The very thought kindled a low burning rage in Neville’s stomach.
His only consolation—Millie remained safe at Harbury’s. He closed his eyes, attempting to empty his mind of all else but the thought that she was protected.
That knowledge was all he had left.
He hung his head and then waited through the interminable silence. Sometime later, bootsteps sounded somewhere beyond his sight.Boots, not half-boots, not shoes, not slippers. And the sound was not coming from beyond the barn, but beneath the floorboards.
Less than an arm’s length away, the floor creaked, rumbled, and then lifted.
A trap door.
Neville squinted into the lamplight, attempting to identify the lamp holder. Then, he heard the laugh. Slowly, his eyes adjusted, and he recognized Willard’s face by shape. As Willard leaned in, his features became indistinct, but he wore the same infuriating, lazy smile he had last time he and Neville had met.
Neville would have turned his back if he could. Instead, he closed his eyes.
“You’ve caused me a great deal of trouble,” Willard intoned. “Cath was to have led you here after the theater. I wanted you to witness what I had in store for Millie. But you put a damper on that plan, didn’t you?”
ByCath,he supposed Willard meant Mrs. Cartwright.
“Clever,” Willard continued, “sneaking Millicent out of the theater through the royal box.”
“I thought so.”
What a strange cadence the man’s voice had. Had he noticed that before?
“Yes, I heard all about how you and Harris and Sarah effected the Wainwright girl’s escape,” Willard continued. “Do you know how many people a theater employs? Tailors, box men, ticket takers, chairwomen, scene painters, even the chandelier cleaner…all paid pitifully low wages, but hoarding a wealth of information. Gossip is cheap, but costly.” He chuckled to himself. “A paradox that can equally apply to your, ah,lady. You ought not to have troubled yourself and simply let my plans come to fruition.”
“Slight for slight, as you’ve already explained.” Neville let his head loll, as if Willard’s explanation had left him so full of ennui, he’d no choice but to nod off. “Are you finished? I prefer dark silence to your nasal drawl.”
The lamp moved away from Neville’s face to the vicinity of his thigh.
“I’ve waited a very long time for you to show interest in a lady.”
Willard was again out of sight, but, from the sound of his voice, Neville judged him to be close by.
“I’d always planned to sweep whomever you first fell for out from under your nose. Given your connections, I expected the daughter of an earl at the very least. In fact, had Millicent been one, I’d have married her. And then I would have taken pleasure in your devastated expression—the same expression you sent me the other night at Almack’s—everytime you saw us together.”
Neville had suspected his actions had placed Millie in danger. To hear Willard spell out the details filled his mouth with bile.
What kind of man married a woman to spite another man? Marriage was a sacrament. A sacred vow. A joining that changed everything.
“What makes you think I would have cared?” Neville forced.
“Harbury gave me the idea. For years, he could never quite manage to hide his distress whenever he saw the Pennington chit.”
Neville supposed his desire for Millie might have been as obvious to others as Harbury’s puppy love had been.
“Honestly, Neville. Who’d have thought a man of your pride would choose one of Simple Simon’s nobodies from the country. Nobody wards who should never have been admitted to Almack’s.” Willard made a sound of disgust. “One ends up a duchess, the other a marchioness.” ItoldCountess Lieven admitting them to Almack’s had been a mistake. After I dropped a word in that lady’s ear, the Wainwrights were supposed to have become outcasts.”
Willardhad been behind getting Cassie’s and Eliza’s vouchers revoked?
“When I saw the look in your eye, I had to step in before you made the third a countess.”
Clearly, Willard did not know Millie had already become one. That was something, at least.
He cannot hurt her now. Neville held fast to that truth. No matter what happened to him, Millie had the legal protection of his name.
On the other hand, he had heard all of Willard’s nonsense he ever wanted to hear.