“He might not be, but his father is,” Julian said. “And for some reason, Calloway has suddenly become very good friends with Percival Walcott.”
“Now I understand why you are so willing to help us, Mr. Laurent,” Olivia said. “Self-preservation.”
“If you choose to view it like that, I can’t stop you.” Julian shrugged. “I’d rather see it as a joint endeavor.”
“That saves all our reputations?” Olivia asked.
“Yes,” Julian told her. “Why not?”
Julian stayed after dinner and managed to outlast both Mrs. Sheraton and Allegra so that he could talk with Carenza alone in the drawing room. He hadn’t enjoyed the confrontation with Mrs. Sheraton. She was extremely sharp and not averse to asking the most personal of questions. It was only thanks to Carenza that he’d avoided having to reveal his rather more involved participation in their scheme.
He sat back and sipped the brandy the butler had brought him while Carenza drank her tea. She wore a cream silk gown with a delicate lace trim around the edge of the bodice that framed her magnificent bosom rather well. He had the sudden urge to sink to his knees beside her chair, bury his face in her cleavage, and simply breathe her in.
“Julian.”
“Yes?”
“How did you know the way out through Mr. Cox’s house?”
Damnation. He should have known Carenza would pick up on that. “I beg your pardon?”
“You heard me. How did you know?” Carenza asked.
“I simply followed you?”
She gave him a severe look. “You practically dragged me out of that private parlor by the hair. I certainly wasn’t leading the way. Were you lying to Olivia when you said you hadn’t met Mr. Cox?”
He frowned. “I didn’t lie. I said I hadn’t met him before your ‘event.’”
“Then when did you meet him?”
“When I worked out that neither you nor Mrs. Sheraton had entered the inn from the front. It seemed obvious that there was another entrance. I found it when I strolled around the corner.”
“You found it.”
“I am quite capable, my dear.” He had no intention of telling her that Simon had provided him with all the necessary information before the event had even started. Instinct told him that she wouldn’t appreciate that level of interference from him at all.
“Then I assume you gave Mr. Cox money to allow you to access the inn from his house?”
“Yes.” That was a truth he was willing to give her.
“Which is the real reason why he is blackmailing you as well as Olivia.” She set her cup back on the tray. “And because you interfered, Calloway and Percival Walcott are now interested in the matter and willing to use it to hurt you.”
He didn’t like her summary, but it was hard to dispute it. “That is the unfortunate case,” he agreed.
“Unfortunate?I wish you’d kept out of it.”
“And let you ruin yourself for a foolish whim?”
There was a pointed silence, and then she raised her chin. “Perhaps you should go.”
“Why? Because I am right?”
“No, because I am not in charity with you, and if you stay any longer and try and charm me when you are most definitely at fault, I might do something I regret.” She rose to her feet. “In fact, I’ll save you the trouble. Good night, Julian. Ask the butler to see you out when you’re ready to leave.”
Courtesy obliged him to stand up as well. “It’s not like you to run away from a fight, Carenza.”
“But you don’t fight fair, do you? You undermine me with your charm and your body, and …” She waved her arms in the air before heading for the door. “After an evening of you and Olivia sniping at each other, I don’t want a fight right now.”
