Led Astray by a Rake (The Husband Hunters Club 1)

“Good-bye,” Sarah echoed vaguely.

The housekeeper led the way to the front door. “Mrs. Lacey has lucid moments, but they are short. You were lucky.”

“What is the matter with her?” Olivia asked, pulling on her gloves.

“The doctors don’t know. A disease of the brain, a nervous disorder.” She raised her eyebrows as if to say she didn’t hold much with the opinions of the medical profession. “She has suffered and now it is telling on her. We keep her as quiet as we can and she wants for nothing.”

“And her son, Jonah?”

The housekeeper smiled, and the change to her dour face was quite remarkable. “He goes to school, a good school, but he only boards during the week. He doesn’t understand why his mother is sometimes so odd, but he loves her anyway. Lord Lacey takes a great interest in him, and one day he will live at Castle Lacey where he belongs.”

Olivia tried not to look surprised. “I’m sure everything will work out as it should,” she said neutrally. “Good-bye.”

“Good-bye, Lady Lacey.”

The door closed behind her, and Olivia was alone on the doorstep.

She’d been lied to. For half of her life she’d believed her sister was dead and it wasn’t true. Her parents, Nic, everyone, they had all lied. Anger gripped her, and as she turned through the gate and began to walk away, it began to build. Her cheeks were wet with more tears, and she dashed them away with her gloved fingers.

Nic had seduced her sister and then abandoned her. No wonder her mother had been so distrustful of him. She’d lost one daughter to the Laceys and she didn’t want to lose another. Her father, more pragmatic, had accepted the situation and Nic’s generous settlement, but her mother…Olivia took a shaken breath. They should have told her. If she’d known the truth she’d never have hunted Nic. She’d have despised him for his selfish and callous actions.

But isn’t he looking after her now? a voice in her head reminded her. She is being cared for, and her son—his son—has everything he might need. If he was such a monster, wouldn’t he have refused to do anything to help?

Olivia accepted the truth of that, but the fact he’d treated Sarah so ill in the beginning—and no, she wouldn’t accept his youth as an excuse—told against him. She didn’t know if she would be able to forgive him for that. Certainly she could never forgive him for lying to her. He was arrogant, she knew that, but there were numerous times when he could have told her, explained, apologized, but he hadn’t. All this time he’d kept his guilty secret.

Nic Lacey had seduced her sister, abandoned her and her child, and now he’d married Olivia, while continuing to keep Sarah hidden away. Olivia wondered how long he’d planned to keep the truth from her. Forever? Or until he had his legal heir and would no longer be bothered if she stayed with him or not?

There was a hackney stand in front of her, with a queue of vehicles waiting for fares. She gave her destination to the driver, climbing aboard like an automaton, and sat back to stare blankly at the passing scenery, going over and over in her head the truth as she now knew it.

And yet, how did she reconcile Sarah’s experience of Nic with the man she loved? She had always found Nic to be a basically decent human being, a man to be trusted and relied upon. She had held firmly to that image despite her parents’ rejection and Nic’s own opposition to her wish to marry him. Why, now, was she discarding it?

Olivia put her head in her hands. She felt betrayed; she felt like a fool. What she needed was to get away from here, go back to Bassingthorpe and try and decide what to do. Not to the Monteith house, she couldn’t go there, but Castle Lacey would be empty. She didn’t imagine Nic would follow her when he discovered she knew the truth about him.

She would flee to Castle Lacey.

Chapter 32

Nic had found Olivia missing in the morning. No one seemed to know where she’d gone. Perhaps she was cross with him for leaving her last night, but it wasn’t in her nature to be vindictive. Still, he searched for her in the few likely places, even at Esmeralda’s shop. No one had seen her.

By the time he returned to Mayfair he was worried. As he rounded the corner he saw a coach pulling away from in front of his house—the Lacey coach—and Abbot standing bereft on the footpath. He kicked his horse into a gallop and caught up with it as they reached the busy main thoroughfare, riding alongside in what was a highly dangerous and risky manner.

He could see Olivia inside, her face white, her eyes blazing back at him, and beside her was Estelle, looking equally pale but forlorn. There was a shout of warning, and when he looked up he saw a cart bearing down on him. In that split second he knew he could either hold his line and have an accident, or drop back and live to fight another day. Nic dropped back, ignoring the cursing of the cart driver, and watched his coach disappear.

He knew where they were going. Home to Bassingthorpe. Olivia was leaving him. And there could be only one reason that she would do that.

She knew about Sarah.

Slowly he turned his horse and rode back to the Mayfair house. Abbot was still standing there, his face solemn and his gray eyes suspiciously bright.

“My lord,” he said, “I’m sorry but I couldn’t stop her. Nothing could have stopped her. As I told you before, she is a very determined young lady.” He paused, grimacing. “And now I find my own wife is equally determined.”

Nic dismounted, handing the reins to the servant who’d hurried from the house. “How did she find out?” he said bleakly.

Abbot didn’t bother to ask what he meant. “Estelle told her where the, eh, household was situated. It seems she went visiting this morning, my lord. As soon as she returned she began to pack. I have never seen a lady gather her luggage together so quickly. It was…truly amazing. I tried to stop her but…what could I do? I wanted to send word to you, my lord, but I didn’t know where you’d gone. When I—I—”

“Yes, yes, Abbot, take a deep breath.”