Midnight Angel (Stokehurst #1)(98)

“‘Condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned,’” Tasia quoted. “‘Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.’”

Emma scowled and returned her attention to the box of treasures in front of her. “He's still a bad man,” she muttered.

To Tasia's dismay, Luke's reaction concerning Nikolas's plight was similar to his daughter's. When she showed him the contents of Marie's letter that night, Luke was disappointingly unsympathetic. “Angelovsky knew the danger he was in,” he said evenly. “He decided to kill Shurikovsky even if it meant sacrificing his own life. He had a taste for playing dangerous games, Tasia. If his political enemies have found a way to destroy him, it's not more than what he expected. Nikolas's eyes were wide open.”

“I can't help feeling sorry for him,” Tasia said. “I'm sure they've made him suffer terribly.”

Luke shrugged. “There's nothing we can do about it.”

“Couldn't you at least have someone make an unofficial inquiry? One of your acquaintances in the English foreign office?”

Luke's blue eyes were sharp as he looked at her. “Why do you care what happens to Nikolas Angelovsky? God knows he's never given a damn about you or anyone else.”

“Part of it is that he's a family member—”

“A distant one.”

“—and part of it is that he's been victimized by the same corrupt government officials that I was.”

“In his case there was good reason,” Luke said sardonically. “Unless you believe Shurikovsky's death really was a suicide.”

His condescending manner stung her. “If you've decided to appoint yourself judge and jury over Nikolas, then you're no better than the tsar and his rotten ministers!”

They glared at each other. A flush of fury began at Luke's shirt collar and swept upward. “So now you're defending him.”

“I have a right. I know what it's like to have everyone against you, facing all the accusation and scorn, having nowhere to turn—”

“Next you'll be demanding that I take him under my roof.”

“Your roof? I thought it was our roof! And no, I hadn't thought of such a thing—but would it be too much to ask for you to offer shelter to someone in my family?”

“Yes, if it's someone like Nikolas Angelovsky. Dammit, Tasia, you know as well as anyone what he's capable of. He's not worthy of this conversation. Not after what he did to us.”

“I've forgiven him for that, and if you can't, at least you can try to understand—”

“I'll see him in hell before I forgive him for his interference in our lives—”

“Because he hurt your pride,” Tasia shot back. “That's why you're so enraged by the mere mention of his name.”

That was a direct hit. She saw it in the sudden lowering of his brows and the violent twitch of his jaw, saw that he was clenching his teeth to hold back a scornful remark. Somehow he controlled himself enough to speak, though his voice was distinctly unsteady. “You think I value my pride more than your safety?”

Tasia was resolutely silent, torn between anger and guilt.

“What are we arguing about?” Luke asked, his eyes as cold as ice. “What is it you want me to do?”

“All I'm asking is that you try to find out if Nikolas is dead or alive.”

“And then what?”

“I…” Tasia looked away from him and shrugged evasively. “I don't know.”

His lips curled in a sneer. “You're a poor liar, Tasia.”

He left without agreeing to her request. Tasia knew that it would be foolhardy to raise the issue again. For the next few days they carried on as usual, but their conversations were strained and their silences were filled with unanswered questions. Tasia couldn't explain why the thought of Nikolas's plight bothered her so, but she was increasingly anxious to know what had happened to him.

One evening after supper, when Emma had gone up to her room, Luke drank a snifter of brandy and regarded Tasia with a speculative stare. She squirmed uncomfortably but held his gaze, sensing that he had something important to tell her.

“Prince Nikolas has been exiled from Russia,” he said curtly. “I heard from the foreign minister that he's taken a house in London.”

Tasia burst with excited questions. “London? He's here now? Why did he come to England? How is he? What about his condition—”

“That's all I know. And I forbid you to have anything to do with him.”

“Forbid?”

Luke toyed with the brandy snifter, rolling it gently in his fingers. “There's nothing you can do for him. He has everything he needs. Apparently he was allowed to leave with a tenth of his fortune intact, which is more than enough to sustain him.”

“I should think so,” Tasia said, reflecting that a tenth of the Angelovsky fortune would amount to at least thirty million pounds. “But to lose his home, his heritage…”

“He'll do fine without them.”

Tasia was stunned by his callousness. “Do you know what the government interrogators do to men suspected of treason? Their favorite technique is to flay a man's back until the bone appears, and then roast him over a fire like a pig on a spit! Whatever's been done to Nikolas, I'm sure no amount of money could compensate for it. He has no family in England except me and Cousin Alicia—”