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“Yes. How long have you been looking for missing people?”
I glanced around, trying to hide my surprise. I hadn’t expected the duke to admit that Drake had blackmailed him. Fortunately, no one at the di
A smile flickered over his lips. “Letters written by my sister. I control her money; therefore, he came to me to sell his silence. Have you ever been someone’s mistress?”
I felt my eyes widen and my cheeks burn. That was hardly a question one could ask in polite society, but then, the same could be said of questions about blackmail. I thought I had the upper hand until he’d turned the tables on me. The man had the instincts of a hunter hidden inside impeccable tailoring. This was a man I could understand.
Glancing across the table, I saw Lady Westover staring at me. Fortunately, no one else seemed to notice my discomfort. I gave a half smile and turned my attention back to the duke.
He raised his dark brows. “Surely you didn’t think you could ask my deepest secrets without revealing your own?”
I took a deep breath and tried to steady my voice. “No and no. I’m not. Did you pay his blackmail and for how long?”
“No. I offered to buy the letters, but so far, we’ve not agreed on a price. Has a man ever made love to you?”
The soft growl of his voice as he asked me his impertinent question left me sweltering in the chilly dining room. I swallowed hard. “Yes. Who are the other men you mentioned who belong to your club who are also being blackmailed by Mr. Drake?” I wondered if he’d confirm the list I’d already obtained.
“Hancock, Dutton-Cox, Waxpool, and Merville. What did your parents think of your scandalous behavior?”
“It’s not a scandal if no one finds out, and my parents were long dead at that point. Why is Lord Hancock being blackmailed?”
His gaze flicked across the table at the man in question. “It can’t be over his inventions. They’re both dangerous and disastrous. And it’s no secret that his finances are shaky at best. With all that being gossiped about as common knowledge against Lord Hancock, I can’t imagine what his secret is. Are you and this u
I was saved by the next course. I turned my attention back to Lord Naylard, giving my heart rate a chance to slow while I tried with delicacy to learn why Drake would blackmail such an uncomplicated man.
“I keep thinking of Mr. Drake,” I told Naylard. “He’s out there somewhere and here you are his good friend, and you don’t know where he is. Has he disappeared like this before?”
Naylard finished his bite. “This is very good roast. Try some. Drake hasn’t disappeared before. I never went more than two or three days without seeing him, and it’s been a week.”
“Do you always see him in the same locations? Perhaps you haven’t been to these places lately and Mr. Drake isn’t really missing.” I was already sick of looking at so much food and wishing this was Phyllida’s simple cooking.
He chewed slowly and studied the far wall. “No. I either see him at my club, and I’m there almost daily, or at the racecourse, but there haven’t been any races lately. Perhaps he’s gone somewhere to look at a promising filly. He’ll turn up and make a joke at the thought of anyone being concerned.”
“And as your sister says, it’s all in God’s hands.”
Naylard seemed to back up a little in his chair. “I say, are you one of them?”
“One of whom, milord?”
“Is that why you’re not quite eligible to go out in polite society?”
Had this man who appeared so simple figured out I was an impostor? “What do you mean, milord?”
“Lady Westover said you weren’t eligible for polite society. Nothing naughty, I hope.” He gri
I gri
“Oh, no. Lucinda believes in following all of the commandments. She’s very wise.”
“I’m certain of that.” Talking to Lord Naylard was useful, but I was begi
“Papists, of course. Is that why you’re not quite eligible to go out in polite society?”
Was that the reason Miss Lucinda Naylard was blackmailed?
Naylard had begun another long tale about his animals when my roast course disappeared, replaced by the fowl course. I felt cold seep into every fiber of my being. Time to question Blackford again. My pulse began to race before I could turn my head.
The duke was already looking at me, a smile trailing off his face. The sort of look a cat gives a sparrow. Well, this sparrow was a determined little bird. “Was Drake blackmailing Hancock and the others in your club with letters their relatives had sent?”
“You haven’t answered my last question. Are you still his paramour?”
Chapter Seven
I GLARED at the Duke of Blackford, unwilling to let him probe my feelings of loss. The man had been my fiancé, my hope for a life with a husband and children, after I’d lost my family at seventeen. I took a breath to steady my voice. “He’s dead.”
“My condolences.”
“Thank you, Your Grace. Now—?”
“I don’t know what papers he was blackmailing the others with. I know in Merville’s case it is something going back more than ten years. When did your protector die?”
How dare he assume I was a kept woman. We were in love and pla
“He said, ‘I can’t believe Drake found out. It’s been over ten years. I’ll be a laughingstock if anyone learns about this.’ Did he tell you he’d marry you someday?”
I didn’t know which was more upsetting. His questions or his purring voice as he asked. “We were engaged and had set a wedding date. Rather like you and Miss Victoria, Your Grace.” My comment about Victoria Dutton-Cox made no visible impression on him. He didn’t even blink. “What do you know about the Earl of Waxpool’s secret?”
“Nothing. He doesn’t have one. Have you been in love since the death of your lover?”
I reached out and touched his sleeve. “Hold on a moment. He’s being blackmailed but he doesn’t have a secret? That makes no sense.”
“If you want clarification, you must answer my question first.”
“No.”
“The answer is no, or you won’t answer?”
I smiled. “If you want clarification . . .”
“Touché. The Earl of Waxpool has led a disgustingly virtuous life. You don’t have to take my word for it; check with anyone. He said he had recently noticed irregularities in his accounts and suspected one of his relatives stole from him to pay off their blackmailer. If he suspected someone in particular, he didn’t tell me.” He ate another bite. “I believe you owe me an explanation on your answer about whether you’ve been in love since your fiancé died.”
“No, I haven’t been. Could you please explain what you said earlier about Lord Hancock?”