Page 68 of Some Like It Wild
“What do you have to say for yourself, girl?”
She lifted her head to look him boldly in the eye, much as she had done that first day in the solarium. “We haven’t been completely truthful, your grace.”
He began to chortle anew. “Now there’s a shock, isn’t it?”
“I didn’t come here just to bilk you out of your fortune. I came here to find my mother’s murderer. I have every reason to believe the fire that killed her was no accident. That someone set it in order to destroy your duchess’s letter. Someone very close to you who wanted to make sure your true heir was never found.”
The duke’s smile faded, leaving him looking troubled—almost pensive.
“I was the one who convinced Connor”—Pamela cleared her throat with some difficulty—“his lordshipto help me by appealing to his sense of chivalry.”
Connor sprang to his feet. “The lass is lying! She appealed to my greed and to my lust for revenge against the English. She’s the innocent one. I was only in it for the money.”
The duke eyed Pamela with a shrewd eye. “Oh, I think you were in it for much more than that.” He shook his head. “Clever, resourceful girl. I liked you the moment I saw you.”
Shock rippled through her. “You called me a bold and reckless girl. And a cheeky chit.”
“And have you done anything to disprove that estimation?”
She inclined her head. “I suppose not.”
“Very well, then. You’re dismissed.”
The constable went red, then purple. “But your grace—”
The duke sighed. “If this man is really my son and this girl brought us together just as she promised to do, then what crime has she committed?”
The constable opened and closed his mouth several times before snapping it shut. “What about the girl’s preposterous claim that someone may have murdered her mother?”
“Oh, I believe I can take care of that situation. You’ll simply have to trust me.” He included Connor and Pamela in his sweeping gaze before saying pointedly, “All of you.”
The constable slammed on his hat, bristling with disapproval.
“I do have one task you could perform before you leave,” the duke said.
The man brightened, plainly hoping there was still someone lurking about the mansion who needed to be hanged. “How can I be of service, your grace?”
The feverish glow had left the duke’s eyes, leaving them as cold as the glitter of freshly cut diamonds. “On your way out, you can tell the butler to ring for my sister.”
Astrid slipped into the study, struggling to look sympathetic and demure instead of wildly triumphant. Her brother sat all alone behind his desk, studying the face of what appeared to be a gold pocket watch. The flames dancing on the hearth behind him cast his face in shadow.
She dropped gracefully into one of the wingback chairs in front of the desk, already anticipating how graciously she would respond when he began to congratulate her on her cleverness. “I saw the constable and his men leaving the grounds. May I assume those dreadful miscreants are now in their custody and on the way to Newgate?”
Her brother snapped the watch shut and slipped it into the pocket of his waistcoat. “You may assume whatever you like. But I’d appreciate it if you didn’t call my son a miscreant.”
“Your son?” Despite the cozy warmth of the room, Astrid felt a chill tickle her spine. “Surely you don’t mean that imposter? He’s not your son. That broadsheet I turned over to the authorities proved he’s nothing but an incorrigible criminal who’s escaped the hangman’s noose for the last time. Please tell me you haven’t deluded yourself yet again!”
The look he gave her was pitying, but without a trace of mercy. “I’m not the one who has deluded myself, Astrid. Did you really think you could make me believe that boy didn’t belong to me? Toher? The first time I looked into his eyes and saw his mother looking back at me, I knew who he was. I never doubted it for a minute, not even when you were howling for his blood and the constable was clapping him in irons.”
Astrid bit her bottom lip to still its sudden trembling, tasting the salty warmth of her own blood on her tongue. “I was only trying to protect you. I’ve always tried to look after you, you know,” she told him, despising the whining note in her voice.
“Indeed you have. But I made a very curious discovery in the past week. Whenever I don’t drink the tea you prepare for me, I don’t cough—or sleep—nearly as much. As a matter of fact, I’ve felt myself growing a little stronger each day.”
Astrid gasped in shock as he gripped the edge of the desk and slowly inched his way upward until he was standing on his feet like a haggard ghost of the man he had once been.
She clutched at her throat. “What are you trying to imply?”
“That I think it’s time you packed your bags and left this house,” he said gently. “Don’t worry. I’ll see to it that you lack for nothing. I’ve already rented a cottage and hired a private nurse. I’ll provide a generous allowance for you until the day you die.”
