Page 98 of His Stolen Duchess
Lysander took another sip of his tea and picked up a custard tart while Lady Eastbeck picked up the document and unfolded it to read.
“Now, before you claim there is more collusion,” Lysander said before taking a bite of the tart. “I have also traced the money you are sending overseas, the money your husband has no idea is being sent out each month.”
“She’s a harlot’s get!” Lady Eastbeck snarled, referring to Georgina.
“Good,” Lysander nodded. “You can finally be honest with me.”
“She’s a guttersnipe!” Lady Eastbeck hissed.
“I’ve heard worse insults from a parrot,” Lysander said, taking another sip of his tea.
“She ruined him!” Lady Eastbeck snapped. “She had it all, and then she went and ruined him. She said things about him and spread rumors, and now he won’t come back to England.” She wiped her eyes. “I love him like she never could, and she spoiled it for me. You have no idea what she’s genuinely like, do you? You have no idea what she could do to you.”
“I know exactly who she is and what she could do to me,” Lysander admitted. “You’ve been blinded by love.”
“That’s it? That’s all you have to say? Come on, pick me up and toss me against the wall if you’re so fierce. Come on, slap me across the face!”
“No.” Lysander shook his head and shrugged. “You don’t deserve my time or energy. I don’t feel angry at you anymore, Lady Eastbeck. I pity you.”
“Oh, save your pity.” She spat to the side.
“I’ve had contact with some men loyal to me over in France,” Lysander told her. “Do you know what Abbington is doing with the money you send him?”
“He’s waiting for me. He’s setting up home over there and waiting until I can escape this wretched place.”
“No, he’s not doing any such thing. He might have a place to stay, but he doesn’t have a home. And the money you send is going straight to wine, women, and gambling, not necessarily in that order. He deserved everything that happened to him, and do you know something? You deserve him, Lady Eastbeck.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about!” Lady Eastbeck shouted. “He loves me, and I love him, and you don’t have any idea what that is like, do you? You don’t know what it’s like to be kept apart from someone you love. And all because of your precious Georgina. You’re not the only one who has people talk to them. I know she’d gone to her sister’s house. You put up with her for longer than Lord Abbington did, I’ll give you that.”
Lysander only pitied her more. Her rage at Georgina was so fierce that he could tell her any truths about what Abbington was up to on the Continent, and she still wouldn’t believe him. It was a fury that he had to extinguish.
I do know what it is to have feelings for someone and not to be able to act on them. Yet perhaps there is a lesson to be learned here. You have problems you are trying to overcome, despite how terrible your wants are. Perhaps it is time for me to act.
“I have asked the constables to keep your name out of the case,” Lysander said. “I did this for two reasons. I don’t want Georgina to be more afraid than she already is. I don’t need her to know that you sent men to kidnap her. The second reason is that I wish to deal with you myself.”
“So, you came here to threaten me?” she asked.
She had shrunk in her chair, and the way she challenged him, it felt like she wanted him to strike her to punish her for what she knew was wrong. He wasn’t there for that. Not this time.
“Yes, I came here to threaten you,” Lysander confirmed. “I will not reveal your crimes, not to the constabulary, nor your husband, nor theton, butonlyon one condition. You are to leave England within the week.”
“L-leave?” she asked.
“Yes. That is what you want, isn’t it? You’ve been planning to leave your husband and go to France to be with Abbington. This is the push you need. Leave London and go to him there or anywhere else for all I care, and in return, you won’t be ruined or socially exiled. I don’t care which you choose. If I never see you again, it will be too soon, and if I get the chance to ruin you, then it is exactly what you deserve.”
Lady Eastbeck gritted her teeth so forcefully that Lysander thought they might crack under the pressure. She picked up her teacup, her hand still shaking, but not as much as before, and took a sip, looking at him over its rim the entire time.
When she put her cup back down, she looked like a different woman—more relaxed, calm, almost at peace.
“You won’t ever see or hear from me again,” she said.
“Then we have an agreement,” Lysander said. “If I so much as hear whisperings of you being back in the country, there will be no warning when I come for you, and when I do, it will be swift and just. Do you understand?”
Lady Eastbeck twisted her mouth, and Lysander expected a final insult, but he had broken her.
“Please just leave me,” she muttered.
Lysander stood up. She hadn’t confirmed that she would leave, but she didn’t have to. She was slumped, defeated, and ready to retreat. He would check in on her later, but he was sure he would never see her again.
