Page 39 of Temptress in Disguise
It was news to Naomi. Had Lydia known? Had she heard the gossip in the interval and left to confront Edwin in Uxbridge? Having built a career from nothing, Lydia would rather be anything but destitute. “When did you last see Edwin?”
“He was in London on business last week. I saw him enter Mrs Boyle’s Emporium, though he never came here.”
Aramis straightened. “Then we need to speak to Maddock.”
“Mr Maddock left to visit his sister in Hounslow and won’t be back until tomorrow.”
So, Mr Maddock had found the body, and Edwin Budworth visited his lodgings. Though he lacked the heart to commit such a crime, Mr Maddock was as strong as an ox and could easily crush a man’s skull with a marble bust.
They spent the next few hours taking other statements. None of the actors knew about Edwin’s threat to sell the theatre. Most presumed Naomi had killed the manager while warding off his advances. No one could shed any light on Lydia’s disappearance.
“We should check the upstairs apartment.” Although Matilda had revealed important facts, Naomi couldn’t help but feel deflated. “Hopefully, we will find something to shift suspicion from my door.”
She wished she knew what Aramis was thinking.
As time ticked by, he became more subdued.
She could feel his gaze burning her back as he followed her into Mr Budworth’s apartment. Was his faith in her waning? Had he been swayed by the actors’ damning opinions?
The sitting room looked like an office and library, with books and manuscripts stacked in every available space. The bedchamber was not a tranquil place where one might settle beneath warm wool blankets and read. With clothes strewn across the floor, an empty wine bottle and two dirty glasses on the nightstand, it was more like a den of iniquity.
Aramis picked up a white chemise trimmed with pink lace and held it between two fingers. “It seems Matilda left her undergarments.”
Naomi looked at him, fear slicing through her heart like an executioner’s blade. Her inner voice urged her to lie. The truth would drive a wedge between them, make him doubt her more than he did already. But she could not break a solemn vow. Fate would guide the way.
“Aramis, that’s not Matilda’s chemise. If you examine it closely, you will see the monogram bears only one person’s initials. Mine.”
ChapterNine
Frozen in disbelief, Aramis stared at the stranger he’d married. She paled. Panic flashed in her eyes while it rioted through every cell in his body. He held the crumpled chemise in a pincer-like grip, his thoughts turning to crippling memories of betrayal.
Your father is dead. But not before he squandered every penny. I promised to care for you, but I’ve barely money to buy gowns and keep a coach. My friends will take you to join the other guttersnipes. Go quietly. Best not cause trouble.
While Natasha stole everything of value from the house, her thugs dragged four frightened boys from their beds and dumped them in an alley with beggars and thieves. How he wished his stepmother had been thumped with a bust of Caesar and not choked to death on a chicken bone.
“Aramis?” Naomi approached him, visibly shaking. “The chemise is mine, but I swear, someone stole it and planted it here. Someone has been to my apartment with the sole purpose of framing me for murder.”
He tried to breathe but couldn’t.
In his warped mind, he saw Melissa standing there.
Surely, you’re not so naive that you believed everything I said. Lovers often spout flowery words in the heat of the moment. Most people lie to get what they want.
“Aramis? Please talk to me.” A lone tear trickled down Naomi’s cheek, the sight tearing him in two. “From the moment we met, I’ve been honest with you. I know this looks like?—”
“Like you used me as your alibi?” He swallowed past his gut-wrenching disappointment. “Like you needed a dangerous bastard to play your hero? Like you’ve manipulated me at every turn?” Like he’d been played for a damn fool.
A sob caught in her throat. “Yes. Like a scene from a play, it’s all staged to look a certain way.” She slumped to the floor with a cry that had the power to rock his foundations. “I don’t know how to ease your fears. I don’t know how to prove you can trust me.”
He didn’t know either.
He was a second away from storming out of the room, from breaking a vow and turning his back on the woman he’d married, from letting humiliation devour what was left of his bleeding heart.
But this was different.
Her desperation was a palpable thing, prodding his conscience.
She wasn’t gloating or goading him. She wasn’t hurling vile threats. She was a crumpled heap sobbing on the floor, as broken as he was inside. Then she uttered words he never expected to hear from another living soul. Words that affected him in ways he couldn’t explain.
