LITMIR.BIZ

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was shouting. She struck the sofa cushion with her fist. ‘You are mad. I’m no thief, any more than you are. And anyway, what concern is it of yours if I did take the silver?’

      His jaw hardened. His voice lowered to a growl. ‘You made it my business when you let them think I’d taken you with me. I am charged with abduction.’

      She gasped. ‘What?’

      ‘When they found me gone and you gone, they assumed I had stolen you away, just as you planned.’

      ‘No!’

      ‘They found the evidence you left, my hat, blood, and the silver gone. You must have taken it.’

      ‘We didn’t.’ She stared at him. ‘Why would Uncle Mortimer make it look as if we had stolen the silverware?’

      A startled expression crossed his face. ‘Your uncle lied?’

      ‘What else can it be? I swear to you, I came away from Wynchwood with nothing but the clothes on my back and my portfolio.’

      Anger leached from his face, leaving only mortification, his cheekbones stained red. ‘Oh, hell,’ he said. He passed a hand over his face. ‘I thought…Forgive me.’

      He looked so devastated that she nodded, though she wasn’t sure how she felt after his accusations.

      He sat down beside her on the sofa, his eyes full of regret. ‘Could Lullington have taken it to pay Maggie’s debts?’

      Maggie. As before, the casual use of his lover’s name made her chest squeeze. Jealousy, when she had no right to be jealous. She forced herself to think, instead of feeling hurt. ‘The silver isn’t worth much at all. And he could have had it without stealing it, too. Simon would have been only too glad to settle his debts with some old plates and cutlery.’

      ‘Bloody hell.’

      She frowned. ‘They are saying you abducted me?’

      ‘It appears so.’ He laughed softly, and shook his head. ‘You know my father always predicted I’d come to a bad end.’

      He sounded so resigned it hurt her to hear it.

      ‘I will go to Bow Street,’ she said bravely. ‘Tell them I’m safe and say I stole the silver.’

      He picked up her hand and kissed the back. The brief brush of his lip sent a hot shiver down her back. ‘If you do that you’ll be forced back to Wynchwood. I thought you might be on a ship to Italy by now.’

      And she would have been, if Snively hadn’t been so excised about her father’s letter.

      ‘Where does Snively fit into all of this?’ Robert said. ‘Is he another of your lovers? Was he your first?’ He spoke lightly, as if he didn’t care, but she heard an edge of distaste.

      A horrid feeling invaded the pit of her stomach. It writhed as if full of snakes. It was her fault he thought her a bawd, but the suggestion made her feel sullied. She wanted to tell him to leave. But he was knee deep in her midden and he deserved the truth. ‘We aren’t lovers. Mr Snively is…was employed by my father to watch over me until the terms of my uncle’s guardianship ended.’ She raised her gaze to meet his. ‘It seems my father left a letter that I am to receive on my twenty-fifth birthday. It will reveal his identity. Quite truthfully, I’m not sure I care, but Mr Snively thinks it is important and he also thinks my uncle somehow learned of its existence.’

      Robert frowned as he listened to her explanation. ‘All this fuss and intrigue over a letter? Where is this letter?’

      ‘A solicitor called Bliss—’

      Robert straightened. ‘The name Bracewell let slip in Radthorn’s presence.’

      ‘Then Mr Snively is right. My uncle has learned of the letter’s existence.’ Her shoulders drooped, but she forced a smile. ‘It is odd of my uncle to go to such lengths to keep me from learning my father’s identity, when I’d almost prefer not to know. I would have left as soon as I have my money from the publisher, but Mr Snively has his heart set on my making an appearance at the solicitor’s office in the morning.’

      She got up and paced to the window, standing to one side to look out.

      ‘Mr Snively believes that if my uncle catches me before his authority ends, he will do anything to marry me to my cousin,’ she said quietly.

      Anger surged in his veins. ‘Against your will?’

      She nodded. ‘Uncle Mortimer could have me declared incompetent and locked away until I agree.’ Her lips twisted in an unusually bitter line. ‘After all, what gently bred woman wants to run off to Italy and p-p-paint when she could m-marry and have children and be happy.’

      Robert felt sick hearing almost his own words.

      Her eyes darkened, became huge in her face. ‘Or they might use my mother’s promiscuity against me.’ She raised her gaze to meet his. ‘Lady Caldwell no doubt guessed about us.’

      ‘Damnation, this is a pretty tangle.’ His voice sounded harsh. He wanted to offer aid, but had none to give. As a wanted man, he could barely help himself. ‘Where is Snively now?’

      ‘Booking a passage to Italy. He has a friend watching for my uncle outside the solicitor’s office.’

      The wall-lounger, no doubt. ‘Snively should know your uncle is on his way.’

      Robert watched her pace around the room, forcing himself to remain where he was instead of taking her in his arms. He was a complication she could not afford.

      ‘I should leave London tonight,’ she muttered. ‘Forget about the letter. My father never wanted me any more than my mother did. I was an embarrassment when I was born and nothing has changed.’

      ‘And yet you are curious to know who he is.’

      ‘Curiosity killed the cat,’ she murmured softly. The tragic set to her mouth made his stomach sink. There was something here he didn’t quite understand.

      The door slammed back.

      Robert leaped to his feet, his hand going for the pistol in his pocket. Too late.

      Snively, looking belligerent, had a pistol pointed at Robert’s chest.

      ‘To what do we owe this pleasure, Deveril?’

      ‘Is this a private party?’ another voice said and John entered with a pistol pointed at Snively. ‘Or can anyone join?’

      ‘Oh, r-really,’ Frederica said. ‘I have never seen anything so r-ridiculous. Come in, Lord R-Radthorn, and close the door before we have the whole inn crowding in here with loaded weapons.’

      A rare grin creased the corners of Snively’s eyes. He tucked his pistol in his pocket. Robert gave John a nod, and his friend did the same.

      ‘It appears we have a problem,’ Frederica said to Snively. ‘Robert has been accused of running off from Wynchwood with me and the silver.’

      Snively pinched his lower lip between this thumb and forefinger. ‘Aye. So I hear at Bow Street. They, too, are watching the solicitor’s office for both of you.’

      ‘Wynchwood must have laid information against me,’ Robert said. ‘He must have reached Town.’

      ‘Could be Lullington,’ John said.

      Robert wanted to curse. ‘We need a plan.’

      At almost midnight, the private parlour was stuffy. Frederica looked pale and at the end of her tether. Robert felt as if he hadn’t slept for a week.

      ‘All r-right,’ Frederica said. ‘So we have all agreed on what we cannot do. Does anyone have any idea of how we should p-proceed?’

      The other men, Radthorn and Snively, stopped arguing and looked at her.

      ‘They are watching

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