“Your brother knew how to forge your handwriting? But why would he do such a heinous thing? And why would he lie to me? He didn’t even know there was something between us.”
“Of course he knew. My mother told him. And yes, he knew how to forge. And had reasons aplenty to lead you off the trail.”
“What are you talking about?”
She took a deep breath, sighed and ran her hands through her face. Was she brushing away the rain or tears? He suspected the latter, for her voice came out thin and choked when she spoke.
“I guess I better start at the beginning.”
“That would be best, yes. I suspect there have been enough lies and misunderstandings.”
She nodded, but it wasn’t in agreement. More like she was telling herself she could do this.
“I spoke to my parents the morning after that night you came to my room,” she said hesitantly, glancing at him for acknowledgment.
As if he could forget. That night was seared into his soul.
He gave a small nod.
“I told them I wanted to break off my engagement to your brother. I knew they’d be angry—but I wasn’t prepared for what followed. They removed me from the house party at once and took me to London. My mother kept me locked up and constantly watched. I couldn’t get word to you. I couldn’t even leave the house.”
Michael stared at her, trying to reconcile the past with this new truth as she went on, her voice quiet but cutting through the rain like a blade.
“My brother was gambling recklessly. He had gone deeply into debt and had begun to falsify our father’s handwriting to get more credit. I discovered it by accident, and he saw me. I pretended I didn’t know what I was looking at, but he must have realized I knew what he was doing.
“A couple of days later, late at night, I was going to the library to find something to read, and I heard raised voices from my father’s study. They sounded menacing. Then there was a crash and my brother whimpered as if in pain. I barged in with the two footmen who followed me whenever I left my room and found my brother being held and threatened by three foreign men. Two appeared to be guards. The third… he was different. Calm. Powerful. He had an air of cruelty about him. I felt a shiver of unease as his eyes slithered over me, but I forged on anddemanded to know what was going on, even threatened to call the watch. None of them seemed fazed by my frantic arrival. The leader, who turned out to be the pasha, said my brother owed him money and had signed promissory notes, that my brother merely needed to make good on them and they would let him go. Foolish me, I tried to negotiate with them,” she added with a bitter laugh.
Michael listened, rigid with disbelief and horrified foreboding, as he started to see where her story was going.
“I told them my father didn’t know of the debt, that my brother couldn’t possibly pay it in full. They laughed at me.”
“And your brother? What did he do?”
“My brother shouted at me to get out, furious that I’d interfered. I only wanted to help, but he didn’t appreciate it. I left but was worried sick about him. I intended to write to my father the next day, reveal everything and beg him to get my brother out of trouble. But before I could get the word out to my father, my brother told me he had negotiated a new agreement and all was well.”
“And you believed him?” Michael asked tightly.
“He seemed so calm… so smug. I thought it was over. I was so stupid.” She turned to face away from him, her arms tight around her slim torso, her shoulders shaking. “I never should have interfered. You don’t know how many times I’ve relived that night in my head. How many times I’ve chastised myself for getting involved. If I hadn’t…”
If she hadn’t, none of this would have happened. Maybe her worthless brother would have been beaten to within an inch of his life, which was what he deserved. But Josephine would have been safe. He could well imagine what sort of deal her brother had made, and horror slithered down his spine. The entire story was taking shape in his head, like a puzzle coming together, and he didn’t like the image it formed.
She drew in a ragged breath.
“That night, I was taken from my bed. I woke with a cloth pressed to my face. Then—nothing. I came to on a ship sailing down the Thames… bound for Egypt.”
“Good God. That is unconscionable. The height of evil. To kidnap a young lady from her own bedchamber and…” His words faltered. He didn’t know how to catalog the infamy of the act. It shouldn’t be possible. Not in these times they were living.
“I couldn’t believe what was happening,” she continued, echoing his thoughts. “I was so incredibly naive. At first, I wasn’t really aware of the seriousness of my predicament. I tried to negotiate with the pasha. Told him my father would give him the money, if only he would let me go. He just laughed at me and said the debt had been settled. I inquired why he had taken me then. That’s when I found out my brother had exchanged his debts for my freedom. He effectively sold me to the pasha.”
His worst suspicions had just been confirmed—and yet the truth still hit like a cannon blast to the chest. He felt sick to his stomach, stunned. The rain, until now a mere nuisance, suddenly became a blessing. Cool drops slid down his face, disguising the heat burning behind his eyes, sparing him the humiliation of tears he couldn’t afford to shed.
He had been to war. Had faced enemy fire, been wounded, watched friends bleed out in the mud beside him. He had killed. But nothing—nothing—had prepared him for the horror of this moment. For the image of her, drugged and stolen from her bed, sold into slavery while he’d believed the worst of her.
“How can that be? There are laws…” His voice was weak, his mind still struggling to cope with the horrific events.
“I thought so too. I resorted to threats. Said my father was an earl. A nobleman. And he was going to look for me. I said I was betrothed to the son of a duke, that they would search for meas well. At one point, I threatened them with all the might of the British Empire. Every threat only made them laugh harder. That’s when I realized nobody would rescue me, and if I was going to escape them, I must do it on my own. Later that night, I took advantage of their distraction and jumped overboard. We were still sailing downriver. I could see the lights of the coast and other boats. I figured as long as we were not on the open sea, I had a chance.”
“But you couldn’t escape.” It was not a question.
