Chapter 17 #2
Alex leaned back and remained silent, despite all the questions spinning inside her head. He must know what he was doing— after all, he had succeeded in discovering who was behind all her family’s troubles in just one night.
Still, she couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable.
Perhaps it was the gloomy atmosphere inside the carriage.
The curtains had been drawn, and there was so little light that she could barely see her own hands clenched tightly in her lap.
As for Hammerton’s face, it was merely a shadowed silhouette, devoid of all expression.
A tiny shiver skated down her spine. She felt as if she was in a tomb.
A short while later the carriage came to an abrupt halt, jarring her from brooding Hammerton stuck his head out the door, made a quick signal, then waved for his coachman to move on.
“What—” began Alex.
“I promise you, Miss Chilton, it will all soon be clear.”
Hammerton made no further effort at conversation.
His shoulders relaxed as if he were napping, or sunk in deep thought, and Alex could think of nothing she wanted to discuss—save for an explanation of what the devil was going on.
Gritting her teeth, she hunched back against the squabs and closed her eyes, willing herself to be patient.
Clip-clop, clip-clop …
After what seemed like an interminably long time, Alex could stand it no longer. She sat up and yanked one of the curtains open. To her surprise, they were now well out of the city.
“Lord Hammerton, where we are going?”
“As I said, you shall soon see.
“I’m sorry, but this havey-cavey secrecy must end,” she replied. “I demand to know where we are going, and why.”
The light was now strong enough for her to see the smile that crossed his face. It sent a chill through her very bones.
“Stop the carriage this instant!” demanded Alex.
Hammerton’s smile only turned more pronounced.
“Stop!” she cried, hoping to be heard over the clatter of the wheels.
“You need not bother yelling,” he drawled.
“The coachman is my cousin and I assure you, no amount of yammering from you will cause him the least anxiety.” As he spoke, he slowly pulled a pistol from the pocket of his greatcoat.
“Now kindly sit back. I would prefer not to shoot you quite yet, but if you force me, I promise you my shot will not just graze you this time.”
Comprehension dawned on her. “You!” she whispered
“Brilliant, my dear Miss Chilton,” he sneered as he pantomimed clapping his hands together. The pistol waved lazily back and forth in the air, as if mocking her lack of wits.
Alex felt a hollowness in the pit of her stomach. Hell’s bells, had she really been so bloody stupid?
And what of Justin? The bitter taste of bile rose in her throat.
As if reading her thoughts, Hammerton continued.
“You asked where I am taking you. I have a small hunting box that only very few people know about. When we stopped earlier, it was to signal that everything was going according to plan. By now, a note has been delivered to your dear brother, who will nobly follow it to the letter in hopes of seeing you alive.”
“He won’t—he’s not that foolish.”
Hammerton gave a nasty laugh. “Of course he’ll come. And he’ll come alone.”
Alex’s eyes squeezed shut. To her dismay, she felt the burn of tears against her lids. Blinking rapidly, she forced it away. She wasn’t ready to give up just yet.
“Why?” she asked.
His mouth quirked in anticipation. Clearly he had been itching to reveal just how clever he was.
“Of course. You wish to know what all of this is about.” He stopped to savor the moment. “Well, there is little enough harm now in telling you the whole story.”
Alex was growing heartily sick of the look of smug satisfaction plastered on his features, but she kept her tongue in check. She needed to know the truth if she was to have any hope of devising a way out of this coil …
“First of all, I am not the Earl of Hammerton.”
Alex’s eyes must have betrayed her surprise, for he greeted her reaction with another bark of laughter.
Oh, how she wished she could plant her fist squarely on those thin, bloodless lips.
“That is,” he amended, “I am not the true Earl of Hammerton. That title rightfully belongs to your brother, now that your father is dead.”
Alex couldn’t repress a gasp.
“Yes,” he remarked. “We have a very odd and exasperating family, do we not, Miss Chilton. We are cousins, you know. Isn’t that charming?”
When she refused to be goaded into a reply, he merely shrugged and continued.
“I was raised by my great uncle, who took me in as a child after my parents had died during an outbreak of influenza. Despite two marriages, he never managed to produce an heir, thus it was natural that as time went on for everyone to assume that I was the relative next in line to inherit the title.”
Hammerton chuckled. “My earliest recollections were those of a rather— shall we say—hardscrabble childhood. My side of the family had no money and no prospects. I very quickly became used to my … new position in life.” He paused to flick a speck of lint from the lapel of his immaculately tailored jacket.
“And all the power and privileges that come with it.”
Crossing his legs, he regarded Alex with a humorless smile.
“It is quite pleasant to have enough money to indulge in one’s fancies—and enough influence to make sure any indiscretion is glossed over.
” His expression grew harder. “To think the old rotter would imagine I’d willingly give it up. For he did, you know.”
Alex watched in disgust as his eyes narrowed to mere slits as he contemplated the past. “Uncle was taken quite ill, and at his advanced years it was feared he might not recover. I suppose the prospect of meeting his Maker finally brought on an attack of conscience. God knows the damn fellow showed no generosity of spirit during his lifetime—what he couldn’t manipulate or control he crushed.
Except for me, of course. I was too smart for him, even as a child.
Oh, I played his game. It cost very little to pretend obedience when measured against the rewards. ”
He sat back and gave a mocking smile. “Your father, on the other hand, was apparently as bull-headed as the old earl. Stubborn, proud and unwilling to bend an inch—how extraordinarily stupid.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, though he needed no prodding to continue his terrible account.
“Your father’s side of the family, the next in the line of succession, was as badly dipped has mine.
As I have said, Uncle gave nothing without expecting an even greater payment in return.
Your father was much older than I was when the earl sought him out.
From what I gather, he wouldn’t knuckle under to the old tyrant’s demands that he live under his thumb.
Both were volatile by nature. Ugly words flared and your father stormed from the house, consigning both title and fortune to the devil.
He vowed never to have contact with the earl again and never to touch a farthing of his wealth. ”
Alex drew in a sharp breath. How very like her father, she thought with a mixture of exasperation and grudging respect.
But most of all, she felt sorrow for him, at the bitter battle that must have raged inside him between his own cursed pride and his guilt at depriving his son of his rightful place in the world.
“But I digress,” continued Hammerton. “My uncle called me to his sickbed to inform me that he meant to make amends for his past sins by reconciling with his true heir—your father. I believe he had come to know of your brother’s existence and felt a sudden, compelling duty to see that the title passed on to the rightful branch of the family, rather than me, who was next line after your father and brother.
” He tapped the barrel of his pistol against his gloved palm.
“And perhaps rumors had reached him regarding certain aspects of my behavior in Town.”
Again his lips curled upward, sending a chill down Alex’s spine.
“He assured me that he would see to it that I was well taken care of, as there was enough blunt for both your father and me. I would receive a settlement that would allow me to continue living in the style to which I had become accustomed. Hah! He had no idea as to the sorts of things to which I had become accustomed! And reverting to a mere ‘mister’ was most definitely not one of them.”
A silence stretched out for what felt like ages to Alex as her nemesis fell into a reverie, his features twisted with malevolent satisfaction as he savored the recollection of his triumph over anyone who sought to thwart his will.
She almost believed he had forgotten her presence when he looked up, his eyes glittering with that smug expression she had come to hate.
“So just like that,” he said,” I was told that I was no longer to think of becoming the fifth Earl, that I must step aside for your father. Give up my title, my estates, my fortune to someone who hadn’t paid for them like I had—to a recluse who spent his time picking weeds? Not bloody likely!”
His voice had risen to an agitated pitch. “It was simple, really. A pillow placed over Uncle’s face for a matter of a few minutes. The old bird scarcely had the strength to flap his arms. It was with great sorrow that I announced to the servants that he had expired in my arms.”
Alex shot him a look of pure disgust, but he seemed not to notice.
“Unfortunately, he had already written to your father, who had agreed to meet with him after all these years. Naturally, I had to take care of that as well. Knowing your father had a son who was drawing close to adulthood, I feared that was reason enough for him to change his mind.”
Alex sucked in her breath, somehow knowing exactly what was coming. Even so, the sheer effrontery of his manner left her reeling.
“I believe your father had become a bit suspicious over dear Uncle’s untimely death.
He left his inn late that night to return home, but he was not a very experienced driver, and his horses weren’t fit for a farmer’s cart.
It was remarkably easy to nudge his carriage off the road just as it curved out over the cliffs—my matched bays hardly broke stride. ”
Hammerton gave a pained sigh. “I was reasonably sure you and your dottering aunt knew nothing. But when I learned that your brother was not content to remain a country oaf, but had entered Oxford, and had plans to come to Town for this Season, I knew that he would have to be dealt with as well. I couldn’t risk him ever stumbling across the truth. ”
If she had possessed the strength, Alex would gladly have throttled the life out of him.
An arrogant sneer revealed a flash of teeth. “I have never lost a match of wits, Miss Chilton. It is a pity you tried to put your feeble female mind up against mine. Admit it, I am a superior intellect. I have bent all of you to my own design, including that cur, Branford.”
“I find you akin to Spirogyra.”
Hammerton narrowed his eyes. Alex let him ponder it for a moment before she added. “It is Latin. For pond scum. Though it pains me to insult the plant phylum with a comparison to you. Perhaps a reptile would be more apt.”
His hand flashed out, catching her across the cheek with a blow that knocked her back against the squabs.
“Shut up, you meddlesome bitch,” he spat. “You’ll soon regret your actions.”
Alex was already cursing herself for a fool. If only she had …
But there was little sense in flaying herself over things that could not be undone. Alex set her teeth and put her mind to coming up with some way out of this nightmare.
She could only hope that Justin would display more intelligence than she had.