Regency Society. Ann LethbridgeЧитать онлайн книгу.
she is beginning to feel some discomfort. It is very warm on the skin, is it not? Answer me, Susan.’
The girl nodded.
He looked again at Constance. ‘Any lower, and the flesh will burn. Would you like me to demonstrate, or are you willing to see the value of co-operation?’
‘You cannot do this. I will call the Runners.’
‘Afterwards, perhaps. And what good will it do poor Susan then? If you try to leave the room, I will have cooked the flesh of her hand before you can return with help.’
‘Let her go.’
‘Give me the key to this house.’
Constance saw the resolve in his eyes and hurried to her desk, fumbling in the drawer for a spare key. Her hand trembled as she handed it to him.
He released the maid. ‘Very good. We have an understanding. And if you have a notion to bar the door against me or change the locks, know that the next time I come, I shall bring servants of my own, and it will go worse for all inside.’
He smiled thoughtfully. ‘And now, let us return to the matter of your lover, the thief. He is your lover, is he not? I suspect you traded that lovely body of yours for his assistance. You should not have done that, for you knew to whom you belonged when you went to him.’
He sighed. ‘And so, I will find him. And I will punish him for taking something that belongs to me. But how I punish him might well depend on how co-operative you are. I could be moved to leniency, if you treat me well and give me no more trouble. A light beating, perhaps, just as a warning. Or would you like to refuse me again, and see the consequences of your actions?’ He leaned close and whispered, ‘I will make him suffer. He will die screaming, and I will make sure that you hear it. Does that move you?’
‘You would not dare.’
‘Oh, I think so. The man is meddling in things far more important than the fate of your honour. I do not like my privacy invaded. And I do not like one to stand between me and that which I most desire. If you have any feeling at all for the man, you will warn him off, and submit to me. Or do as you please and let him feel the consequence of it. What is your decision?’
She felt her stomach drop, and she trembled. She looked at Barton’s eyes, willing them to be less heartless than they were, to give her any indication that he was not as dangerous as he appeared.
He was still smiling. ‘I’m waiting. Is your continued freedom worth the cost?’
By denying Barton, she had stumbled into a situation that was well over her head and now she was dragging others down with her. ‘If I agree to what you want, you will not harm him?’
‘When next you see him, tell him that you are finished with him, that you belong to me, now. And that he must cease meddling in my affairs. If he leaves me alone, he will escape unharmed. If he continues to interfere, I offer no guarantees. I suggest you be very persuasive, if you have the opportunity.’
She swallowed. ‘All right.’
He smiled again. ‘You will find you have made a wise decision. We will dine out this evening. Vauxhall Gardens. Wear something festive. I do not wish to see you in mourning. Red, I think. And the rubies.’
A scarlet woman, she thought.
‘When we have had supper, I will return here, to spend the rest of the night. Tell your maid that we are not to be disturbed.’
He rose, reaching for his hat. ‘And, Constance…?’
‘Yes, Lord Barton?’
‘From now on, you will call me Jack. And when I take my leave, you will kiss me as if you mean it.’
He stood in the doorway, waiting.
And she stepped close to him, put her arms around his neck, and kissed him as if a life depended on it.
Tony dropped into the wing chair in his study, staring pensively into the fire before him. He was not moved to work on the lock, though he knew he must. He wanted nothing more than to sit in the gathering darkness, alone, for the rest of his life, if need be. Would that the end were not too distant.
Patrick, sensing his mood, brought the tray with the brandy.
Tony poured a snifter for himself and waved the rest away. ‘It is over,’ he said.
‘How so?’
‘I have proposed to her, and she has refused.’
‘This is most sudden.’
‘It seemed like the right thing to do at the time. She hid from me, when I tried to visit her. And when I found her in the garden, she was crying. Patrick, I was defenceless. It seems that other men are offering for her in ways that are less than honourable, and she longs for matrimony. I offered my services in that department, and they were firmly declined.’
‘Even after she knew who you were?’
‘The matter of my identity did not come up,’ Tony muttered.
‘Did not…’ Patrick sank into the wing chair on the opposite side of the fire, and poured himself a glass of his master’s brandy. ‘You expected her to take you, sight unseen, on a very limited acquaintance, and are surprised that she turned you down.’
‘She seemed willing to accept many other gentlemen, with little previous acquaintance, as long as they had money or position. And before I offered, I gave her a fair description of our childhood together. There were enough clues that, had she cared to, she could have seen the truth.
‘But it does not matter, whether she knows me or not. It is the reason she gave, not the denial itself that creates the problem. She said she could not marry a thief.’
Patrick shrugged and sipped his brandy. ‘Then the answer is simple. If you want the girl, stop stealing.’
‘There is the little detail of ten years of crime.’
Patrick waved his hand. ‘Immaterial to the discussion. How much have you personally profited from it?’
Tony considered. ‘Very little. When I began I had a small inheritance, and I invested it well. But it was in no way enough to support the family. So I stole. And since I enjoyed stealing, I continued. But my own money is still there, should I choose to retire.’
‘So you did not steal for yourself. You stole for others. And when you steal now?’
‘There is really no cause for it, other than to cover the activities I perform for Stanton.’
‘So you are, in effect, stealing for the Crown,’ Patrick reasoned.
‘I cannot very well tell her that, though, can I? It defeats the purpose of covert activities, if one goes trumpeting them about the neighbourhood.’
‘But you are not exactly trumpeting about the neighbourhood, if you reveal the truth to one person. Or do you not trust her to keep a confidence?’
He glared at Patrick. ‘I would trust her with my life. I already have. For she knows the truth about me, and has had the power to ruin me for several weeks. If she wished me ill, she had but to say something before now, to see me carted off to Newgate.’
‘Then reveal the better part of your occupation, since you have revealed the worst and not come to ill. Along with your true name and history, of course,’ Patrick added.
There was an annoying emphasis on the last bit of advice, and Tony chose to ignore it. ‘Perhaps when I have run Barton to ground…There are risks involved. He is a dangerous man, if Stanton is to be believed.’
‘All the more reason to tell her the whole truth, since she was involved with him before you entered the picture. It is the