Game of Dukes, page 22
‘If you describe living the rest of her life in a madhouse an escape, Emma,’ Phin replied, not unkindly, ‘then yes, she will.’
‘She did it so that you would inherit,’ Emma said with bitterness. Toby looked surprised by her outburst but didn’t try to prevent her from speaking. Instead he regarded her almost with respect. It was impossible for Celeste to decide if he was pleased by Phin’s disclosure or indifferent to it, since it didn’t impinge upon his own comfort. But for a tightening of his jaw, his expression certainly gave nothing away.
‘Hardly. I had never met her before today. I did not even know of her existence until I found letters my mother wrote to my uncle, and anyway I can assure you that she actively dislikes me. If allowed her liberty, I would most likely be the next person she tried to kill.’
‘I don’t like her,’ Emma said, bitterness in her tone. ‘She complains about neglect, yet she had more of my father’s attention than I ever did. It’s obvious that he cared about her a great deal more than he did me because he visited her so often. Yet he never spoke to me unless it was impossible for him to avoid doing so, and then usually only to criticise.’
Alice comforted Emma while Celeste glanced at Phin, astonished at the extent of Emma’s spite. She had always seemed like such a biddable little creature and yet all the time she too had harboured resentments. Her only act of defiance, as far as Celeste was aware, was to marry Toby against her father’s wishes. She wondered if that was why she continued to be so supportive of a man who barely made an effort to disguise his excesses from his wife. She didn’t want to admit that she had made a mistake because that would require her to also admit that Toby was as bad as her father and took next to no interest in her.
‘What will you do about your mother?’ Alice asked Phin.
‘Absolutely nothing,’ he replied emphatically. ‘I don’t want anything to do with her. She chose the path her life took. I cannot place all the blame on my uncle’s shoulders. She was a married woman and should have resisted his advances, but she chose not to. That is her cross to bear and I will not acknowledge her, publicly or otherwise. If Beth is committed to an asylum then none of this need become public knowledge and damage the family’s reputation, but if it does leak out then we will weather the storm.’ Phin’s tone of firm authority appeared to placate his relatives. ‘Is there anything that anyone wishes to ask?’
‘Where is she now?’ It was Alvin who spoke.
‘Sir Richard took her away with him an hour ago. She will be at the asylum by now. I shall go up to London and tell her mother what has happened. I owe her that much at least. I hope that she will not create a scandal.’
‘How can she when her daughter is a murderess?’ Alice asked. ‘It is within her own best interests to remain silent.’
‘I hope she will see things that way,’ Phin said, signs of the strain he must have felt evidenced in his grave expression. ‘Time will tell.’
Dinner was a subdued affair. Phin and Mr Kline left for London at first light the following morning, leaving Celeste to run the household. A germ of an idea had been incubating in her brain since Emma’s surprising show of spirit the previous evening. She waited for a suitable opportunity, which came her way the following afternoon when Toby was out shooting and Alice was away making calls. She tracked Emma down in the drawing room and sat beside her.
‘Are you all right?’ she asked.
Celeste half expected a scathing response. Emma had been less critical of her arrival at the Abbey than the rest of her family, but had made no effort to befriend her either.
‘Why should I not be? I have always been on my own. Nothing has changed in that regard.’
‘You have Toby.’
She lifted her shoulders in a disconsolate manner. ‘Do I?’
‘What’s wrong, Emma?’ Celeste risked touching her hand, half expecting her show of sympathy to be rebuffed. Emma simply left Celeste’s hand on top of her own, not appearing to notice it was there. ‘Have you had a difference of opinion with Toby?’
‘I always agree with everything he says, so it’s impossible for us to disagree.’
Celeste’s heart went out to her. ‘He isn’t always right.’
Emma gave a mirthless smile. ‘He’s seldom right, but he would not thank me for pointing it out.’ She sent Celeste a searing look. ‘You have never returned his interest in you?’
Celeste shuddered, not having to feign her repugnance. ‘Lord, no!’
‘As soon as I set eyes on you, I knew Toby would pursue you. He can’t resist a pretty face, which I’m sure makes you wonder why he settled for me. Well, actually I know why he married me and it had nothing to do with my appearance. I favour my mother, who was not handsome. Matthew and Phin take after their respective fathers, who both were.’ She pouted like a child who had been unreasonably chastised. ‘Life is not fair.’
‘No, it isn’t, and believe me, Emma, being considered fair of face sometimes creates more difficulties than it solves.’
‘Well, I wouldn’t know about that, but I am grateful to you for…well, for not embarrassing me in my own home.’
‘I might be little more than a glorified servant, but it does not follow that my moral conduct is loose.’
‘Even so, at least I can still hold up head up here at the Abbey.’
Sensing a crack in Emma’s loyalty towards her worthless husband, Celeste posed the question that this entire conversation had been leading up to. ‘Where did Toby suddenly come into so much money?’ she asked casually.
Emma had been studying her hands but her head jerked upright at the question. ‘What makes you suppose that he has?’ There was a nervous edge to Emma’s voice, implying that she was aware of Toby’s windfall.
‘He has new clothes, talks of purchasing an expensive new horse. He’s been to the races several times…’ Celeste spread her hands. ‘The signs are there.’
Emma’s back stiffened and it was clear that the rare moment of intimacy with Celeste was past. ‘Just because we appear to live off Phin’s largesse, it doesn’t mean we are without funds of our own.’
‘I did not mean to imply otherwise.’
Celeste knew the Emma would say nothing more. She still understood the meaning of loyalty, even if she no longer respected her husband and saw him for what he was. She excused herself and went about her duties.
A few days later Celeste was up with the dawn, unable to sleep. None of the family were customarily about as such an unearthly hour, which is why she was stunned when she saw a familiar figure walking stealthily down the corridor, dressed in a robe. It was Toby. She instinctively hid herself, curious to see where he was going. Her mouth literally fell open when he walked up to Alice’s door and let himself into her room without knocking.
‘What on earth…’ she muttered, not bothering to finish the question.
Alice? How could she do that to Emma, her own niece? Besides, she was a lot older than Toby. It made no sense, unless there was more to their clandestine relationship than mere lust. Prepared to give Alice the benefit of the doubt, if not Toby, she remained hidden, waiting to see how long it would be before Toby reappeared.
It was almost an hour later when the door opened again. Toby put his head around it and looked in each direction to ensure the coast was clear before returning to his own room. There could be no further doubt, Celeste decided with a sinking heart as she made her way downstairs, disgusted and disappointed, but also wondering if she could somehow use what she had just learned to help Phin.
It was a full week before he returned from London. When he did so, he summoned Celeste to his library.
‘You were gone for a long time,’ she said, smiling. ‘I began to worry.’
‘I took the opportunity to visit my bankers and give them instructions regarding the release of funds for the upkeep of the Abbey. I shall not be availing myself of Frazer’s services and had the pleasure of telling him so in person.’
‘I am glad.’
‘We cannot prove what he did,’ Phin said.
Celeste thought that there may be a way to do just that, but held off from saying anything until she knew all the particulars of Phin’s visit to London. ‘But at least we know he will not get away with it for a second time,’ Phin continued. ‘I showed myself at one or two clubs and dropped a word or two in the right ears regarding my suspicions. He will find it hard to gain new clients, or indeed hold on to the ones he already has when the rumours spread. That was something I could and did do.’
‘Dare I ask about your mother’s reaction?’
Phin rubbed his hands down his face and shook his head from side to side. ‘She was shocked by what I had to tell her, and very convincingly distressed, claiming to have been absolutely sure that Beth was comfortably settled as a governess with the family that the duke recommended her to.’
‘But you did not believe her?’
‘I have been forced these past weeks to see her for the person she actually is, which contradicts the favourable picture that I had built up of her in my imagination over the years.’ Phin stretched his dusty boots in front of him, gently nudging Rufus aside with the toe of one of them. ‘She claims that the affair with my uncle came about unintentionally, but I think that she made her willingness plainly apparent to him. She knew what sort of a man he was, and she also knew that he had an eye for her. But I don’t think he would have acted upon his feelings unless she had convinced him that my father didn’t treat her well.’ His expression betrayed his disgust. ‘I think all my father was guilty of was working too hard to help his brother survive and maintain my mother’s standard of living.’
‘How can you be so sure?’ Celeste frowned. ‘Surely you don’t think she encouraged her own daughter to kill the duke?’
‘She certainly had no compunction about abandoning me.’ A brief expression of betrayal flitted across his features. ‘My mother, I’m afraid, thinks only of herself. My uncle stopped calling upon her, which was a severe blow in itself, but when she somehow heard about your mother moving into the Abbey, I suspect that her pride demanded satisfaction. Someone convinced Beth that she had been badly used, and there was only one person who could have done that. My mother must have realised that her daughter was unstable, and if she was constantly told that she deserved better…well, we know how that turned out.’ He sighed. ‘Anyway, much against my better judgement, I have offered my mother a small annuity to enable her to remain living where she is.’
‘Oh, but I thought you were not going to do—’
‘I was not, but John convinced me that it would be for the best. If she loses everything then I have no doubt she would come after me, unless I help her. Think how it would look to a disapproving, scandal-hungry public. A duke who refuses to recognise his own mother. She is still attractive and very convincing, to say nothing of conniving. She will manage to make society believe I had always known she was alive and it was my father and I who abandoned her.’
Celeste gasped. ‘You really think she would stoop that low?’
‘Yes, I really do. But as I say, I can see her now for what she is, which is vain and self-serving, and I suspect she knows that she has met her match. Anyway, she is a survivor and will always put herself first. Beth, if she is deemed unfit to stand trial, which I hope will be the case, will be moved to an asylum in London where her mother can visit her if she so wishes.’ Phin paused, looking grim-faced. ‘Although I suspect that she will abandon her, much as she did me.’
‘Poor Phin,’ Celeste said softly, her heart going out to him. ‘Having to face the fact that the mother you once adored thinks only of herself.’
‘She had me fooled when I saw her the first time and I felt a modicum of sympathy for her, being aware how forceful my uncle could be when there was something he particularly wanted. But I see her for what she really is now and will put her from my mind.’
‘Everything is going along well here,’ Celeste told him, her voice unnaturally cheerful. ‘You will be delighted, I think, with the progress that has been made with the courtyard.’
‘Thank you for taking control.’
Celeste lifted her shoulders. ‘I did very little. The men you have put in charge are keen to prove themselves.’
‘And what of the family? How have they been?’
Now was the time. Part of her didn’t want to put further pressure upon Phin by telling him what she knew, but he deserved to be informed about what was happening beneath his own roof.
‘I think there is a way that we can get to the truth about the embezzled money,’ she said. ‘I had a long talk with Emma while you were away.’
He sent her a sharp look. ‘I thought we agreed that would do no good.’
Celeste smiled. ‘That was before we saw a different side to her when you told her about Beth.’
‘True, but I still do not see—’
‘You were preoccupied at the time, understandably so, but I watched Emma and noticed her actually shake Toby’s hand from her shoulder when he tried to comfort her.’ Phin flexed his brows but remained silent. ‘Anyway, an opportunity arose not long after you left to strike up a casual conversation with her, during the course of which she thanked me for…well, for not giving Toby encouragement.’
Phin’s expression turned flint-like. ‘He has pestered you?’
‘I can defend myself, Phin.’ She suppressed a smile when she thought of the wound she had inflicted upon the odious man. ‘What matters is that poor Emma instantly assumed that her husband would turn his charm on me the moment I moved here with my mother, and that I would wilt beneath its force. She thanked me for not embarrassing her beneath this roof, if you please.’ Celeste’s breast swelled with indignation. ‘As if I would! Anyway, I took the opportunity to casually ask her where Toby’s newfound wealth came from. She would not say and became tight-lipped on the subject—but she knows, I am absolutely sure of it.’
Phin spread his hands. ‘I dare say that she does, but if she will not say…’
‘She just needs an incentive, and I think I have found it.’
Phin’s mouth fell open and his eyebrows disappeared beneath his thick thatch of hair when Celeste told him of Toby’s clandestine visits to Alice.
‘Darwin and my aunt?’ He scratched his head, looking dubious. ‘Are you absolutely sure?’
‘There is no mistake, I’m afraid. I watched the following morning, just to be sure, but he didn’t visit. However, he did the morning after that. It seems that he calls upon Alice every other day.’
‘You think they colluded regarding the money?’ Phin asked, his voice laced with disgust. ‘Or merely colluded?’
‘I cannot say, but I do know that you will never be comfortable with Toby living here, especially now that you know how low he is prepared to sink, yet you cannot evict him since he is married to your cousin.’
‘But if Emma knew of his visits to her own aunt, she would likely throw him out herself.’
‘Precisely. And I expect she would tell us what she knows of his thievery. Everybody has underestimated Emma, including her husband, and I think she will yet surprise us all.’
‘It seems…’ Phin again spread his hands and also shook his head. ‘Tawdry, somehow. I don’t want you involved.’
‘Balderdash! I am not some wilting violet. Besides, I have a long-standing score to settle with Toby, to say nothing of wanting to see Emma exert herself. I will help you. You cannot do it without me. If we are to get Emma to tell us what she knows, it will be necessary for her to see the evidence of her husband’s perfidious behaviour with her own eyes. She won’t believe it otherwise, and you can hardly be the one to rouse her from her bed at the crack of dawn.’
‘What is it about this wretched family? We are cursed.’ Phin dropped his head into his splayed hands. ‘First my mother and uncle. Now my aunt and her niece’s husband.’ He looked at Celeste, who had crouched at his feet, wanting more than anything to banish the torment in his eyes but at a loss to know how to go about it. He smelled of horses, citrus soap and deep despair. ‘I hate it that you have been exposed to particulars of our base behaviour.’
‘You are an honourable man, Phin, I knew it the moment I laid eyes on you. None of this is your fault.’ She touched his hand, willing him to see that she was right. ‘You are simply the person who has been left with the unenviable task of putting matters right and restoring the family’s honour. But you are not alone. For what it’s worth, I will help you…’
Her words trailed to an abrupt halt. He took her completely by surprise when he stood and pulled her into his arms, leaving her with no breath to spare for words. Their bodies collided as his arms closed around her and he let out a fiercely possessive groan.
‘If it were not for you, I think confronting my relatives would have driven me as mad as my half-sister. You are too good for this place, my sweet.’
His mouth hovered mere inches above hers. Celeste, without conscious thought, stood on her toes and closed the distance until he was kissing her like a man with demons to suppress. She wrapped her arms around his neck, tangling her fingers in his hair as she followed her instincts and kissed him back, the tumult of sensations that tumbled through her awaking every nerve ending as pleasure bloomed deep within her core. It meant nothing, she dizzily reminded herself. She was simply comforting a tormented man, albeit in an unconventional manner, and she would not think beyond that point.
‘Now you know why I have been avoiding you,’ he said, his voice deep and rasping as he released her and forced her to resume her seat. ‘If I had not, I would have given way to temptation, which makes me no better than Darwin.’
Celeste wanted to tell him that he was nothing like Toby, but had the sense to remain mute on the point. Discussing emotional control with a man who could turn every bone in her body to jelly simply by kissing her would be a seriously dangerous path to take.
‘Right,’ he said briskly, ‘if you are determined to help catch Darwin out, this is what we shall do.’
Chapter Fifteen
