“I got your message,” Lucas said, “and came right away. I shudder to think of what you’ve found.”
Stalwood turned and glanced at Lucas, then looked past him to the right side of the room with a pointed expression. Lucas followed his gaze and his heart lurched into his throat.
A ghost stood at the sideboard, drink in hand. It had to be a ghost—there was no other explanation, for it was George Oakford. The doctor was looking at Lucas, his expression hooded and unclear.
“What the bloody hell?” Lucas gasped.
Stalwood nodded to his servant. “That will be all, Jessup. No interruptions, no exceptions.”
The door closed behind Lucas, but he continued to gape at Oakford. “Explain this,” he hissed, his mind turning to Diana. Her heart had been broken by the death of her father. And here he was, in the flesh, as if the past six months hadn’t happened.
“He showed up here an hour ago,” Stalwood croaked. There was no doubt from his shaking voice that he was as shocked by this development as anyone. “It’s why I called you here.”
Oakford set his drink down on the sideboard and stepped forward. “Willowby.”
Lucas didn’t think, he didn’t plan, he just swung on the man. His fist connected with Oakford’s cheek and the doctor staggered back, catching himself on the sideboard edge.
“How could you?” Lucas breathed as Stalwood rushed forward to catch his arm and stay his attack. Pain throbbed through his shoulder but he ignored it. “Do you know what Diana has gone through since you ‘died’?”
Oakford straightened, his hand straying to the cheek that was already swelling. “That was the worst part of all this, I assure you,” he said.
“You want an explanation,” Stalwood growled in Lucas’s ear. “For yourself, for her. Well, he says he has one, and I have not yet heard it. Let him speak.”
“You’ll want to hear it,” Oakford said softly. “But you must let me say it all because I need your help.Diananeeds your help.”
At that, Lucas went still, all his anger fading to fear. “Diana? Why?”
Oakford let out a sigh. “Let me begin at the beginning. I was always a pragmatic man, not prone to emotional displays.”
“How is Diana in danger?” Lucas shouted.
“Because I brought a demon into our home,” Oakford snapped back at last. “I exposed her to Boyd Caldwell, not thinking he would—would—”
“I know what he did to her,” Lucas hissed in disgust. “And the consequences she had to face after, alone.”
Oakford turned his head, and a flash of emotion crossed his face. “I failed her,” he admitted. “So many times. But the reason I did this was for her.”
“You became a traitor to the crown for Diana?” Stalwood asked, his tone as cold as ice. “Oh, I have a hard time believing that,old friend.”
“It’s true. When my wife died, I realized how little I knew to help her. She had a future, but I could provide nothing but an education. What would I leave her when I was dead? A tiny cottage here, another in the country? A garden full of worthless herbs? What kind of life was that for her? My worries grew deeper as she grew up, became a woman.”
“Is that when Caldwell approached you?” Lucas asked, trying to focus on the details, even as fears for Diana plagued him.
Oakford nodded. “He was injured during a case—that was how we crossed paths.”
Lucas shivered. That explained the pattern he’d noticed in the attacks. Each man who had been replaced on his case had been injured. Oakford was the common element.
“Caldwell felt…angry that it had happened, and convinced that the War Department had seen him as expendable. I’d never seen such rage in another person.” Oakford shuddered. “But when he said we could make money together, I listened. For her.”
“Stop sayingfor her,” Lucas growled. “Your daughter would never want you to trade your country and your friends for her comfort. To pretend that you did this in her name is to sully all that she is.”
Oakford bent his head, and for a moment all the energy seemed to drain from him. “You’re right, of course. I know it is my failing and no one else’s. Caldwell assured me we could trade on smaller secrets, that no one would have to get hurt. Once people started dying, once he hurt my daughter, Itriedto get out, but he wouldn’t let me.”
“He wouldn’t let you,” Stalwood repeated in disgust.”
“It’s true!” Oakford’s tone was harsh with desperation. “He came to visit me in the country, threatening and demanding. He said if I didn’t help him, he’d expose me. I’d have lost everything and Diana would have been swept up in it. He told me there would be but one last betrayal. He knew there were arms being moved, he also had contacts that could sell them to France for Napoleon’s army. He told me that no one had to die for this act.”
“Except all the men who would be shot thanks to the weapons!” Stalwood cried. “My God, George. For what?Money? If you’d been truly worried about Diana, you know I would have provided for her comfort and her future. You did this for your own selfishness.”
