Page 32 of The King of Whitechapel (Victorian Outcasts #7)

thirty-two

A SHOT OF tension went down Christopher’s spine when Pearce entered the common room in the palace. The Duke of Grafton was here in the headquarters of Christopher’s criminal organisation! He’d be less shocked if the queen had entered.

A day ago, he’d sent a short but polite invitation to his brother, and surprisingly, Pearce had agreed to see him. So here he was with his beautiful Elizabeth, ready to see if their plan would work.

Wrapped in a long dark cloak that matched his dark soul, Pearce could be mistaken for one of those thugs who prowled the alleyways of Whitechapel at night. Certainly, his harsh expression added to his menacing persona and didn’t invite kindness.

Pearce stopped in the middle of the room to survey it as if he were trying to decide if the place was to his liking. Indeed, the simple, sturdy furniture, the cheap glass lamps, and the cotton curtains had to be a shock for his ducal sensibilities, compared to his luxurious house. His gaze flared when he spotted Elizabeth, the only sign he felt an emotion, although he lacked his usual arrogance.

“Thank you for being here,” Elizabeth said, bowing her head gracefully.

Pearce removed his gloves acknowledging her greeting with a bow of his head. “You’re welcome.”

Christopher opened his mouth to say something, but Pearce’s politeness shocked him into silence.

“I’m glad to see you’re well,” Pearce said. “I was worried about you after you left.”

“I didn’t leave. My father kicked me out because of your accusations.” Elizabeth didn’t give him time to reply. “Did you take a cab as we asked you?”

Pearce nodded. “Yes. My carriage is nowhere near here, and I came alone not to attract attention.”

“So, Rebecca will be here shortly,” she said.

“Rebecca?” Pearce tensed immediately.

Elizabeth held up a hand. “Please bear with us. We have reason to believe Rebecca spread lies about Christopher and me with the intention of deceiving you. She likely wants to marry you. We invited her here in the hope that she would confess to her lies.”

Pearce’s eyebrows drew together. “What are you talking about?”

“Everything will be clear in a moment. I must ask you to trust me. Just this once.” She held open the curtains that covered the nook. “If you hide here and make sure to remain still and quiet, we would be most grateful. We ask you only to listen to the conversation. There’s the chance Rebecca won’t confess to what she did, but I’m confident I can persuade her to talk.”

“We know Rebecca was the witness who informed you of Elizabeth and my presumptive affair.” Christopher exchanged a glance with Elizabeth. “And we know she lied.”

“All right. I’ll be quiet.” Pearce did as told. He hid behind the curtains and stepped back against the wall so as not to be spotted.

“Thank you.” Elizabeth closed the curtains and draped them carefully to conceal the duke completely. “We’re ready.”

They didn’t need to wait long. Rebecca strode into the room with an arrogant attitude as he had thought Pearce would have done. They did have many things in common. Perhaps they’d be a good match. She, too, surveyed the room, gazing from Elizabeth to Christopher with disdain.

“Rebecca, thank you for coming.” Elizabeth’s voice sounded strained.

Christopher had to bow, only because he didn’t want to give Rebecca a reason to leave.

“I’m here. What did you want to discuss?” She didn’t sit or remove her coat or hat.

“I want to clear my name,” Elizabeth said, matching Rebecca’s stiff stance. “I know you lied to the duke and told him you saw Christopher and me together. I’m asking you to tell the truth.”

Rebecca remained silent long enough to make Christopher worry. He couldn’t offer to help her brother pay off his debts until she admitted to having lied, or Pearce would think Rebecca’s confession was disingenuous and driven only by her wish to protect her brother. Christopher needed only a word from her. A word that would reveal the truth.

Finally, she cleared her throat. “Why would I do that?”

“Because your lie destroyed my reputation and my life.” Elizabeth narrowed her eyes to slits. “And because your plan didn’t work as you wanted, anyway. The duke isn’t courting you, is he?”

“An engagement with the duke was what you wanted,” Christopher said. “Push Elizabeth away to have the opportunity to be courted by Pearce and marry him.”

“You’re wrong.” Rebecca’s stance slackened a fraction. “The duke and I are growing closer with each passing day. He shows signs of affection and care towards me. I don’t expect to be engaged to him in a matter of weeks, of course. The sordid incident involving you upset him deeply, but my plan did work.”

Elizabeth’s chest heaved. “There was no need to lie. The duke was only agreeing to court me. There was no engagement.”

“Don’t make me laugh. It was obvious to everyone he was deeply taken by you. I know he searched for you after you left. I saw him buy an expensive engagement ring for you. He agreed to start with a simple courtship because he knew you weren’t interested in him. You didn’t deserve his attention. You would have rejected his marriage proposal and humiliated him after the courtship ended. So I humiliated you .”

Christopher chuckled bitterly. “You don’t really think that making him believe Elizabeth was being unfaithful to him didn’t humiliate him, do you?”

Rebecca blinked a couple of times. “Elizabeth didn’t care about him. She would have never loved him, and the little scene between you two I witnessed at the ball proved it. I saved him from a miserable match and a broken heart.”

“I’m quite sure his heart broke when you gave him that false news,” he said.

“He’s more than happy now.” Rebecca straightened again.

“Did you pay other people to spread the same lie?” Elizabeth asked. “Or did they volunteer?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Irene agreed with me you weren’t the right woman for the duke, and your association with Blackwood is no lie, and Maude was with her parents in your father’s hunting lodge during the Great Blizzard. We knew you were lying. You’re so ready to judge and condemn others when you lie, too. You weren’t in the hunting lodge. You were with Blackwood, likely in that small cottage at the edge of town. People saw smoke coming out of the cottage’s chimney. Then the day after the ball, my lady’s maid learnt from your footman that you were planning to stay out the whole day. It was obvious you were meeting with your lover.”

“But I didn’t,” Elizabeth said.

“It doesn’t matter. As I said, you don’t deserve the duke’s affection. So no. I’m not going to tell him the truth. Why would I?”

Christopher glanced at the curtains as a muffled noise came. “You might change your mind, Miss Norton. Your brother has an obsession with gambling, doesn’t he?”

Rebecca gripped her reticule. “That’s none of your business.”

“Oh, but it is, since he gambles in one of my dens. He has a huge debt with his creditors. Trust me when I say that you don’t want to upset those people. They aren’t very understanding when it comes to money.” He lifted a shoulder. “I can make sure your brother’s debt is cancelled today. His creditors aren’t my men, but they won’t care where the money comes from.”

She fiddled with her hands, shifting her stance.

“I can do more,” Christopher went on. “I can also make sure that no gambling den will ever let him in, so you’ll have time to convince your brother to stop gambling once and for all, which actually goes against my own interest because he keeps filling my coffers, thank you very much. Tell the truth to her parents and the duke, and your brother will be spared a slow, painful death by the hand of his creditors.”

Rebecca lowered her gaze. “The duke will be furious. He’ll ruin my reputation.”

“You have to choose, Miss Norton.” Christopher used a harsh tone. “Your brother’s life, or the duke’s wrath.”

“As unpleasant as talking to the duke might be,” Elizabeth said, “he would never hurt you or your brother, as those thugs would do.”

A sob shuddered through Rebecca, and she clamped a hand over her mouth. “This is unfair. I’m going to lose Pearce if I tell him the truth.”

“You shouldn’t have lied to him to start with.” Elizabeth folded her arms over her chest. “What do you choose?”

Christopher did feel some pity for her. “I need an answer, miss.”

“All right.” She swallowed hard. “I will tell the truth to the duke, but you must promise me that my brother will be safe.”

Christopher nodded. “You have my word. The moment the duke is informed of the truth, your brother’s debt will vanish.”

“Very well. Then the conversation is over.” Miss Norton spun towards the door and left the room as if it were on fire.

Once she slammed the door behind her, Pearce shoved the curtains aside, his eyes wild with fury. “I can’t believe this.”

“Exactly.” Elizabeth’s determined expression wasn’t less fierce than Pearce’s. “You refused to believe me. I told you those rumours were only lies, but you didn’t listen to me. You had no doubt I was to blame.” Her voice cracked. “You didn’t let me talk, and I risked my life on the streets because no one believed me. Only Christopher helped me.” A sob escaped her, and she walked out of the room. Her footsteps thundered in the small space.

Christopher’s chest clenched for her pain, but at least the truth was out.

Then he was alone with his brother in an uncomfortable silence so thick he could grow potatoes in it.

Pearce hung his head in a defeated fashion unfit for a duke. “Why did you offer Rebecca a deal? I was listening. I know the truth, no matter what she decides. You didn’t need to help her brother.”

“Because she must confess, so everyone will know Elizabeth is innocent. If Rebecca doesn’t confess and you shun her, she’ll spread rumours about your credibility. It’s better if you pretend not to know anything until she tells you. There must be no doubt or shadow over Elizabeth’s reputation.”

He nodded. “I wronged her. Deeply.”

“You should take responsibility for what you did. But,” he added when Pearce shot him a glare, “she has a very good heart. If you give her time and apologise profusely and sincerely, I’m sure she’ll forgive you.” He wasn’t sure, but Pearce had to apologise to her.

“I’ll apologise anyway, whether she forgives me or not. It’s the least I can do.”

“Another thing you can do is call your dogs off my back.”

Pearce nodded without hesitation. “I didn’t order them to beat you and your men. They acted without my permission. I want you to know that.”

The news surprised Christopher. “Half of those men were thugs from one of the most violent gangs Whitechapel has ever seen. I’m not surprised they attacked us.”

“I’m sorry. Really. When I employed those men, I only cared about their knowledge of your routine. I was wrong. As I was wrong about too many other things. I thought Elizabeth was one of the many people who betrayed me.” Pearce raked a hand through his hair.

“No, Pearce. You’re hurt because you believe Father loved me more than he loved you, and you think every relationship in your life is the same, but it’s not true.”

Pearce composed himself, and his cold attitude returned. “He did love you more than me. He certainly loved your mother more than mine.”

“Yes, Father was in love with my mother, but he loved us both equally. You mistake his sense of guilt towards me with love. The special attention he gave me was driven by his guilt, not love.”

For the first time in Christopher’s life, Pearce hadn’t lashed out at him when talking about their father.

“I missed him when he was with you,” he whispered. “Mother was desperate. She kept crying whenever Father left her to be with you. I did my best to comfort her, but she suffered greatly.”

“So did I when he was with you. That’s why he wanted us to care for each other and be brothers.”

“Mother would have never allowed it.” Pearce scratched his chin. “I admit her opinions on you and your relationship with Father influenced me. I wasn’t kind to you.”

“Kind? You were a bloody ass.” Christopher folded his arms over his chest. “They kicked me out of Eton because of you. You gave me the sack when Father died. You barely allowed me to say goodbye to him. I couldn’t find a job because of you. Shall I continue? The list is rather long.”

Pearce stretched out his hand to him, his expression determined. “I’ll do better, and I apologise.”

Christopher shook his brother’s hand. “It’s not me you should apologise to. Sarah and Arthur need you.”

A muscle bunched in Pearce’s jaw. For a long, horrifying moment, Christopher thought Pearce would tell him to go to hell. But then his expression softened. “Can you take me to them?”

“It’ll be my pleasure.”

“See, it was Rebecca’s brother who told me Sarah was seeing someone else behind my back.” Pearce exhaled, and some of his pain reached Christopher. “I wronged her, too.”

The drive to Sarah’s house was a quiet one, but the air between Christopher and Pearce wasn’t charged with the usual hostility. Not that Christopher believed he’d soon be his brother’s best mate, but at least they weren’t at each other’s throat anymore.

He hadn’t realised how strongly he wanted to have a normal, civil relationship with Pearce until that moment.

Pearce glanced at the house before getting out of the cab. “The place is better than I thought.”

“I wanted my nephew to live in a decent place.” He knocked on the door. “Sarah, it’s me, Christopher.”

Footsteps sounded along with Arthur’s happy giggling. The door was flung open, revealing a wide-smiled, pink-cheeked Sarah.

“What a surprise.” Her smile vanished when she stared at Pearce. “What is he doing here?”

“Pearce wanted to see you.” Christopher nudged him with his elbow and nodded at the hat.

Pearce removed his tall hat. “I know this is sudden, but I would like a moment with you. Please.”

Sarah didn’t move at first, but another sound, halfway between a snort and a laugh, from Arthur distracted her.

“I’m sorry, Sarah,” Pearce said. “I’d be extremely grateful if you’d allow me to talk to you for a moment. After that, I’ll do anything you ask. If you want to be left alone, I’ll do that.”

Sarah’s eyes filled with unshed tears, and Christopher wanted to kick himself for having taken Pearce here.

But then she jutted out her chin. “Come in.”

Christopher let Pearce go first. The house wasn’t big, merely a sitting room, a small kitchen, and a bedroom, but it was warm and dry with plenty of sunlight. Arthur was sitting on the thick rug, smashing two coloured wooden blocks together with enthusiasm. Whatever the purpose of that exercise was, Arthur seemed more than satisfied with the result, despite the fact his small hands barely held the blocks.

Pearce sucked in a deep breath when he focused on Arthur. There was no mistaking the resemblance between Pearce, Christopher, and Arthur. They shared the same blond-silver hair and blue eyes.

“He’s beautiful,” Pearce said, seemingly choking on his words.

“And healthy, thanks to Christopher.” Sarah picked Arthur up who let out a delighted squeal. “He doesn’t cough anymore since we moved here, and he’s putting on weight as babes should do. Christopher has taken good care of us. I’ll always be grateful to him. He saved our lives.”

“It was my pleasure.” Christopher stepped closer to the door, uncomfortable with all the compliments. “I’ll leave you two alone to have a chat if Sarah agrees.”

Sarah kissed Arthur’s head and nodded. “Thank you.”

Christopher pinned his brother with a glare, meaning to warn him not to hurt Sarah. Pearce bowed his head in acknowledgement.

When Christopher shut the door behind him, he exhaled, a weight lifting from his chest. Surely Pearce wouldn’t change in a day, but what mattered was that Arthur wouldn’t grow up believing his father hated him, and that made the whole difference.