“Yes?” he asked, knowing full well that she’d worked it out for herself. Her eyes flashed much as the emerald had.
“You think Mrs. Christie sent the villain.”
“You have it exactly.”
“But why?”
“As to that,” he said, taking her hand, “we shall have to ask.”
Chapter Fifteen
Alastair ducked. The black lacquered jewelry box Alys Christie flung at his head sailed over it instead and thudded hard against the wall. The hinged lid remained intact until the box dropped to the floor. Alastair glanced at it but not for long. The damaged treasure chest and all of its spilled booty were much less concerning than the tortoiseshell hairbrush Mrs. Christie prepared to launch at him next.
He feinted left, then right, and took a glancing blow off his shoulder. Her aim was true. He was merely a bit lighter and quicker on his feet.
A second hairbrush, this time one with a heavy silver backing, thumped against the door as he spun sideways. She’d meant for it to slam into his chest.
He took a step toward her, hands extended slightly to ward off the next missile. “Alys.”
It was his cajoling tone that further incensed her. Never taking her eyes from him, she blindly slapped the top of her vanity until her fingers found something useful. She gripped her handheld mirror with the ferocity of a warrior and raised it just above her shoulder. This time she did not let it fly immediately.
“You had no right!” Her nostrils flared as she sucked in a breath. Her normally pale complexion was flushed with angry color. “That ring was mine. Mine!”
Alastair’s raised eyebrow emphasized his skepticism. “Really? You were able to convince yourself of it?”
Her hold on the mirror did not falter, but he had captured her attention in a manner that stayed her hand. “What do you mean I was able to convince myself? You were there. So were dozens of witnesses. I won the thing from Johnny Crocker, and that makes it mine.”
“I lost it in a rigged game. You not only encouraged me to make that wager, you knew the dealer’s box was set against the players. Crocker runs an honest game only when it serves him, and there is probably no one as knowledgeable on that count as you. He took the ring from me so you could take it from him. I know very well that you are in league. It has always been about the ring, though I was slow to see it. You coveted it from the first. Looking back on the occasion of our introduction, it was the ring that brought you to my side, the ring that you admired.”
“Your accusation has no substance.”
He stood a bit straighter, more confident now, no longer feeling at a youthful disadvantage. There was a hint of disdain in his cool green eyes. “I notice you do not deny it.”
“What would be the point? You will believe what you will.” She lowered the mirror a fraction. “Have a care, though, not to put your assumptions about. You will not like the consequences.”
“As it happens, your threat aside, I have no intention of sharing what you did with anyone. You are known to be the grasping, cunning one, so hearing that you managed another coup will hardly surprise the masses. I, on the other hand, do not wish to be reminded of my own colossal folly.” He tipped his head to one side as he considered her, his smile only mildly contemptuous. “I cannot regret our association, Mrs. Christie, but if you throw that mirror at me, I will consider that you have ended it.”
She did not lower the mirror, but neither did she pitch it at him. He looked as if he might be inclined to pitch it back…or paddle her with it. This last was an intriguing thought, though she was quite certain she would like it only in the abstract. The humiliating reality was not to be borne.
“So you have come into your own now, is that what you would have me believe?”
“Come into my own? I haven’t any idea what you mean.”
“I am speaking of your transformation, of course. From rascal to self-righteous prig. You are ruined, I fear.” She dropped her hand to her side and lightly tapped the mirror against her leg. “Your sister has ruined you.” The slip of a smile she offered did not touch her cool blue eyes. “But then, you have ruined her. Perhaps it is only fair.”
Alastair’s jaw worked and at his side his hand clenched and unclenched. “You would do well not to mention Olivia.”
“Why? Am I not fit to speak her name? Olivia. O-li-vi-a.” She held her ground when Alastair took a step forward. He was still too far away to strike her, but the intent was there. “She’s proved to be no better than she ought, wouldn’t you say? Isn’t that what your father told you? The truth will out. I cannot decide if you meant to prove him wrong by throwing her in Breckenridge’s path, or hoped to prove him right. Either way, you were well rid of her, and isn’t that what you desired above all else?”
“You should stop talking now, Alys.”
“Have I made you uncomfortable?” Her sly smile deepened a fraction. “I recall very well that you were weary of her presence. You told me she regarded you with such disapproval that you could not bear to be in the same room with her.”
Had he said that? Alastair wondered. He’d been cross with Olivia, so he probably had. “I believe I made too much of it. She was concerned for my welfare.”
“Hers also. How easily you forget that. She was an albatross, you told me.”
“I feel fairly certain I never called her such.”
