“You aren’t your mother’s accomplice?”
“No, I’m a victim, too.” Her voice lowered.
“How?” He was genuinely curious because the possibilities scared him.
She closed a fist on the table. “Do you remember that night in Lady Redvers’s house when Mr. North chased me? Well, mymother had made a deal with him for me to spend a night with him. Three thousand pounds for my first night with a man. Mr. North believed you wanted to make an offer on me. Of course, after I poured the content of the vase over him, he decided to lower the offer. One thousand pounds for my virginity.”
The shock made him speechless. He went through his memories of that night in Lady Redvers’s sitting room when Angeline had barged inside, followed by North. Now his words about the offer made sense.
A surge of sheer, undiluted anger flared up in his chest. “Did you… is the deal… Did he touch you?”
“No.”
He exhaled. “He didn’t hurt you.”
“No, he didn’t. But If I’d agreed to the deal with him, I wouldn’t have needed to lie with him.”
“What do you mean by that?”
She hesitated before answering. “Mama developed a drug that confuses people and fabricates false memories. She planned to give it to Mr. North so I wouldn’t need to actually lie with him. He would have only believed he’d spent the night with me.”
The pots of drug and Mrs. Haywood’s deal with Wright made sense now. “And you believe she isn’t capable of exploit fallen women? She drugs people, for crying out loud.”
She rubbed her forehead. “I know, but she drugs men, not women. Men are expendable for her. Women aren’t.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “Did she want to drug me as well?”
“Mama found your two hundred-thousand-pound asset interesting,” she said in a low voice, like a confession. “She had plans for you before you stole her file on the earl.”
He didn’t know what to say. Silence filled the kitchen. Only the soft sizzling of the flames in the lamps could be heard.
She let out a nervous chuckle. “My mother has plans for everyone.”
“You must not be happy about her plots,” he said in a low tone, sorry that she had to endure men like North because of her mother’s plots.
“It’s awful. I don’t want to be forced into doing anything. All I want is to find a husband and have a family, but Mama disagrees. She says that marriage is a trap and that I can have everything I want without shackling myself to a man. Although I’ve never had any suitors. None. Especially after the theatre fire.” She paused, stroking her scar. “I’m not getting any younger.”
“Don’t say that.”
“It’s true. Soon, my chances of finding a husband and having children will be gone. I want to marry for love. I wish to find someone whom I like and have many things in common with, but I’m growing a little desperate.”
Her sadness hurt him physically.
“Angeline, you’re lovely and kind. You’ll find happiness.” He tried to touch her hand, but she scraped her chair backwards and rose.
“I talked too much. Let’s get back to you. Who told you that my mother uses fallen women?”
Right. He guessed he deserved her mistrust. “Lord Havisham hired a private detective to investigate your mother.”
“What?” She folded her arms over her chest.
“That has nothing to do with me.” He held up a hand. “Anyway, the detective followed your mother to Mrs. Walsh’s shelter. Later, Lord Havisham told me the list of the women your mother used could be in the safe in her parlour. That’s where I was going.”
A crease appeared between her eyebrows. “My mother is very organised and tidy. She keeps everything in the cabinet in her study. And I’m sorry, but I don’t believe Lord Havisham hired anyone to follow her. She would’ve noticed it.”
“How does Havisham know about the safe then? Is there’s a safe in her parlour?”
She worried at her bottom lip. “Yes, there’s a safe. As for the infamous list, we’ll find out immediately if it exists. Come with me.”
