Page 41 of To Tempt Lady (Victorian Outcasts #10)

thirty-eight

Sitting on a bench in Hyde Park with her maid, Emma found it difficult to enjoy watching Jesse with Button.

He’d become a good rider in a short time, but the most incredible thing was Trevor, riding next to Jesse and laughing with him.

Her brother patiently showed Jesse how to manoeuvre the pony and how to trot without hurting his back.

She would have never thought Trevor would show the same affection he did for horses to a boy.

Worries piled up in her mind faster than sand in an hourglass as she waited for the reaction to the rumours Sir Horace spread about Marcus.

“Do not worry, my lady,” Gibson said. “The charity will raise a fortune in no time.”

“Hopefully, if people don’t get frightened by the rumours.”

“I think you’ll raise a fortune exactly because of the rumours. People will want to know the truth.”

Lady Beaumont promenaded towards them, followed by her maid. She paused at their bench and nodded. “Good morning, Emma.”

“Good morning.” Her voice was as sweet as rat poison to her own ears.

Marcus’s past was behind him, but she couldn’t completely forget Lady Beaumont had been with him on more than one occasion.

Lady Beaumont gazed around. “I’m afraid I’m in a hurry, but I just wanted to tell you that I’ll support your charity event, whatever you choose it to be.”

“Thank you. That’s generous of you.” She sounded as if she were choking, but considering the annoyance boiling within her, she was doing a good job.

“I trust that everything else is all right.”

“It is, thank you.”

Lady Beaumont loitered, glancing around. “Well, I guess that’s all.”

“I really think it is.”

The change in Lady Beaumont was immediate. Her gaze sharpened, and she straightened her spine.

“We don’t have anything else to say. Have a nice day, Emma.” Lady Beaumont hurried again along the path as if the police were after her.

Lady Beaumont had changed her manners, which Emma didn’t mind.

Her attention towards Marcus wasn’t welcome.

Or maybe Lady Beaumont was worried about the rumours spreading and that might involve her.

So far, there was nothing clear aside from a rumour about Marcus having worked in a disorderly house, which wasn’t true.

But that was the reason why he’d decided to stay home and not show himself in the park.

The barrister would establish if the evidence brought by Marcus against Sir Horace was to be considered valid or not, hopefully before the rumours became unmanageable.

Jesse followed Lady Beaumont with his gaze before climbing off Button. He rushed towards Emma, holding his flat hat in place with a hand.

“Are you tired, dear?”

“Lady Emma,” he said, breathing quickly. “I have something that might help you with Sir Horace.”

“Please. You aren’t going anywhere near him.”

He shook his head. “It’s not that. I don’t have to go to his house, but there’s something I didn’t tell you about that night.”

“What is it?” She prompted when he didn’t talk. “You know you can tell me anything.”

He scrubbed the top of his head. “When I entered his house, he was arguing with a lady, that lady.” He nodded towards Lady Beaumont.

“Are you sure it was her?” She checked the path, but Lady Beaumont had already vanished.

“Very. I had to wait for them to finish before coming out of my hiding place, and they argued a lot. I took a good look at her, and it’s her.”

“And what did they argue about?”

He blushed. “They had an affair, but it ended. She ended it. She told him not to ruin her. She didn’t want her name to come out, and if it did, she would tell everyone he went to a place called…

” He paused. “I don’t remember the name, but it was a town with a bridge up north. Port something. No, I can’t remember.”

A sharp quiver went through her. “Newport-on-Tay?”

“That one.” He nodded. “He got angry when he heard that name and told her to stop talking. She said that everyone will know he was the one who inspected the bridge.”

“Sir Horace was the one to inspect the bridge.” Emma took a moment to ponder the news. “As Marcus’s father always claimed.”

“Was that important?” he asked.

She hugged him. “You’re brilliant.”

Marcus wasn’t sure Emma’s idea would work. Seeing Lady Beaumont again was nothing short of unpleasant for him, and having to deal with her and recruit her help against Sir Horace would be difficult.

Emma didn’t seem happy either. She kept looking out of the window of the drawing room as they waited for Lady Beaumont to arrive in Hart House.

“We can’t be sure Lady Beaumont will be willing to talk against Sir Horace,” Marcus said. “She must be the person who informed Sir Horace of my past.”

“I don’t think so. She wouldn’t risk her reputation by exposing your past to Sir Horace. She has very little to gain. I think Sir Horace learnt about your past from someone else, and Lady Beaumont became outraged and worried that the rumours about you might lead to her.”

“I don’t trust her, but you’re probably right.”

She slid her hand into his. “I know it’s difficult for you. But we must try to turn Lady Beaumont into our strongest ally.”

He smiled. “Always the hopeful one.”

“Well, so far, so good.”

The sound of a carriage stopping in front of the house caused them to tense and shortly after, Stewart came into the drawing room.

“Lady Beaumont.”

“Show her in, please.” Emma smoothed down her blue gown, and for a moment, he indulged himself in looking at her beauty and the sense of freedom and peace she so easily set into his heart.

Lady Beaumont walked in, wrapped in a cloud of flowery perfume. The scent brought him back to their encounters and her demanding attention. Her lady’s maid glanced at Marcus for a fleeting moment.

“Emma.” Lady Beaumont’s gaze lit up when she saw Marcus.

He bowed. “My lady.”

“Thank you for coming, Lena.” Emma’s tone could cut glass. “Please take a seat.”

Lady Beaumont didn’t sit down. “May I ask what this is all about? After all the rumours circulating about you, I don’t want to spend too much time here. You surely understand.”

She cleared her throat. “You know Mr. Kingston, don’t you?”

A moment of awkward silence thickened the air.

“I need to talk to you,” Marcus said.

Lady Beaumont was flustered. “Then I want privacy. If we have to talk, I kindly ask Emma to leave the room.”

“Excuse me?” she said. “This is my house.”

Marcus gave her a nod. “I think it would be better if you weren’t here.” He didn’t want her to listen to details of his former job with Lady Beaumont.

“Just because you asked me.” Tension flickered in Emma’s face. “I’ll be in the sitting room.”

“Thank you, Emma.” Lady Beaumont turned to her lady’s maid. “Walker, take a walk.” She laughed at her own joke.

The maid curtsied, her gaze flying upwards for a moment. “My lady.”

Before leaving, Emma paused at the door and gave him a warm smile only for him. There was no possessiveness in it, only love.

When he was alone with Lady Beaumont, he faced her, his hands clammy.

“What did you want to tell me?” she asked, sitting on the sofa.

He sat in front of her. “I know you and Sir Horace were lovers.”

She paled but collected herself quickly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“My lady, please. We can be honest with each other. Do you think I would judge you? Or do you think I’ll gossip about that?”

She fiddled with a fold in her skirt. “It was before I met you, and I didn’t like it. I was young, just married, and unhappy, and he made me feel adored. For a while. Then he became demanding and jealous.”

That reminded him of someone.

“As I said, I’m not going to judge you. I mentioned that because I don’t think it was you who spread the rumours about my past. I think it was Sir Horace, but he didn’t learn the truth from you, did he?”

She shifted on the sofa. “Well, I didn’t tell him anything, but he discovered it.”

“What do you mean?”

“You were one of the reasons I didn’t want to keep my affair with him going on. He didn’t take it well. As the possessive and jealous lover he is, he had me followed. I guess it wasn’t difficult for him to be informed of who my new interest was.”

“Did he promise he would keep quiet about your involvement after you confronted him at his home?”

“How do you know that?”

“By chance.”

She gazed around, losing her composure for a moment. “He did, but I didn’t believe him.”

“So you blackmailed him.”

That got her attention. Colour leached from her face. “I had to protect myself. My marriage isn’t perfect, but Jonathan and I are much happier now. We respect each other. I can’t have my reputation tarnished by such a scandal.”

He didn’t care about that, either. “You were with him in Newport-on-Tay one year before the bridge collapsed.” He could barely contain his eagerness to hear her answer.

“I was. It was his idea of a romantic escapade. We pretended to be married during the trip. Once there, he did his work, and we saw each other in the evening only. Quite boring for a romantic escapade. So yes, I know he inspected the bridge.”

A weight lifted from his shoulders. He’d never doubted his father, but hearing the same story confirmed by someone else quietened some of his hunger for justice. He swallowed past the lump of emotion in his throat.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked, not without kindness.

“First, I didn’t want you to know I had an affair with Horace. And second, I didn’t link your father’s identity to the bridge incident until later on. Until you talked about your father. I’m not heartless. I swear it.”

“Again, I’m not here to judge you. I want your help to stop Sir Horace from spreading rumours about us, and I want him to face justice.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “Justice?”

“You must have heard he’s facing charges of negligence.”

“Yes, but when I asked him about that, he minimised the whole affair.”

“It would be to our mutual benefit if you would help me put this rumour to rest. You can end it while discrediting Sir Horace. Can you do that?”

She smiled. “I think I can.”