Page 146 of Kathryn

“That is what you say now. But what will happen when your husband receives a letter that tells him—in graphic detail—about your deflowering.”

“Dulverton already knows I did not come to his bed a virgin, you odious fool.”

“But does he know all the lurid details such as how often, what positions?”

Katie was momentarily rendered speechless. “You really are a disgusting worm, aren’t you?”

“Please, keep talking, darling. Every vicious word out of your shrewish mouth only sends the figure I will demand higher.”

“Why are you so desperate for money? I thought you were headed off to Naples again with your grandmother’s money bulging in your pockets. Lady Grimsby also mentioned—in excruciating detail—how Judith’s grandmother left all her wealth to you.”

“The amount she is giving me is insulting. I’m only taking it to get away from her incessant hectoring. As for the money Judith’s grandmother—that mad old cunt—left for my poor dead wife?” He smirked when Katie gasped at his vulgar language. “The old crone didn’t even leave enough for poor darling Judith’s laudanum overdose.” His smile turned sour. “So, yes: I need money.”

“Laudanum? Lady Grimsby said your wife died from some fever.”

He laughed bitterly. “Not hardly. I might like a flutter at the gaming tables, but Jude had a taste for laudanum that had been years in the making—so do not think that I drove her to it.”

“I doubt you helped matters.”

His eyes narrowed. “I believe three thousand pounds is what I will require to forget what a bitch you are.”

“I repeat—since you didn’t appear to hear me the last time—you will not get a penny from me.”

“Then I shall commence scribbling my epic.”

“Do your worst.”

He eyed her thoughtfully, and Katie did not like the malicious gleam that entered his gaze. “I cannot tell whether you are bluffing or not. You are much more interesting now than you were five years ago.” His expression softened so suddenly that the shift left her dizzy. “Come, Katie, let us not argue and fight. Put aside your hurt feelings. We were so good together. You would love it on the Continent. It is the perfect place for free spirits. Don’t you recall how we used to talk about the journeys we would take together? You cannot really wish to remain here and scrabble in the dirt with Dulverton. Run away with me and we can live without any of the tiresome constraints that society imposes. Come with me, my love.”

Katie could only stare in horrified disbelief. “You expect me to believe you care about me after you’ve been threatening me with extortion?”

He gave a dismissive wave of his hand. “You and I are passionate people, darling. We say things in anger without thinking. Come now, you know that I didn’t really mean any of that nastiness. I am positively wild about you, and it eats me up thinking about you wasted on old Dullness. You fill my thoughts all day and my dreams at night. Just think how happy we would be together!”

Katie could not imagine a worse future. “How happy we would be,” she repeated, dazed.

Hope lit his eyes. “Yes! Now you are—”

“—just you, me, and my money.”

The dreamy, cozening smile on his plush lips fled in an instant. “Now, that wasn’t a very nice thing to say, was it?”

“It doesn’t make it any less true.”

“Fine. Have it your way,” he snarled, his eyes glittering with malice. “Three thousand pounds by Friday or I will deliver an epic to Dulverton the likes of which has never been seen. And if he is too dull to find it stimulating reading, I’m sure I can find a few newspapermen in London who will. I’ll wager I could sell our juicy story for a handsome price.”

Katie felt a stab of real fear. “You would be muddying your own name in the process, Jasper. Lady Grimsby would cut you out of—”

“No. She would not cut me out of her will. Not if she wishes to keep my daughter. As to shaming my name?” He laughed. “Rakes never take any harm from raking, do they? In fact, it would just enhance my reputation.”

The worst part about his words was that there was more than a grain of truth in them. “You are revolting.”

He grinned nastily. “I will send word to you about when to bring the money—but we both know the place, don’t we, darling?”

“Just where do you think I will get so much money?”

“Where there is a will, there is a way. Or so I’ve heard.”

The carriage jolted to a stop and Jasper leaned toward the door. “Ah, here we are. Allow me—”