by Amanda Quick
“They may have escaped the grounds, but that does not mean they were not affected by the storm. I barely survived, myself.”
“What are you saying?” Stone raised his head, shocked. “I didn’t realize you were injured, sir. You looked fit and hearty when you came out of the maze this morning.”
“I owe my good health and my undamaged senses to my fiancée,” Lucas said.
“Miss Ames saved you?”
“Yes,” Lucas said. “She did.”
“Well, then, if the intruders didn’t have a Miss Ames of their own handy, they might be in bad shape this morning.”
Lucas smiled slowly. “That, Stone, is an excellent observation. Please send one of Molly’s relatives in here immediately.”
“Yes, sir.” Stone shot to his feet and started toward the door. He paused midway across the room. “Which relative do ye want, sir?”
“I’m not feeling particular. I just need someone who can go into town and discover if by any chance the doctor was called out during the night to attend two men who were stricken with a high fever.”
Twenty-three
At eleven o’clock that morning, Evangeline paced the library, seething with a frustration that bordered on panic. She was so tense that she flinched violently when the door opened. She spun around and saw Lucas.
“Have you lost your mind, sir?” she said. It was all she could do to keep her voice low so as not to be overheard by anyone who happened to be passing by in the hallway.
Lucas closed the door and watched her warily. “I don’t think so. But, then, I’m not certain one would know if one lost one’s mind. The question is complicated, isn’t it? Madmen usually believe themselves to be sane.”
“This is not a joking matter, Lucas. You have brought disaster down on our heads.”
“Calm yourself, my sweet.” Lucas crossed the room to where she stood. He tipped up her chin and gave her a quick kiss. He released her before she could protest and continued on to his desk. “If I didn’t know you better, I’d swear you sounded as if you were about to succumb to a bout of female hysteria.”
“I am not hysterical.”
“No, of course you aren’t.” He looked at her across the width of the desk. “I thought you were upstairs, recovering from your ordeal.”
“I have recovered quite nicely, thank you very much.” She spoke through her teeth. “Your sister has plied me with tea. Molly sent up a tray of poached eggs and toast. And your aunt informed me that after I have recovered from my ordeal, she wishes to speak to me in private.”
“I am sorry to hear that,” Lucas said. “But I am confident that you can hold your own with Aunt Florence. Whatever you do, don’t allow her to browbeat you.”
Evangeline drew herself up. “Just what do you suggest I say to her?”
“I’m sure you’ll think of something.” He went to one of the bookshelves and removed a leather-bound volume. “Since you obviously have bounced back rather nicely from your ordeal, I suggest that we move on to a more pressing topic.”
She folded her arms. “Just what subject do you consider to be more pressing than the current disaster, Mr. Sebastian?”
“I had a thought while I was upstairs shaving and changing into fresh clothes.” Lucas carried the volume to the desk. “It occurred to me that it might be useful to go through my uncle’s journals, especially the ones he kept in the months before his death. If he was acquainted with those two men we encountered in the gardens last night, which I believe is a distinct possibility, and if they visited him prior to the murder, there is a strong likelihood that he mentioned them in his notes. He kept close track of the handful of other botanists who studied the paranormal. There aren’t that many, after all, and I’ll wager that Uncle Chester knew them all.”
Distracted, Evangeline looked at the rows of journals on the shelves. “You do not have time to do that sort of research. Why not let Beth do it for you?”
He frowned. “Beth?”
“I’m sure she would be thrilled to assist you with the investigation.”
“That is a very good idea. I’ll send for her at once.” He reached for one of the velvet bell pulls that hung next to the desk.
It was too much. Evangeline flew to the desk, skirts whipping furiously around her ankles, and slapped both hands, palms down, on the surface.
Lucas looked up from the journal, frowning first in surprise and then in concern. “What the devil?”
“Damn it, Lucas, your uncle’s murder can wait.”
“I don’t think so. Not after what happened last night.”
“We have a crisis on our hands because of what happened last night and you are the one who caused it. The least you can do is discuss it with the appropriate degree of concern.”
“Very well.” Lucas closed the journal. The small lines at the corners of his eyes tightened a little. “But first be good enough to tell me what crisis we are talking about if it is not the matter of the murder.”
“How can you ask such a question? You know the answer to that.”
He relaxed slightly. “Ah, so that is the problem. It is your own situation that concerns you. Perfectly understandable. Don’t worry, I have not forgotten that someone is after you, my dear. But you are safe here at Crystal Gardens. It is just a matter of time before we have more news from London. As soon as we know the identity of the man who hired Sharpy Hobson, I will inform you immediately.”
“Not that crisis, you cork-brained man. I refer to the one we are facing at this very moment. What is more, you cannot blame this situation on a London villain. The villain of this piece is right here in this room.”
Lucas raised his brows. “Cork-brained?”
“I apologize for the language.” She straightened, taking her hands off the desktop. “But it is not my fault that you have driven me to distraction.”
“Let’s start back at the beginning.” There was a new edge in Lucas’s voice. “Define this crisis that has you so overset.”
“You gave that crowd out in the gardens the impression that we are now engaged, for heaven’s sake. How could you do that?”
“I thought I handled it rather smoothly, if I do say so.”
“What?”
“I’m certain that everyone understood me. Do you think I left any room for confusion?”
“Stop making light of this utter catastrophe,” she wailed.
Lucas’s jaw tightened. “I regret that I was not able to make the announcement in a more formal manner, but you will admit that under the circumstances there were not a lot of alternatives.”
She stilled. “What do you mean?”
“It was just after dawn. It was obvious that we had spent the night together in the gardens. I was not wearing a shirt and you were in your nightgown and wrapper. We had an audience. I had to make the announcement immediately. Bloody hell, woman, did you really expect me to post a notice in the newspapers and send out announcements to our engagement ball first?”
“I was afraid of that.”
“An engagement ball?”
Something inside her crumpled. “I know you meant well, Lucas, but you have made everything so much more complicated.”
“Is that so? I fail to see the problem. It all looks quite simple and straightforward to me. Unlike, say, identifying the person who wants you dead and solving my uncle’s murder.”
“Please don’t misunderstand. I realize that you were trying to protect my reputation. It was very kind of you, but—”
“Kind?”
She raised her chin. “You are an honorable man, Lucas, a true gentleman.”
“Why do I get the feeling that this conversation is not going well?”
She ignored that. “You were attempting to protect me and I appreciate it more than you will ever know.” She blinked away the incipient tears. “But don’t you see? We are now living a lie. Sooner or later you will have to tell your family the truth. What will they think?”
Ominous energy heated the
atmosphere. Lucas walked around the end of the desk and started toward her.
“Are you asking me what they will think of you?” he said. “Because I give you my word that anyone who dares to question your virtue will answer to me.”
The manner in which he was advancing on her made her unaccountably nervous. Instinctively she retreated a few steps.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said. “It doesn’t matter what your family and the locals will think of me after the truth comes out. I can simply disappear as I always do after a case. What concerns me is what they will all think of you when our so-called engagement is ended. You have put your own reputation at stake to save mine. I can’t let you do that.”
“It’s done, Evangeline. And just to be clear, I knew exactly what I was doing when I made that announcement this morning.”
He did not stop. He was moving toward her with the deliberate pacing stride of a large beast of prey. She took another step back and then another and came up hard against one of the bookcases. Lucas closed in on her. He put out his hands on either side of her head and gripped the shelf behind her, trapping her, not just physically but psychically as well.
“Lucas?”
“As far as I am concerned we are not living a lie,” he said. “We are engaged. As for my reputation, let me worry about it.”
She was suddenly wary but her alarm was rapidly metamorphosing into excitement. The wavelengths of his aura crashed and roared around her, demanding a response. She could feel her own currents seeking resonance. She tried to resist but it required a great deal of energy. The effort made her breathless.
“I suppose that when the truth comes out we can explain that our engagement was merely an act that we both put on in order to trap your uncle’s killers,” she said, struggling to hang on to her composure and her powers of logic. “We can tell people that you hired me to play the part of your fiancée and that we wanted to give a convincing performance.”
“I have news for you: The performance was extremely convincing. My sister, my aunt and the villagers will never believe that last night was an act. What’s more, you and I know that it was all quite real.” He paused. His eyes heated. “Don’t we?”
“Lucas—”
“Did we or did we not make love last night?”
“Well, yes, but that is not the point.”
“What is the point?”
“Last night we were under the influence of all that energy emanating from the bathhouse pools,” Evangeline said, breathless now. “And there is no knowing how that explosion in the maze affected our senses.”
“You and I are not the type to resort to excuses. We made love because we both wanted to and I, for one, do not regret it. Do you?”
The power of his aura was overwhelming her. She simply did not have the strength to fight him off any longer. No, the truth is that I do not want to struggle against this glorious sensation. She might have other lovers in the long, lonely future that awaited her, but she knew in her heart that she would never experience this incredibly intimate connection with any other man.
“You’re trying to confuse me,” she whispered.
“Am I?”
“Oh, bloody hell,” she whispered. “You’re right, I’m overreacting. You are more than capable of looking after yourself, Lucas Sebastian. If you are not concerned about your own reputation, why should I fret about it?”
“My thoughts precisely.”
“It is not as if engagements are not terminated from time to time,” she added, trying for a positive note. “Generally speaking, it is only the woman’s reputation that is shattered when that happens.” She brightened. “Unless, of course, she is the one who ends the engagement.” Her spirits drooped again. “But that only works if her family is of equal or higher social status.”
“Evangeline—”
“But that doesn’t apply in our situation. The thing is, a wealthy man from a good family has nothing to fear, socially speaking. As for me, I can go back to my old life with no one the wiser.”
Lucas tightened his grip on the shelving behind her. “I think it’s time you stopped talking, Evangeline. You did say that you were getting confused.”
“Yes, I did say that, didn’t I? I can’t seem to think clearly just now.”
“Neither can I. Maybe it’s time we both ceased trying to make intelligent conversation.”
He kissed her before she was obliged to come up with a response. His mouth closed over hers in a ruthless assault that sent shock waves through all of her senses.
Why was she fighting him? she wondered. The recklessness that had taken possession of her last night once again rose to the surface, pushing aside common sense and logic. She clutched his shoulders and abandoned herself to the embrace. Heat and energy shimmered in the atmosphere.
She did not hear the door open. But Lucas evidently was aware of it because he reluctantly broke off the kiss. He did not release his grip on the bookshelves but he turned his head to look over his shoulder.
“What is it, Molly?” he asked, icily impatient.
Horrified, Evangeline peeked around Lucas’s shoulder. Molly stood in the opening. She looked petrified. An attractive lady dressed in a fashionable traveling gown and hat stood behind her. A young man who looked a great deal like Beth was at her side.
“I’m s-s-sorry, sir,” Molly stammered. “I did knock. There’s a Mrs. Sebastian and a Mr. Sebastian here to see you, sir.”
“This day just keeps getting more and more irritating,” Lucas said. But he said it very quietly. He let go of the bookshelves and turned around. “Evangeline, allow me to introduce Judith Sebastian, my stepmother, and my brother, Tony.”
Twenty-four
An hour later Lucas confronted Judith alone in the library. She sat, rigid with tension, in one of the reading chairs. He faced her from behind the desk. It was not the first time the two of them had met like this, Lucas thought. The encounters never ended well for either of them.
“What are you doing here, madam?” he asked. “I was under the impression that you detested Crystal Gardens.”
“I hate this place.” Judith glanced toward the vine-covered windows and shuddered. “Your uncle’s dreadful botanical experiments should be destroyed. Those gardens are unnatural in the extreme.”
Shortly after her arrival Judith had been shown upstairs to one of the bedrooms. She had changed into a dark green gown. Her blond hair was pinned into an elegant chignon that emphasized her delicate features and blue eyes.
“Crystal Gardens is not Kew Gardens,” Lucas said. “I’ll allow you that much. Nor would I suggest holding a garden party on the grounds. But the plants and flowers out there are entirely natural. It is just that they thrive on the paranormal elements in the waters here.”
Anger and an old, familiar look of fear flashed in Judith’s eyes.
“You know I do not believe in the paranormal,” she said.
He smiled coldly. “Which is one of the reasons you and I have never had much in common to talk about.”
Judith flushed. “I did not come here to quarrel with you, Lucas.”
“Then why did you arrive unannounced? And why drag Tony with you?”
“I didn’t send a telegram because I knew you would probably send one straight back telling me that I would not be welcome. When Tony learned that I was coming here, he insisted on traveling with me. He finds this dreadful place quite interesting, I’m afraid.”
“I am not here to entertain a houseful of guests. I am engaged in two very serious projects here at the abbey. Believe me when I tell you that I would prefer no guests at all. But I seem to be acquiring a houseful of relatives, all of whom travel with a great deal of luggage and a maid or two. At this rate Molly will have to open up another wing.”
“You’re the one who sent that cryptic telegram to Florence. It is not my fault that Beth chose to accompany her to the Gardens.”
“And you’re here because of Beth, is that it? You don’t approve o
f the young man who has caught her fancy.”
“Yes, I did come to discuss Beth’s future with you,” Judith said. “But before we get to that subject, I must ask you what on earth is going on around here. Florence told me that last night you had a tryst somewhere on the grounds with Miss Ames and that the two of you were caught coming back to the house at dawn. You were both in a state of dishabille and now you claim to be engaged.”
“Miss Ames and I are engaged.”
“Surely you cannot mean to marry the woman. Florence says she makes her living as a paid companion, for heaven’s sake. I comprehend that you feel there is a matter of honor involved. Nevertheless, the proprieties would hardly seem to apply in this situation. It is not as if Miss Ames moves in society.”
“When have you ever known me to give a damn about the proprieties?”
“Are you saying that you actually do intend to marry her?”
“In a word? Yes.”
“I cannot believe that. I know you too well, Lucas. You are involved in some complicated scheme.”
He picked up the sterling silver letter opener and balanced it on two fingers. “I strongly suggest that you tell me why you came here today. If you do not get to the matter at hand, you will find yourself on the next train back to London.”
Judith pressed her lips tightly together. “Very well, I suppose your engagement is your business.”
“Yes, it is. A word of advice: You will treat Miss Ames with respect. Is that understood?”
Judith clasped her hands tightly together. Her jaw twitched. “Of course.”
“Say what you feel you need to say. You can stay the night and return to London tomorrow.”
Judith’s mouth curved bitterly. “Gracious, as always.”
He called on his willpower and managed to control his temper. “Come now, there is no need for false politeness between us, Judith. We have both understood each other very well, right from the start.”
The blood drained from Judith’s cheeks but she held on to her composure. “You are right. I came here because of Beth. The very last thing I want to do is plead with you, Lucas, but I will get down on my knees if it will do any good.”