Chapter Thirty-Two
When half a dozen police officers arrived at Gellis House, Mavis opened the door herself, smile at the ready and her heart thundering in her chest. Mrs. Gellis’s plan was a mad one, and even though Oriana had eagerly agreed to help, it was still a long shot.
Mavis, however, was no stranger to risky cons, and if this worked .
. . no, she couldn’t get ahead of herself. One step at a time.
“Good evening, gentlemen,” Mavis said to the officers, her empty Delphinia Lindcourt smile firmly in place. “May I help you?”
Past the officers, Mavis glimpsed Thaddeus waiting in his carriage, face pressed against the window, eager to witness her arrest. Good, she thought. If he was focused on her, he wouldn’t notice when Arden and Oriana, cloaked in Arden’s invisibility, climbed into the carriage on the other side.
“Miss Lindcourt?” one officer asked. Though he wore the same black wool uniform as the others, the bronze star pinned to his lapel indicated he was higher in rank—a captain, she assumed.
“Yes, that’s me,” Mavis said with a light giggle. “Oh dear, am I in some kind of trouble?”
The officers exchanged a look, then the captain cleared his throat. The music pouring from the second floor broke off, and she heard the murmur of voices as ball guests gathered at the window to see what the commotion was. They wanted a show, and Mavis was all too happy to give them one.
No matter what happened tonight, this would be her final con, and she intended to make it a spectacle no one would soon forget.
“Miss Lindcourt, we’ve received a report that you’ve committed fraud, larceny, assault, and . . . er . . .” The captain’s ears turned red, and he lowered his voice. “Public lewdness.”
Mavis struggled not to lose her smile as gasps sounded from the audience upstairs.
She glanced at the carriage once more, but there was no sign of Thaddeus in the window now, which meant the first phase of the plan was done.
Arden was only supposed to restrain Thaddeus, but Mavis hoped he throttled him just a little bit. Public lewdness, indeed.
“Oh dear.” She contorted her face into the very image of confusion. “I’m not sure I know what any of those words mean—could you be a dear and explain? Perhaps beginning with the last? Public lewdness, was it?”
The captain’s ears turned an even deeper shade of red, and several of the other officers coughed, averting their gaze to focus on their shoes.
“Miss Lindcourt, I must insist you come with us. Now,” the captain said, flustered.
“No, wait!” a voice shouted, and the officers turned to see Thaddeus stumble out of the carriage, swaying on his feet, his hand raised. “No, there’s been a mistake.” His words slurred to the point of incoherence, but the captain seemed to understand him.
“Mr. Mayles, is this not the woman you told us about?” he asked.
Thaddeus ambled up the steps to stand at Mavis’s side, but this time he didn’t reek of cigar smoke. Instead, he smelled faintly of gardenias. “Apologies, gentlemen—my fiancée and I had a quarrel, and I was quite angry, but I shouldn’t have involved you.”
Mavis hid a wince at quarrel. It was hardly a word Thaddeus would use, especially when he was sloshed, but luckily the officers didn’t know him well enough to catch the mistake.
“Are you saying you filed a false report?” The captain’s face was still red, though now it seemed less due to embarrassment and more to anger.
A parade of footsteps approached behind Mavis, and she knew, without looking, that more guests had spilled downstairs, eager to get a better view of the scandal unfolding.
“Yes.” Thaddeus nodded. “That is exactly what I did. All lies. I’m sorry for wasting your time, but Miss Lindcourt told me she wished to end our engagement, and I wanted to get back at her—I need her money, you see, since I have none of my own.
I spent every last sola my parents left on gambling and women.
” At that, the officers exchanged another confused glance, but Thaddeus’s confessions weren’t for them—they were for the Luster guests hanging on every scandalous word.
“The only money left in Mayles House is my sister’s dowry.
” Thaddeus glanced behind him, noticing the crowd, and pitched his voice louder.
“Poor Mr. Ryskamp—he doesn’t know that she’s long been ruined––by a Lack gardener, of all people. ”
That caused even more gasps and murmurs, but when the police officers grumbled and muttered something about filing a false report as they trudged back down the front steps of Gellis House, Thaddeus turned toward Mavis, caught her eye, and winked.
The guests left soon after the police did—Mavis supposed it was difficult to top a party after that, and no doubt they were eager to spread their newly acquired gossip, and Thaddeus Mayles had certainly given them plenty to parse through. Or rather, a Mayles had.
When the last guest filed through the front door, Mavis turned away from the front door to find Oriana waiting for her with a small, nervous smile.
“How did I do?” she asked.
“Brilliantly,” Mavis told her. “Though I’m not sure destroying your own reputation along with your brother’s was strictly necessary.”
“I believe it was.” Oriana shrugged. “Everyone knows about my gift—Thaddeus will try to convince them I used it to impersonate him. I had to make sure no one would believe it. Besides, I’m not ashamed of the truth.
” She paused, biting her lip. “But I am ashamed that I didn’t stop my brother earlier. ”
Mavis reached for the frustration she’d felt toward Oriana that day she confronted her at Mayles House and told her about Thaddeus blackmailing her, but she came up empty handed.
She hadn’t been able to understand why Oriana would defend her brother, how someone so intelligent could be such a fool, but then, how could she?
Oriana had been raised in a different world than she had, one that allowed her to give her love and trust without reservation, even to those who did not deserve either.
Mavis had often resented and envied Oriana and other Luster girls like her, but for once she found herself pitying them too.
She smiled at Oriana. “I admire your ability to see the best in people, Miss Mayles. I’m only sorry that Thaddeus wasn’t worthy of your loyalty.”
The door opened, and Arden slipped inside, flickering back into view before their eyes. He managed a wan grin. “From my vantage point, that went well.”
“Where is Thaddeus now?” Oriana asked, turning toward him.
Arden’s smile turned sheepish. “Still in the carriage. Subduing him was easier than I expected—drunk as he was, he passed out almost immediately.”
Oriana sighed. “I’ll see that he gets home safely.” She twisted the diamond ring off her finger and tossed it to Arden, who caught it deftly. “And I’ll have twenty thousand wired to you tomorrow, with the rest of the money to follow in a fortnight.”
Mavis blinked. Twenty thousand, she could understand—the engagement between Arden and Oriana hadn’t proceeded far enough for the contracts to be drawn up and signed, but if Oriana felt inclined to pay to break the engagement all the same, Mavis wasn’t going to stop her. But . . . “What rest of the money?”
“My dowry,” Oriana said. “While we were waiting for Thaddeus, Arden explained why you needed it—a better use than any husband of mine could put it to, I’d wager.
When I turn twenty-three in a couple of weeks, I can access it on my own, without marrying.
It seems the least I can do, after everything Thaddeus put you through. ”
Mavis didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but in the end, the former won.
“It’s two million solas, Oriana,” she said between peals of laughter. “I can’t take that—besides, Thaddeus spent everything else. You’ll need the money.”
Oriana raised an eyebrow at Arden. “You haven’t told her yet?”
Arden shrugged. “It’s your secret.”
She beamed, turning back to Mavis. “For the last year I’ve been writing books—quite scandalous ones—published under a pseudonym. They sell very well, and I expect my next will be my most successful yet.”
Mavis’s thoughts swam, but of all the secrets she’d learned about Oriana Mayles, the fact that she was a novelist hardly seemed to signify as surprising.
When Mavis didn’t reply, Oriana continued, her smile widening. “It’s about a Lack con artist who swindles Luster men by making them fall in love with her. I’ve done plenty of research into it, as you found out.”
“You’re writing a book about me?” Mavis asked, unsure how she felt about that. “A scandalous one?”
“Oh, terribly scandalous.” Oriana nodded. “But it isn’t exactly about you. I’d started it even before you arrived, but it’s how I realized who you were. Suffice to say I won’t need the money, and we might even say I owe it to you, for providing the inspiration.”
Mavis wanted to protest, but the words died in her throat.
Oriana wasn’t only offering money, she was offering freedom—not just for Mavis, but for Rafe and Leif—and Mavis couldn’t bring herself to refuse.
Instead, she closed the distance between her and Oriana and took her hand, holding it tight.
“Thank you,” she said. “But what will you do now? You can’t mean to stay here and clean up after Thaddeus for the rest of your life. ”
Oriana squeezed Mavis’s hand back, her smile turning wistful. “I’m going to find Jonas. I don’t believe Thaddeus simply paid him to leave. He must have threatened him, he must have . . .” She trailed off, shaking her head. “I’ll hear the story from his own lips. I have to.”
“Are you still intent on going to Strall?” Arden asked, coming to stand behind Mavis.
She shrugged. “It’s as good a place to start as any—will I see you two there?”
Mavis glanced over her shoulder and met Arden’s gaze. She couldn’t stop a smile from spreading over her face. For the first time in a long time, the future that stretched ahead was hers to create, and she got to build it with him.
“Yes,” she said, turning back to Oriana. “I expect you will.”
When Arden and Mavis returned to his aunt’s room, she was exactly where they’d left her an hour ago, but she looked as if she’d aged a decade in that time. Arden’s chest ached to see the imposing, dauntless, vivacious woman he’d come to know and love fade so quickly into a shadow of herself.
He regretted leaving her, even though she’d all but ordered him to. It was necessary, he knew—if he hadn’t foiled Thaddeus’s plan to have Mavis arrested, he’d have never forgiven himself—but he didn’t think he would forgive himself for this either.
When she heard them approach, she turned, the small movement seeming almost too much for her to manage, and when her eyes met his, they were the same familiar dark blue, glittering with shrewd wit.
“Well?” she asked, her voice a croak.
“It worked,” Mavis told her. “Oriana was amazing. My only regret is I didn’t get to see Thaddeus’s face when he realized what happened.”
“Neither did I,” Arden said. “He passed out before things got that far.”
Aunt Phi tried to laugh, but it quickly turned into a wheeze. In an instant, Arden was at her side.
“You need water.” He turned to call for a maid, but she gripped his hand with a surprising amount of strength.
“I’m so tired, Arden.” Her eyes fluttered closed. “But I am glad you’re here. Be a dear and stay with me—both of you.”
Arden was frozen in place. “I’m here,” he managed, glancing at Mavis, who moved to stand on the other side of his aunt’s bed. “We both are.”
For a few seconds, there was only the sound of her labored breaths.
“I know you have your concerns about the Ryskamp legacy,” Arden said finally.
“And I know you’re disappointed with the choices I’ve made—not all of them have been sound, I’ll admit, but I promise you, Aunt Phi, I’ll build a legacy that you would be proud of, and there is no one I would rather build it with than her. ”
She continued to breathe, and Arden wondered if she could even hear him still or if she’d drifted off. Perhaps it was better that way. Before Arden could ponder that, she spoke.
“A happy life,” she whispered without opening her eyes. She took another rattling breath before she managed to speak again. “Is a hell of a legacy.”
Arden smiled, only realizing he was crying when a tear dropped onto the bedsheet beside their joined hands, then another.
He looked up and found Mavis watching him, tears filling her own eyes.
It was the first time he’d ever seen her cry, but he would do everything in his power to ensure it would also be the last.
“Then I will live the happiest,” he promised his aunt.