“Saw his chance, and took it. He threatened to expose us unless Hyacinth accepted his courtship. Our secret made her vulnerable—put her at the mercy of an unscrupulous scoundrel like Dixon.” Lachlan’s tone was grim. “I’ve no doubt he would have tried to force her into marriage, as well.”
“Except he didn’t, because Hyacinth wouldn’t have it.” Lady Huntington was staring at Hyacinth with a wondering look on her face, as if she’d never quite seen her sister until this moment.
“Ah, now we come to it. How, exactly, did you do that, Hyacinth?” Finn fixed Hyacinth with a penetrating stare. “Something about Lord Dixon being a card cheat?”
Hyacinth looked around the room, flushing when she noticed every eye fixed on her. “Yes. He, ah…well, I discovered he was cheating at cards, and so I…arranged to expose him.”
Hyacinth said this with the air of one who’s done discussing the matter, but Finn was far from satisfied with this explanation. “But how the devil—that is, how could you have discovered he was cheating at cards? Did you see him do it?”
Hyacinth bit her lip. “Um, no. I…oh, very well. I found a bit of paraffin wax in his waistcoat pocket. The tip of it was fashioned into a point, like a pencil, and so I suspected he was—”
“Marking cards.” Now it was Finn’s turn to stare at Hyacinth as if he didn’t recognize her. “But how in the world did you know a card cheat would use wax to mark cards?”
“I heard about it from a young lady I met in Brighton. Do you remember Miss Harrington, Grandmother? Her elder brother was a card cheat.”
“Indeed?” Lady Chase looked dazed, and she was still clutching at her smelling salts.
“Well, I’ll be damned.” Finn grinned. “Those trips to Brighton weren’t an utter waste, after all.”
Lady Huntington wasn’t as amused as her husband. “How in the world did you get your hand in Lord Dixon’s waistcoat pocket? And what do you mean, you ‘arranged to expose him’? I don’t like the sound of this, Hyacinth.”
“You’ll like the truth even less, Lady Huntington.” Lachlan curled his hands into fists, his fingernails cutting into his skin. Damn it, he should have killed Dixon while he had the chance. “She lured him into the library—”
“I didn’tlurehim! I don’t even knowhowto lure a gentleman. I simply invited him to accompany me to the library, and—”
“Then she tempted him into removing his coat and waistcoat, and—”
“Tempted?” Hyacinth crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Lachlan. “I’m no temptress, Lachlan. You exaggerate!”
But Lachlan, who was wildly jealous and growing more so with every word, only glared at her. “Shetemptedhim into removing his waistcoat, but first she made sure to put the bit of wax in his pocket—”
“I didn’tputit there! That is, I put itbackwhere I’d found it the night before. For pity’s sake, Lachlan, you make me sound a very villainess—”
“I’ll leave it to you all to imagine what a man like Dixon might have done if he’d caught her.” Lachlan’s voice was rising. “But if that weren’t dangerous enough, she then proceeded todiverthim until Isla could arrive with Lord Sydney.”
Ciaran interrupted then, a look of unmistakable pride on his face. “Very clever, really. Sydney had lost thousands to Dixon, you see, so he was an ideal choice to discover the thing. Indeed, it was rather ingenious, if you ask me—”
“No one asked you!” Lachlan stepped closer to Hyacinth and caught her shoulders in his hands. “Damn it, why did you risk yourself like that? He put his hands on you! Hetouchedyou, ripped the sleeve of your gown—”
“Ripped her gown! Oh,Hyacinth!Oh, my goodness.” Lady Chase collapsed back against the settee, quite overwhelmed.
“I don’t deny it was risky, but Hyacinth was just magnificent, Lord Huntington!” Isla plucked at the sleeve of Finn’s coat to get his attention. “Perhaps we shouldn’t have done it. I can’t deny we didn’t escape unscathed, what with the scandal it’s caused, but, oh, Lord Huntington! Hyacinth truly has such a sweet, tender heart, and once she saw how things were for us, nothing would dissuade her.”
“No one doubts the tenderness of Hyacinth’s heart.” Without realizing he did it, Lachlan drew Hyacinth closer to him, until he was cradling her against his chest. “She’s the sweetest lass in London.”
Hyacinth said nothing, but she gripped Lachlan’s forearms in her hands, as if to keep him there with her.
“Hyacinth.” Finn took Hyacinth’s arm and drew her gently away from Lachlan. “Why did you take such an enormous risk? Lachlan’s right. This could have gone terribly wrong. Why didn’t you simply tell Lachlan, or Ciaran or Lady Chase Lord Dixon was threatening you?”
Hyacinth stared up at him with wide eyes. “Because I was afraid if you found out they’d kept something from you, you might…”
“Yes? It’s all right. Just tell me.”
Hyacinth glanced at Lady Huntington, who gave her an encouraging nod. “I-I…oh, do forgive me for saying this, Finn, but you’ve only been married to Iris for a short time, and I don’t know you all that well yet, and you’re…well, you’re quite stern, and I was afraid...I was afraid if you found out the truth, you’d send Lachlan—that is, you’d send all the Ramseys away, and I couldn’t bear to…well, I’m very sorry, Finn.”
Finn’s face softened. “It’s all right. There’s nothing to be sorry for.” He turned to Lachlan, and laid a hand on his shoulder. “You should have told me the truth at once, but we don’t withhold forgiveness in this family—not from those who sincerely ask for it, as you’ve done today. You’re my brother, Lachlan, and Ciaran as well, and Isla my sister.” For a long moment, Finn stared hard at them. “Do you suppose I couldn’t find it in my heart to forgive my own family?”
They’d been offered little forgiveness from those they had a right to expect it from. To have Finn offer it so freely now, even after they’d lied to him, humbled Lachlan. “We were wrong, and we’re…” Lachlan cleared his throat. “We’re truly grateful for your forgiveness.”
