Dangerous in Diamonds - Madeline Hunter [91]
He raised her hand and kissed it. “Did you blackmail him for support after you told him?”
“Not at all. He said he must release me, but he would send me to a woman in the north, where I could live. I was to stay there. If I did, he would provide an allowance. He did not want me nearby to corrupt his son again, sinful Jezebel that I was. He did not want me returning to our home county or to London to spread rumors.” She sighed a little, then shrugged. “The blackmail came later.”
He had to laugh. “Why do I think that was a scene to behold?”
“Well, I was older, wasn’t I? And much wiser. I had been thinking about what Latham had done, and right before I left, there had been that scullery maid. After two years of stewing about it all, I had come to a boil.”
“Becksbridge must have been shocked to see how Miss Avonleah had turned into the formidable Mrs. Joyes.”
“He did not say much. I told him that I did not think I should continue intruding on Margaret forever, and that I was going to return to my home county. That was when he offered the use of the land in Middlesex. If I lived there quietly and had no contact with his son and did not speak lies about what had happened, with time he might see his way clear to give me the land outright.”
“No allowance this time?”
“At first, yes. I refused it after I started The Rarest Blooms. It was a type of blood money to me.” She looked down at their bound hands. “So there you have it.”
Her soft smile trembled. With the telling done, her courage seemed to abandon her. Her eyes watered again, and her expression turned very soft and young and almost helpless.
“I have never told anyone all of this before. It was easier than I ever imagined it to be.”
She appeared so vulnerable, for all her pride. And so lovely in the silver early twilight that she mesmerized him.
There were holes in this story, and questions still remained. He cursed the way his mind found them at once. He forced his curiosity to the back of his mind. No doubt the answers were insignificant. Probably she had just skipped some things so the tale did not become overlong.
“I am honored that you have told me, Daphne.” He stood and raised her by her hand. “I have long regretted not letting the world know what I saw that day with Margaret. Knowing now that it left him to prey on you and others—I will never forgive myself.”
She stepped closer and looked into his eyes. “How clever he is, to arrange it so good people blame themselves for his sins. You had no way to know he made a habit of such depravity.”
“I did not know for certain, but I knew the truth of him better than most.”
It had been, without a doubt, the most cowardly decision of his life. He had known that for a long while now. But exposing Latham would have resulted in a duel. It could be resolved no other way.
For all of his disgust back then, he had not wanted to kill the man who had been his closest friend—the man who, but for what many would consider nuances, was so much like himself.
He should have done it, though. Then, or found a way after that tragedy with Marie.
“I will not have you blaming anyone but him,” Daphne said. “Please do not make me regret confiding in you.”
He pretended to accept her absolution. He kissed her lips, then her cheek where the remnants of a few salty tears had dried. He took her hand and they strolled to the inn.
Their chambers were ready. The owner hurried to assure His Grace that hot water waited too. Castleford walked with Daphne to the stairs.
“I think that seducing you tonight would be inappropriate somehow,” he said.
“Somehow?”
“If I could explain it better than that, I would. I do not want you to misunderstand, however. I do not want you thinking that what you told me has changed anything. Except perhaps the seduction part.”
“I would say that is a fairly significant part.”
He hated having to say things for which there were no good words. “It isn’t that I don’t want you. I just don’t want to be seducing you to do something against your better judgment.”