Page 123 of Affair

Charlotte narrowed her eyes. “I doubt that you need to worry overmuch about being burdened with too many virtues.”

“I do so enjoy that sharp tongue.” Morgan looked at Baxter. “What did you discover in Mrs. Heskett’s sketchbook?”

“Why should he answer?” Charlotte shifted position on the bed, curious to see if she could draw Morgan’s attention with movement. “You will murder us as soon as you have learned what you wish to know.”

“I shall indeed have to kill St. Ives,” Morgan agreed. “He is aware that I cannot possibly allow him to live. Now that he knows I am alive and on the brink of fulfilling my destiny, he would not rest until he had destroyed my plans. St. Ives is nothing if not tenacious.”

“You can hardly expect him to tell you what you want to know, then,” Charlotte said in a loud voice.

Morgan did not look at her. His attention remained focused on Baxter. “He will tell me because I am willing to bargain with him for your life, my dear.”

Charlotte went cold. “Do not expect me to believe that. I am as much of a threat to your schemes as Baxter is. I know the same things he does. And I, too, will not rest until you have been brought down.”

Morgan spared her a dismissive glance. “You are merely a woman and not a particularly charming one at that. But you do have a few marketable qualities with which to attract a man in my position. Your bloodlines are quite respectable. Not excellent, mind you, but good enough for my purposes.”

“My bloodlines.” Charlotte was stunned.

“Even more important, you have demonstrated superior intellect for a woman and a degree of boldness and courage that I wish to breed into my own offspring.”

“Good God, sir, are you mad?” Charlotte whispered.

“As my wife, you will be in no position to testify against me.” Morgan gave her a thin, cruel smile. “And every position to supply me with an heir.”

“Yourwife. Impossible.” She got to her knees on the bed and regarded Morgan with scathing fury. “There is nothing on this earth that could induce me to marry you, sir.”

“Ah, but there is.” Morgan’s cold eyes met hers for a brief, terrifying moment. “Mesmerism.”

“Your techniques would never work with me.”

“Do not be so certain of that. I perfect them daily. The right dose of incense together with the proper application of my scientific method of inducing a trance will turn you into the perfect wife, my sweet.”

Charlotte’s mouth was suddenly very dry. “I do not believe that any amount of incense or mesmerism can overcome my hatred of you. But even if it’s true, the effects would only be temporary. Sooner or later I will come out of the trance and when I do, I shall find a way to kill you.”

“That prospect should lend a certain fillip to our married life, eh?” Morgan gave a short croak of laughter. “Perhaps it will stave off the inevitable boredom that comes with a too-willing woman.”

“Even if it were possible, and I assure you it is not, why would you wish to marry a woman who despises you so completely?”

Morgan’s smile should have been a thing of beauty, but it turned Charlotte’s blood to ice.

But it was Baxter who answered. His voice was soft, utterly devoid of emotion. The voice of the detached scientist making an observation. “Because you have belonged to me, of course.”

Charlotte could scarcely breathe. She stared at Baxter’s broad shoulders and could not find a single word to say.

“Precisely,” Morgan said with husky satisfaction. “Every time I spread your thighs, Charlotte, I shall revel in my victory over the only man who ever came close to being my equal.”

“You truly are quite mad,” she whispered.

Anger flashed in Morgan’s eyes. He looked at Charlotte with contempt. “Come now, my love, you owe me a great deal. You are an honest woman. I should think you would want to repay me.”

“What do you mean?”

“It was I who arranged for your stepfather to end up floating in the Thames the morning after you and I met. I altered your destiny that night. What would you have done if I had not got rid of Winterbourne for you?”

“You certainly did not murder him for my sake,” she flung back. “You must have done it because he could not pay the gaming debt he owed to you.”

Morgan raised one shoulder in another graceful shrug. “I admit you have me there. You’re right, I did not do it for your sake.”

Baxter turned casually away from the window and walked toward the brandy table. “Tell me, how did you manage to escape the castle that night in Italy?”

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