“Which way is that, sir?” she asked, feeling as if the ground had been pulled from beneath her. “I confess, I do not follow your reasoning.”
One moment, she had been certain.
And now, she was…
Dear God, she could not bear to contemplate the way she felt. But the doubt was everywhere, infectious. Filling her with trepidation and dread.
Shaking her.
Shaking everything she thought she had known…
“Winchelsea was using you to further the investigation into your brother,” Ravenhurst said smoothly. “Just as you were using him to keep from being arrested. And yet, here you are. Your plans did not come to fruition in the manner you had hoped.”
Felix had been investigating Drummond?
But how could that be? When she had laid bare all the painful details of her past, he had never for one moment suggested he was already familiar with her brother’s name. Or with her. Or with any detail remotely connected to herself, her brother, or the Fenians.
“Winchelsea was not investigating me,” she denied.
Felix, her Felix, would never betray her in such a fashion. She was sure of it.
“Of course he was,” Mr. Ravenhurst said. “Winchelsea himself was responsible for bringing you here to London.”
“Explain yourself, if you please,” she demanded. “How can His Grace have been responsible for my time here? I was hired by the Crown and Thorn.”
Her entire being was cold, as if she had just plunged into the waters of a frozen winter’s lake.
“By Mr. Theo Saville,” the detective agreed. “Saville is a close friend of Winchelsea’s. He was willing to accommodate Winchelsea’s request. Surely His Grace mentioned all this to you in the course of your…relationship with him. Did he not?”
No, he most certainly had not. He had mentioned nothing of the sort.
Felix was friends with Mr. Saville. She knew that much herself without having to ask.
“His Grace is a very private man,” she said, attempting to deflect any further attention upon her relationship with Felix to another matter.
To anything else.
For her own sake as well as for her wellbeing and future freedom.
She could not afford any more mistakes. She had already lived a life of so many. From the time she had run away from her father and the life she had detested, she had been fleeing. Too fearful to settle down and find a home anywhere, with anyone.
Felix had changed that for her.
For the first time, she had wanted to stay with him. To remain with him, wherever he was. She wanted him to be her home.
“Winchelsea is indeed a private man,” Ravenhurst agreed. “He has always been a bastion of honor, which is why I am perplexed by the manner in which he has attempted to protect you. His instinct to keep you safe, I can only put down to your seductress ways. You have brought a great man low, and for that you must be well-pleased with yourself.”
She would never be happy with herself for bringing Felix low.
“I am no seductress, sir,” she denied.
“There is no need to lie, Miss McKenna. The evidence speaks for itself. Why else would a dignified member of the Home Office, a man charged with overseeing the operations of the Special League, be so determined to protect you?” he asked.
She struggled to understand what Ravenhurst had just revealed to her. She understood that the Special League was a force tasked with attempting to curtail Fenian activities throughout England and Ireland. But as for who that man might be, or what it had to do with the Home Office, she was at a loss.
“Forgive me,” she began hesitantly, “but I am afraid you will have to explain yourself further. I do not know who you speak of or what these charges are which you have presumed to level against me.”
He smiled slowly. “I speak of the Duke of Winchelsea, of course. Do not play the actress with me, my dear. I know you are entirely aware of the role His Grace plays in Her Majesty’s government.”
