Page 33 of The Lyon Returns
Gideon allowed himself a brief smile. He could well imagine his father’s holy wrath. He’d been Gideon’s unfailing champion from the day he’d plucked Gideon from his dying mother’s arms.
She nodded and seemed to stare at him through her netting. “Well, sir? Are the rumors true?”
Chapter Nine
Gideon’s eyes narrowedon the widow. He had no intention of revealing details which could later be used to implicate him in treason.
“I have a question for you, Mrs. Dove-Lyon. From where did these rumors spring?”
“I haven’t a clue.”
“No? You, who have your finger on the pulse of the most powerful men and women in the nation,haven’t a clue?”
She lifted her chin incrementally. “I admit, I put out feelers.”
“And?”
“The information seemed to come straight from the Home Office.”
He considered his options. “What if I told you someone tried to frame me?”
“I’d say you have a very powerful enemy, indeed.”
He decided he’d learned all he could from her on that particular subject for now. Time to change tacks. “Tell me about Mrs. Barnes.”
A nearly indiscernible smile played at her mouth. “Ah, yes, Mrs. Barnes, or should I say,Mrs. Devereux? She came to me after friendsrecommended my services.”
“The Ladies’ Literary Society of London, I presume?”
“I see Mrs. Devereux has been forthcoming.”
“To a certain extent,” Gideon agreed. “Nevertheless, I wanted to hear the details of your involvement from your own mouth, as your name is high on the short list of those who may have betrayed me.”
He heard her sharp indrawn breath. “Why on earth would I betray you? I entered into your consortium because I trust in your ability to make money. Furthermore, I have no desire to dabble in treason.”
He was inclined to believe her. “Convince me. Why did you marry me off to Mrs. Barnes if you did not have secret, first-hand knowledge I had died?”
She spread her arms wide. “Why would I not? I had heard the rumors, and it was clear the insurance investigators had heard them, too. Whether or not they proved true remained to be seen. I knew only one thing for certain. I’d invested a great deal of money in your venture and it seemed unlikely I would see a dime of that money again if you were not part of the equation. Enter Mrs. Barnes.”
“Go on,” he said.
“When she told me sheneededa husband, but did notwanta husband, I thought of you immediately. I first had to ascertain she had the blunt to pay for such a distinguished groom.”
He snorted.
Her lips curved in a canny smile. “She did. Next, I asked myself, if you were innocent, what would draw you home, and the answer was simple. Nothing. You wouldn’t return so long as you were likely to hang as a traitor.”
“Enter Mrs. Barnes and our wedding in Calcutta,” Gideon said.
“Precisely. I set the date of the marriage so that it provided you with an alibi, making it impossible for you to have been both off the coast of Spain and cozying up to a new bride in Calcutta at the same time.”
“Very clever,” Gideon admitted.
“Yes. Not only did I recoup a fraction of my losses in one fell swoop with Mrs. Barnes’s fee, I also threw a tidy spanner into any accusation of your involvement in trading arms with the enemy.
“In short, if you were a traitor, I got some money back. If you weren’t, but died, I got some money back. And if you turned out to be innocent, I offered you a way to come home—and get the bulk of my money back.”
He gazed at her, impressed by her shrewd calculation. “What if, by doing so, you enabled a traitor to go scot-free?”
