A Daring Liaison(91)

Georgiana jumped, her heart pounding wildly. Dick Gibbons stepped from behind the draperies and grinned. Her hand came up to cover her heart and she was so frightened that she could not speak.

“Madam? You want dinner?”

She spun to look at the locked door in horror, then back to Gibbons, who had drawn a knife and was scowling. She knew with cold certainty that he would kill Clara if she entered the room. And that he was completely unhinged.

“No, Clara. I am not hungry. I do not wish to be disturbed the rest of the night, please.”

“You need help undressing, madam?”

“I can manage. Good night, Clara.”

Gibbons nodded approval.

If only she could think of a way to summon Finn! When the maid’s footsteps faded down the corridor, Gibbons gestured with the wicked-looking blade, light flashing from the razor-sharp edge. “Quick thinkin’, Georgie gal. I knew you was smart.”

She noted the faint sound of a door opening and closing somewhere below. Finn? Charles? She had to keep Gibbons talking. Distracted from the sounds of the house. “Where are you...where are we going?” she asked as she placed her little stack of clothes in the valise, knowing her only chance of survival lay in indulging him.

“Why, it don’t matter. Maybe back to that big house in Kent. Maybe not. First we gets you away and then I can kill Hunter.”

She noted the gleam of madness in his eyes and suddenly it was all clear. “You killed Allenby, didn’t you?”

Gibbons merely gave her that inane grin.

“And Mr. Huffington?”

“Not with my own hands, but they wasn’t good enough fer you, Georgie.”

She sank to the bed, feeling light-headed with shock. “And...and Adam Booth?”

“I was aimin’ fer Hunter that night, but Booth stepped in his way. Artie took the second shot and hit Hunter. Shoulda killed him, though.”

“Artie?” If she could keep him talking, perhaps Finn would come to check on her.

“My brother. Yer other pa.”

He’d made some sort of reference to that before. “I don’t understand. My other father?”

“Aye. We don’t know what one of us sired you. We both had her that night. Yer ma was the only fancy lady we ever got at. Cut ’er up good, we did, so she couldn’t be with anyone else. We kept watch on ’er and found out she was breedin’. We followed ’er to Devon where the nuns took care of ’er. If you’da been a boy, we’da stole you away. But you was only a girl, so we didn’t bother. The old lord took you away when you was born, though, and we thought he mighta drowned you or left you in a ditch. Then she fetched you home.”

Her stomach cramped and she feared she was going to be sick. She could not even imagine Caroline’s agony. Nor could she comprehend that she would never know which monster sired her.

But she could not think about that now. She had to stall, to keep him talking until she could think of some way out of this mess. “I remember seeing you in the village.”

“Aye. We come to keep an eye on you every now an’ then. When we saw how pretty you was, that’s when we started makin’ plans.”

“What sort of plans?”

He chuckled to himself. “Yer pretty enough to catch a lord. Maybe a duke. We was gonna have you rise in your station, gal. Make the Gibbons clan high-flyin’ dandies. Have Gibbons blood minglin’ with royalty.”

Good heavens! He was really quite mad. So mad that he could not see the flaws in his plan. No peer would ever marry without being certain of his wife’s lineage. Preserving the integrity of the title was too important. Caroline had understood that, and had been careful to marry her to country squires where such a secret could be kept. She’d even thought Charles too dangerously close to the peerage. Dare she tell Mr. Gibbons that? Would he dispose of her, too, if he thought she was of no use?

“Do you still think that is possible?”

“Why not? By the time yer mournin’ is done fer Hunter, we’ll come back to town and hunt you up a proper lord. You’ll marry who I tells you to this time.”

“What if none of them want me?”

“Clever gal like you? You’ll know how to bring ’em to heel. Why, I warrant you’ve learned a few tricks from Hunter.”

Nausea churned in her stomach at the thought of doing any of those things with anyone but Charles. “And if I can’t...bring them to heel?”