”

“Do we know where the inn actually is? Is anyone here familiar with the village? Personally, I’ve never heard of the bloody place.”

“I had a word with Dawkins just now. The village is about ten miles away on the main Eastbourne Road and there’s an inn about a mile beyond.”

“All right. Prepare the horses.”

“Already done.”

Leo and Boscombe strode towards the backstairs. When they reached the stables Leo swung himself into the saddle of the nearest horse, setting off down the drive at a canter. Riding fast, they passed through the sleeping hamlet of Hawkenbury less than two hours later. As soon as they cleared the last cottage, they found a stand of trees and tethered their sweating horses behind them.

“From here we walk.”

Leo didn’t have to add that they should do so stealthily. Boscombe knew how to blend into the night and move without making any sound. They saw the outline of the dark inn in the pre-dawn light several minutes before they reached it. Leo’s men materialised out of nowhere as they approached.

“He got here a while back,” Andrews said, “and went inside. Not sure how he got past the night watchman but he did.”

“What will we do then?” Boscombe asked. “Wait for him to come out?”

“No, Boscombe, I think we ought to pay these gentlemen a surprise visit.”

Leo strode up to the side door of the inn and rapped on it with his fist. It was an age before he heard the sound of the bolts being drawn back.

“What do yer want now?” grumbled an old codger with a beard so long and thick that Leo wondered if anything was living in it. When its owner saw a gentleman of Leo’s stature standing there, his entire attitude changed. “Sorry, sir. Weren’t expecting no one quite this early.” He opened the door wider and beckoned Leo and Boscombe inside. “What can I be doing for yer?”

“Did a young Irishman just seek admittance?”

“Aye, that he did, the insolent young pup.”

“Who did he want?”

“His master had told him to rouse him as soon as he returned from some errand or other. Didn’t need to rouse the whole bloody house though,” the man said, aggrieved. “It ain’t like I’m deaf, or nothing.”

“Which room is his master in?”

“Right at the top of the stairs.”

Leo left his two men to cut off escape routes whilst he and Boscombe took those stairs two at a time. They paused when they reached the door in question. Leo pressed an ear to it and could hear the steady rumble of voices raised in argument. He quirked a brow, nodded to Boscombe and together they burst into the room.

“What the devil…”

Three heads turned in their direction. James and two men Leo had never seen before. One was a small middle-aged man with protruding eyes and a sallow complexion who seemed totally flummoxed by the intrusion. The other was young. And built like a bull. Leo was grateful the buyer only had one protector with him. He and Boscombe should be able to handle him and James with ease.

“I’ll take that,” he said, removing the wrapped tiara out of the hands of the buyer.

He let it go without protest. It was clear that the man would give no trouble, but his servant was another matter. He swung at Boscombe so violently that he was knocked to the ground. Boscombe recovered quickly and got a hefty punch in to the thug’s midriff. He grunted—the only indication that he even felt Boscombe’s blow—smiling as he retaliated in kind. Boscombe, backed against a footstool, tumbled to the floor. The thug was about to kick him in the head when Leo went to his aid. By the time he’d subdued the man, James had managed to slip past them and get away.

And he’d taken the tiara with him.

It was deathly quiet without Leo. The room seemed twice its original size but it felt as though all the energy had been sucked out of it. Stultifying isolation gripped Katrina. In spite of all that had happened over the past week, she’d never felt more alone. Or more betrayed. Lord Coulton was watching her as she paced in front of the fire, endeavouring to tamp down her inchoate anger. He reached out and touched her arm.

“Calm down, Katrina. You’ll make yourself ill if you carry on like this. You’ve done nothing wrong and have no crimes to answer for.”

“You appear to be the only one who thinks so.”

“Kincade has other matters on his mind. He doesn’t seriously suspect you.”

“Doesn’t he?” She shrugged. “Not that I really give two figs what he thinks of me. You think James was stealing those jewels in order to help Napoleon?”

“I have no idea, but many Irishmen are sympathetic to Napoleon’s cause, and he’s an ambitious man. Anyway, if Kincade’s involved, it will most likely prove to be something of that nature. He wouldn’t be drafted in for a simple case of thievery.”

“Oh, why do you say that? What is it that Lord Kincade does?”

“That, my dear, is a very good question and one that few people could truthfully answer,” Lord Coulton said with a wry smile. “But you girls look all done in. Why not share that bed? You have fences to mend and I won’t have my girls at odds with one another.”

“But what about you?” Katrina asked.

“I shall make myself comfortable on the settee in that sitting room. There will be no sleep for me this night, nor do I deserve any.”

Without further ado he kissed them both and left, closing the door softly behind him.

Katrina and Julia stared at one another. Neither of them spoke for what seemed like an age. Katrina wondered what she was supposed to be feeling. Her anger was gone. She could even understand, knowing Julia so well, why she’d acted as she did. But could she forgive her?

The answer was as obvious as it was inevitable. She wasn’t sure which of them moved first but suddenly they were in one another’s arms, laughing and crying simultaneously. The years fell away. They were back in the schoolroom, friends again after some silly disagreement, vowing that no one would part them ever again.

“I’m so, so sorry, Kat.” Julia mopped her streaming eyes rather inelegantly with the back of her hand. “What must you think of me?”

“Never mind me. What would Miss Tipping say if she saw you doing that?”

Katrina nodded towards the offending hand and the tears turned to laughter.

“Were you really jealous of me?” Katrina shook her head. “It defies belief. I was married to a bully whilst you lived in the lap of luxury. How could my situation possibly invoke your envy?”

“Because I’m a selfish witch when I don’t get my own way. You know that.”

“But I didn’t stand in the way of your ambitions.” Katrina, ever the peacemaker, anxious to be loved and accepted, would once have rushed to reassure Julia about the goodness of her character. This time she easily quelled that impulse.

“No, but you had Papa’s regard.”

“As did you.”

Julia plucked sulkily at her lower lip. “Yes, I suppose so but it didn’t always feel that way.”

“Is that why you didn’t come to Basing Lane and allow me to design dresses for you?”

“Yes, to my shame I didn’t want you to succeed.” She dropped her head. “I’m sorry. I was being petty and spiteful, and if I could go back and change things, I’d do so in the blink of an eye.”

“Hush, what’s done is done.”

Julia’s eyes flashed with mischief. “Did Leo Kincade really pay to dance with you?” Katrina nodded. “How much?”

She hesitated. “Five hundred guineas.”

“What! But that’s a fortune.”

“I know.”

“He must be in love with you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! He thinks I’m a murderess.”

“Tell me about the auction.”

Katrina relayed the evening’s events.

“Gosh, I wish that could have been me. I would have adored the attention.”

“Whilst I hated it. It was Leo’s suggestion. I think he imagined the mere prospect would make me admit to my true identity.” She lifted her shoulders. “But I also think he regretted putting me in that position, which is why he paid so much to save me.”

“How did you learn to waltz in so short a time?”

She pulled a wry face. “Celia. Anyway, I wasn’t rumbled and your future remains secure. Unless I’m accused of murder, that is, and then it will all come out.”

“That won’t happen,” Julia said with absolute confidence. “And Leo saving you from exposure proves that he must be in love with you.”

“He proposed to you, didn’t he?”

Julia looked surprised. “He told you that?”

“Yes, but not why he jilted you.”

“He didn’t,” she said after a prolonged pause. “Well, not exactly.”

“You’d better explain.”

“It doesn’t show me in a good light.”

“Julia!”

“Oh, all right then. He proposed to me here in the grounds of Upton Park. It was
so
romantic, the answer to all my prayers. I’d loved him since I first set eyes on him. That’s probably the real reason why I turned down so many other gentlemen.”

“So what went wrong?”

“He took everything from me when I said
yes,
everything except my virginity, even though I offered it to him.”

“No!”

“Stop sounding so shocked or I won’t tell you the rest.”

“Sorry, go on. You can’t stop now.”

“I wanted to make the announcement and plan an immediate wedding. If he had old-fashioned ideas about not bedding me until Papa had given his consent then I didn’t want to wait a moment longer than necessary. But Papa was away for a month. And then, just before he returned, Leo was called away on government business. He wasn’t able to tell me how long he would be gone or when he would be able to speak to Papa.”

“And you grew impatient,” Katrina surmised, shaking her head.

“I was furious with him for leaving before Papa came back. Since he didn’t get a chance to speak to Papa, we couldn’t make an official announcement. What could be so important that it couldn’t wait for a few days? He promised to be back as soon as he could but his return kept being delayed.”

“I don’t suppose that could be helped. We are at war, you know.”

“Bah, this wretched war, it spoils everything.”

“It isn’t being fought solely to inconvenience you, Julia,” Katrina said, amused.

“Perhaps not, but sometimes it feels that way. Anyway, Leo’s return was delayed, and I happened to meet Lord Gower one evening at a ball.”

“Oh no! Don’t tell me—”

“No, nothing of that nature happened. But he did pursue me. I was feeling neglected and thoroughly out of charity with Leo. And I was flattered by Gower’s attentions. He’s at least as attractive as Leo, don’t you think?”

Katrina didn’t and refrained from comment.

“Anyway, our friendship blossomed, and eventually I allowed him to kiss me. Just one chaste kiss, Kat, that was all. I swear there was nothing more to it than that.”

“Julia!”

She giggled. “Well…chast
ish
anyway.”

“But you’d agreed to marry Leo.”

“I wouldn’t have allowed Gower to take any more liberties.”

It was useless trying to reason with her. “And Leo chose that moment to return, I suppose.”

“Yes.” Julia pulled a wry face. “Of all the damnable luck. I tried to explain there was nothing to it but Leo was furious. I thought he would kill Gower.”

“And that surprised you?”

“If it had been anyone else I think I might have persuaded him eventually there was nothing to it. After all, I was still a virgin and could prove it.” She chewed her lower lip. “But there was no possibility of his ever forgiving his deadly rival. Besides, he said his work often took him away for long periods and he would never be able to trust me again.”

“And so he broke off the engagement.”

“He did have good reason to, I suppose.”

“And although you were the guilty party, he let it be believed that he was to blame.”

“Otherwise my reputation would have been destroyed. Leo’s a gentleman to the core.” She sighed. “One never knows what one has until it’s gone.”

“I’m sorry, Julia. You obviously loved him.”

“I thought I did but I can see now that we wouldn’t have suited. I’m really remarkably fond of Dupont, you know. I get to enjoy his bottomless bank account
and
the chance to shine at Court.” She spread her hands, grinning self-effacingly. “You know how I like to show off. He doesn’t place impossible demands on me, even if he is possessive. Papa is right. I do enjoy being a marchioness. I was never one to settle for half measures.”

“I once remember Miss Tipping asking us whom we would most like to marry. You didn’t hesitate. You said a man with the grandest title and largest fortune you could find.”

“And you said someone who would love you for who you are.”

“Yes, naïve little fool that I was.”

“Well, you’ve found him.” Julia kissed her cheek. “Leo never once looked at me with one tenth of the passion in his eyes as when he looked at you tonight. Not even when he declared himself to be in love with me.” She smiled through fresh tears. “I wish you joy, Kat, and this time I shall try very hard not to be jealous. I shall manage it, as well. You’ll see. I’ll make you proud of me or die in the attempt.”

“There’s no need for such promises because you’re quite wrong. Leo Kincade doesn’t love me. And even if he did, I couldn’t return the love of a man who believes me capable of murder. That’s no basis upon which to form a marriage.” She pushed the covers aside and climbed out of bed. “Help me, Julia.”

“What are you doing?”

“Changing my gown. Leo ought to be well gone by now so it’s safe for me to leave the room, but I can hardly prance about with a torn bodice.”

“But where are you going?”

Katrina stepped into a pale muslin gown and turned her back so Julia could tie the laces. “To find out who murdered Amos.”

Julia gasped. “But you can’t. You promised to stay here.”

“I won’t leave the manor grounds.”

“Kat, be serious!”

“I am. Never more so.” She shrugged into a spencer and headed for the door. “It’s my life at risk here, and I’m not going to leave it to someone else to decide my fate. Not this time.”

“What if someone comes?”

Katrina actually managed a brief laugh. “Then you can pretend to be yourself.” She pulled Julia’s rings from her fingers and left them on the side table, blew her friend a kiss and slipped into the corridor. “I won’t be long.”

* * *

Leo’s hopes that the men he’d left on guard would apprehend James were dashed when he reached the stable yard in time to see a sturdy bay gelding, fully tacked up, being held in readiness for its owner. James swiped the reins from the hands of the groom, vaulted onto the horse’s back and left the yard at a gallop.

“Here, stop, thief!” yelled the groom ineffectively.

Leo cast his eyes about the yard, desperate for a means to follow him. All the horses were still in their stalls. By the time he liberated one, James would be gone. James’s own horse was tethered behind the mews, so it would take too long to reach it. Then he noticed a spirited thoroughbred tied to a post at the far end of the yard, munching contentedly at a pile of hay. Leo didn’t hesitate. He grabbed the rope to its halter, swung onto its back and followed James out of the yard. He sank his heels into the creature’s flanks and it responded instantly, sparks flying from its hooves as they sped across the cobbles.

This was likely to be a one-sided chase, Leo thought, tearing along at breakneck speed with no saddle and not even a bit in the horse’s mouth with which to control it. But abandoning the pursuit didn’t even occur to him. He gripped tightly with his knees, leaned low over the horse’s withers and encouraged it forward.

Thankfully herd instinct took over and his mount followed the exact same path as James’s, now several hundred yards in front. James looked over his shoulder but, far from seeming upset at being so closely followed, he merely raised a hand in acknowledgement of Leo’s presence and increased his speed.

Leo was steadily gaining ground but James wasn’t stupid. He knew he couldn’t outrun a thoroughbred when mounted on a horse bred for endurance rather than speed. And so he did what Leo would have done in his place—veered off the road and set off across country, thus giving his sturdier horse the advantage and greatly increasing his chances of evading capture.

They pounded through a field of corn stubble, James’s raucous laughter audible even over the sound of the labouring horses and their pounding hooves. Leo grimaced as he struggled to stay on his horse’s back on this uneven terrain at such high speed, glad someone was enjoying himself.

An impossibly high hawthorn hedge directly ahead was coming up at an alarming speed. There was no way to avoid it. They were too close and Leo couldn’t turn his horse’s head with just a single halter rope, not when its neck was set in a rigid line and it was hell-bent on following the nag in front. James pushed his horse into the jump, whooping as it landed without mishap. Leo followed the only course open to him—he grabbed a handful of mane, dug his knees more firmly into his horse’s sides and prayed.

The horse knew its stuff and took off without any help from Leo, as smoothly and effortlessly as though he did this sort of thing every day. He probably did and Leo thanked God for it. They seemed to be airborne for an eternity, but Leo was already anticipating the moment when the thoroughbred’s front legs would hit the ground. Without a saddle, timing was the only thing that would prevent him from slipping forward and tumbling over the horse’s head. He leaned back as far as he dared at exactly the right moment, avoiding being tipped forward but sliding awkwardly to one side, dangling precariously over the horse’s flank. He hung on thanks to a combination of taut thigh muscles and a strong grip on his mount’s mane. His horse didn’t slow, so it was either a case of pulling himself back up or landing beneath those pounding hooves.

Leo grabbed a little more mane, made a massive effort to right himself and somehow managed to regain his balance. James glanced over his shoulder, no longer laughing when he saw that Leo hadn’t come to grief. James’s horse was tiring. Its pace had slowed considerably since jumping the fence, and Leo knew his chance had come. He encouraged his mount forward and gradually drew level with the other horse’s quarters.