She folded her arms. “As if any of you have any ability to discuss recklessness. Don’t you want to know our conversation?”
Anne stepped forward. “Of course.”
“He lied to me about Leonard being in town,” Juliana burst out, and waited for them to recognize the importance of that statement.
Instead, Thomasina rushed forward, her cheeks pale, and caught Juliana’s hands in hers. “You spoke to him directly about Leonard?”
“Reckless,” Harcourt added.
Juliana shook her sister’s hands away and backed up. “I didn’t just go to him and say, ‘Please tell me where your criminal son is because I want revenge after he scarred my face.’ I’m not so much a fool as you all seem to believe.”
That settled the room a fraction and Anne drew a long breath. “Whatdidyou say?”
“He offered felicitations on the marriages of my sisters,” she said. “And that allowed me the opportunity to ask after his sons. And if you would stop screeching at me over my supposed irresponsibility, you would understand what I discovered. He lied and said Leonard wasn’t in Town.”
Rook had been very quiet during the exchange, but now he stepped forward. “He might not know the truth, Juliana.”
“He did,” she insisted, frustration at not being heard rising up in her. “Lady Lydia at first tried to say all three of her brothers were in London, but he interrupted and contradicted her, then he all but fled the park. He lookedafraid.”
“Then he is more intelligent than you are,” Harcourt snapped. “God’s teeth, Juliana. Coningburgh has separated himself from Leonard for years, protecting him but hardly associating with him. The lie could be as simple as not wanting to face embarrassment.”
“Or it could be for some other reason,” she gasped. “You will not even consider it? Or that Leonard’s family could be a quick conduit to finding him and handling this mess?”
Rook stepped closer again. She could see he was more open to what she was suggesting, but when he took her hand, there was pity in his eyes. She tried to jerk away from it, but he held fast.
“I know you want to resolve this issue,” he said softly. “I cannot blame you, for you have perhaps suffered most from consequences of actions that were not your own. Harcourt and I are not ignoring your instincts, Juliana. But truly, you cannot involve yourself in this. You’ve gone through enough.”
She did manage to pull herself free of him then and glared at those in the room. “I am not made of glass,” she hissed through clenched teeth. “Stop treating me as though I were.”
With that, she pivoted on her heel and stalked to the door.
“Wait,” Thomasina called after her. “Where are you going?”
“Back to my prison cell,” Juliana said as she exited the room, and was pleased the tears in her eyes didn’t thicken her voice. “It seems to be the only place you think I belong anymore.”
Chapter 15
Ellis threw the papers in his hand on his desk in frustration and downed the remainder of the whisky in his glass in one burning swig. Days and days of trying to find Leonard had produced nothing. His entire network was silent. It didn’t seem the bastard had left London, but he also hadn’t come out again since that night at the Donville Masquerade. Rivers hadn’t seen him.No onehad seen him.
It was infuriating. Ellis had almost had the murderer. Winston Leonard had been five feet away, looking right at him. A well-placed pistol shot in the alley and he could have taken care of this problem. Except…
Well, he’d chosen to protect Juliana instead.
He didn’t regret that part. He didn’t regret anything except that she had made no effort to contact him since he’d told Rook the truth about her whereabouts. That silence spoke volumes about what that betrayal had caused. What her feelings were about the subject.
Ellis knew she was staying with her sisters now. That was something, at least. Rook would keep an eye on her. He would keep her safe, and that allowed Ellis to focus on matters at hand, as he should have from the very beginning.
Not that he was doing a very good job of that. He had dreamed of Juliana every single damned night since the last one he’d been with her.
“The woman is a menace,” he muttered beneath his breath as she pushed the papers on his desk around as if he would possibly find the answers he sought by doing so.
The door to his study opened and Golden Mitchell entered the room without knocking. “Boss,” he said as he stepped up to the sideboard and poured himself a drink.
“Make yourself at home,” Ellis grumbled, more irritated with himself than Golden.
Golden shot him a glance and then inclined his head. “Will do.”
“What’s your report?” Ellis said on a sigh as he returned to his seat. Golden had been following the Duke of Coningburgh the last few days. Ellis had no hope Golden’s report would offer any leads. None of the others had. He was beginning to lose hope. And gain fear.
