Page 40 of To Catch an Earl

“He’s back,” Sally said ominously.

Emmy glanced up from her solitary breakfast and her heart started to pound at the thought of seeing Harland again. “Who’s back?” she croaked.

Sally sent her a dire look. “Danton, that’s who. He’s down in the hall, cooling his heels.”

Emmy’s spirits plummeted and dread replaced anticipation. “Where’s Luc?”

“Out for his usual walk around the park.”

Emmy cursed. Hellfire. She didn’t want to have to deal with Danton on her own, but Camille was still upstairs asleep, and she didn’t want to rouse her.

“Show him up. And leave the door open.”

When Danton entered, Emmy studied the man who’d made her life a misery for almost a full year.

Sally had described him well. He was of average height and of stocky build, perhaps a decade older than Emmy herself, and his features had a childish, petulant cast to them. He reminded her of a baby about to have a tantrum,except for the calculating gleam in his eyes. There was nothing innocent in his gaze. His eyes roamed over her face and figure, lingering lasciviously at her bosom and lips as if he had the right to examine her. As if he owned her.

Emmy felt a chill sweep over her skin when he smiled. This was a man who knew the cost of everything and the value of nothing. And he clearly relished his role of puppet master, making her family dance to his tune.

“Miss Danvers. We meet at last.” He inclined his head. When Emmy sank back into her seat, he settled himself in the chair opposite her, making himself at home with a familiarity that made her bristle.

“I have been all curiosity to meet the thief who took up the Nightjar’s mantle.”

Emmy nodded stiffly.

He picked up a butter knife and toyed with it between his fingers. “I will admit to a certain hesitancy when I heard afemalewould take his place, but I own I have been delighted by your success. You have, I believe, recovered the Regent’s diamond and the French blue?”

Emmy nodded again. She didn’t trust her tongue. It would be foolish to antagonize this man, but she couldn’t think of a single thing to say that wouldn’t make her lose her temper. What gave him the right to force her to do things? And how dare he suggest that as a woman she was somehow less capable of doing the job than a man?

She was glad Luc wasn’t here. He might have been goaded into doing something foolish. Like trying to stab him with that butter knife.

Her cool silence didn’t seem to affect Danton. He raised his brows and helped himself to a bread roll. “And what about the ruby?”

Emmy found her voice. “I have that too. I retrieved it last night.”

If Danton had come to collect the jewels, she might as well hand all three of them over to him. No need to give him another reason to call. “I’ll go and get them now.”

She rose and hurried out of the room, leaving Sally to keep an eye on him from the hallway. She retrieved the two diamonds from inside one of her shoes and collected the ruby from her bedside table.

When she placed the three gems in front of Danton, his delighted smile made her want to slap his face. She’d sweated blood and tears to get those jewels. Faced danger and possible arrest. It wasn’t fair that he simply got to take them away. Selling them had never been part of her father’s vision. Giving them to Danton simply so he could sell them for profit felt like a betrayal of the cruelest sort. Her stomach cramped in misery.

She watched, biting the inside of her cheek, as Danton examined first the Rundell & Bridge diamond and then the smoky blue from the museum. Rainbow shards scattered over the white tablecloth as he held them up to the morning sunlight, and the jewels fragmented the pale beam like a prism.

But when he picked up the ruby, he sucked in a breath. His features hardened and his mouth turned down in displeasure. “Is this your idea of a joke, Miss Danvers? What do you mean by giving me this?”

Emmy frowned. “You asked for Lady Carrington’s ruby. That’s it.”

His eyes flashed in temper. “This is no ruby. Look at it! It’s paste. Worthless!” He threw the stone across the table toward her.

Emmy stared at him, dumbfounded. She hadn’t taken a good look at the jewel last night; it had been dark, and she’d been too distracted by what had happened between herself and Harland. Was it possible she’d been tricked?

Surely not.

Danton’s voice, filled with fury, broke into her thoughts like a dreadful echo. “Do you think to trick me, girl? Do you take me for a fool?”

Emmy leapt to her feet and snatched up the stone from where he’d tossed it. “No! Of course not. I—I—”

She couldn’t explain it. Now she looked at the stone in the daylight, it was painfully obvious it was colored glass. It was a fine paste copy, one of the highest quality, but she’d seen enough of the real thing to know what to look for. She squinted at the surface of the jewel and with a sinking heart identified the tiny white spots that indicated gas bubbles, the fine lines of surface-reaching fractures, neither of which were found in true rubies.

---