Historical Romance – The Best Of The Year. Кэрол Мортимер

am not sure I understand you?’

      ‘Supposing Rochdale knows that he is a cheat and has threatened to expose him?’

      ‘He would want to lure the marquis into some kind of a situation where he could be rid of him?’

      ‘If Rochdale has some hold over him, Lethbridge must murder him or face exposure...unless he can buy the marquis off in some way.’

      ‘My God!’ Hal shuddered with disgust. ‘Maddie told me that her husband had ordered her to entice the marquis. He would sacrifice her to keep his secret? His own wife! Could any man be that vile?’

      ‘A man such as Lethbridge would do anything to save his own skin.’

      ‘Yes, I dare say,’ Hallam said, his mouth curling in distaste. Captain Mainwaring’s revelations were so disgusting that it made it imperative to free Maddie from her marriage—and urgent.

      ‘I must get her away from that devil!’

      ‘And how do you intend to do that?’

      ‘I can see only one way—and that’s to accuse him of being a cheat in public. If I did so in private and asked for her release, he would simply deny it and find a way to murder me. No, I must contrive to play cards with him and accuse him in front of reliable witnesses.’

      ‘He will call you out if you do, for he has no choice.’ Mainwaring frowned. ‘He is a crack shot, Hal, and good with the foils.’

      ‘I am also thought an excellent marksman and sufficiently skilled with the foils.’ Hallam’s jaw hardened. ‘It is the only way to put an end to her misery, Jack. And if what you believe is true, he deserves to die. I cannot allow him to use her...to sell her to Rochdale in return for his silence.’

      ‘I should have liked to see him hang, but as yet I have no proof that his hand was on the pistol that took Roger’s life. Though I would swear I’ve seen him cheat.’

      ‘We must have proof of it,’ Hallam said. ‘I want you to sit down with him at the table while I watch. As soon as I know how he does it, I will accuse him.’

      ‘And I’ll stand by you as your second. He plays tonight at Lord Hartingdon’s house. Do you have an invite?’

      ‘Yes,’ Hallam said. ‘And you?’

      ‘Tonight it is,’ Jack Mainwaring said. ‘If you can spot him cheating, we’ll break him one way or the other.’

       Chapter Four

      Madeline’s heart thudded wildly as she saw Hallam coming towards her. Hyde Park was filled with people, walking or riding, some in open-topped carriages. Once wild and teeming with game and the favourite hunting ground of a king, the park was now a popular place of pleasure and amusement for people of all classes and ages. It was a favourite haunt for ladies, because they could be sure of meeting friends as they drove or walked in the beautiful surroundings.

      Lethbridge’s coachman had dropped Madeline and her maid at the park gates and would return in two hours, which should be sufficient for them to walk around the park and greet friends. She had not been sure that Hallam would be there that afternoon and she felt a surge of pleasure as he came up to her.

      ‘Maddie, I hoped you would come,’ he said, taking her hand to bow over it. ‘How are you? I have been thinking of you. He did not punish you for your behaviour at the ball?’

      ‘No, for it seems it had the desired effect, even though I thought the marquis angry with me when he left us. Yet he has accepted an invitation to dine next week.’

      Hallam nodded. ‘I believe Lethbridge has a plan to save himself from ruin and it involves using you.’

      ‘Save himself? Is he in some trouble?’ Madeline said and frowned. ‘He was pleased because I had done what he asked, so the marquis could not have told him what happened in the garden. He sent me a message to say he was looking forward to meeting me again.’

      ‘You must be careful not to be alone with Rochdale,’ Hallam warned. ‘I believe him to be both depraved and ruthless. Your husband is a fool to court his company for he may discover that the marquis is more deadly than he knows.’

      A little shiver went through her. ‘I fear that Lethbridge hates me now. He blames me for not giving him a child, but indeed, it is not my fault. Now he speaks of a bringing an illegitimate child to his house and making him his heir.’

      ‘He could not so insult you?’

      ‘He could and would do anything that pleased him. While he holds Papa’s notes he knows I cannot defy him.’

      Hallam glanced back at Sally, who was following them a short distance behind. ‘She is to be trusted?’

      ‘Yes, of course, always.’

      ‘Have you tried searching for your father’s notes?’

      ‘No...’ Madeline bit her bottom lip. ‘I believe he keeps them in his bedchamber. I had thought to honour my promise, but he does not honour his.’ She lifted her gaze to meet his as a thought occurred to her. ‘Would it be very wicked of me to steal and destroy them?’

      ‘I think your husband does not deserve loyalty, Maddie. After the way he has behaved to you, you are entirely justified in stealing the notes. They belong to you for you were promised them when you wed him.’ His eyes held hers with a burning look that made her tremble inside. ‘You know that I would be happy to take you away. We could go to Italy or Spain or perhaps further away—somewhere that your husband would never find you.’

      His words aroused new hope in her. Perhaps there was a chance of escape if she could recover her father’s debt?

      Yet might Hal demand more than she could give? Madeline knew that she felt tender love for Hal, but was she too deeply scarred to love him in a physical way?

      ‘I think once I had gone he would not bother to search for me, at least if I were no longer in England,’ she said, her throat catching. ‘He spoke of giving me my freedom if I do what he wants.’

      ‘I thought you had already done so.’ Hallam frowned. ‘He has no right to demand more of you, Maddie. Do you know what he wants of you?’

      ‘No...’ She hesitated, then, ‘I fear it may be something to do with the marquis. I think...but no, he could not want me to allow Rochdale to my bed, could he?’ She shivered at the thought.

      ‘Damn the man,’ Hallam growled low in his throat. ‘If he asks you to allow Rochdale to seduce you, refuse him, leave the house and come to me at once. I will promise to give your family a home at my estate if he turns them from their home.’

      Madeline’s eyes were misty with tears as she attempted to smile at him. ‘Lethbridge is a gentleman. I cannot think he would do something so vile as to give his own wife to a man like the marquis.’ Her words were meant to reassure him, but in truth she knew that her husband might stoop even that low to gain what he wanted.

      ‘If you think that, you do not know him,’ Hallam said. ‘I cannot tell you just what kind of a man your husband is, because what I know was told me in confidence—but do not trust him, Maddie. I believe him to be in desperate trouble and he might be capable of anything to protect himself.’

      Madeline inclined her head to a passing lady and gentleman, then turned to look at Hallam once more. ‘You should leave me now, Hal. People I know are walking here and if you stay with me longer my husband may come to hear of our meeting.’

      ‘Very well. I would not have harm come to you,’ Hallam took her hand in his for a moment, looking at her tenderly. ‘Do not despair, Maddie. I have not been idle. Perhaps your release may come sooner than you think.’

      ‘What do you mean?’ she asked, but he inclined his head and walked