me that you would not be able to tolerate
the sight of me."
In spite of himself, he felt his mouth
twitch in a small grin.
Having led up to
the grand revelation with a remark such as
that, you most certainly will have to tell
me the whole truth now. If you don't, I
shall expire of curiosity."
This is no joke. Lucas, you have no
idea of what I have done."
He walked over to her and drew her
tense body back against his chest.
I assure
you that it is very unlikely you could tell
me anything about yourself that would
make me unable to tolerate the sight of
you. I doubt there is anything to which
you could confess that could compare with
some of the small slices of hell I have seen
on a battlefield. Tell me everything, my
sweet."
Very well, Lucas." Her voice was tragic.
But never say I did not warn you."
I will never say it."
I killed him." She went perfectly still in
his arms, obviously bracing herself for his
shock and disgust.
I murdered Samuel
Whitlock."
Hmmm," Lucas murmured.
I did rather
wonder about that."
She jerked her head back to stare up at
him.
You did? But what made you think
such a thing? I have kept the secret to
myself all these months. Even my aunt
has no notion of what I did."
It was nothing specific that you said or
did. Just a few simple things that made me
mildly curious."
What simple things, for heaven's sake?"
Well, there was the timing of Whitlock's
death so soon after your mother's, and
the fact that you were convinced he had
killed her and would never hang for it.
In addition to those two points, I have
had occasion to get to know you rather
well. Not as well as I would like, I will
admit, but well enough to predict with
some certainty that you would not let your
mother's murder go unavenged."
There was a distinct pause and then
Victoria spoke in a very small voice.
You
do not sound particularly upset about this,
my lord."
Lucas considered her words.
The only
thing that upsets me is the thought of the
risks you must have taken to get the job
done."
She sighed.
I did not actually set out to
kill him, you know. All I wanted from him
was a confession. But I will admit I was
not sorry when I realized he was dead. In
fact, I experienced the most amazing sense
of relief."
I hate to be indelicate, but you did
actually witness his death?"
Victoria buried her face in Lucas's chest.
Oh, yes. I witnessed it. And almost
witnessed my own in the process."
Good God. What happened?"
Tis a long story. Are you quite certain
you want to hear it?"
I assure you I am prepared to listen all
day and all night, if necessary." He eased
her down into her armchair and resumed
the seat across from her.
Talk, Vicky. Tell
me everything."
She was twisting the handkerchief in her
lap, but she met his eyes unflinchingly.
You must understand that my stepfather
drank heavily. Sometimes he turned vio
lent. His habits were no secret and I
decided to make use of his weakness."
Strategy," Lucas said approvingly.
She frowned.
Yes, well, I could not
think of anything else, you see. I knew
the house well because I had lived there
for a few years before my mother sent me
to my aunt's. It was a huge, old place
with hidden passages and long halls with
unexpected openings into certain rooms.
I used that information to haunt my
stepfather."
You haunted him?"
She blew her nose.
Yes."
Amazing."
Really, Lucas, I'm sure you should not
be looking quite so fascinated by all this.
Tis rather reprehensible when you think
about it."
Let's just say I find it intellectually
interesting. What's wrong with that? Surely
no worse than trying to reanimate dead
bodies. Pray, continue, sweetheart."
I arranged to stay with friends who
happened to live in a neighboring house
for a week. Everyone knew I did not
feel comfortable around my stepfather and
these people had been friends of my
mother's, so they were sympathetic to
me. Several times during that week I
slipped out of the house in the middle
of the night and walked through the
woods to my stepfather's house. I wore
the dress in which my mother had been
married and I began haunting Samuel
Whitlock."
You hoped that in his drunken stupors
he would think he was seeing the ghost of
his dead wife?
Victoria nodded.
At first he thought he
was having nightmares. Then he began
talking to me. It was eerie, Lucas. He
ordered me to go away and leave him in
peace. Then he told me about how he had
never wanted to marry in the first place
but he had to have the money and why
could I not understand that? He pleaded
with me to leave him alone. Finally, one
night his nerve broke entirely. He came
after me with a knife, saying he would kill
me again and this time he would make
certain of the job."
Lucas shut his eyes for a second, trying
not to think of how close she had come
to her own death.
That is when he had
his accident on the stairs?"
Yes. I was fleeing from him down the
hall. I started down the stairs. He was
directly behind me, holding the knife high
in his hand and screaming about how he
was going to kill me. He lost his footing
about a third of the way down and fell all
the way to the bottom."
The servants," Lucas murmured.
Where
were they?"
There were only two in the house, an
elderly couple with rooms far removed at
the back. They were in the habit of retiring
early and staying out of their master's way
until morning. The screaming they may
have heard that night was certainly not
the first time they had heard such noises
in that house. They had learned to mind
their own business."
I see. Did you check to see if your
stepfather was truly dead?"
No. I was so frightened that I ran.
Perhaps the fall didn't kill him." She
looked at the newspaper clippings.
Lucas,
I do not know what to believe. Do you
think he might have merely engineered
his burial to haunt me as I once haunted
him?"
It is a possibility."
Victoria chewed her lip.
What has he
been doing all these months if he is still
alive?"
Hiding, perhaps? Waiting to see if you
would go to the authorities with your
report?"
He was dead. I know he was dead. I
killed him," she said.
You did not murder him, Vicky. You
tried in a very clever fashion to extract a
confession and you got it. In the process,
you almost got yourself killed, and that
is all there is to the matter," Lucas said
very firmly.
As to whether or not he is
actually dead, that remains to be seen.
This business with the pamphlet and the
note certainly indicate there are some loose
ends that need tying up."
Such as who sent me this note and the
pamphlet and clipping."
Yes," Lucas agreed.
That is one of
several questions I think we should get
answered as soon as possible. There is
also the little matter of that carriage that
nearly ran you down and the footpad who
assaulted me the night before you found
the snuffbox."
Lucas, this is making my head spin.
I cannot go on like this. I must have
answers."
I could not agree more wholeheartedly.
As I said, there are several questions
that now must be answered as quickly
as possible. I think the best place to
begin is in Town, where this all started."
He smiled.
Now we have an excellent
reason to go to London in addition to
the invitation to Lady Atherton's ball,
don't we?"
Victoria gave a weak laugh.
Lucas, I
swear you are impossible. Even at a time
like this, you are still plotting to get me
to do precisely as you wish,"
Strategy, my dear. I'm known for it.
Now, while this will no doubt seem
anticlimactic, I have a small surprise for
you. Remember that picture of Strelitzia
reginae?"
Yes, of course. What about it?"
Lucas flashed her an easy grin.
The vicar
would like half a dozen more watercolors
on similar subjects for his book on flower
gardening."
The expression of shock on Victoria's
face was extremely gratifying, Lucas thought.
Naturally Lucas had taken her horrendous
revelation as calmly as if she had merely
told him what Cook was preparing for
dinner. What had she expected? Victoria
was still asking herself that question a few
days later as she stood with Annabella and
Aunt Cleo in the shop of a fashionable
London modiste.
Had she actually assumed, even for a
moment, that he would have reacted as one
would have expected any normal husband
to react to such shocking news?
If there was one thing she had learned
about Lucas by now, it was that he was