If that hadn’t been bad enough, George then told her that she was the absolute love of his life, would always be the love of his life, and he would be forever bereft without her . . . right before he wandered away to take to the floor with Miss Eleanor Deerhurst, the lady he was now going to marry.
At the time, Camilla, being young and incredibly naïve, believed George truly did love her, and because of that, and because she was heartbroken and furious with her parents, she’d made a vow to never marry, no matter that she was her parents’ only child and the Pierpont bloodline would end with her.
With time, she’d come to realize exactly what her father had been trying to save her from. George truly was a fortune hunter, as well as a coward, because he’d been unable to tell her the truth—that her fortune had been her greatest appeal and he’d never loved her.
Even realizing she’d been duped, she’d never changed her mind about marrying again as she’d never been able to forget the pain George had put her through.
That was why it was more than troubling to learn that George was heading back to New York—as a divorced man, no less—especially when it seemed, from what she could conclude about Gideon’s telegram, that George was coming back to New York for ... her.
Frankly, there was a part of her—the strong, self-assured part—that wanted to confront George, tell him exactly how much she despised him and what a cad he was, but the other part of her, the part that had suffered unwarranted humiliation after he’d cast her aside, wanted to never encounter the man again, especially not when there was a possibility, however slight, that she might decideto try her hand at that throttling business she’d been contemplating with Owen.
Ladies were not supposed to physically throttle anyone, no matter if she would have gleaned a great deal of satisfaction from trying her hand at that with George.
“What’s wrong?” Lottie asked again, pulling Camilla from thoughts that were leaving her somewhat queasy.
She gave herself a bit of a shake and summoned up a smile. “Nothing.”
Lottie rolled her eyes. “Please. You’re white as a ghost.” She nodded to the telegram. “Is your father intending on hiding you away, something I know you’re probably dreading?”
“It’s not from my father. It’s from Gideon.”
“He’s back from Europe?”
“He’ll be back in about three weeks.”
Lottie took a step closer to Camilla. “May I assume he sent you troubling news, maybe something to do with the men who tried to abduct you today?”
“It’s highly unlikely Gideon’s been apprised of that circumstance yet since he’s in England, although...” Camilla stilled when a thought sprang to mind. “It might be, given the cryptic nature of his message, that he’s uncovered some dastardly plan Lord Shrewsbury has in mind for me, perhaps one that revolves around my attempted abduction.”
“Who is Lord Shrewsbury?”
“He’s a fortune hunter who broke my heart when I was seventeen when he married another woman. According to Gideon, Lord Shrewsbury has now divorced.”
“And Gideon wanted you to know those details because...?”
“Lord Shrewsbury is on his way to New York, and Gideon, for some reason, believes he’s a threat to me and has told me to leave the city.”
“Ah, Gideon thinks this Lord Shrewsbury is coming back for you—or, more likely, your fortune.”
“How did you arrive at that?”
Lottie shrugged. “When you’re involved with the criminal underworld for years, you begin to think like criminals. From what you’ve said, it stands to reason that Lord Shrewsbury would only seek out a divorce, something that’s not exactly common, if he’d gone through his wife’s fortune and needs another one. However, since he previously chose another woman over you, it’s likely he’s afraid you won’t be keen to welcome him with open arms, so he’s probably plotting out ways to secure your cooperation—abduction possibly being one of those ways, which means the idea I’ve arrived at regarding this morning’s events is off the mark.”
“What idea?”
“The one where you weren’t the target—I was. And the man behind the attempt being Victor Malvado, who we both know was interested in bringing me into his criminal enterprise after Frank got carted off to jail.”
“I didn’t even consider Victor Malvado.”
“I didn’t either until I was taking a bath. But Victor’s more feared in the city than Frank was, and we did hear those rumors before we repaired to Paris that he wanted to acquire me since I know how to read and Frank found that useful with his underhanded business deals.”
Camilla took a second to gather her thoughts. “It appears to me,” she finally said, “as if we have no choice, since we both could be in danger, except to heed Gideon’s suggestion and get out of New York.” Her lips quirked ever so slightly. “As luck would have it, we have the perfect place to hide.”
“West Virginia?”
“Indeed, which means we need to gather our things posthaste because Mr. Chesterfield mentioned he wants to depart from New York as soon as possible, and I now have every intention of being with him on that train bound for Wheeling.”
Seven
