“You had her committed to an asylum?”
“That’s where you send people who’ve lost their minds.”
The notion struck from out of nowhere that her father had been exactly right about George all along.
Yes, she’d realized over the years that George had only been interested in her fortune and couldn’t have cared less about her, but her father had also told her that George was a callous and cruel man, something she’d never noticed before, but something she now wholeheartedly believed because ... what type of man would lock his wife away in an asylum, then divorce her, and ... why had Eleanor locked herself away directly after marrying him in the first place?
“It’s actually a most fortunate circumstance for you, my darling Camilla, that Eleanor lost her mind.”
Camilla jerked herself back to what was truly becoming a most concerning conversation. “How could that possibly be fortunate for me?”
He sat forward. “Because I distinctly recall you proclaiming, before I was forced to marry another woman, that I was the love of your life and that you’d go to your grave loving me. Now, since I’m free of the shackle I had to tolerate for years that went by the name of Eleanor, we can be together, and you’ll no longer have to be bereft because of your unrequited love for me.”
For the briefest of seconds, Camilla found herself speechless, but only for a second.
“You are aware that unrequited means unreciprocated, aren’t you?” she asked.
He blinked. “Does it really?”
She pressed a finger against a temple that was beginning to throb because, clearly, she’d been more than an idiot the year of her debut since, not only hadn’t she realized George was a complete and utter bounder, he was also not as well-educated as he’d led her to believe.
“Since we don’t have a dictionary handy for you to look up the word, yes, unrequited most certainly means unreciprocated, which means, in its simplest form, unreturned,” she finally said when George began tapping his finger against his knee, as if he were losing patience waiting for her answer. “That means that the last part of your declaration would have been downright insulting if you’d actually known what you were saying, but to address the first part of your little monologue...” She drew herself up. “That you can possibly believe I’d still be yearning for you, especially when I proclaimed my love when I was barely out of the schoolroom and far too sheltered to see you for the cad you truly are, suggests that it might have been prudent for you to have had yourself committed alongside your ex-wife in that asylum because ... you’re clearly just as mad as you claim poor Eleanor is.”
George’s face began to mottle as he rose to his feet and began advancing toward her.
“How dare you, some mere commoner, suggest that I, Lord Shrewsbury, an esteemed member of British aristocracy, am insane,” he spat out before he reached for her arm, stilling when the door suddenly opened and a man strolled in, one nearly as large as Owen.
“Well, well, well,” the man drawled, coming to a stop a few feet away from George. “What an interesting conversation I’ve just been privy to as I was shamelessly eavesdropping through a handy hole in the wall.” He shook his head. “It seems to me, Shrewsbury, that you’ve been concocting some very craftily constructeduntruths because contrary to what you claimed to me, Miss Pierpont does not seem as if she’s madly in love with you. In fact, I would say she loathes you.”
He turned to Camilla and presented her with a bow. “We’ve not been introduced, Miss Pierpont. I’m Victor Malvado, and I must apologize for the circumstances surrounding our introduction. It’s regrettable, of course, although you really brought all this nasty abduction business upon yourself when you offered Lottie McBriar a position. That offer, I’m afraid, disrupted my plans for that cunning girl.”
“Ah, so you were behind the attempt on the Hudson, weren’t you?” Camilla asked.
“I must admit that I was, and I’m sure you’d like me to put some of the additional speculations you must have to rest. However, allow me to encourage you to get comfortable before we get into all that nasty business.” Victor walked to a settee and took a seat, gesturing to a chair beside him. “Please, make yourself at home. I’ve ordered coffee and tea, not knowing which you prefer, as well as a few treats. As I’m sure you were able to tell by the luxurious accommodations I provided you with on the train, I’ve wanted to make you as comfortable as possible.”
“I’d be far more comfortable if you’d simply release me,” Camilla said before she sat down on a chair, not the one he’d indicated, but on the chair she’d been sitting on earlier, earning a hint of a smile from Victor in the process.
“I see you’re no shrinking violet, Miss Pierpont, so allow me to get straight to the crux of our situation. When Fitzsimmons got himself arrested, I decided I wanted to add Lottie and her many talents to my organization.” He shook his head. “Imagine my disappointment when I discovered she’d left Five Points. I’m not a man who takes disappointment in stride, which is why I decided I wasn’t going to let a woman who could read slip out of my grasp, and I sent my spies out to locate her. They returned with news that Miss Camilla Pierpont had hired her as a paid companion, aswell as whisked her and her mother away from the city.” He caught Camilla’s eye. “That’s when my curiosity was piqued because it’s not every day that a lady hires a woman with a criminal past.”
“How unfortunate for me that your curiosity was engaged,” Camilla muttered.
“Agreed, especially after I learned you’re the sole heiress of Hubert Pierpont’s grand fortune. I, of course, immediately abandoned my interest in Lottie because, even though bringing on a girl who can read would have been beneficial to my organization, I decided you would be more beneficial to my bottom line if I were to hold you for ransom.”
“Weren’t you concerned about the risks you’d be taking by kidnapping a member of the Four Hundred?”
“Life is always so much sweeter when it comes with risks,” Victor returned. “Besides, I’m a well-read man, Miss Pierpont, and over the past decade or so, starting when someone made off with A. T. Stewart’s body and held it for ransom, I’ve read numerous accounts of members of the elite being stolen and then returned when a hefty ransom is paid. Frankly, I’ve been thinking about kidnapping an upper-crust lady for some time because the return on that venture far outweighs any actual risks. I realized it was time for me to enter the ransom business after my search for Lottie led me to you.”
“And hence the plan was hatched to abduct me from the Hudson River Valley.”
“Indeed,” Victor agreed. “I would have preferred making plans to snatch you here in the city because that would have been an easier strategy to execute. Nevertheless, since I had you in my sights and was determined to find myself the recipient of a fat payout, I went through the bother of placing one of my informants in your near vicinity. That informant turned out to be an invaluable asset, sending me word that you weren’t intending on returning to the city after your stay on the Hudson, but were going to travel directly to Newport for the summer. Newport would have beena logistical nightmare. However...” Victor’s lips thinned. “The Hudson attempt turned into a nightmare as well because my men never counted on that oaf Owen Chesterfield rushing in to assume the role of knight in shining armor.”
“The role of knight does seem to suit Owen, who certainly isn’t an oaf,” Camilla countered.
“Ah, how quick you are to defend him.” Victor turned to George. “I’m afraid you might be in a little spot of trouble, Shrewsbury, because I’m getting the impression Miss Pierpont truly is not enamored with you since she seems to be smitten with someone else. That means you’re not going to come into the windfall you’ve been expecting after the two of you marry.”
George waved that aside. “Camilla could never be smitten with an oaf, not after having met me, but know that I prefer being addressed as Lord Shrewsbury.”
“Duly noted, George,” Victor said before he returned his attention to Camilla. “Where was I?”
