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Gabriel's heart clenched at that. Of course, Debbie had been one of the maids already in residence when his father and then he had taken over.
"Then he started to tell me that he had feelings for me and at first I didn't believe him, but he made it so believable," Debbie continued, and Gabriel could see that she was shaking. "I… I gave myself to him."
At that, both Miss Pritchard and Miss Walker gasped with horror. Glancing at the woman sitting beside Debbie, Gabriel couldn't help but wonder whether she was as horrified at the thought of her own giving herself to him in the carriage that day. It didn't bear thinking about and he shoved all thoughts of it away.
"Men like Barnaby Tatford are compulsive liars and know all too well how to manipulate women," Jonathan stated, and it was clear from the look on his face that he was as sympathetic as Gabriel was beginning to feel.
I wonder if Miss Pritchard thinks I am a similar type of man,he thought, stifling a shiver. If there was even the slightest inkling now, he would prove her wrong in treating the maid just as she ought to be.
"His manipulation was not your fault, but you must tell us exactly what he encouraged you to do," Gabriel insisted, trying his hardest to keep his voice level and unthreatening.
Out of the corner of his eye he felt as though he could see Miss Pritchard holding her breath, almost as though she was terrified of what the maid would say.
"At first it was small things," Debbie explained after a sniffle and blowing of her nose. "Something itchy in your clothes, misplaced items, things to inconvenience you."
Gabriel had to grit his teeth and force himself to listen without complaint. A glance out of the corner of his eye told him that everyone else was doing much the same.
"Then he started bringing me a powder," Debbie continued, and it was clear from the look in her dark eyes that it pained her to talk about it. "I was hesitant at first, but he assured me it would do no real damage. He told me to put it in your food while your mother was away, and if she were to return, to make sure that only the two of you received it."
"And that's why she got ill the day she came home," Gabriel blurted out, remembering how his mother had been ill for a very short period of time after she had insisted upon being the one to test his soup the day she returned. "She was adamant to check my soup wasn't too hot, just as she did when we were children."
"Mine also," Jonathan admitted and both the brothers blushed slightly at the knowledge they had been so childish as to allow their mother to do such a thing.
"When I saw you were getting sicker and sicker, I thought he would tell me to stop but he just kept bringing the powder and told me to use less and less each time but you both continued to get sicker and sicker," Debbie told them, looking paler than ever.
"I didn't know what to do, and I wanted to stop. I told Barnaby I wanted to stop, but he told me if I continued I would be proving myself to him. He…he told me he would marry me if I did exactly as he said."
Gabriel bit back shock. From the looks on the others’ faces, it was clear to all but the maid that she had been tricked with a promise that would never have been fulfilled. A nobleman, especially one such as Barnaby Tatford, would never take a maid as his wife. It was immediately clear to Gabriel just how low his cousin would stoop.
"Did he ever tell you why?" Jonathan asked the question that had begun to form on Gabriel's own lips.
"He…he said that the two of you would eventually decide to return to Italy if you got so tired of England and all its illnesses and then he and his father would be able to take over in your stead as earl and heir until you decided to return again," Debbie said, her eyes round, a look of knowledge falling slowly into place as though it had just dawned on her what Barnaby's true motive had been.
"He never had any intention of your returning to Italy, did he?"
"Only in a box," Jonathan growled angrily and Gabriel felt it too. Though he would not allow himself to aim it at the naïve young woman sitting before him.
"Thank you for telling us all this," Gabriel said, sighing deeply. "Will you tell it also to the authorities?"
At that, the maid looked terrified.
"Oh, please, lord!" she exclaimed, reaching for him, practically throwing herself on the floor before him. "They will lock me away and throw away the key, or worse!"
Gabriel shook his head at that and instinctively gripped hold of the woman's upper arms. Squeezing her gently, he looked her in the eye and stated, "I shall see to it personally that they don't so long as you help us in the apprehension of our cousin."
Chapter 27
Shortly after her confession, Chelsea and Jonathan removed Debbie from the study, promising to wait with her in the parlour for the authorities to arrive with specific instructions from the earl not to allow them to take her away.
Finding herself alone with him, thinking that she ought to have offered to go with her friend but unable to open her mouth to say the words, Julia remained standing in the study, unsure of what to do.
There were several moments of silence as they waited for the receding footsteps outside the door to stop. Then Julia opened her mouth to speak.
She never quite got the chance. Gabriel closed the distance between them in an instant and she was surprised the moment he pulled her into his arms, kissing her as though nothing had ever come between them.
Her head spun with surprise, and her breath caught in her throat. Part of her knew she ought to pull away, to demand to know what he was doing, and yet she found herself leaning into him instead. All she could think of was how she had longed for this for the last few weeks and how she never thought it would actually happen.
When finally the kiss was broken, she was breathless, and he panted as though he were too. He leaned his forehead against hers and whispered, "I am sorry. I should not have done that, but seeing you with Barnaby all evening was unbearable."
