Mistress - Amanda Quick [60]
“Yes,” Amelia said. “Very good.”
“No,” Marcus said grimly. “Barclay can manage.” He glanced from Iphiginia to Amelia and back again. “You have employed Mr. Manwaring for some time?”
“Three years,” Iphiginia said. “He’s an excellent man of affairs. Why do you ask?”
Marcus shrugged. “No particular reason. It just occurred to me that one’s man of affairs knows a great deal about one’s personal life.”
Iphiginia scowled. “I assure you, Mr. Manwaring is entirely trustworthy. Surely you do not suspect him of being involved in this blackmail business?”
“Not at the moment. I was merely thinking aloud.” Marcus paused. “Is it conceivable that, having been in your employ this long, your Mr. Manwaring could have learned enough about your aunt to blackmail her?”
“Absolutely not,” Amelia said with unexpected fierceness. “Mr. Manwaring is a gentleman, sir. His character is quite above reproach. He would never do such a thing.”
“Amelia is correct.” Iphiginia’s fine brows snapped together in a withering frown. “Mr. Manwaring is a decent, entirely honorable man.”
Marcus could see immediately that there was no point in explaining that some men wore a facade of honor in order to hide a lack of integrity.
“Very well, he is your man of affairs,” Marcus said gently. “I shall accept your opinion of him.”
“I should think so,” Iphiginia muttered.
“In any event,” Marcus continued, thinking it through carefully, “even if he were the one blackmailing Lady Guthrie, I do not see how he could possibly know my friend’s closest secret.”
“Of course not.” Iphiginia suddenly smiled a little too sweetly. “My lord, does this newfound suspicion of Mr. Manwaring mean that you are prepared to consider someone other than myself as the villain?”
“I suppose it’s possible that you staged the entire play tonight for the express purpose of causing me to believe that you are innocent, but I think it unlikely.”
Iphiginia’s smile vanished. “Thank you very much, sir. Does it occur to you, my lord, that I could interpret the entire chain of events in such a manner that you would appear to be guilty?”
That irritated him. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“What is so ridiculous about it?” she challenged. “You could very easily be the blackmailer.”
She was serious. Marcus was stunned.
He knew full well that there had been a great deal of gossip about him over the years. Rumors concerning the duel and the death of Lynton Spalding were legion. But no one had ever voiced such speculations to his face. No one dared.
“You are either very foolish or very bold, Iphiginia. In any event, you go too far.”
“Or not far enough,” she retorted, undaunted.
Amelia cast her an uneasy glance. “Really, Iphiginia, I do not think this will get us anywhere.”
“On the contrary.” Iphiginia kept her stern gaze fixed on Marcus. “I wish to make a point. Pray consider the facts. We are told that you are quite ruthless, my lord, and I know that you are extremely intelligent. You are certainly clever enough to have learned all sorts of secrets over the years.”
“Enough, Iphiginia,” he warned very softly.
She acted as though she had not heard him. “You could have sent the blackmail notes. You could even have been the person in the cloak who locked me inside the grotto tonight.”
Marcus was coldly furious. “That is a damned insult, madam.”
“You have insulted me just as unbearably during the past few days.”
“Your-actions have been suspicious from the beginning. Parading about London as my mistress. Sneaking into gentlemen’s studies to peruse the contents of their desks. Touring Lartmore’s statuary hall. Dashing off to a cemetery at midnight with five thousand pounds that have since disappeared.”
“Please,” Amelia whispered. “This will accomplish nothing.”
“Oh, yes it will,” Iphiginia said. “It will prove to his lordship that his actions can be made to look every bit as suspicious as my own.”
Marcus scowled. “Damn it, I am not the blackmailer.”
“I never