Free Six Degrees of Scandal by Caroline Linden

her?
    â€œI refused as politely as I could.” Her eyes grew stormy. “He didn’t believe it. How could anyone in my position not want him? I suspect Clary is rarely denied anything he wants, and he thought I was being coy, or teasing, and he promised me anything on earth my heart desired if only I could accept him . . . but he did it in such a way that was almost threatening. I had never before been frightened of him but that day I was, and he saw it. From then on I tried to avoid him, but he would turn up from time to time and catch me off guard. He never asked me to be his mistress again—”
    Thank God , thought Jamie grimly.
    â€œâ€”instead he did worse. He told me Henry had owed him a great deal of money, and since we hadn’t been able to reach an amiable solution ”—she almost spat out the words—“he had no choice but to ask for it back. Of course I didn’t have the sum he named, but he didn’t believe me. After I refused all his offers of money, he must have thought I had a private fund hidden somewhere.”
    Or he wanted to terrify you even more . “Did he show you proof of Henry’s debt?”
    She gave a scornful laugh. “Of course not! I asked him to stop calling on me and conduct any business through Mr. Brewster. He said he would if I gave him Henry’s things.” She paused and tilted her head to look at him for the first time since he’d asked what Clary wanted from her. “Now why would Lord Clary want Henry’s papers? Henry hardly kept any papers. Mr. Brewster paid all the bills. Henry had little correspondence; he hadn’t the patience for sitting at a desk writing letters. I never saw him read anything other than the racing report or a sporting newspaper.”
    Clever fellow . Jamie had an idea what Henry had been up to, and scads of letters would have been dangerous.
    â€œLord Clary didn’t believe me any more about that than he did about the rest.” She returned her gaze to her untouched plate of dinner. “I still don’t know what he wants, but I fear he’ll hound me until I’m dead.”
    â€œPenelope said she interrupted a confrontation between you and Lord Clary in London.” He phrased it carefully and spoke gently, but Olivia flinched.
    â€œYes.” She sounded choked. “It was more of an—an assignation. Lord Clary grew more and more insistent that he’d sue me for the debt and I’d be thrown in prison. He kept insinuating I had something valuable, which he obviously felt some claim on, but I don’t! Finally I agreed to meet him one evening to explain once and for all, but he clearly thought I was weakening . . .” A lock ofhair fell forward to hide her face as she bowed her head. “The truth is . . . I was. I thought it might pacify him and show him I was nothing to him, or at least nothing he really wanted. But then . . . Penelope opened the door. And like a coward I fled, so fast I didn’t realize until later that she had not followed. Clary hadn’t allowed her to follow. I abandoned her to his fury, and—”
    He held up one hand to cut her off. “Penelope does not blame you.”
    Olivia closed her eyes and looked physically ill for a moment. “Only because Lord Atherton was there to save her.”
    â€œWe all need someone to save us at times,” he said gently.
    Hesitantly, almost warily, she raised her eyes. Jamie could only return her questioning look with one of quiet confidence and hope she believed him.
    â€œWhat did Clary do that sent you fleeing to Kent?” he asked.
    Olivia’s deep blue gaze didn’t waver from his. “Nothing directly. Unexpectedly, I received a very odd package from a solicitor in Gravesend, Mr. Armand. He wrote that he’d recently acquired the practice of another solicitor, now deceased, and in the process of sorting old files, he had discovered a diary belonging to