Page 61 of Silence of Deceit
Perhaps she ought to have felt some relief to learn that she had not dealt her a killing blow, however now, the possibilities for complications and exposed secrets began to mount and tangle.
Hugh took a few strides toward the desk where Audrey still stood. “She has admitted to killing Starborough and Mary Simpson, and the attempted murder of Sir.”
Audrey frowned. “Has she? But what of the blackmail? And Esther and Dr. Warwick?”
“I’ve informed Warwick that Starborough killed Esther after finding out the truth that she was alive all this time. He was devastated, to say the least.” Hugh scowled. “Though, I find it difficult to feel sympathy for him.”
Audrey nodded; she understood what he meant. The only person she truly felt sympathy for was Esther’s little girl, Catherine, who was now motherless. An innocent victim in all of this.
“And the blackmail?” she asked. Here, Hugh’s brow pinched. If Delia revealed that she’d been blackmailing the Duke of Fournier, it would all unravel. The police would learn of Audrey’s stay in Shadewell. Even if she claimed it was false, that Delia had been lying, the damage would be irreparable.
“Your involvement is limited to the dress Esther was wearing at the time of her death. One she received from Delia, who got it out of charity. She’s agreed to say she only blackmailed Mary Simpson and Esther Starborough.”
Audrey shook her head, confounded. Last night, Hugh had ordered her to run before the police arrived, to avoid her being caught in scandal. And all night she’d been awake, her mind restless, but not once had she considered what Delia might say when she woke.
“Why would she agree to that?” she asked.
Hugh lowered his voice. “I offered a bargain, and she took it.”
“What bargain?”
“She has a child. One she gave up to St. Bailey’s Orphanage but planned to get back once she had the money to support him. I offered to arrange for her child to be withdrawn and placed in a boarding school for orphans instead. There’s one in Hammersmith. He’ll be given an education and when the time comes, an apprenticeship somewhere.” He lifted a shoulder in a show of nonchalance. “It was more than she could ever do for him now, and she knew it.”
For a moment, all Audrey could hear was the soft ticking of the clock. Hugh’s rich brown eyes watched her carefully, as if he was waiting for her to say something. But her mind was curiously empty. At the moment, all she could do was feel crushing self-reproach.
“You would do that?” she whispered, though not by choice. Her throat cinched tight, trying to subdue a sob. Her eyes, however, had no such stopper. They began to sting again. Hugh was essentially making this child his ward, providing the funds to see him through an education and apprenticeship, all to shield Audrey and her secret.
A line creased the space between his dark brows. “Of course, I would.”
Her eyes grew hot and blurred; she shook her head and turned from him. “You shouldn’t,” she rasped, furiously blinking, and swiping at her wet cheeks.
Goodness, how she hated crying in front of him. In front of anyone, really, but especially him. And not because he would use it against her in any way, or shame her for it. No, she didn’t want to cry because she suspected exactly what he’d do next.
“Tell me why I shouldn’t,” he replied, and blast him, she’d been right. He’d come closer.
She sealed her eyes shut and breathed deeply. Moments like this when he wasn’t arrogant or argumentative, but instead tender and vulnerable, were dangerous. In these moments, she could nearly convince herself that what she felt for Hugh wouldn’t eventually bring them both pain.
“It isn’t your responsibility to protect me.”
Hugh stayed at her shoulder, his nearness heating her back and raising the small hairs along the nape of her neck and arms. “You are not a responsibility, Audrey. Iwantto protect you.”
“That is for my husband to do.” Bile touched the back of her throat. She hated herself in that moment. Hated having to push him away with cruelty. But it worked. Hugh took a step back; she felt the gap of cold air at her back.
After a moment of silence that stretched for an age, he spoke, his voice low and bitter. “He’s been doing a splendid job of it lately, hasn’t he?”
Audrey whipped around, despite her wet eyes and cheeks flushed with shame. “That isn’t fair. He’s done what he could.”
“How?” Hugh tucked his chin and glared at her. “By rolling over, showing his stomach, and paying his blackmailer?”
“You can’t blame him for not having the same resources as you. He’s a duke. He can’t go chasing blindly after criminals!”
His eyes rounded as she realized she’d backed herself right into a corner. “You’re a duchess, and yet you do!”
Audrey’s lips parted, but a retort dried up on her tongue. She sealed her lips and smoothed the front of her dress. “I simply mean to say that the duke did what he could to protect me from scandal.”
“And where was the fine duke yesterday when you were nearly killed at Bedlam?”
Hugh’s question struck like an iron fist to the stomach. Audrey tried not to flinch. “I was not nearly killed.”
