Page 82 of The Virgin Who Humbled Lord Haslemere
But Lord Draven’s fatherhadn’tput a stop to it. The duel had gone forward after Kenilworth and Draven returned to London.
“Clara fancied herself in love with Kenilworth, of course. I knew it would end in disaster, but Mrs. Beauchamp allowed the duke’s attentions. Oh, she never meant any harm, but she was a simple lady, my lord, and in awe of the aristocracy. I think she hoped Clara would one day become the Duchessof Kenilworth.”
But she hadn’t.Janehad, and Clara…what had become of Clara? Benedict rose abruptly, suddenly desperate to leave this tiny parlor and this tiny cottage and speak to Georgiana alone.
Mrs. Payne startled. “Are you all right, Lord Haslemere?”
“Forgive me, Mrs. Payne.” Benedict’s hand shook as he placed his bloodied napkin on the tea tray. “I didn’t realize how late it had become. You’ve been a tremendous help to us. Lady Haslemere and I are grateful. Shall we, my lady?”
Georgiana took Mrs. Payne’s hand and pressed it between hers. “Thank you for your hospitality, Mrs. Payne.”
“You’re welcome, my lady. I don’t know that there’s anything you or Lord Haslemere can do, and poor Clara is, I fear, beyond our help, but it would bring me a measure of peace if the Duke of Kenilworth were made to pay for the misery he’s caused.”
“I promise you, Mrs. Payne, that Lord Haslemere and I will do whatever lies in our power to do.” Georgiana released Mrs. Payne’s hand, bid her a last goodbye and followedBenedict out.
He waited until they’d left the cottage before the fury and anguish that had been building in his chest burst forth in a flood of angry words. “Thatblackguard. I’ll see Kenilworth swing for what he’s done, not just to Jane and Freddy, but to Clara and Draven.”
“Benedict, listen—”
“The Duke of Kenilworth,” Benedict spat, bitterness swelling in every word. “Such a proper, distinguished gentleman, so admired and revered in London, a man of such impeccable honor. He’s amurderer, Georgiana.”
“We know only that heattempteda murder. Lord Draven is still alive, and Clara might not be as far beyond our help as Mrs. Payne supposes she is. Remember, Benedict, that Jane swears she saw Clara in a carriage outside Lady Tilbury’s townhouse.”
“But how could Clara have hidden herself for all this time? Mrs. Payne said Draven searched all over England for her. How could she have disappeared so thoroughly even the man who loved her couldn’t find her?”
“I don’t know, but I’ve seen stranger things. Lady Tilbury may know more than she pretends to. Jane and Lord Draven must believe she’s still alive, or they wouldn’t be searching for her.”
Benedict dragged his hands down his face, guilt pressing in on him. “I should have seen what Kenilworth was from the start. Instead I allowed my only sister to marry a villain. I failed her and Freddy—”
“No.” Georgiana tugged his hands away from his face, her grip fierce. “You couldn’t have known, Benedict. The duke is an accomplished liar. You can’t be blamed for believing what everyone elsein London did.”
“But why didn’t Jane just tell me the truth about Kenilworth?” He was the elder of the two of them, and Jane had always trusted him. “How could she not have trusted me to help her and Freddy?”
“It’s not a matter of her not trusting you. Don’t you see? Jane is terrified of the duke. He had Lord Draven attacked. He blacked Freddy’s eye—achild, Benedict. Any man who’d hurt a child must be a monster. Do you believe for one second Kenilworth didn’t threaten you? Jane didn’t want you to know because she wanted to protect you, not because she didn’t trust you.”
Benedict stood with his head down and let her words wash over him. He couldn’t excuse his own actions as easily as Georgiana did, but it meant a great deal to him that she believed him to be blameless, evenif he didn’t.
“There’s one other thing, Benedict. Mrs. Payne said Kenilworth was more tempted by Clara’s fortune than he was by her face, but there’s only one way he could have gotten his hands on Clara’s fortune.”
Benedict’s head came up.
Marriage.
Was there a possibility Kenilworth had actuallymarriedClara Beauchamp?
Benedict’s mind was racing. Clara was an heiress, and Kenilworth a greedy, grasping man who at the time had no money, and three cousins standing between him and his uncle’s dukedom.
Cold dread dropped from Benedict’s chest to the pit of his stomach. “A vulnerable, naïve young lady with a tidy fortune might not have tempted a duke, but Clara might have proved irresistible to a penniless viscount.”
“A viscount, Benedict. Aviscount.”
Georgiana’s voice was heavy with meaning, and Benedict recalled he had heard someone say something about Clara Beauchamp and a viscount, but he couldn’tquite remember…
Lady Wylde. Of course. At her masque ball she’d told Georgiana there’d been a rumor floating about that Clara Beauchamp had married a viscount.Marrieda viscount. Not that she’d been betrothed to a viscount, or ruined by one, butmarriedone.
Something Lady Archer had said drifted back to him then, something he hadn’t remarked on at the time. “Kenilworth didn’t inherit the dukedom until the summer before the Christmas ball, but he purchased his Grosvenor Street mansion much earlier that year, in January.Beforehe inherited.”
Georgiana grasped his coat, understanding dawning on her face. “That wasClara’smoney. He’d married her by then, and he was spending her money!”
