16
VICTOR WANTED JUSTICE and, yes, vengeance. It was all he could think about. He wanted to be done with them for good.
Isa looked wary. “How do you propose to do that? You can’t yet even prove that you and I had no part in their theft.”
“Which is why I’m not going to try prosecuting them. I’m going to call Gerhart out. It’s simple and effective, and it will rid us of them once and for all.”
Shock spread over her features. “Don’t be ridiculous,” she said sharply. “You are not going to duel with my brother-in-law.”
“Why not?” He stalked toward her. “He took my wife from me. He took my daughter from me. He can rot in hell—and I’m more than happy to help him get there.”
Tucking her legs up beneath her on the sofa, she pointed out, “My sister had a part in it, too.”
“We both know she would have never come up with such a scheme on her own. She always did what he wanted. I would wager my life that he was the instigator.”
“I don’t hold Jacoba quite as blameless as you do,” she said, “but even if I did, I wouldn’t let you duel with Gerhart. You could be killed!”
He snorted. “He could no more win a duel against me than Rupert could.”
She huffed out a breath. “Fine. Let’s say you won the duel and killed Gerhart. The law would consider that murder, and you would be hanged.”
“Not if I fled to the Continent.” Never mind that he’d be leaving his new cousin behind, and a potential position with Manton’s Investigations. It would be worth it to see that wretch pay for what he’d done. It would be worth it to keep his family safe. “We could return to the Netherlands, the three of us, and be free of them at last. Once Gerhart is gone, Jacoba will come to heel.”
Isa flashed him a skeptical glance. “Or she’ll hound you to the gallows in revenge for taking her husband from her.” She rose to place her hand on his arm. “Come now, there can be no dueling. I don’t fancy seeing you dangling from the end of a noose, now that I finally have you back. And we cannot drag Amalie off to the Continent if there’s any chance that Jacoba might try to get us arrested.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “If we don’t find some way to be rid of them, they’ll attempt to blackmail us either into helping them, or into paying for their silence. And paying and paying and paying . . .”
She shook her head. “They can’t make us do anything we don’t want to do. I say we call their bluff. If they threaten to expose our past, we’ll threaten to turn them in to the authorities in the Netherlands. Surely they’ll back down if they think we’d really do it. They have as much to lose if things go against them as we do.”
“Do they?” he said. “Unlike us, they have no children to worry about.”
A frown knit her brow. “You don’t know that. They could have had children by now.”
He scoffed at her. “Don’t you think Jacoba would have used her ‘poor defenseless children’ to play on your sympathies if she’d had any?”
“Verdomme,” she muttered. “You’re right about that. And we certainly can’t risk Amalie’s being left alone if we’re carted off to prison.”
The sight of her consternation made his throat constrict. “Amalie is the reason you wouldn’t entertain having them prosecuted when we discussed it last night. Isn’t she?”
She nodded.
He scrubbed his face, then went to stand before the fire. Staring into the flames, he considered and discarded several solutions, all of which ended badly. “Since you won’t let me shoot Gerhart,” he grumbled, “we need to rid ourselves of them legally without landing either of us in gaol and leaving Amalie without family.”
“I say we should just hold fast to our determination not to give in to them,” she said earnestly. “They’re both cowards at heart, Victor. You saw how Jacoba ran when I threatened her. Once she accepts that exposing us would mean exposing them, too, she’ll back down and disappear.”
“And escape justice in the process. I can’t let them do that. Besides, I think you underestimate them.” He faced her, squaring his shoulders. “We need help and legal advice. We need Dom and his brother.”
Alarm sparked in her eyes. “The Bow Street investigators?”
“They don’t work for Bow Street; they work for themselves. Dom studied law long enough to know it very well, and Tristan used to work for Eugène Vidocq, whose expertise with criminals is legendary. Between them, they can help us determine how to scuttle any attempts your family makes to ensnare us in their nasty plans.”
“No, Victor, you mustn’t speak to them.” She hurried up to him. “The minute we involve the authorities in any way, we’re taking a huge risk.”
“They’re not the ‘authorities,’ damn it! They’re my friends. They won’t do anything to make matters worse. And I daresay my cousin Max, the duke, can make sure your family is dealt with. Though I hate to involve him, I will if I must.”
Her mouth flattened into a grim line. “He’s not going to want that kind of scandal. And what if his response is to urge you to divorce me? It’s not as if we have to do anything right away,” she pleaded. “We can wait and see how much of a problem Gerhart and Jacoba become. They may do nothing more than make vague threats they can’t carry out.”
“Isa,” he chided, “you’re a fool if you think they’ll give up trying to get money from us. They followed me all the way from the Continent. That’s not the behavior of people who will roll over and play dead.”
“At least give me a chance to talk some sense into Gerhart.”
He scowled at her. “You’re not going anywhere near that bastard. I’ll deal with him myself. Alone.”
“By calling him out? Or worse, threatening to send investigators after him? That will only provoke him! We have to be cautious.”
“Your caution is what got us into this mess in the first place!”
When her face fell, he could have kicked himself.
“I’m sorry, Isa,” he murmured. “I don’t mean that.”
“Yes, you do,” she said, wringing her hands. “But I have survived all these years by being cautious. You can’t expect me to throw caution to the winds just because you have come back into my life.”
“And you can’t expect me to go on with this cloud hanging over our heads. We have to act—”
A knock came at the parlor door.
They exchanged a glance. Then Isa turned for the door. “Yes?”
“Rob is back, madam,” Betsy said through the door. “I thought you’d wish to know.”
Isa hurried to open the door. But when Victor saw Betsy’s crestfallen expression, he knew that the news was bad. “I take it that the lad didn’t find out where they were staying,” he said tersely.
“I’m afraid not, sir,” Betsy said.
Victor released a low oath.
“You can question Rob if you wish,” Betsy went on, “but this is what he told me. Even though Mrs. Hendrix had a hackney waiting down the road to bring her back into the city, he was able to keep up on horseback. But once they reached town and the traffic became thicker, he thinks she jumped out somewhere without his noticing. She wasn’t in the hackney when it stopped, and he couldn’t find her after that.”
“Damn it all to hell,” Victor muttered.
Isa was watching him warily. “Now what?”
“I’m not going to sit around waiting for them to make another move.” He headed for the door. “I was sent here as an investigator, and I’m going to investigate. A Dutch couple that speaks poor English won’t have gone unnoticed. I’ll root them out somehow.”
“I’ll go with you,” Isa said.
“No. I can move faster without you.” When she shot him a mutinous glance, he softened his tone. “Besides, people will be more likely to speak freely if I don’t have a lady with me.”
She searched his face. “Just promise me you won’t—” Her gaze shifted to where Betsy was listening with great curiosity. “Er . . . fight with him.”
He cast her a rueful smile. “How about if I promise not to do anything that will get me hanged? Will that suffice?”
Relief showed in her face. “Yes. And you must also promise to let me know what you discover as soon as you find them.”
“It may take me a few days.”
“I know. Do whatever you must.”
Betsy stepped forward. “Begging your pardon, madam, but does that mean you’re not going to his lordship’s house party?”
Isa blinked. “Verdomme. I forgot all about it.”
“You don’t have to go,” Victor pointed out. “I’ll explain as much of the situation to Lady Lochlaw as I dare; we can avoid the thing entirely.” A grim smile crossed his lips. “She won’t mind, if it means that you’re unavailable as a wife to Rupert.”
“Oh, Lord,” Isa said. “I have to attend! I promised Rupert and Mr. Gordon that I would serve as chaperone for Mary Grace.”
“Ah, yes. Rupert’s latest love.” He mused for a moment. “Actually, it might be better if you’re at the house party, anyway.”
Her gaze narrowed on him. “And why is that?”
Because it would give him time to summon Tristan and Dom. He supposed she had some reason for being afraid, but he needed to know more about his avenues of legal recourse from someone he could trust.
But he couldn’t tell her that. She would fly up into the boughs again, worrying herself over nothing.
So he said, “It will make it harder for your family to get you alone and try to work on you.”
A scowl crossed her brow. “Do you really believe I would ever fall in with their plans again?”
Belatedly, he realized how that must have sounded. “Of course not. But while you think they’ll merely make vague threats against us, I’m not so sure.” He stepped near to take her hand. “I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“I doubt that either of them has the courage to do more than whine,” she said lightly.
“If you thought that, you wouldn’t have fled Paris ten years ago to get away from them.”
She sighed, acknowledging his point. “What will you tell Lady Lochlaw about us?”
He squeezed her hand. “I’ll tell her that you and I were separated by relations who lied to both of us, and made us think we had each abandoned the other. That I took this case precisely because I suspected that you were my long-lost wife. And that we have since discovered how your family lied to us, and are ready to restore our marriage.”
“What about the fact that I was going under a different name?”
He shrugged. “You were in fear for your life from me, thanks to the lies your family told you. She doesn’t need to know the whys and wherefores of it all. Just enough to make her accept that you are out of her son’s life for good. That’s all she cares about.”
With a furtive glance at Betsy, Isa said, “I’ve already told Mr. Gordon the whole story.”
That startled him. “Everything? Even about what happened in Amsterdam?”
She nodded.
“That was very brave of you. What did he say?”
“He was quite kind, and more sympathetic than I expected.” She shook her head. “But that was before I knew that Gerhart and Jacoba followed me here. He might not be so kind if he learns that they are lurking about.”
“Which is why we have to make sure they stop lurking about,” Victor said stoutly. Lifting her hand to his lips, he kissed it. “And why I must go. The trail grows colder by the moment.”
As he headed for the door, Betsy called out, “Shall you eat something first, sir?”
“I’ll get something in town.” Then he strode out the door.
Truth was, he had no appetite, not with Gerhart out there somewhere plotting against them. But he would find whatever rock the man had crawled under. And when he did, Gerhart would learn what vengeance Victor had in store for him.