Beyond A Wicked Kiss (37 page)

"This is what you meant about Miss Parr being sacrificed, is it not? She is in grave danger, then."

West nodded. "South believes he knows where she can be found. He was meant to die in that fire. Perhaps he would have if I hadn't been there, but I cannot shake the feeling that I led Miss Parr's abductor to the cottage myself. South says I did not, but then he is the kind of man who takes everything upon his own shoulders."

"Unlike Your Grace," Ria said in unmistakably wry accents, "who is so eager to share responsibility and deals blame as blithely as he deals cards. No, you have nothing in common with your friend."

West gave her his most chagrined smile. "If your point were any sharper, it would draw blood."

Ria's eyes fell to the deep dimple carved at the side of West's mouth. Impulsively, she kissed him.

"What was that in aid of?"

She shrugged. "You will not want to know."

"I asked."

Ria shook her head. She could be discreet also, especially about the secrets that resided in her own heart. "Will you eat now?" she asked.

He realized his appetite had returned and was about to say as much when Ria's stomach rumbled indelicately. Chuckling, he nodded. "I think it would be best if you joined me."

They sat at the drop-leaf table that Ria opened in her sitting room and ate the same fare the students had had for their dinner. The roast beef was thinly sliced pink in the center, and served in its own juice. The small potatoes and turnip medallions were boiled and glazed with lightly salted butter. There were fresh hot rolls, honey to spread on them, and finally, Mrs. Jellicoe's steaming plum pudding for the sweet.

West did not need to be encouraged to eat his fill. By the time he dressed and the meal was served, Ria's rumbling stomach was no match for his own. Afterward he sat back in his chair and regarded Ria over the rim of his wineglass. "How was it you were able to stay with me today?"

"I did not spend the entire day watching you sleep," she said. "That would have been very dull indeed. I taught my classes and came in as my time allowed. You never stirred." She took a sip of her wine. "The staff and students are curious, but no one has reason to doubt my word regarding your arrival here and even less reason to suspect me of untoward behavior."

West might have choked if he'd been drinking. "Just so," he said mildly.

"I cannot say of what they might suspect you are capable."

"Very amusing."

Ria merely raised one eyebrow and smiled.

West wondered if he dared take her back to bed. She looked as if she would go willingly, perhaps even eagerly. He quelled the temptation by reminding himself of the reason he had come here.

"Do you know," Ria said, "that if Adam had had but a thimbleful of your resolve, we would still be living in Eden?" She frowned, then, as a thought occurred to her. "Perhaps it is that I am no Eve."

She looked so perfectly discomforted by the idea that this could be true that West was moved to leave his chair and place a very thorough kiss upon her mouth. "There is nothing lacking in you or your apple."

Ria set her glass down and pressed two fingers to her slightly swollen lips. His kiss had tasted of red wine and currants. It required a certain amount of determination on her part not to follow him back to his chair. "Oh my," she said softly.

West stretched his legs, crossing them at the ankles. He folded his arms casually against his chest. His easy posture belied the grave set of his features. "We have said nothing about Miss Petty."

"I know." It was something of a relief—albeit a small one—to know this is what he meant to discuss. When he turned such a sober expression in her direction, she thought he meant to tell her he was leaving straightaway. It did not bear refining on how far her spirits had plummeted. "But that is because I have had good news—of a sort."

"Oh?" West did not indicate by so much as a flicker of an eyelash that he was in receipt of the same information.

"Mr. Lytton has written to me that he queried every dressmaker on Firth Street, and there were some positive responses. Jane was remembered by several of the dressmakers as being in the company of a young gentleman. It seems he was purchasing her a new wardrobe, just as Jane told Amy he meant to do. Mr. Lytton lists the items, if you would like to see his letter. He was very thorough with the details."

"I should like to see it, yes."

Ria went immediately to the adjoining room and took the letter from her desk. She gave it to West. Her discomfiture was evident in that she would have remained standing at his side while he read it if he had not directed her back to her chair. "He writes that Jane was reported to have been in fine humor. Do you see that? And the gentleman was ardently desirous of pleasing her."

West lifted a brow and gave Ria a significant look. "He also writes that the gentleman introduced himself as Jane's brother and guardian. What do you make of that?"

"I imagined it was because he is young himself and did not mean for anyone to know he was setting up a mistress." She regarded West frankly. "You did not think I supposed that he meant to marry her. Jane may have still been thinking that was to be the outcome, but I assure you, I did not."

"Mr. Lytton does not identify the man. Did you not wonder about that?"

Ria thought West had come very quickly to the matter that troubled her most. "Of course I did. I have already penned my reply and asked for precisely that information. I realize there is little I can do about Jane's situation, even though I wish it were otherwise, but I can write to her and let her know she is missed and may apply to me for what help she needs at any time. Jane was naive to place so much trust in this man, but she is not unintelligent. She must realize by now that he has deceived her and means only to be her protector, not her husband. If she does not wish to continue that arrangement, then I want her to know she can still seek me out. It seems—"

"Ria," West said gently. "Stop." He could not allow her to go on. She was trying very hard to make it right in her own mind. The things she said were in aid of convincing herself—not him—that Jane had come to no harm. "There is not much more than a grain of truth in Mr. Lytton's letter."

Ria's hands fell to her sides. Her slender fingers curled around the seat of her chair, gripping it hard enough to make her knuckles white.

"I wanted to arrive before you received his report but knew there was little chance of it. What I have to tell you will not be easy to hear. I wish I could have spared you the false hope Mr. Lytton has given, though after listening to you, I think you are more desirous of wanting to believe, than of truly believing."

She nodded slowly, reluctant even now to admit the truth of it.

West went on, telling her about his meeting with Lord Herndon and his invitation to join the board of governors. He explained how he came to know she would be receiving Mr. Lytton's letter as well as what particulars it would contain.

"I would have been suspicious of the report regardless of any information I had to the contrary," he said. "Lord Herndon wanted me to know this business with Miss Petty had been concluded satisfactorily, yet he told me after he had offered me a seat on the board. I think his purpose was to disarm me, to lull me into thinking the invitation to join them was genuinely meant, not offered in the hope of preventing me from asking more questions about Jane."

"They are afraid of you," Ria said.

"I doubt that. They are not so easily frightened, nor do I think they are given to acting precipitously. There has been time enough since I spoke to Beckwith for them to discuss what they wanted to do. I believe they are more curious about me than concerned."

Ria picked up her wineglass and brought it to her lips, surprised when it did not tremble in her hand. She was made of sterner stuff than even she realized. Still, she drained her glass. "The things you are saying about Lord Herndon, Mr. Beckwith... indeed, all of the governors... it is still difficult to credit."

"For you," West said. "It is difficult for
you
to credit."

"Perhaps you are giving credence only to that information which supports your view of them."

"It is always a possibility."

Ria set her empty glass down. She absently ran her fingers along the edge of the table. "But you don't think that is the case here."

"No," he said. "I don't. Do you want to hear what my informant told me about her visit to the dressmakers?"

"Yes. Yes, of course I want to hear."

"Miss Petty was indeed remembered by two of the dressmakers on the street, but only two. She was quiet, they said, willing to allow the gentleman to make all the decisions regarding the purchases. She did not offer a single word to gainsay him, even though she seemed uncomfortable with his choices. It was clear to them, at least, that it was no trousseau he was preparing. Only one of the dressmakers supposed the girl was already aware of that. The other was not so certain of it. The articles of clothing that were arranged to be made for her were all fine silk or the sheerest batiste. There were corselets and stockings and silk garters; slippers with ribbons long enough to lace them to the knee. The items included not a single piece of outerwear. No cloaks. No walking gowns. Nothing for the theatre, the races, or for carriage rides in the park. There were no bonnets or shawls. No boots. No scarves. No gloves."

West could see the effect his words were having on Ria. What color washed her complexion was compliments of the candlelight, not the warm infusion of her own blood. He pressed on, giving her exactly what Elizabeth had reported to him. "I will allow that not all of those articles would have been purchased at a dressmaker's, but they all could have been purchased on Firth Street. One would think he would have done the whole of it then and there."

"Perhaps he began to find the fittings tiresome. Men do, you know. Or mayhap Jane found it so and pressed him to leave." Ria had only to hear herself say these excuses aloud to know she believed neither of them. She pressed two fingers to her temple and massaged lightly, closing her eyes for a moment. "I'm sorry. I promised myself I would not do this."

"Is there something I can get you?" he asked. "A headache powder? Another glass of wine?"

Ria declined both offers. "You can finish it," she said. "Just finish it."

He hesitated only a moment. "Very well. There appear to be no more purchases made for Jane in any of the other shops. My informant tells me that by way of some rather ribald humor, one of the dressmakers remarked that it seemed the gent was not going to let his young ladybird out of the cage once he taught her how to sing."

Shoulders sagging, Ria bent her head and stared at her hands. They were shaking now, though she felt so numb that the reason for it eluded her. "She is but fifteen," she whispered. "I know you think she is not yet a child, but she is, and she has lived a mostly protected life here."

It was Lady Northam's opinion also, West could have told her. Elizabeth had been thoroughly disheartened to learn Miss Petty was so young and that she knew so little of the world. Now he had two women urging him to make a certain whoreson account for his transgressions. "I understand," he said. "She has already been ill-used, whether or not he has yet put her in a cage." The shiver that went through Ria cut him. He reached for the teapot and poured her a cup. It was still hot enough to chase the worst part of her chill. "Drink this."

Ria accepted the offering but did not raise it to her lips. She held the china cup in her palms and allowed the curling ribbons of heat to bathe her face. "There is a name?" she asked. "Was your informant able to discover a name?"

"Mr. Swinbourne. Mr. Wallace Swinbourne. It is the name both dressmakers used to credit the purchases."

Ria's short laugh held no humor. "I am surprised that he gave it. That he could be so coldly confident that his behavior is above reproach is truly proof that he is as loathsome as—" She stopped suddenly. "Swinbourne? That is something, at least. There is no one by that name with a seat on the board."

"It is not his name, Ria. The Wallace Swinbourne I found is a solicitor in a rather shabby firm near Covent Garden. He no more matches the description the dressmakers supplied of the gentleman than I do. What is more likely is that he has an arrangement with this gentleman to pay for bills that are directed to his attention."

"You didn't ask him?"

"I didn't need to. I simply needed to be certain he was not the man my informant described. Still, I went to his office later that night and looked for documents that confirm his arrangement with Jane's fellow. It is hardly surprising that there were none. It is always better for both parties that there be no documents when something improper is going on."

Ria's eyes narrowed a fraction. "Then you can't be certain of a connection between them."

"I know what I saw when I spoke to him. I am accounted to be a fair judge of when people are circumnavigating the truth. Mr. Swinbourne was."

For a moment Ria did not think she could draw air. Her chest was tight with pressure inside and out. "You know, don't you? You know who Jane's abductor is."

Nodding, West put the last of it before her. "The man both dressmakers described is very likely Sir Alex Cotton."

The cup almost fell through Ria's nerveless fingers. She caught it just before it spilled and placed it on the edge of the table quickly. "Oh, but—"