Chapter 30

“This place is a wreck,” Arthur said. He peered at the house through the darkness, a part of him wishing they hadn’t decided to approach it so late at night. Surely this would have been easier in the daytime. “Why would Lady Reeves be here?”

“I don’t know,” Taylor said. “But my sources say that she will be. Perhaps she simply thinks she won’t be found in such a place.”

“More likely she uses it as a place to have illicit affairs with married men,” Arthur grumbled. “Because we know that she likes to do that, don’t we?”

“I think you might be making too much of it,” Taylor said.

“How could I possibly be making too much of it when her illicit affair with my father is what killed him?”

“Let’s wait and see how this conversation goes before we assume we know anything,” Taylor suggested. “It might be a false lead.”

“Do you believe it’s a false lead?”

Taylor sighed. “No,” he admitted. “I really don’t think it is.”

Arthur didn’t think so either. There was too much here to be ignored. But the house in front of them looked as if no one had set foot there in years. It was hard to believe that a lady might be inside, even one with as much moral ambiguity surrounding her as Lady Reeves seemed to have. Even someone who needed a place to meet with men she ought not to be seeing could surely do better than this?

But maybe she didn’t want to do better than this. He didn’t know Lady Reeves, after all. Maybe there was something not right with her mentally. Maybe that was what had driven her to be the sort of person she was. It was certainly possible.

Taylor strode confidently up the steps to the front door. Arthur followed with a bit more hesitation. This all seemed rather suspicious to him. How had they found her so easily if she wanted so badly not to be found? It was true that Taylor had good sources, but he had taken years to learn that Lady Reeves even existed. Now, in the space of a single day, they had discovered her location. It was simply too good to be true—and yet, it seemed that it was true.

Taylor knocked on the door.

Arthur fully expected that no one would answer—but he was surprised yet again. After only a moment, a woman opened the door.

This wouldn’t be Lady Reeves. Arthur was sure of it. She was dressed as a housekeeper, and she seemed too young to be the person they were looking for—older than Arthur himself but too much younger than his father. She did not smile at them.

“You’re expected,” she said curtly.

“I’m sorry—we’re what?” Even Taylor seemed taken aback now.

In response, the woman gestured to a pair of double doors. They stood closed. Taylor looked at Arthur, and Arthur could tell that his friend had decided to allow him to take the lead now that they had come this far.

Well, it was too late to turn back now. He strode over to the double doors. If Lady Reeves, or whoever was here, thought that a little mystery was going to scare them away, she had played her cards very wrongly indeed. He threw the doors open.

And there she was.

The lady sitting on the chaise was beautiful, there was no denying that. She had lustrous auburn hair and striking blue eyes that might have been captivating if Arthur had been here for other reasons. If this had been a social call, he would have enjoyed her beauty, for she was a sight to behold. As it was, he didn’t care what she looked like though it did take him aback for a brief moment. He hadn’t considered it, but of course, a seductress of married men must be lovely, and it was easy to see that she fit the part.

“Lady Reeves,” he said.

“Arthur,” she returned with a friendly smile.

“Your Grace,” he corrected.

“Oh, there’s no need for that sort of thing,” she said. “You and I are old friends by now, aren’t we?”

“We’ve never met,” Arthur said tightly.

“Of course, we have. You don’t recall? Well, no, I suppose you wouldn’t. You were quite young at the time, after all. I thought you might remember the day I visited your father at his home and the argument the two of us had.”

Arthur started to respond, to say that he remembered no such thing and doubted whether it had even happened, but then he paused.

Those eyes. Those piercing blue eyes.

There had been something familiar about him when he had come into the room. Was it possible—could he have seen her before?

He didn’t want to think so. But…

His mother and father had never argued. They had always gotten along beautifully. And his father had never raised his voice at Arthur either, nor had he been unkind to his staff. In fact, there was only one time he could remember his father yelling at anyone. For a moment, he tried to disbelieve it, to tell himself that whatever he was remembering couldn’t possibly be what Lady Reeves was hinting at. He didn’t want her to have something to use against him.

“You have to leave, Lady Reeves. You mustn’t ever come back here. I’m devoted to my wife.”

“That isn’t what you said the other night.”

“I don’t care what I said the other night! I’d had too much to drink, and you know it. You knew it at the time, and you took advantage of the situation. I don’t know what you thought—maybe that you could get something from me. I know what you do to men. Don’t think no one has told me. I have no money to pay you, and I’m not going to reward your villainous scheming. Leave me in peace. Leave my family in peace. If you ever come near us again, you can expect dire consequences!”

That was all he remembered. He hadn’t understood what the argument was about when he was a child. He hadn’t realized that he had retained so much of it to this day. But apparently, he had, and now, he looked at Lady Reeves with a rush of horror.

“You tried to blackmail him,” he said softly. “You tried to blackmail my father.”

“Oh, now, it wasn’t like you’re making it sound,” Lady Reeves replied. “The two of us had a wonderful night together, your father and I.”

“I don’t believe that for a moment. My father was in love with my mother. She meant the world to him. He would never have squandered that for one night with you.”

“Well, you know how men are,” Lady Reeves said casually. “They never believe they have to choose. They think they can have everything and everyone their hearts desire. And I wouldn’t have forced him to choose. I never asked him to leave your mother. All I wanted was more time with him. All I wanted was to have him in my life, and I don’t think it’s such an unreasonable thing to ask. After all, he was the one who seduced me first.”

“I’m quite sure he wasn’t,” Arthur said, his voice tight.

“You have a little boy’s opinion of his father,” Lady Reeves replied. “Not that I fault you for that. How could you have anything else? But you see him as flawless, as a hero. You don’t see the whole man because you never knew him when you were a man yourself. You don’t know who he truly was. If you did, you would see my side of things.”

Arthur’s anger flared. “It’s your fault I never knew him as an adult,” he declared.

“You want to be careful making such accusations,” Lady Reeves said quietly. “This doesn’t have to end violently, but it certainly can, if you make that choice.”

“You killed him, didn’t you?” Arthur asked her. He hadn’t known that he was going to say it, but everything that had happened since he had arrived here—the return of that old memory, her casual demeanor, the way she warned him against a violent ending—it all came together in a way that made him feel suddenly sure he had it right. “You killed my father—and my mother as well. You couldn’t live with the fact that he had rejected you. Is that it? Or perhaps you wanted to punish him for not giving you money? I know that you wanted money from him. But I’m right about this. You wouldn’t be smirking at me over the fact that I lost my parents if you hadn’t had a hand in it.”

Lady Reeves shook her head. She was still smiling which infuriated Arthur further. “Your father was irresponsible and a drunk to boot.”

“He wasn’t a drunk,” Arthur objected.

“You have no clear memories of the man. How can you know what he was? You couldn’t have even understood what a drunk was when he was alive. You were too young to know anything about such things. And now, all these years later, you show up to confront me about an event you know nothing about.”

“Do you know what I haven’t heard?” Arthur asked.

“What might that be?”

“I haven’t heard you tell me that I’m wrong. That you didn’t hurt my parents. You’ve found many ways to tell me what a fool I am and how I couldn’t possibly know the things I believe I know. But you haven’t told me that it isn’t true. You haven’t denied my accusation. I don’t think you can. For all your flaws, I don’t think you can bring yourself to simply look me in the face and tell me you didn’t commit this crime. It would be a lie, wouldn’t it? And you know I’d be able to see that in your eyes.”

There was a long pause, during which Arthur began to wonder if she might break down. Maybe she was about to confess that he had it right, that she had done exactly what he said, that she deserved to be locked away for her crimes. Maybe she was about to offer a full confession and say that she could live with it no longer.

And then she laughed.

“I have nothing to hide from you, Arthur,” she said. “You can’t do anything to me. I suppose you think you’re going to summon the authorities—is that it? And tell them what? That you think I committed a crime that’s years dead now, based on a feeling in your stomach and a memory you think you recall from childhood? No one will make anything of that.”

“I’m still a duke,” Arthur reminded her. “My word carries quite a lot of weight, even if you don’t wish to take it seriously.”

“I’m sure you believe that,” Lady Reeves said. “But I’m willing to tell you here and now that you’re right, Arthur. I’m not frightened of you at all. Yes. I did what you’re accusing me of. I’m the one you’re looking for. I’ll say it to you, but if you bring me in front of the constables, I’ll tell them you broke into my home and threatened me. That you frightened me. Why else would you have brought your friend there along?” She smiled. “You aren’t the first person to threaten me like this, Arthur. I’m sure you won’t be the last. That’s why I allowed you to find me. I want you to know that you’re wasting your time in hunting me like you have been. I wanted to speak to you and tell you that it’s to your benefit to give this up and move on. Yes, I brought about the death of your parents. And there’s nothing you can do about it.”