To Romance a Charming Rogue (Courtship Wars)

“What will your servant say if we confront him with this evidence, sir? I myself saw Giacomo assault Prince Lazzara outside a London bazaar and steal his purse. My guess is that Giacomo also shot the curare arrow that day at the Royal Gardens and sabotaged the prince's carriage wheel in the Park. You, however, drugged the prince's cup at the ball and shoved him down the stairs at the opera.”

Vecchi's scowl merely deepened. “How dare you, sir! What right have you to accuse me? Perhaps this servant you speak of perpetrated such foul deeds, but I had naught to do with any of it.”

“You never attempted to murder your own cousin?”

“Certainly not!” Vecchi exclaimed, attempting to bluster his way out. “This is preposterous! And you can prove none of it!”

“Can I not?” Damon retorted smoothly. “Will Giacomo deny being your accomplice, or will he confess to save his own skin?”

Vecchi abruptly fell mute, evidently not trusting in his minion's loyalty. In the tense silence, Lady Beldon looked bewildered, while the prince's features were growing ever more grim.

“It seems we are at a momentary impasse,” Damon observed after a moment. “Haviland, will you be so kind as to summon Mr. Giacomo to us?”

“I would be delighted,” the earl responded lightly.

“Wait!”

Vecchi visibly gritted his teeth before hunching his shoulders, as if warding off a blow. Then exhaling a long breath, he bowed his head in surrender, all his defiance gone.

“A gentleman of honor would admit his mistakes,” Damon urged quietly. “Were you intent on murder or something less violent, Signor?”

Wincing, Vecchi shook his head. “It was never murder. I never intended his highness real harm.”

Prince Lazzara spoke for the first time, his tone edged with fury. “Then what did you intend, Cousin?”

Raising his head, Vecchi gazed at the prince imploringly. “Don Antonio, I merely wanted to impede your courtship of Lady Eleanora. I did not wish you to marry an Englishwoman, but your romance was proceeding at an alarming pace.”

The prince scowled. “You hoped to prevent me from wooing and winning Lady Eleanora?”

“Yes.”

“But why?”

“Because I have always wished you to wed Isabella. From the moment my daughter was in her cradle, her mother and I dreamed of your union.”

Lazzara looked astounded.

The confession surprised Damon as well. Vecchi had caused the various accidents because he wanted Lazzara to marry his daughter instead of Eleanor?

“Why would a series of mishaps thwart the prince's courtship?” Damon asked.

Vecchi shrugged. “Lady Eleanora is a spirited and capable young lady. I judged that if his highness were made to look ineffectual and effeminate in her eyes, she would be less likely to wed him.”

Lazzara voiced an expletive in Italian, but his tone held an edge of bitterness when he muttered, “For my own flesh and blood to betray me this way is beyond belief!”

Damon stiffened as another thought occurred to him. “What about the balloon ascension?” he demanded. “Was Giacomo responsible for releasing the moorings as well as the other incidents?”

The signor shifted his gaze to Damon. “No, I paid an attendant of Signor Pucinelli to loosen the ropes. When you entered the gondola with her, Lord Wrex-ham, I saw the opportunity to further your own courtship of her.”

An attendant who had immediately disappeared afterward, Damon remembered, while he and Eleanor had faced peril with the pilotless flight of the balloon.

He'd played right into Vecchi's hands, Damon thought, cursing the bloody irony of it. They had both harbored similar purposes-to prevent an unwanted marriage between Eleanor and Lazzara. But he had also been intent on keeping her away from the prince for the sake of her safety. Unlike Vecchi.

The larger crime was that Eleanor had been seriously endangered, more than once.

Damon set his jaw, finding it difficult to control his own fury. “You are aware, Signor, that you risked Lady Eleanor's life several times over? She could have been hurt badly, even killed.”

“Yes, and I regret that sincerely.”