Mistress

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

"LADY SANDS, PLEASE, YOU MUSTN'T CARRY ON SO." Iphiginia pulled a hankie out of her little white satin reticule. She bent down and thrust it into Ha

"Thank you." Ha

"What truth? What the devil is going on here?" Sands looked at Marcus, his face twisted with rage and pain. "And don't give me any more rubbish about taking one of Hardstaff's treatments, damn your eyes."

"Ha

"What secrets do you share with my wife?" Sands exploded. "Did you trick her into coming here so that you could seduce her in that brothel bed over there?"

"No," Marcus said calmly. "Of course he did not do any such thing." Iphiginia straightened and glowered at Sands. "Really, sir, that is beyond anything. Masters would never seduce another man's wife."

Sands turned on her, his face still tight with fury. "How would you know?"

"Because I know him very, very well." Iphiginia patted Ha

Marcus gazed at her with an unreadable expression. Sands eyed Iphiginia intently. "How do you come to be here tonight, Mrs. Bright?" "I received a note, just as you did, sir," Iphiginia said. "I arrived only moments before you and hid behind the curtain." She swept a hand out to indicate the erotic paintings, and the statuary. "Obviously, someone intended that I discover Masters together with Lady Sands in a compromising position. I suspect you were meant to do the same."

"Someone staged this entire affair?" Sands set his jaw. "Is that what you're saying?"

"It's the only logical assumption, is it not, Masters?" "Yes." Marcus regarded the small group thoughtfully.

"Ha

Sands stared at each of them in turn, more frustrated than ever. "What blackmailers

Ha

"That was our initial conclusion," Marcus said. "Good Lord," Sands whispered. He glanced at Marcus and then strode toward his wife. He pulled Ha

Ha

"Never," Sands vowed. "Never, my love. You ca

"Oh, Edward, I killed him." Ha

"Mo did you kill?" Sands moved his hand gently on her shivering back.

"Spalding," Ha

Sands looked at Marcus over the top of Ha

"I walked in five minutes after she had shot him," Marcus said evenly. "I got rid of the body for her. Tossed it into the river. Made it appear as though he had hen killed by a footpad."

"That was the least of what he did." Ha

"I went to London that day to confront Spalding with the facts of his deceit, Marcus explained. "I arrived late in the evening and went straight to his house on Fulston Street. I discovered Ha

"I was in a state of near-collapse." Ha

"I see." Sands gave Marcus a speculative look. "You kept quiet not only about Ha

"I had little choice," Marcus admitted. "There was too much at stake."

Ha

"And got very rich in the process," Sands observed neutrally.

Marcus shrugged but offered no further explanation. "Oh, Edward, I am so dreadfully sorry that you had

to learn the truth this way," Ha

"I always suspected what sort of man Spalding was." Sands gripped her arms gently and pulled her against him. "I heard the rumors. But you know how such things are ignored by Polite Society."

"I know," Ha

"Edward." Ha

"Never," Ha

Sands touched her hair. "Then from now on, will you also trust me?"

"Yes." Relief and joy were mingled in Ha

Sands looked at Marcus. "It would appear that I am in your debt, sir. Not only for helping Ha

Marcus shrugged. "It was nothing."

Iphiginia smiled proudly. "That is Masters for you, Lord Sands. A gentleman to his fingertips."

"It was Ha

"One ca

Marcus glanced at her, amused. "I was born a farmer, Iphiginia."

She dismissed that with an airy wave of her gloved hand. "What has that got to do with it? You would be a true nobleman if you fished for a living or sold vegetables out of the back of a cart."