Deception (22 page)

“But, Mr. Chillhurst—”

“Leave it to me.”

“I cannot do that.” Olympia lifted her chin. “This
affects my studies, sir. I have every right to protect the diary from the Guardian or anyone else who happens to be after the treasure.” She nibbled on her lower lip reflectively. “Although, I must admit, I cannot see Mr. Torbert as part of a legend. I do not think he can possibly be connected to the Guardian.”

“Damnation, woman,” Jared said between his teeth, “I will protect you from Torbert, the Guardian, and anyone else who comes along. If you require protection, that is.”

Olympia stared at him in astonishment. “Whatever do you mean by that, sir? Of course precautions must be taken.”

“Miss Wingfield, you will leave this matter of the handkerchief in my hands. I will see that Torbert is made to understand that there are to be no more incidents such as the one that occurred in the garden last night.”

“You will speak to him?”

“Rest assured he will get the point.”

Olympia subsided, satisfied. “Very well, sir, I leave everything to you.”

“Thank you, Miss Wingfield. Now, then—”

Before Jared could finish, a woman’s voice cut through the background murmur of conversation and the tick and clink of clockwork mechanisms.

“Chillhurst
. What on earth are you doing here?”

Jared’s gaze flashed past Olympia to someone else who was approaching from behind her. “Bloody hell.”

Olympia barely had time to register the chillingly enigmatic expression he wore before the woman spoke again.

“Chillhurst, it is you, is it not?”

Olympia turned to see a strikingly beautiful woman gliding across the room toward them. The lady came to
a halt and smiled coolly at Jared. Her light blue eyes were filled with amused recognition.

For a moment, Olympia could only stare at the lovely stranger. The woman’s pale blond hair was elegantly pinned beneath an extremely clever and no doubt exceedingly expensive, little blue hat. She wore a dark blue spencer over her sky blue afternoon gown. The matching kid gloves, Olympia knew, had probably cost more than her own gown, shoes, bonnet, and reticule combined.

The woman was not alone. She was accompanied by an equally fashionable lady garbed in yellow. The second woman was not beautiful in the same sense as the blonde, but there was an unmistakable air of exotic attractiveness about her. She was a brilliant contrast to her friend. Her hair was a deep, rich brown beneath her feather-trimmed hat. Her eyes were dark. Her figure was fuller and more rounded than her sleek companion.

“I could not credit it when I noticed you a moment ago, Chillhurst,” the blond woman said. “I had heard that you were in town but I doubted the truth. You never come to London.”

“Good afternoon, Demetria. Or should I say, Lady Beaumont?” Jared inclined his head with cold civility.

“Demetria will do.” Demetria glanced at her companion. “You remember Constance, do you not?”

“Only too well.” Jared smiled coldly. “Lady Kirk-dale.”

“Chillhurst.” Constance, Lady Kirkdale, smiled politely. Her eyes went to Olympia.

Demetria’s gaze followed that of her companion. “And who is your little friend, Chillhurst? The
on dit
is that you are living with her in a house in Ibberton Street. But I refused to credit that tale, too. So unlike you to become involved in a liaison of that sort.”

“Lady Beaumont, Lady Kirkdale, allow me to present
my wife,” Jared’s voice was as unruffled as ever but there was a clear warning in the otherwise unreadable glance he gave Olympia.

My wife
.

Olympia became aware of the fact that her mouth had fallen open. She promptly closed it and pulled herself together to face the crisis. It had been her idea, after all, to claim that she and Jared were married in the event that they were questioned by anyone who knew him. Jared’s reputation was at stake.

The poor man was only following her instructions. She had no choice but to support him.

“How do you do?” Olympia said briskly.

“How absolutely fascinating.” Demetria surveyed Olympia as if she were one of the exhibits on display in the museum. “What a stunning surprise. So Chillhurst has at long last done his duty by his title and found himself a viscountess.”

“Viscount?” Olympia stalked into her study a half hour later. She whisked off her bonnet and whirled around to confront Jared. It was the first time she had been alone with him since the scene in the mechanical museum. She was simmering with outrage. “You’re a
viscount?”

“I regret that you had to learn the truth under such circumstances, Olympia.” Jared closed the door and locked it. He stood with his back to it and faced her with the same grim, enigmatic expression he had been wearing since he had introduced her as his wife. “I’m well aware that you are entitled to an explanation.”

“I should think so. I am your employer,
Mr. Chillhurst.” Olympia scowled. “I mean, my lord. Whatever. Damnation. It would appear that I should have insisted upon references, after all. I suppose you did not produce any for my uncle, did you?”

“Ah, not as such,” Jared murmured. “No. I’m afraid not. He did not request any, you see.”

“He hired you as a tutor for my household and he did not ask to see your references?” Olympia demanded in disbelief.

“He did not actually hire me as a tutor,” Jared said evenly.

“This grows worse by the moment. What, precisely, did he hire you to do, my lord?”

“He did not hire me to do anything. He asked me to do him the favor of escorting his shipment of goods to Upper Tudway.” Jared looked at her. “A task I carried out very well, if I may say so.”

“Rubbish.” Olympia tossed the bonnet onto the sofa and went around behind her desk. She always felt strong and secure when she was sitting behind her desk, she reflected. She dropped down onto her chair and glowered at Jared. “Let me have the rest of the story, if you please, sir. I grow tired of playing the unwitting fool in this scene.”

Something flickered briefly in Jared’s single-eyed gaze. It might have been pain or it might have been anger. Olympia could not be certain. Whatever it was it sent a chill down her spine.

Jared sat down slowly, stretched out his booted feet and rested his elbows on the arms of the mahogany chair. He touched the tips of his fingers together and regarded her with his brooding gaze. “It’s a somewhat complicated matter.”

“Do not concern yourself with the complexity of the business.” Olympia smiled, telling herself she could be
calm and cool, too. “I feel certain I am intelligent enough to grasp the essentials.”

Jared’s mouth hardened. “No doubt. Very well, where shall I begin?”

“At the beginning, of course. Tell me why you are masquerading as a tutor in my household.”

Jared hesitated, apparently searching for words. “Everything I told you about meeting your uncle was true, Olympia. We encountered each other in France and I agreed to escort the shipment of goods to you.”

“Why did you bother with the task if you were not seeking a position as a tutor?”

“The Lightbourne diary,” Jared said simply.

For the second time that day Olympia’s mouth fell open in shock. “The diary? You knew about it?”

“Yes. I, too, have been pursuing it.”

“Good grief.” Olympia felt as if the very breath had been knocked out of her. She sat back in her chair and tried to think quickly. “Of course. That explains everything.”

“Not quite.”

“You were on the trail of the diary but Uncle Artemis got to it first so you arranged to meet him. Am I correct thus far?”

“Yes.” Jared began to drum his fingers together. “However—”

“You soon realized the diary was stowed in the shipment of goods that was on its way to me. So you found a way to accompany the shipment.”

Jared inclined his head. “Your cleverness never ceases to amaze me, Olympia.”

She tried to ignore the compliment. This was no time to be swept off her feet by honeyed words from the man she loved. She had to remember that Jared had deliberately deceived her. “Once you arrived in this
household, you found a way to stay. You apparently realized at once that I needed a tutor.”

“Your uncle put the notion into my head,” Jared admitted. “He said you had already been through three tutors in six months.”

“So you took advantage of the opportunity to stay close to the Lightbourne diary.”

Jared studied the wall above her head. “I realize that appears to be the reason I deceived you.”

“I suppose you feared you could not decipher it, yourself, so you wanted to see if I could untangle the secrets of the legend for you.”

“I know it looks that way.”

Olympia frowned in thought. “What drew you to the diary, Mr. Chillhurst? I mean, your lordship.”

“Jared will do,” he said quietly. “The reason I was searching for the diary when I met your uncle is that it belongs in my family.” He shrugged slightly. “So does the treasure, if, indeed, it actually exists.”

Olympia froze. “What do you mean, it belongs in your family?”

“Claire Lightbourne was my great-grandmother.”

“Never say so.” Olympia nearly fell off her chair. “Your great-grandmother? A countess? But there is no reference to a title in the diary.”

“She married Jack Ryder when he was still plain Captain Jack. He did not become the Earl of Flamecrest until several years after he returned to England from the West Indies. The family does not like to discuss the matter, but the truth is, he more or less bought the title.”

“Good heavens.”

“It was not all that difficult to buy a title in those days,” Jared said mildly. “It only required a great deal of money and influence. Jack Ryder had both.”

“Yes, of course.” Olympia remembered some of the
entries she had skimmed over in the diary. Jack Ryder had come back from the West Indies a rich man. He had amassed even greater wealth after he had settled down in England.

“After securing the Flamecrest title,” Jared continued, “my great-grandfather acquired a second title, that of the Viscount Chillhurst, which is used by the Flame-crest heir. In this instance, myself.”

Olympia was reeling from the unrelenting series of shocks. “You’re heir to an earldom. Your great-grandfather was Claire Lightbourne’s Mr. Ryder.”
Claire’s beloved Mr. Ryder
, Olympia thought.

“Yes.”

My beloved Mr, Chillhurst
.

Olympia’s spirits were plunging deeper into despair with every passing revelation. She reminded herself that she had known from the beginning that she would not be able to have her Mr. Chillhurst around for very long. Still, there was no denying that deep inside she had hoped to have him with her for longer than a few short weeks.

Her dream was ending much too soon. Too soon. She had to find a way to save it even if she could only have it for a little while longer.

And what about Jared, she thought with a growing sense of desperation. She could not bring herself to believe that their shared passion meant nothing to him, that he had deceived her even as he took her into his arms. Perhaps he did not love her, but he wanted her. She was almost certain of it.

She forced herself to think logically. “Well, no wonder you wanted to find the diary, Mr. Chillhurst. You clearly have a claim on it. You have no doubt been pursuing it for years. You must have been exceedingly annoyed when you discovered that I had located it first.”

“Chillhurst will do, if you cannot bring yourself to call me Jared.”

“Whatever.” Olympia struggled to produce a brisk, cheerful smile. “I must say, this opens up a whole new avenue of inquiry for us.”

Jared gave her a blank look. “It does?”

“Certainly.” Olympia jumped to her feet and went to stand at the window. She clasped her hands behind her back and gazed out into the tiny walled garden. She was about to take a calculated risk and she knew she had to be very cautious.

“I do not comprehend your meaning, Olympia.”

Olympia took a deep breath. “Your knowledge of family history may well give me some very useful clues, sir. It could assist me in deciphering the diary.”

“I doubt it. My knowledge of family history is limited to a series of Banbury tales concerning Captain Jack and his ridiculous exploits.”

Olympia’s nails dug into her palms. She must convince Jared to let her continue with her work on the diary. It was the only excuse she had for maintaining a connection with him.

“One never knows, sir,” she said. “I might be able to use some of the information in those tales to make sense out of various odd phrases in the diary.”

“Do you think so?” Jared sounded dubious.

“Yes, I am certain of it.” Olympia swung around to face him. “I am quite willing to continue my work on the diary, sir. I will be more than happy to share my conclusions with you. I understand that the secret of the hidden treasure belongs to your family.”

Jared’s expression hardened. “Olympia, I don’t give a damn about the secret of the Lightbourne diary. I have tried to make that clear.”

“Of course you care about it,” she insisted. “You went to a great deal of trouble to find the diary and to
insinuate yourself into this household so that you could learn the secret. I want you to know that I comprehend precisely why you deceived me.”

“You do?”

“Yes, and I must tell you that I think your scheme was a very clever one, sir. It would have worked brilliantly if you had not encountered Lady Beaumont this afternoon.”

“Only you could make excuses for my behavior, Olympia.”

“Hardly excuses, sir. Now that I consider the matter, your actions make excellent sense to me.”

“You must be wondering why I did not content myself with remaining a tutor,” Jared said quietly. “You are no doubt asking yourself why I seduced you.”

Olympia laced her fingers together and lifted her chin. “No, Mr. Chillhurst. I am not asking myself that particular question.”

“Why not?” Jared got up from the chair. “Most women in your position would.”

“I already know the answer.” Olympia was intensely aware of him.

“Do you? And what is the answer, Olympia? How do you explain my conduct? We both know very well that I have not behaved as a gentleman should behave. Most would say that I have taken advantage of you.”