Page 26 of Needs Must
‘Why were you drawn to this area?’ he asked.
‘Our ship from Jamaica docked in Southampton. We had to go somewhere, and I had some knowledge of Chichester, having visited it with Jonathan and lived there for a short time before he returned to Jamaica and took me with him as his bride.’
‘I see.’
‘Now it’s your turn. What is your interest in all of this and why are you asking so many questions about my husband?’
‘Because,’ he replied, ‘someone is posing as him and sending threatening letters to a neighbour of mine.’
Chapter Seven
Cal watched her reaction closely for signs of duplicity as the enormity of what he’d just told her struck home. Her eyes widened and her face paled. It wasn’t the sort of reaction that could be faked, Cal knew. She was genuinely shocked. And distressed by what she had heard.
‘Oh,’ she said, covering her mouth with the hand not holding the dog.
The desire to pull her into his arms until the bruised expression left her eyes was almost impossible to resist. But resist it Cal must. He had gone from thinking her some sort of monster with a private agenda to feeling the utmost sympathy for her situation. How was it possible for a single female to raise him to heights of anger at one moment and then rouse his protective instincts the next?
Donna Harte was an enigma who was playing merry hell with Cal’s emotions, and as things stood he was at a loss to know how he felt about the situation.
He knew now that he was right to have thought her a lady. The anger returned when he realised how badly neglected she had been by guardians who had clearly not done their duty, denying her the pleasures due to any young lady of quality. Had she been presented then she would have been feted and spoiled for choice – whether she wanted it or not. Instead she must have been lonely and vulnerable when Harte turned up and bombarded her with attention. Cal ground his jaw. Starved of love and affection and with no real experience of the world, she would have been easy prey to a man of Harte’s ilk.
It could have ? should have ? been very different for her.
‘I suppose I ought not to be surprised,’ she said in a distant tone, stroking the dog with excessive vigour.
‘If Ian ran off with your husband’s property, why would he now go after my neighbour, Bagshott?’ Cal asked. ‘Surely he would be better advised not to draw attention to himself?’
‘Why? No one other than me knows what he did, what he got away with. In fact, he doesn’t know that I suspect him of fratricide, and although Jonathan left a will in my favour, how can I prove that the document Ian produced did not supersede it?’ She shook her head and shot a wry little smile Cal’s way. ‘Ian has no reason to hide. Besides, he’s always been the type to strut and boast. He adores company and being the centre of attention.’ She wrinkled her nose. ‘He can afford to be now that he has my husband’s blunt to smooth his path.’
‘All the more reason for him not to go after Bagshott.’
‘You could be forgiven for thinking so, since you are not acquainted with Ian’s character. He thinks he got away with what he did in Jamaica. Indeed hedidget away with it and probably thinks he’s invincible as a consequence. It’s a game to him. Besides, it won’t take him long to run through Jonathan’s funds, so he’s probably planning ahead.’
‘What do you mean by that?’
She looked away from him and nibbled at the index finger of her free hand. ‘Jonathan and Ian were cut from the same cloth,’ she eventually said. ‘Both of them were fiercely ambitious and willing to flirt with the letter of the law. Jonathan would not have got involved with the scheme he lost money in if he wasn’t in a hurry to make a fortune and fashion himself as a gentleman. That, I have always supposed, was the other reason why he married me. My background could open doors for him that would otherwise have remained firmly closed, no matter how wealthy he became.’
Cal nodded. ‘Undoubtedly your credentials would see you both admitted to society. You would be accepted but it doesn’t necessarily follow that he would be too.’
Mrs Harte smiled. ‘That is what I chose not to tell him. All the time we were in Jamaica it remained a moot point anyway, not worth disputing. He was accepted there. The boundaries between the classes are not nearly so strictly adhered to. The English in foreign parts tend to gravitate towards one another without worrying about the finer details. I preferred to avoid a serious disagreement by pointing out to him that in England it would be a very different story.’
‘You were afraid of him?’ Cal scowled. ‘He did not appreciate you voicing your opinion?’
She waggled her free hand from side to side. ‘Not afraid, precisely. But I knew what triggers would send him into a rage, and being held back from achieving his ambitions by the strictures of society was most definitely one of them.’
‘Ian was equally ambitious?’
‘Ian was of the opinion that money could override the prejudices of our class, and he didn’t much care how he went about accumulating it. Nor did Jonathan, to be fair, but at least he had some standards. For instance, he knew that cheating at cards would see his name blackened beyond recall, even if the cheating in question took place in Jamaica. He also knew that it would eradicate any small chance he had of being accepted in English society, which was probably the only reason why he refrained from cheating.’ She smiled at Cal’s surprised look. ‘Jonathan might have been willing to cut corners, but he didn’t take unnecessary risks. Ian, on the other hand, was much more of a chancer.’
Cal nodded. ‘Your husband was right to assume that even being suspected of cheating would be sufficient to see him blackballed. Without definitive proof, a gentleman would receive the benefit of the doubt, whereas no such courtesy would be afforded to a man of any lesser stature.’
‘Ian came up with a scheme that he reckoned was foolproof to increase the profits for Jonathan’s card school. Jonathan wouldn’t hear of it, and the two brothers had a violent argument on the subject. Miriam and I overheard most of it.’
‘What happened?’
‘Ian levelled some pretty vile accusations at Jonathan, calling him weak and spineless. Jonathan had always supported his younger brother – financially and in all other respects – but that argument changed everything. He sent Ian away and didn’t speak to him for months. I was delighted and hoped we’d seen the back of him.’
‘He came back?’
