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“I want no secrets between us.” His eyes implored her to understand. “I know you will keep what I’ve told you in confidence, but can you accept it and live with it? With me?”
She nodded. What other choice had she? They were married. “I knew you had a past,” she said at last, unable to help the irony of it from entering her voice. “But by all that is holy, Percy…”
“I should have told you before, but time and situation simply did not allow for it.” He closed his eyes as if in pain. “I never intended to shock you like this, all at once, but things may become very uncomfortable very quickly if there is an inquiry into Ravenwood’s and Wells’s deaths, as I’m certain there will be. Things may come to light I would rather have kept concealed. However, I may not be given a choice. I don’t want you to be caught by surprise.”
“Is there any more?” she asked, not really wanting to know but compelled to ask.
“I have kept nothing from you.”
There was no lie in his eyes. This was it, then. The truth of Percival Falloure. That he’d earned his black reputation honestly had never been in doubt since her discussion with Lady Montgomery. That there was so much more beneath the surface, both good and bad, was expected—everyone had secrets. The nature of some of his secrets, however, was entirely unanticipated. She needed time to process it all.
A knock on the door precluded any further speech, though in truth she had nothing to say at the moment.
“Enter,” commanded her husband.
Seamus poked his head around the door. “My lord, there is a gentleman by the name of Loxdon here to see you. He has brought with him a…” His nose wrinkled. “Young person.”
Eden watched as Percy’s whole body tensed. “Thank you,” said he. “I’ll be down as soon as I put on a shirt—I’ll do it myself,” he added as the valet made to come in.
“As you wish,” said Seamus, closing the door.
“It’s her,” he breathed, rising. “They found her.” He went to the dressing room and returned with a fresh shirt, pulling it over his head as he walked, his normally graceful stride stiff from his injury. “Eden, I must attend to this at once. Forgive me.”
Curiosity now took hold of Eden. Rising, she made to follow him and then realized she was in a state of undress. She couldn’t… But I can. This is my home now, and I am its mistress. Grabbing her wrapper, she drew it on and then tiptoed down the stairs, following the sound of Percy’s voice to the drawing room. She stopped around the corner to listen.
Another man’s voice spoke. “I admit I half expected Ravenwood to lead you on a merry chase.”
“So did I,” her husband replied. “I suppose he knew he was a dead man and felt Wells ought not to get away with it. What of the servants? Do they know where she came from?”
“No. They knew nothing—or so they said.” The other man’s tone was doubtful. “Said their master had bought the house and hired them to care for his daughter. Claimed he’d hired a governess to come in next week and start her lessons. The place was set up with a nursery full of toys and everything, but she’s none of his.”
“Abigail, can you tell us anything about the woman who kept you prior to your moving into that house?”
A child’s voice, high and soft, answered, “Madam was round when we first met her, Fanny an’ me, but now she’s all thin-like. Her hair was red, too, but now it’s gone gray. She’s got a funny mole on the side of her face, an’ another just here.”
The unknown man spoke again. “You don’t think it’s the same woman, do you? The proprietress of The Aurora Temple?”
“I do,” said her husband. “And the same woman who sold Raquel to Lord Fairford.”
Lord Fairford. The man he’d mentioned who’d nearly killed Lady Montgomery and Miss Trouvère. It was all coming together now.
“Abigail, this is very important,” continued Percy. “Do you remember where you were when Lord Wells came to fetch you?”
“Madam covered me eyes before she took me out of the house. I never saw the outside. We met Lord Wells at The Greyhound.”
“Blast it,” the other man said softly. “We’ll never find that wretched woman now.”
“Hellfire Club; has to be,” interjected Percy. “Bloody hell. Perhaps I ought to have joined them, after all. We might have gotten to the bottom of this and found the woman by now.”
“Perhaps,” the other man said. “But if they ever suspected you of being duplicitous—”
“It’d be dangerous, I know,” her husband said. “It’s out of the question now, in any case. I don’t want Eden exposed to those people. They would expect us to match their degeneracy, keep up their foul tenets, host parties. You know the sort I mean.”
Eden didn’t, but she could guess from his tone, which was one of disgust.
“You’ve come a long way, my friend,” said the other man. “Five years ago I would have taken you for one of the devils.”
“Five years ago I was.”
