The butler bowed his head. “Of course, Your Grace.”
Holding back the cough that threatened to rattle his chest, lest it make him appear weak, Jeremy headed down the stairs and out into the late morning air.
He went straight to the cedar tree where he had once annoyed Anna so much and moved around to the other side of the thick trunk. Only then did he finally cough, spluttering as his chest burned, wondering if there was any truth to what Beatrice had said after all.
This didn’t feel like something natural, some simple quinsy of the throat, but nor did he believe that Anna had harmed him.
But who else would wish me gone?
His gaze turned toward the hills in the distance, the slopes that still reminded him abstractly of his wife’s breasts, and glowered at the smudge of a building burrowed in between. Perhaps, Colin’s declaration on the terrace hadn’t been what he claimed it was. Perhaps, he hadn’t wanted Anna to be ruined by scandal because he’d wanted her for himself.
All the dancing, the smiling, the games, the flirtations. The man hadn’t made much of a secret of his liking for Anna. Goodness, how many times had Colin said outright that he would marry her?
Moreover, Colin was in the room when Jeremy woke up, no doubt to keep a close eye on the situation. Maybe to see if there was an opportunity to finish what he had started.
A memory flashed into Jeremy’s mind of a glass of whiskey, just before he chased Anna out of the drawing room. Colin had brought it to him. It was Colin he had been talking to right before he went upstairs to see if Anna was all right… and to find out how much she still hated him.
And I downed the entire glass.
CHAPTER 31
Katherine sagged against an old chair, a red handprint blooming on her cheek. “What have you done with her, Paul? I deserve to know what you’ve done with her.”
“She’s somewhere safe,” Mr. Miller replied, his palm stinging where he had struck his sister. “When you go to London, you’ll act surprised. You’ll tell him that she must have fled.”
Katherine shook her head. “I won’t.”
“Youwill, because you owe me!” Paul snapped, his hand curling into a fist as his temper flared white-hot.
He hadn’t come this close to succeeding just to have his sister unspool it all at the last minute. She had already ruined everything by sparing that devil’s life, but it was not yet tangled beyond repair. This could be salvaged if the wretched girl would just do as she was told now.
“I did what you asked. I stood outside the chamber door. I sent for the physician, as you told me to,” Katherine retorted, glaring at him through tearful eyes. “I won’t do any more.”
Gritting his teeth, Paul marched up to his sister and grabbed her by the hair. “I didn’t ask you tosavehim, you ungrateful snake! If anyone had seen what you were doing, if the physician had any talent for medicine at all, we’d be hanging from a tree by now! You putourlives at risk, and for what? To save a man who doesn’t give a fig about Anna?”
“She loves him,” Katherine said quietly, hiccupping. “I didn’t know it for certain until last night, but she loves him. I realized I’d made a mistake. I… I want her to be happy!”
“She doesn’t love him!” Paul raged, trembling with fury. “She could never love that heathen. And he certainly doesn’t love her. Not like I love her.”
A bitter smirk curved Katherine’s lips. “She does, Brother. And I think he loves her, too. I think he loves her more and better than you ever could. Your love for her is selfish and cruel and?—”
He smacked her hard across the mouth to silence what he didn’t want to hear. He wouldn’t believe it. He couldn’t. He had dedicated a year and a half of his life to loving the Duchess; he had saved her from a miserable fate. There was no way he would permit her to fall for another unworthy duke.
“She was the first… person he… asked for when he… woke up,” Katherine continued, as she wiped a speck of blood from herlip. “They love each other, and Iwon’tdo anything to help you destroy… that. I will tell… His Grace what we did… no matter what it… costs me.”
Paul stared at his sister in abject disbelief, the sting of betrayal stabbing him squarely in the chest. And not justherbetrayal. Could it really be true that Anna loved that brute? Could she really have forsaken him like that? Didn’t she know that he was the only one worthy of her, the only one willing to kill for her?
“I’ll make her understand thatIam the one she should love,” he said, his lip curled. “And if she doesn’t understand, then I’ll have no choice but to… let her go. If I can’t have her, Katherine, no one can.”
“She’s my friend,” Katherine urged. “Don’t you dare hurt her!”
Paul shrugged. “It will be your fault for not letting the duke die, like you did the last one. This was supposed to be simple, Katherine, and you have muddled it all.”
“The previous duke deserved punishment,” Katherine rasped, her eyes feverish with anger. “He hurt me. He hurt so many like me. He destroyed lives. I wasn’t the first to try and… take my life because of him. How many maids suffered because of him? How many had their honor and virtue stolen by that wretched creature? But this duke… he isn’t like that. I thought he didn’t care, but he does. If anything,youare the one beginning to resemble the old duke, thinking you can take what you want! She doesn’t love you, Paul, and she never will!”
Paul sneered. “We shall see about that. And if she won’t agree, well, I’ve just told you what will happen.” He smiled. “Now, be a good girl and head off to the public scolding. I have somewhere else to be. If you ruin this again, I’ll get rid of you.”
Raising his fist to make sure she understood, he smirked as she flinched.
