Sara Bennett (26 page)

Vivianna, the daughter of Fraser, the brewery millionaire? It hardly seemed credible, except his aunt was a sharp old bird. If she believed it, then it must be true.

“Oliver! Are you listening? I just said that you cannot possibly marry her now. Your wife must have an unsullied reputation, the mother of your heir must be beyond reproach. No, I am afraid you must choose one of the girls on my list. You must find a girl who is more acceptable.”

Oliver stood up. The tea table rocked dangerously. “I’ll be damned if I will!”

“Oliver, really—”

“I will marry whom I like. Who am I to quibble about Vivianna’s reputation anyway? She’s worth a hundred of me. A million!”

“Oliver, calm yourself—”

“No, I won’t.” But he did. He drew a long, slow breath and sat down again. “I’m sorry,” he said formally, “but I won’t have Vivianna slandered.”

Lady Marsh fixed him with a stare. She looked as if she were trying not to smile. After a moment she said, “Well, Fraser
is
very rich.”

“I don’t want her money.”

“I’m sure you don’t,” she retorted, raising her brows, and making Oliver wonder whether she had
heard of the Anchor Inn after all. “Well, are you going to ask her to marry you or not?”

Oliver blinked. “Of course not!”

“Why not? Ask her.”

“She won’t see me.”

Lady Marsh shook her head at him. “Why not?”

“I told her about Lawson. Now she hates me for pretending to be a rake.”

Lady Marsh’s eyes widened. “Good gad, is she so partial to rakes? Well”—with a heavy sigh—“pretend to be one for her. I like that girl, Oliver, and I want her as your wife. Be the best rake in London and win her over!” Lady Marsh rose to her feet with difficulty, using her cane. “I intend to see a new Montegomery born before I die, Oliver,” she said testily. “Get busy.”

Lady Greentree and Aphrodite stood awkwardly, facing each other across Helen’s sitting room. Lady Greentree had asked that she see the other woman alone, without Vivianna present, and now she didn’t know what to say.

Earlier, she had explained to Vivianna, “It will be difficult enough for your mother and I, my dear, without you being there biting your nails. I have sent Marietta off with Mr. Jardine and Lil—I think it best if she is kept out of this as much as possible. Let me speak to Aphrodite alone, and then if you wish you can join us.”

Vivianna had agreed, although Amy Greentree could see she was not happy. Amy knew that Vivianna could see very well how her being named as the heir to Mr. Fraser’s fortune, and now the truth about her birth, was making everything very difficult for the family. There was talk and gossip everywhere they went.

Several of Helen’s acquaintances had cut her in the street, and as for William…! Amy sighed. William, when he had finally come to call upon them, had been furious. She had not seen him so furious since Helen eloped with Tony. He had told Amy that she had no right to keep such news from him, and that if he had known he would have nipped it in the bud, although how he could have done so she did not know. “Bringing disrepute to our family,” he had blustered, his face puce, his pale blue eyes, so like Amy’s, bulging. “What would Thomas have said? It is not to be borne!”

“I am afraid it will have to be,” Amy had replied calmly, refusing to join her brother in hysteria, and wishing their elder sibling were here now. “Angus Fraser has stipulated that to be named as his heir Vivianna must proclaim herself his illegitimate daughter. Vivianna has decided that this is what she wants. And she means to use the money for her good works; the dear girl says that any amount of scandal and humiliation will be worth it in the end.”

Though privately Amy had wondered if Vivianna realized just how unpleasant matters might become for her.

“Good works!” William had shouted. “She wants to waste her money on those blasted orphans!”

That was probably the part that had upset her brother most of all, Amy thought now. That all that money was to be squandered on homeless children and the poor, instead of going to the further aggrandizement of the Tremaine family. But William was William, and in time he would come around.

It was Vivianna who concerned her right now.

The dear girl had recently had several offers of do
nations to charitable institutions returned, simply because of the scandal. It was very unfair, and Amy was still fuming over it. And now she had the task of facing Aphrodite, the courtesan, and making some sort of bridge between them.

“You are not as I imagined,” Aphrodite spoke at last. She was beautiful, in a ravaged sort of way, and Vivianna was right, she did resemble Francesca.

Amy gestured to a chair. “Please, be seated, Aphrodite. May I call you that?”

“Please do, Lady Greentree.”

“Then you must call me Amy.” She raised a curious eyebrow as she sat down opposite. “Why am I not as you imagined?”

“I thought you would be…I don’t know. You are so tranquil, so restful. I think your household must be very peaceful.”

“I am not like Vivianna, you mean?” she asked wryly. “My daughters are all very much their own persons, Aphrodite, and I love them for that. I have cared for them and loved them since the day I found them and I hope I can continue to do that.”

Aphrodite blinked. “Of course,” she said. “I would not want to take any of them from you. I know they will never be my daughters now. It is too late. If I may…if I can look upon them, as if from a distance, like a doting godmother…I think I will be happy with that.”

“You are very courageous,” Amy said gently.

Aphrodite shrugged as if she were indifferent. “They are happy, that is all that matters.”

Amy let it pass, although she knew Aphrodite could not be as unconcerned as she pretended. It was the other woman’s way of dealing with her pain.

“I wanted to see you alone to ask if you will tell me the story of their disappearance. Vivianna says there is some mystery…?”

Aphrodite gazed at her a moment, as if turning the matter over in her mind, and then shook her head. “No, I cannot. I am not being mysterious, Amy, it is just something I cannot speak of. Not yet. I have given Vivianna her father, although I do not think she is very happy with him,” she added with a grimace, “but as for the others, they must wait until they are older and I am certain it is safe. They were taken away once, I am sure you would not wish such a thing to happen again.”

Amy leaned forward. “I promise you,” she said, “I swear to you, if you tell me, it will go no further. And perhaps I can help.”

Aphrodite smiled coolly, suddenly aloof. “You are very kind. I thank you, but no. This is my problem, and I will solve it without involving you or the girls.”

Resigned, Amy said, “Very well. I have sent Marietta out, as you requested, but will I call for Vivianna now? She is probably working herself into a state waiting for my summons.”

The tension seemed to go from Aphrodite. “Yes, please. I fear Vivianna does not realize how cruel society can be,” she added when the bell had been rung. “I wish I could shelter her in some way, but I would probably just make it worse.”

“I think she does know.” Amy grimaced. “People have been perfectly horrid, and not just to her. At least the family is standing by her, apart from my brother William, but I had expected nothing else from him. He is a great stickler for the proprieties.”

Aphrodite smiled politely. “It will be an ordeal for Vivianna, but still she insists she does not mind.”

“She has never cared much for those rules society values. Vivianna is very much her own person.”

“Yes,” said Aphrodite, and the words went unspoken between them that mother and daughter were very much alike.

E
ddie and Ellen stood at the edge of the staircase, looking down into the shadows. The old stone lion with its chipped ears and broken paw had been pushed hard to one side. Eddie had discovered the trick. The lion was fixed to a large rectangular slab on the floor, but if one of the carvings on the slab was pushed down, the fastening opened with a loud click. Then it was a matter of heaving, hard, to move the lion and slab aside. Beneath it was an opening and a staircase, going down.

A secret chamber.

Ellen was impressed, but she edged closer to Eddie and the lantern he clutched in his hand. The candle flame inside flickered wildly, and they both held their breath until it began to burn more steadily.

“I don’t like the dark, see,” Eddie explained. “Once my da’s lady friend locked me up for a long time—days! I was in a small, dark cupboard. I felt like I couldn’t breav. After that I ran away, and since then I can’t never go into small dark places.”

“It’s all right,” Ellen whispered, and cuddled her doll to her thin chest. “I’m here, Eddie. I’ll keep you safe.”

Eddie nodded seriously, as if pale, skinny little Ellen could protect him, and took a step down, and then another. “Come on, then,” he said in a voice that sounded too shaky to be brave, “let’s get on wif it.”

They disappeared down into the darkness, the candlelight wavering as they went, and the lion looked on in silence.

“Miss Greentree?”

Startled, Vivianna looked up from packing books in one of the crates that the wagon would take from Candlewood to Bethnal Green. As far as she had known she was here alone, apart from her coachman waiting outside with the horses. The Beatty sisters had gone to Bethnal Green with the children to begin the process of settling in.

The man standing in the shadow outside the doorway was tall, and for a moment she thought, with a treacherous lift of her heart, that it was Oliver. But then he stepped forward and she realized it was actually Lord Lawson.

Lawson killed my brother.

“Lord Lawson,” she said, and dusted off her skirts, seeking time to recover. Instinctively she knew it would be a mistake for him to realize she knew about him and Oliver’s brother.

“I hope you do not mind me walking in upon you like this, but I could not find a servant.” Lawson was moving toward her now, and Vivianna forced herself to stand still and not to turn and run.

“We are rather short of servants at Candlewood,” she replied with an attempt at a wry smile.

He smiled back, but his eyes were cold. They were blue, but not dark and sensuous like Oliver’s; Lawson’s eyes were like ice, and with just as much humanity.

“Miss Greentree, it is Candlewood I wanted to discuss with you. I know it is something we both hold dear.” His gaze went past her to the open trunk. “Are you leaving?”

Vivianna looked at the trunk, too; anything to escape those cold eyes. “Yes, of course,” she said. “We have to leave. Lord Montegomery has offered us lodgings in Bethnal Green and we are moving there as soon as possible. Candlewood will soon be empty.”

“Will it indeed? Well, I will be sorry to hear it. As you know, I was a dear friend of Oliver’s brother, Anthony, and I know he was very fond of this house.”

But that didn’t stop you from shooting him in cold blood.

He looked at her sharply, and for a moment Vivianna thought she must have said the words aloud, but the next moment he was smiling and asking her in a charmingly tentative manner whether it would be acceptable for him to take a walk over the house.

“I may not get the chance again,” he said with a sigh, “and then I will have nothing but memories.”

“But of course!” Vivianna could play games, too. “I will come with you, my lord. I think I deserve a rest from packing. It will be interesting to hear about Candlewood from someone who knows it well.”

He wasn’t happy with her—she could see it in his eyes—but what could he do? He bowed politely, and Vivianna led the way out.

“Miss Greta and Miss Susan are at Bethnal Green,” she explained as they meandered up and down corridors. “There is much to be done there.” Vivianna
glanced at him sideways. “I believe you made an offer for Candlewood, my lord, and was turned down.”

She felt his start of surprise but did not acknowledge it. They were moving toward the unfinished wing, where it was forbidden for the children to go. Vivianna wondered whether they should turn back—she felt rather as if she were taking a stroll with a dangerous animal—but Lawson’s next words drove all such thoughts from her mind.

“I made the offer for the sake of the orphans, Miss Greentree. I could not bear to think of them losing the home they had grown to love.”

Anger curled inside her at the sheer hypocritical nature of his statement. Oliver may have tricked her and humiliated her, but he had never used the children in his plot. He might have refused to bow to her wishes as regards to Candlewood, but he had always been honest and steadfast about his refusal. This man was
wicked
.

“I am sure it is all for the best,” Vivianna replied blithely.

She felt his eyes upon her, studying her. “I must say I am surprised to hear you say that,” he said at last. “I did not think you would be so forgiving. From what I have heard, you have fought like a tigress for Candlewood, and yet now you seem quite calm in defeat. Perhaps Oliver has won you around to his point of view?”

The door to the unfinished wing was unbolted. With a puzzled frown, Vivianna passed through into the long, colonnaded room with the faded mural upon the ceiling. “I do not think he has won me to his point of view, my lord, but sometimes to continue to fight is pointless.”

It was as if he had not heard her, or perhaps he was
just playing his own devious game. “Oliver is a very personable young man, of course. I have often noted how attractive he is to the gentler sex.”

“I find Lord Montegomery singularly unattractive,” she snapped, but knew even as she said it that her protests seemed forced. He knew something, and now he was smiling at her in a manner that made her queasy.

“I’m afraid Oliver can be rather devious, Miss Greentree, if he wants his…way with a pretty girl. You shouldn’t believe a word he says. And as for marriage”—he smirked—“I doubt he would look in your direction for a wife. His aunt, Lady Marsh, would expect him to marry the daughter of an earl, at least.”

If he thought to turn her against Oliver, he was wasting his time. She told herself that she already loathed Oliver Montegomery, but that did not mean she would take sides with his brother’s murderer.

Vivianna had walked another step or two before she realized that Lawson had stopped dead in his tracks. “Lord Lawson? What is it?” She followed the direction of his fixed stare, wondering what it was he suddenly found so amazing.

For a moment she could see nothing. The long gallery was as she remembered it from the few times she had been here. Dusty, bare, apart from one or two sculptures and stone figures fixed into the floor. And then she realized that the statue of the lion was out of alignment with the rest; it was pushed to one side. But how was that possible? It was made of stone and very heavy. Who would have had the strength to move such a thing, and why? And then Vivianna saw that where the lion had once stood was…nothingness.

Lawson was striding forward. His face was ablaze
with triumph. “The secret chamber!” he hissed.

Vivianna ran after him, her skirts making a trail through the dust. Fear and shock had caused her to feel a little light-headed, but oddly calm. The lion, she could see, was attached to a slab that had been rolled to one side like a horizontal door. And in the space was a stone staircase, running down into the darkness. The secret chamber must be underground.

“Is someone down there?” Lawson demanded, glancing at her briefly before his ice-blue eyes returned to the shadows.

“I—I don’t know. I didn’t know such a thing existed. How did
you
know, Lord Lawson?”

Her question seemed to bring him back to his senses. Vivianna could almost see the mask slipping over his face once more. “I had heard of it. I did not know it really existed until now. Has Oliver been here? Maybe it was he who discovered its whereabouts?”

Vivianna knew as if he had told her that if Oliver was down there, then Lawson would kill him. And her, too. He would kill anyone who stood in the way of his secret and his ambition. Why shouldn’t he? He had done it before.

“Oliver isn’t here,” she said a little breathlessly.

“Someone has been.”

Vivianna’s gaze had been wandering over the dusty floor, around the edges of the “door,” and now she realized what she was looking at. Footprints. Small, children’s footprints. Before she could think about it, she stepped over the telltale signs and allowed her long skirts to brush across the ground. The work of a moment and the footprints were gone.

Lawson was watching her agitated movements suspiciously and she realized she hadn’t answered his question.

“I honestly do not know who has been here, my lord! As I have explained, I did not know such a place existed. Surely this chamber cannot still be in use? Do you think there is anything hidden down there?”

He wanted to go within and search. Vivianna could see it in his face, and the way his gaze kept returning to the steps. But her presence was preventing him. He would not want her to see the letters….

“I had better ascertain whether anyone is there,” he said, frowning thoughtfully. “Stay here, Miss Greentree. I would not want you to slip and break your neck.”

Vivianna’s shiver was genuine. And yet she could not allow him to go alone. If the letters were still down there, he could destroy them in an instant and then Oliver’s chance to expose the man who had murdered his brother would be lost.

“Lord Lawson, I really don’t think you should go down. It might be dangerous. I should find someone to come and—”

“Nonsense.” He was already on the first step. She went to follow him, though her knees were like jelly.

“Miss?”

Eddie’s voice brought her up short. She turned and spotted him, standing by the lion, his hand resting upon its lifted paw. Had he been hiding there all along? His freckles stood out on his pale face, his hair was dusty, and the remains of cobwebs trailed across his jacket. Eddie had been inside the secret chamber.

She tried to speak, but the sensation of Lawson, watching, listening, froze her tongue.

“Miss?” Ellen stepped out from behind Eddie, her voice like a soft echo. Her fair hair was festooned with webs and fine dust. “Can we talk with you, Miss Greentree?”

“Talk with me?” She, too, was an echo, it seemed.

“I thought you said you were alone here, Miss Greentree.”

Lawson, she realized, had his gaze fixed upon the children. And suddenly Vivianna knew she must protect them at any cost. “Oh yes, I forgot. Eddie and Ellen stayed behind to help. You naughty children, where did you run off to? Well, never mind,” she added hastily, in case they answered her. She forced a rather ghastly smile. “We were going to discuss the…the…children’s shoes, weren’t we? The box of shoes.”

She glanced back at Lawson apologetically. “Do you mind, my lord? We have so little time to organize. Should I send someone to help you?”

Lawson hesitated, and then shook his head. “No, there is no need, Miss Greentree. You run along. But first…”

Vivianna had already turned away, a firm hand on the back of each child. She looked back at him over her shoulder. “Lord Lawson?”

He smiled and said softly, “Give me the lantern, lad. It’s dark down here. But I think you know that, don’t you?”

Eddie looked to Vivianna for instructions. He did indeed have a small lantern in his hand—a simple glass casing with a lighted candle inside. She took it from him and walked over to the entrance to the secret chamber. Her fingers were shaking as she held it out.

Lawson was watching her. She amused him. They both knew, if he wanted to, he could take the lantern and her hand, too.

“My coachman is outside,” she said. “Will I send him in to help you, my lord?”

He met her innocent stare for what seemed a long
time, and then gave an impatient shake of his head. He took the lantern. “That won’t be necessary, Miss Greentree. I think I can manage.”

Vivianna did not wait. She more or less propelled the children from the long, echoing room.

“Miss!” Eddie protested. “You’re hurting!”

“Were you down there?” Vivianna demanded softly. “Were you in that room?”

Eddie and Ellen exchanged a look.

“Tell me the truth,” Vivianna said fiercely. “It is very important.”

“We was down there,” Ellen whispered, “and it was dark and cold. Eddie was frightened of the dark, but I held his hand, and we had the candle. It was our last chance to explore, you see, miss, before we left Candlewood forever.”

Vivianna’s heart contracted at the thought of them doing something so dangerous. But she swallowed down the urge to scold. No time for that now. Lawson might already be after them.

“Did you find anything? Remember, this is very, very important.”

Another exchanged glance, and then Ellen lifted a finger to her lips. “Shh, miss,” she whispered, “it’s a secret. Can you keep a secret?”

Vivianna made her expression sober. “Yes, I can,” she breathed. “Tell me what you have found, children.”

They had reached the door into the occupied part of the house. Vivianna thought of bolting it, but knew that would not keep a resourceful man like Lawson out. Besides, there were gaps in the walls in the abandoned part of the house, gaps big enough for anyone to climb through.

Eddie was fumbling underneath his buttoned-up jacket, and now he began to withdraw something
bulky from its hiding place. Vivianna did not have to pretend to be astonished. It was a bundle of letters tied with black ribbon. They were a little musty and dusty, and it appeared that a mouse had nibbled on one corner, but otherwise they looked to be in excellent condition.

“Eddie,” she whispered, “what is that you have found?”

He grinned, looking pleased with himself. “They was in the secret room under the stone lion,” he said.