Wicked Deception (31 page)

She didn’t deserve the same fate, being
vilified by the public. When he arrived to console her, he watched
sadly as her household was being closed. The butler informed him
she left for her country home and would not be returning any time
soon.

Lady Weldon could no longer endure the
shame. She followed suit taking her own life rather than endure her
husband’s crimes. Gabriel was saddened by the innocents who were
affected by Nicholas’s revenge. The gaiety of the ton was buried
during this time.

He had no doubt Lady Billingsley would
recover one day from the scandal of her husband’s activities having
been brought to light. She was strong enough to weather the storm.
He wrote her a brief note of encouragement to be given to her by
her servants who followed with her belongings and went home with a
heavy heart.

He learned Catherine was in the nursery
from Higgins and refused to go to her. She was shaken over the
murder of her servants and intending to return when the place was
cleaned up. He was outraged. The remaining staff quit and refused
to return. Only Agatha Gates and Hennessey remained.

Tieghan and Chumley tried to dissuade
her. She refused to see reason. She was going home. Gabriel had no
legal hold over her. He refused to let Jaime and Cullen go back,
knowing Devlin was on his way to Dunleavy Hall to inspect
it.

Gabriel knew he had to quit running to
her every time she needed him. He refused the pull to her now. She
made her choice. She was leaving rather than try to make a go of
things with him. She would rather bury herself at her island home
than stay with him. He thought of his desire to marry again with a
frown.

He knew he had no reason to stall his
efforts to seek a bride and knew he was being spiteful. He wanted
to hurt Catherine as badly as she wounded him. He penned a note to
Lady Atwell, the now reigning hostess given Lady Billingsley’s
departure. He expressed his desire to find a bride and sought her
future assistance in the matter.

Gabriel knew as the weeks of her
departure loomed she would not come to his bed again. Dinner was a
somber affair she endured in silence, ignoring his stiff overtures.
She wanted the forgiveness he refused to give her now. She was
leaving if he could not say the words.

He faced the truth when the words would
not come to him. His pride would not allow him to force a lie just
to keep her here. Catherine met his suffering looks with remarkable
grace. He knew at once with growing awareness she finally found the
strength to let him go.

Nicholas’s death, combined with all
that happened since, severed his hold upon her. She was unwilling
to stay and marry him when he refused to forgive her and Nicholas
and accept her daughter.

He knew he would never see her again
when she left. It pained him to know she wanted it that way. She
loved him to the determent of herself and all those around her, and
with having lost Nicholas, she realized it at last. Gabriel missed
her already, knew it was the only thing for either of them to do.
Her leaving freed them both to seek whatever happiness they could
in this life.

He wasn’t looking forward to selecting
a bride, loathed finding some demure girl who would be appalled at
his habits. He thought of Lillianne every now and then, finding
some peace in knowing she had at last paid for what she’d done to
them all. He hoped she was finding her place in hell
fitting.

~ ~ ~

Nicholas watched as the guard gave the
parcels to Lilly and left the cell, watching her delight as she
opened them to reveal her newest ensemble. As she was cooing in
delight over the gowns, he watched with a pleased smile, seeing how
youthful she appeared as she opened the packages.

It was his parting gift to her, a new
wardrobe for her trip to America. She was going to Virginia and
left today. He prayed she never tried to return. She assured him
she would not. He knew she had enough money to live in comfort
there. With her beauty, she would attract many men.

It was better than she deserved and
Tieghan was bitter of it, he knew. The man was incensed to know he
was letting her go. He said it was the greatest insult he could do
to Gabriel, leaving his wife alive.

Nicholas found as much as he dwelled
upon it, he could not bring himself to return her to prison or kill
her himself. His feelings for her were few but he knew her far
better than any of the others. He knew Lilly would not
return.

She was like a child now, talking of
her new life and her plans for the future. He hoped this second
chance gave her the opportunity to change. He stepped away from the
cell and thought of Lord Rudd’s suicide.

The scandal succeeded in ending all
social functions. The funeral of Lady Weldon was conducted, as well
as her husband’s and Lord Billingsley’s. He was irritated
Annabelle’s death was merely a footnote in the newspaper’s
account.

He would live with that as well. He
wasn’t happy his vengeance produced such collateral damage. He
faced it in the dark of night in his cabin aboard his ship,
counting the days until Catherine would arrive.

He waited for her like a new
bridegroom, determined to start anew with her, forget about the
past. She deserved it as well as he did. He wanted no more ghosts
standing between them. Severing her emotional ties from Gabriel and
leaving London was all the proof he needed now. He knew she would
be furious with him for what he’d done. When she calmed down, he
would explain all to her.

The men who were now free of Lord Rudd
would worry if he ever dared to resurface now. He knew too much
about all of their illicit activities. Having the damned list had
sealed his fate. They would have no choice but to seek his
life.

His death freed them to lead their
lives in peace at last. She may not like being married to a dead
man, but he vowed to make it up to her for the rest of their
lives.

Gabriel was his biggest regret out of
all. He didn’t dare tell him the truth he was alive. He knew it
would only embitter him further to not be a part of this from the
start. He owed Gabriel a future free of regrets. Gabriel gave him a
second chance at life the day he nearly took his own
life.

He reasoned Gabriel losing Catherine
would free his friend from the chains that bound him to her. He
prayed he predicted enough of the future to ward off
unpleasantness. Martha and Tulley knew he was alive and agreed to
act as a go between with Gabriel and Catherine’s child in the
future.

He would select a new name; one his
stepson would repeat no doubt, and need not worry the truth would
be known when he went back to his father. Her Uncle and brothers
were another matter. He knew they would work around it. They had
too. His agent was instructed to sell the house and his assets were
being liquidated.

Catherine was a rich widow. He chuckled
as he thought of everyone’s surprise when she hastily remarried
once they reached St. Bart’s. He frowned when he thought of
Gabriel’s anger to learn Catherine married so soon after rejecting
him.

He prayed it was enough for him to let
her go at last. He wasn’t just thinking about his wife anymore. His
friend was in his thoughts as well. After his death, he realized
Gabriel would never be happy again unless he was forced to forget
Catherine.

His stubborn friend was determined to
hold out bitterly. Knowing his noble friend as he did, he knew it
could very well cheat him of any happiness he would ever know in
the future.

Catherine would never stay with him
now. After all that passed since she thought him dead, his lovely
wife had finally seen the truth. Part of her love for Gabriel was
deeply etched in always having believed Gabriel could never be
hers.

With his death, she learned when it was
within her grasp to be with the man she was long-denied through
years of lies and trickery that it had not been meant to be. He had
much time to think this last six months since he died. Freeing them
all from the past was the only way for any of them to be truly
happy now.

His wife finally chosen him on the eve
of his death and had given him the greatest gift of hope. He met
his fate determined that he would return the favor he owed his
friend at last. Gabriel lost years of his life with his obsession
with Catherine. If he knew his friend as he did, her leaving was
chipping away at his resolve to let her go even now.

Gabriel’s innate sense of honor and
decency would make him continue to pursue her because of their
child. He had little satisfaction to know he forced Gabriel to
purge Catherine from him now, much like what was done to him when
he’d taken the fatal overdose so long ago. He wanted no regrets,
from either of them, when his wife boarded his ship in the coming
weeks. He had one man left to find and it was over.

~ ~ ~

Dartmouth heard about Lord Rudd’s
suicide with pale, livid features. His hands gripped the newspaper
as he read of it that morning; faced with the realization all his
plans were dashed. Without the money he hoped to bleed from his
brother-in-law, he knew he was finished.

A snarl of rage was on his face as he
tossed the paper down. Finding Lilly no longer mattered. With Rudd
dead, they had nothing. He was bleak as he thought of all he had
done to meet this end and knew he had nothing left to lose
anymore.

All he could do now was run before he
was caught. He cleverly disguised himself and purchased passage to
America giving a false name, unaware of those that watched from
afar as he hurried and bought his ticket and left the shipping
offices.

Phillip was walking back to his rented
room when he came up short at the sight of the Bow Street runners
exiting the inn where he now stayed, looking up and down the road.
He hurried and turned and walked the other way, keeping his head
down, cursing under his breath and starting to panic.

Phillip looked up and was startled to
see Rudd’s coach turning into a lot outside a warehouse. He
squinted as he saw Lady Iverleigh being helped down from the coach.
His eyes burned with hatred. Had he not been chasing her these many
weeks, he could be long gone from England by now and not fear being
caught.

He watched her enter the warehouse. He
would see her dead before he hung. He followed her, his feet moving
quickly now, aware he was being pursued by the authorities. Someone
had recognized him at the inn. Now they waited at his rooms to
arrest him. His likeness was plastered upon every street corner
since his gardens revealed the corpses and skeletons of nearly
forty children buried there, as well as the two peers, Annabel
Hart, and his wife Eunice.

It angered him that Rudd took the easy
way out by killing himself. He had to have known that Van Ryker
beat them all. Dartmouth faced this truth with bitterness as he
followed Lilly to the warehouse. He had little time to question why
he didn’t flee at that moment, not continue to seek to kill Lilly
for her treachery.

It was some consolation for having been
deprived of her sister. It would give him great delight in sending
the Countess to hell where she belonged. He stepped into the
deserted warehouse and was wary as he looked about for
her.

He saw the open door leading to
creaking stairs and went down them stealthily, creeping quietly
down until he came to the cellars beneath. The light was dim but he
made out Lilly ahead of him.

She stood with her back to him, and he
smiled as he approached, the blade sliding from his vest as he
entered the dark room. She moved forward suddenly and a wall of
bars slid in front of him before he could reach her. He heard the
cell door slam shut behind him as well. He turned and looked wildly
about, horrified to have been trapped so cleverly.

The blonde looked like Lilly from the
distance but it wasn’t her. She shrugged and eyed him with disdain
as she called out to someone behind him. He turned and stared in
shock to see Van Ryker step from the shadows. He gasped, and
Nicholas smiled at his furious features.

“
You look like you’ve seen a
ghost, Lord Dartmouth,” Nicholas commented dryly as Angeline took
her leave of them. “I can assure you I’m very much
alive.”

“
We killed you!” He
sputtered in outrage, his face florid with rage to learn he was
very cleverly tricked into believing the man dead.

“
No, I wasn’t in the coach
that day, as you can see,” Nicholas said in amusement, and chuckled
as he saw the man slowly comprehend all in a matter of seconds. “I
watched with your paid assassin down the road as my coach exploded.
The chap was more than happy to help us. He made a hefty sum to do
nothing but stand by and watch, Dartmouth. That is the thing about
greed, my lord. It always gets you in the end. Had you run when you
realized Rudd set you up and not continued to seek the Countess to
blackmail the man, none of my plan would have worked. I counted
upon your greed to finally catch you. Rudd’s suicide made things
difficult, but Lilly assured me you would not leave without trying
to exact your vengeance upon her. I’m glad to see she was right.
”

“
You will not get away with
this!” Phillip cried in fury, eyes wild as he took in his cell,
realizing he was very much caught. “I will tell them you’re alive!
I may hang Van Ryker, but all will know what you have done! You
think you will walk away from this? They will never stop looking
for you now! I will tell them the Countess is alive as
well!”