The Rebel Heir (27 page)

“Lord Braxton?” she asked, stepping in the door of the small receiving parlor.

“Yes. Thank you for seeing me.” The gentleman paused in the middle of what might have been pacing and turned to look at her. His hands were on his hips, displaying his broad shoulders and trim waist to perfection. Evangeline had no interest in the sandy-haired gentleman, but she had a feeling she would be the only lady in town to dismiss his intense stare and chiseled jaw. “I'm aware this is highly irregular since we haven't been introduced.”

She glanced behind her to ensure the door she'd just entered was open and felt a wave of relief at seeing Jane in the hall. Taking a breath, she moved farther into the room. “I'm quite relieved. I was concerned that I'd forgotten our dance entirely.”

“No. I only arrived in London yesterday.” He shifted to the side and back again as if requiring the movement to continue. “I'm afraid this is somewhat of a delicate matter.”

“That sounds rather foreboding,” she mused, her smile still firmly in place. Even the discussion of a
delicate matter
couldn't dim her spirits today. “Please sit. Delicate matters shouldn't be discussed while standing.”

He nodded and sat, even though he looked as if he disagreed with her reasoning. “Lady Evangeline, it is said that your name is linked with that of Lord Crosby.”

“Is it?” Something in Evangeline tightened. “I suppose people do talk in this town. It's nothing untoward, of course,” she lied, everything beneath her skin going on alert.

“I'm glad to hear it. My lady, I don't know quite how to phrase this, but Lord Crosby is a confidence man, a swindler.”

“
Swindler
is such a nasty word,” she said, repeating what Ash had once said to her. “Surely Lord Crosby hasn't done anything so vile as to deserve that.”

“He's done plenty.”

“I suppose you have proof of such an accusation.” She raised her brows questioningly. If this man had evidence that would harm Ash, she needed to understand what it was. She had to save him.

“Lord Crosby doesn't exist,” he replied, a grim expression on his face.

“Well then. That does put him in a poor light.” Was that all this Lord Braxton knew? She wasn't certain how she would contain such information, but for Ash, she would try.

“I'm terribly sorry to bring you such news, but this man has walked away with a portion of my grandmother's fortune, as well as that of several other families in Bath. He claims to be gathering investors for the development of a new type of steam engine—a small one. He sells it quite well, but it's complete rubbish. And now, he has come to London.”

“I see. Tell me, Lord Braxton, have you come here entirely in the generous spirit of warning me of danger?”

“That…and I'd hoped to enlist your aid.” His words were as careful as his watchful gaze.

“You believe I might have information on this Crosby fellow,” she supplied, wanting this interview to end.

Braxton nodded. “I was hoping he'd mentioned where he was living while in town.”

“He didn't even tell me his true name, Lord Braxton.” She gave him a mournful look, thankful for once for the lessons that her mother had forced on her. She had learned well how to speak without revealing anything.

“I understand how difficult this must be for you. It seems he has a routine of befriending a lady in every town as a means of easing his entrance into that area's society. I'm sorry he selected you while in London.”

“What do you mean by that, my lord?” she snapped. She wasn't like any other lady in any other town, was she? And she wasn't sorry she'd known Ash.

“I only… I apologize if I offended you…”

“You believe I am his entrance into good society?” She was many things to Ash Claughbane—as he was to her—but his entrance to society she was not. Had she introduced him to anyone while he was here? She couldn't recall anyone except for her friend Roselyn, and he hadn't been the least bit interested in talking to her. This man had things all wrong—he had to.

“I suppose I misunderstood your friendship with the man. I thought he'd acted in the same manner here as he had all the times before. My apologies.”

The word
all
stuck in her mind.
All the times before
. “Lord Crosby and I have scarcely shared a dance.” Evangeline brushed nonexistent lint from her skirts before glancing back up at Braxton. “I'm afraid your sources are incorrect.”

“That's pleasant news, then. I have sisters, but a man can never become impervious to tears.” His smile would have been charming if they weren't discussing such a painful matter.

She banished the image of a long line of ladies standing on the side of the road to London, all having experienced what she had last night. “Allow me to put your mind at ease, my lord. Lord Crosby means nothing to me.” She was only able to make this statement with such authority because it wasn't his true name. Taking a breath, she pressed forward. “Out of curiosity, however, how many ladies has he left behind in such a fashion?”

“The number is quite unseemly, my lady,” he leaned in to say in a low voice. “I really shouldn't discuss such things.”

“It is a sizable amount, though?” Her voice came out in a squeak and she swallowed.

“It would appear so.”

“Thank you for the warning. I'm sorry I don't have any information for you as to Lord Crosby's whereabouts.” She worked to keep the discussion conversational, though she wanted to simultaneously throw this man from her home, interrogate him for information, and wallow in the truth of Ash's past. “What will you do when you find him?”

“I will have him punished to the full extent of English law.”

“I see,” Evangeline murmured. She needed him to leave. She needed time to think. “Well, you have quite a pile of work ahead of you. I won't keep you.”

Ian nodded his thanks and stood. “If you see him, do me a kindness, if you don't mind, and don't mention our discussion here today.”

“Of course. I'm quite good at keeping secrets, Lord Braxton.”

He left the room, but Evangeline couldn't move.
The number is quite unseemly, my lady.
How many women had Ash used and then abandoned in his schemes? He'd used her that way last year. But this time was different—wasn't it?

Of course this season was different. She knew him now. None of those other ladies knew about his family or his childhood. None of them had ridden in his carriage or gone to the London theater with him. She blushed, knowing those ladies she'd pictured standing alongside the road into town were part of his past, not his future. None of them loved him like she did, and none of them ever would.

She was already moving toward the door. She had to find Ash and warn him before it was too late.

Ash Claughbane proved difficult to find. Truly, she shouldn't be surprised. When one came and left town as quickly as he was known to do, a solid home overlooking a park wasn't likely. And in his line of work, he most likely didn't wish to announce his whereabouts while in town. It was odd, though. In all of their time together, he'd never discussed his accommodations.

Did some part of her believe he was made of smoke and vanished into the night when he wasn't with her? Evangeline shook off the thought as she looked out the carriage window. Ash was talented, but not to that extent.

Her carriage rolled to a stop outside the hotel where the Duke of Kilburn had said he was residing, and she blinked up at the large structure. The Humpleby Hotel took up the entire block. She'd never entered a hotel before today, and she'd rushed out without her maid like a complete ninny. “Mother would fall over in a dead faint if she knew I was at a hotel to find a duke—alone,” Evangeline muttered to herself as she stepped down from the carriage.

The Humpleby looked cheerful enough with greenery outside the front doors and a helpful-looking footman. Perhaps this wouldn't be the clandestine meeting she'd imagined after all. The Duke of Kilburn had been decidedly easier to find than his youngest sibling. She only hoped the man would help her find Ash, especially considering the two brothers' less-than-ideal reunion last night.

Would he even know Ash's whereabouts?

It was a chance she must take. She pushed forward into the hotel with only a quick nod to both her driver and the footman who held the large door open for her to enter the building. She scanned the open room, moving past a large flower arrangement set beneath a shimmering chandelier. Hotels were hardly the frightening places her mother had led her to believe. There was something enchanting about the bright, open space where a few well-dressed ladies and gentlemen were gathered.

Spying a dark wood counter across the room, she moved toward it, her shoes making a pleasing clicking sound against the marble floor with every step. “Please inform the Duke of Kilburn that he has a caller,” she stated before the man behind the desk could say a word.

“Of course, my lady. May I tell him who is calling?”

She opened her mouth to answer but someone behind her said, “No, you may not.”

Evangeline spun on her heel, knowing that voice quite well.

“I hate to make anything too easy for him,” Ash explained with a grin.

“Ash!” She half exclaimed and half breathed his name in relief, the resulting sound coming out breathy and wanton. “Thank heavens you're here.”

“I'm pleased to see you again as well,” he hedged, clearly trying to discern why they were meeting at the desk in the Humpleby Hotel.

“I came here to find you. You've never told me where you reside,” she explained.

Ash glanced over her shoulder to the man behind the desk, waving a hand to indicate their business was settled before guiding her away a few paces. “It's somewhat of a secret.”

She smiled up at him as they strolled across the open room. “Isn't everything a secret with you?”

“Yes. This secret, however, isn't mine to share.”

“I would pry to satisfy my curiosity, but I have more important things to discuss with you.”

His expression grew concerned to match her own as he watched her. “I believe there are some tables set up for tea near the back of the hotel. I passed them on my way in.”

He must have entered the building from some service door again today. “Do you always leave your carriage in a back alley?”

“Except when I mean to be seen, yes. It's a habit that has served me well, especially when sneaking into your bedchamber at night,” he said with a smile.

“Shhh!” She looked around to see if anyone had heard him, but only a few others were in this area of the hotel, all involved in their own conversations.

Ash and Evangeline entered an adjoining room filled with small tables and flooded with sunlight from the tall windows that overlooked a courtyard filled with exotic-looking plants. He led her across the floor, clearly waiting to begin their conversation in earnest until they reached the far side of the room.

“A Lord Braxton from Bath came to my home this morning,” she said as she took a seat close to the corner where they could speak without being overheard.

“Lord Braxton called on you,” Ash confirmed with polite interest as he joined her at the table.

“Yes. He's here in London, Ash. He's looking for you.”

“Are you frightened for me?” His brows drew together into a rarely seen frown as he leaned forward, grasping her hand beneath the table in his secure grip. “Evie, I've escaped men like Braxton before, and I will do so again. You have no cause for concern.”

“He knew information about your past—your patterns.” She blushed even as she made the vague reference to women in his past.

“What patterns? I'm careful about such things.”

“Patterns,” she repeated, willing him to understand without her having to voice the words. “He said…”

“Evie, whatever it is he said to you, please understand that Braxton doesn't know
me
. He knows whatever evidence he believes he has gathered against me, but he doesn't know me. Not like you do.”

She exhaled on a small sigh as she looked into his eyes. “Which is exactly what I thought. I knew even if you did leave ladies scattered in your path—”

“Is that what he claimed?” Ash laughed and shook his head, clearly relieved at the awful news, which only made her glare at him. How could he be pleased about such a statement about his person?

“You didn't remember my name when we met this year,” she reminded him.

The amusement in his eyes was instantly replaced with something warmer, softer, something she couldn't quite define. “Everything is different now. You know that. I could never forget you, not now. Not after our time together.”

“You aren't using me for an entrance into society?” Even as she said it, she gripped his hand tighter under the table, refusing to let go.

“Lord Braxton will pay for putting such a thought in your head,” Ash muttered. “Evie, what could I possibly gain by eating every flavor of ice in existence with you? Did it benefit me to take you to the theater last night? The truth is that I enjoy our time together.”

“I do too.” Her voice sounded shaken and tight even to her. “I thought when Lord Braxton said this was your pattern, that you use ladies in your plots… I thought for a moment—”

“I'm not using you,” he cut in.

She wasn't certain how long they sat there staring into each other's eyes before she whispered, “I believe you.” But she knew she was nothing like those other ladies in other towns along Ash's path. When he looked at her, she knew the truth—she was the only lady who mattered.

“All is well then?”

“Ash, Braxton wants to see you suffer for what you've done. He mentioned the authorities.” A still silence fell between them, both knowing what her next words would be, but neither wanting to hear them. “You have to leave town. Run. Flee.”

“I…can't.”

“You must.” She leaned closer over the table to beg him. “I couldn't live with the knowledge that you were imprisoned when I could have saved you.”

“You have saved me.” His smile was warmer than the sun that flooded the room around them as he looked at her. “But I won't leave.”

“I don't understand,” she said with a small shake of her head. “Whatever funds you're making in town matter little if you lose your life to gain them.”

“For the first time, this isn't about the money,” he said before his gaze lifted to a point over her shoulder.

“No, it's about revenge,” someone said behind her. “Isn't it, Ashley?”

Evangeline spun in her seat, taken aback by the intrusion in their conversation. The duke stood over their small table. Why must the man interrupt every discussion of consequence they had? Did he possess some sort of brotherly instinct that drew him near at such times? It was unnerving.

“This doesn't involve you, Brennen,” Ash warned, his hand tightening around hers.

“I disagree,” the duke countered as he pulled up a chair and wedged himself into the larger of the two spaces between them. “We're of the same family, last I checked.”

“And that gives you the right to barge into
my
conversations with
my
lady?”

His lady. Some small part of her rejoiced at the words even with their harsh delivery. Evangeline tried to keep the smile from her lips. She was his and he was hers. Perhaps he would have to flee town, but they would sort that out later. As long as his hand was wrapped around hers, all would be well.

“Considering who you're calling
your
lady? The family to which she belongs?” the duke countered. “Yes! I have every right, and she has a right to know the truth, Brother.”

All Evangeline could do was look back and forth between the two warring brothers and wait for someone to explain what they were going on about. What truth should she know? And had he mentioned something about revenge?

“You have nothing to do with this, Brennen.” Ash sat forward in his chair with an elbow braced on the table as if he was struggling not to lunge across the white cloth-covered surface at his brother. “This matter is between Evie and me.”

“We're brothers, Ashley. Whatever you do in town affects me as a result. Our family has no need of your assistance, no matter what promises you made to Mother. This mad chase for revenge has to end.”

“Quite demanding now that you have a dukedom to cling to, aren't you?” Ash mocked, the usual good-natured smile on his face replaced with a sneer. “It isn't as simple as you think it is, I'll have you know.
Everything
here has become complicated.”

“Clearly.” The duke's gaze slid over Evangeline before returning to his brother.

A maid moved closer in the ensuing silence. Her eyes were wide on the unfolding scene, as if she'd been watching the entire affair from nearby. She likely had. Ash and his brother were doing nothing to keep their voices at a reasonable level.

“Tea? Yer Grace? M'lord? M'lady?” Her voice held traces of a cockney accent.

Evangeline blushed. If her mother would faint at knowing her daughter was at a hotel, she would surely be sent to an early grave if she knew Evangeline was in the middle of a brawl in a hotel. She was about to wave the maid away when the duke spoke.

“Tea with some of those biscuits I was served earlier would be perfect. I'm starved.”

The maid bowed out of the room, and Ash glared at his brother. “Tea and biscuits? By all means, have refreshment while you set out to destroy my life.”

“I didn't come here to destroy your life. I came here to stop you.”

“I need nothing from you. I never have, Bren.”

“Have you not noticed the clear mess you made of your plans here in town? Give it up, Ashley.”

“I told you not to call me that!”

“Perhaps all of this is clear to you, but I have no idea what the two of you are discussing. Could someone please explain what this conversation is regarding?” She looked to Ash but his brother replied.

“Revenge.” He stated the bold, undeniable word.

She blinked. “Revenge against whom?” He'd mentioned that before. Evangeline looked to Ash for answers. “Ash, what is he talking about?”

“Tea, m'lady?” the maid asked as she placed a tower of biscuits in the center of their table and began filling cups.

“No. No, thank you.” Evangeline leaned around the tower of food to maintain eye contact. “Ash?”

“None for me, either,” he said with a wave of his hand.

“I meant for you to explain—”

“I know.” He shot a cold look at his brother before returning his gaze to hers. “When I first came here, I didn't know you. It wasn't until later that I learned which family was yours…”

“What does my family have to do with anything?”

“Everything,” the duke pronounced from the opposite side of the biscuits.

“She didn't ask you.”

“Then tell her already,” the duke complained. “Or I will.”

Ash exhaled and looked at her. Resigned defeat had removed the sparkle from his eyes, and he suddenly looked quite weary. “When I was eighteen, my family lost everything. Even our furnishings were hauled out of our home to be sold.” He entwined his fingers with hers and held her hand tight. “The look of frantic rage on my father's face as his house was emptied is one of the last memories I have of him.”

“That's terrible,” she muttered.

“He ended his life—gambling debts to another lord satisfied, but nothing left behind for his family. Mother's health began to fail after that. She couldn't accept the hand fate had dealt her.”

“Oh, Ash.” Evangeline longed to pull him close and offer him the comfort he hadn't known when he was younger.

“Tell her who is to blame, Ashley,” his brother interjected.

She was starting to see why Ash didn't care for the man. She'd never met anyone so heavy-handed in her life. “Who is to blame?” she asked, even though she hated dancing to the man's tune.

Ash didn't answer for a moment. The only sound was the crunching of biscuits on the opposite side of the tall service. “I promised my mother I would fix things for our family. I promised I would get our funds back…and make the lord who destroyed our family pay.”

Her stomach clenched as the details of their earlier conversation fell into place. Revenge. What family she belonged to. What she had a right to know. “My father?” she whispered. She needed Ash to say the words. Surly this wasn't happening. That day in the park, he'd claimed her father wasn't involved. Had he lied?