Page 20 of A Wallflower Demands Satisfaction
“Well, um, if there’s nothing else I can do for you, niece, then I’ll go, um, find Her Grace.”
As soon as the duke had circled back to where Lady Camilla sat with Lady Alice, Sinjin, and the duchess, Lord Reynolds leaned conspiratorially across the table.“He doesn’t trust me, but he will when you tell him you won’t marry anyone but me.”
Olivia nearly cast up her accounts at that pronouncement, and carefully set down the tumbler of punch she’d been drinking so as not to bring on a fit of coughing.
“I’m sorry sir, but you are mistaken…I could never—.”
He interrupted her harshly.“But you will.You have no choice.Otherwise, I’ll destroy everyone you care for.I’ll even turn in your lover, that hulking Will Beckford, for eavesdropping on Miss Villeneuve’s visit to his Peeler office and then following me all over London like some ridiculous dog.”
Olivia thought the worst of what could happen to her had already passed, but the bit about Will was slowly sinking into her consciousness.“What did you say about Mister Beckford?”
“Oh, he didn’t tell you, did he?”He laughed his oily, nauseating laugh again.“Your stupid mother ignored my warnings and went to the Peelers to try to get them to find you.”
“Why?Why would she do that, after all these years?”
“Because she didn’t leave you on that Seven Dials street corner.I did.I knew one of the pickpocket kings would scoop you up in a heartbeat.You had the face of an angel, one that no one would suspect was emptying their pockets.
“She’s been paying me all these years for your keep with a ‘wealthy’ family.”
“What kind of monster does that?”
“Me, and yes, I can.This is how I’ve always earned a living, but now, with your ducal dowry, I can leave that business behind.”
“I’m not going to marry you.I’ll pay you what you want.Leave Miss Villeneuve and duke out of this.”
“Oh, no, my love.That dowry is my ticket to retirement.Miss Olivia Jones, a laundress at Goodrum’s, cannot possibly come up with the equivalent of a ducal dowry on her own.Youwillmarry me, and you’ll like it.”He extended his hand across the table and gripped hers so tightly, tears came to her eyes.
She endured the pain and refused to call for help.She would bring this monster down on her own and enjoy every minute of his torture.
One minute they were alone, and she was at his mercy, but the next minute, there stood her brother Dickie looking like an avenging angel.“Is everything all right here?”His voice vibrated with warning.He was not really asking a question.
Lord Reynolds rose immediately, his evil look replaced by a genial man-of-means look.“I do not believe we’ve been introduced, sirrah.”
“You’re right.We haven’t.Miss Whitcombe is my sister.”
“Pardon my ignorance.I did not know Chelmsford had a long-lost nephew as well as a niece.”
“Well, now you know.Miss Whitcombe is under my protection.”
“Dickie…” Olivia warned him with a whisper.“Please don’t.”
Dickie bowed low.“Olivia, Lord Reynolds, I’ll take my leave now, but I will be seeingyouagain.”
Olivia’s heart felt as though it was clawing its way up her throat.How was she ever going to extricate her family and friends from the clutches of this fiend?
12
APRIL 28, 1830
DUKE OF CHELMSFORD’S MANSION
* * *
Berkley Square, Mayfair
Captain Eleanor Goodrum Whitcombe, otherwise known as the elegant Duchess of Chelmsford, smelled a rat.And he’d appeared at their front door that morning to call on Percy.When her husband had exited from his meeting with Lord Reynolds, his face was pale with rage.
She and Olivia had been reading through nearly a week’s worth ofThe Morning Post, but when the two men arrived in the family sitting room, the air was so thick with animosity, they both set aside the gossip sheets.