Page 75 of Only Scandal Will Do

“To trap the Marquess of Dalbury, of course.”

“But how did you know... You had them abduct me and bring me here to ruin me! But why? I never met you before the duel.”

“Oh, it was a close thing, my dear.” He smiled gleefully, working his fingers together so that his hands seemed to pulse. “Alethea Forsythe almost became the lucky woman. I simply had better information regarding your movements that night. Your brother obligingly supplied the time and destination of your sojourn while we were at Smithfield earlier that day.”

“Who the devil is Alethea Forsythe?” Despite her circumstances, her exasperation had reached its limit.

“Another young woman of good social position who just happens to have hair the exact shade of yours. In order to set a trap, one must have the correct bait.” His malicious grin sparked a new level of loathing in her heart. “You must by now know of your husband’s penchant for that particular hue. I knew if he saw a woman at the auction, with that shade of hair, he would have to have her. He is very predictable. Has been ever since childhood.”

“So you were trying to help him get married by arranging for him to compromise a woman?” In vain Kat tried to conjure up some plausible motive behind this twisted plot.

“Good God, no!” Redmond yelped in amusement. “I was trying to blackmail him. Once he had dishonored you or Miss Forsythe, I planned to force him to supply me with money on a regular basis. Duncan would pay handsomely to avoid any hint of impropriety after all those calamities he suffered last year.” He grinned proudly. “Most of which were also engineered by me.”

That he would betray Duncan so heartlessly shocked her to the core. Yet she dare not contemplate that information further. Instead, she must refocus her attention. “What were your plans for me, Mr. Redmond? Blackmail my brother as well, to keep the scandal from touching us?”

Redmond’s face took on a thoughtful pose. “I actually had not considered that possibility, my lady. No, you would have simply become part of the house here, one of the girls. After a night or two you would have hardly been fit for anything else. I doubt even a loving brother would have owned up to knowing you once you’d been ‘broken in’, so to speak.” The matter-of-fact way he relegated her to life as a whore made her blood freeze. How close she had come to complete ruin!

“Why did you do it?” Kat burst out, appalled at his utter callousness. “Why Duncan? He

was your friend, for God’s sake. And even so, why wouldn’t he just call you out and kill you?”

“All very good questions, Lady Dalbury. You certainly are curious, although with your name, one would not think it wise.” His eyes sparkled with an evil glint. “But I suppose I have time to answer them.” He swiveled abruptly to Nigel and Will, who leaned against the wall beside the door, guarding it as though she might actually try to escape. “The letter has been dispatched?”

“Yes, sir,” Nigel replied, his tone the most respectful Katarina had ever heard from him.

“Then yes, my lady,” Redmond said. “I have time for an answer or two. I’m not above granting a last request.”

Refusing to let him see her very real fear, she met his look evenly.

“I chose Duncan Ferrers for my victim because, quite simply, he’s the wealthiest man I know.” He spoke in a pleasant tone, as though discussing the weather. “I suppose I’m rather fond of him, but I’ve always had to play second fiddle to him. Duncan was heir to a marquess, I was a third son. He always did everything just a bit better than me. Riding, fencing, drinking, whoring. He led a charmed life and I sat back, smiling as my father took me to task for not being as good as Duncan. Even when I tried to live up to the standard, I could never quite meet the mark.”

Through a trick of the waning light from the window, Redmond’s eyes took on a fiendish glow. “Until the scandal. Then the golden boy wasn’t quite so golden. And as his luck ran out, mine came in. When he left for Italy, I suddenly had the ear of all the gossips. I became the pivot point of the social whirl.” He glanced at Amorina, who had been mute during the whole tirade, and smiled smugly. “I even got his mistress.”

Kat’s breath hissed inward, and she again glared at the madam. Of course, the affair was ancient history, but the thought of Duncan being intimate with that woman still hurt unbearably.

“But then my father learned of my association with the notorious madam here and cut me off. Not a farthing until I had given up the ‘detestable vice.’” He turned mournful eyes on Kat.

“My father is a moralistic prude and I will have my revenge on him yet, never fear.”

He continued his tirade against his father. Long shadows in the room indicated the day drew to a close. Was help on the way? Did Duncan even know she was gone?

A stinging slap made her jump. Tears welled. Redmond sat back down in his chair, once again fixing his hands in that odd position. “You were not attending me, my lady. That was rude of you. I am telling this tale at your request. Do not ignore me again.”

Rubbing her burning cheek against her shoulder, she fixed her attention on the dangerous popinjay behind the desk.

“Where was I? Oh, yes. So without funds I would certainly become a laughing-stock amongst my friends. Then, to heap coals on the flames, Duncan reappeared from Italy. I was about to lose everything--money, friends, mistress--when I met your brother. He talked about you, although I confess I paid little attention until I happened to see you one day as we passed the milliner’s. You were there with your aunt. When Manning pointed you out, I finalized my plan. I had my eye on Miss Forsythe, but the Braetons always surrounded her, leaving me no opportunity to snatch her. Your brother happened to mention your outing that night, so I had a time and a route. Quite a simple matter, really.” He glared at her, then moved from the chair and stood over her.

“Until you upset the plan, my dear.” The fading light accentuated his now cruel face, lips twisted in a smirk, eyes narrowed as he stared down at her. There was nothing left of the likeable young man with whom she had dined after her wedding. Malice emanated from him in cold waves. “You managed to escape that night.” He shot a murderous glance at Nigel and Will, who squirmed under his attention. “So I lost my chance at blackmail. No one can be blackmailed without proof of wrongdoing. If I could have flaunted you in front of Duncan, a ruined lady, threatened to expose you both, I would be a wealthy man now.”

“And what would have kept him from just killing you, my lord? He’s quite capable of it, you know.” Despite her words, as darkness threatened, her bravado wore thin. The idea of being in this house after dark eroded her confidence, brought back the fear and humiliation, compounded now by the knowledge it had been part of a fiendish plot.

“He would never have known of my involvement, my lady. Dear Amorina would have appeared the blackmailer, a scorned woman bent on revenge. I think Duncan would have paid handsomely. I think he still will.”

The blackguard was still bent on blackmail. But what was his plan now? She needed to draw him out and stall for time. “What do you mean?”

“That is why you are here, Lady Dalbury. I have been waiting quite a while for you. Did you not wonder how I knew you were back in London?”

Her stomach lurched. The fact that this monster had lain in wait for her had not crossed her mind. A sense of dread crept up her spine like icy fingers, causing her to shiver.