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Chapter Seventeen
Lady Josephine had been locked up for about ten days when the Earl finally came to visit her.
“My, my,” he said scathingly. “You look dreadful. I was right—I had supposed you’d be not nearly as pretty, once you didn’t have a bevy of maids to dress you up and glamorize you. But that large fortune you’ll inherit makes up for any deficiencies in looks.”
Lady Josephine still had the henchman’s cloak. It was the only thing that had kept her warm since she had been locked up. The Earl came closer to her and pulled the cloak off. He looked at her bare body appraisingly.
“As I say, not very attractive. Far too curved and plump for my tastes—I prefer elegant, bone-thin women. And you’re dirty, as well. But I suppose you’ll have to do.”
She looked away from him, as though he were not even there. She would not give him the satisfaction of showing her anger.
The Earl untied the rope binding her hands. “You won’t be needing this. The oaken door is strong enough to keep you from going anywhere.”
He handed her a pile of clothing. “Put these on. I can’t have my future wife in this condition.”
Lady Josephine had been trying to avoid speaking to the Earl.Let him say whatever he wishes about me—they’re only words.But now she was shocked into responding.
“Your future wife? Surely, after all that’s happened, you can’t expect that I’d even consider marrying you! And I can’t imagine you’d want me for a wife either.”
The Earl gave a sinister laugh. “As I told you, my dear, your large fortune makes up for your many other deficiencies. And, frankly, the Worthingtons need the money.
“You may have noticed that we live in princely style, far more than the Clovers do. That takes gold. The Clovers have saved their money; we have spent ours. But now the right to inherit your money will be ours, once you and I are wedded. Problem solved!”
“You forget, my lord Earl, that you would need me to consent to a marriage, which I won’t do. I’ll stand up at the altar at St. George’s, Hanover Square, and I’ll tell all of Society that you are attempting to wed me under duress.”
“St. George’s, Hanover Square? You little fool! Do you think, ‘after all that’s happened,’ as you put it, that you’ll still have a grand Society wedding?”
The Earl explained that the wedding ceremony, now but a few weeks away, would be canceled. There would be a very brief ceremony right there in Worthington Hall—just enough to satisfy a clergyman to sign a marriage certificate and make the union legal.
“Society will be told that we were so much in love that we eloped—we could not bear waiting any longer.” The Earl chuckled. “Isn’t that romantic? I’m sure every debutante will envy you, Josephine.”
“My father—my family—they won’t let this happen. I will explain that I was kidnapped and forced to marry you—”
“My dear, I hate to break this news to you. But the fact is, you will never see your family again. Nor that guttersnipe, Mr. Smith. Once our wedding is documented, you will be of no further use to me. I’ll be free to get rid of you,” the Earl said in a calm, pleasant voice.
“You’d stoop to committing murder?” Lady Josephine asked incredulously.
“I have seen men slaughtered all around me in naval battles. They were better people than you are, but I taught myself to feel nothing about their deaths. Life is very cheap, Josephine.
“But I have not decided yet. After we marry, I may indeed have you killed. Or I may call in physicians to certify you insane, fit only for the asylum or for closely-watched care at home at Worthington Hall. I can imagine the gossip: ‘She was always high-strung, and the Clover family is of course quite eccentric,’ or ‘I heard that, shortly after the wedding, she suffered a terrible mental breakdown. She hardly knows her own name these days.’ I’ll have it said that there were several lunatics in the Clover family in prior generations.”
The Earl told Lady Josephine that there were drugs he could give her that would make her ramble deliriously. If physicians visited her, they would agree she sounded completely insane.
“The classic ‘madwoman in the cellar,’” the Earl said. “They say there’s one in most old families. Why, I could legally keep you confined down in this cellar for years! If I find that amuses me.”
“You’re the one who’s insane,” Lady Josephine said, and she meant it. She had sensed there was something wrong with the Earl, something amiss, from the first time they met. “Your mother and sisters must be mad, too, to support you in these crazy schemes. But you’ll never get away with it. I have people who won’t give up on me, no matter what lies you tell!”
“You mean His Grace? Or are you referring to the guttersnipe? Iwilldo these things, Josephine. And what’s more, I certainly will get away with them.”
He boasted that he had already taken Mr. Smith out of the picture. “Your ill-bred hero will be of no help to you. Mr. Smith is in the Navy now, kidnapped by a press gang. He’s on a nice little ship calledThe Valiant, headed for the West Indies even as we speak. He won’t see England for five years or more, unless he tries to desert—in which case they’ll shoot him.”
Mr. Smith’s abduction was all legal, the Earl bragged. Just one of the benefits of being an admiral. And that was just one example of how he could use his powers to hurt Lady Josephine and keep her under his thumb.
“Think about what I’ve said, Josephine. If you cooperate with me about the wedding, I may be less harsh with you afterward. Think about your options carefully. You have nothing else to do down here!”
With another chilling laugh, he left, locking the door behind him.
I will escape,Lady Josephine vowed.Even if I die in the attempt.
