Falling for the Marquess - Julianne MacLean Page 0,96
heart.
“There is no us!” she shouted after him.
The coach reached Rawdon House and stopped. Clara bolted inside to tell Seger what had happened, for she had vowed on their wedding day that there would be no more secrets, and she intended to keep that promise.
Seger descended the stairs at his club. He had been informed that Quintina was waiting for him outside with an urgent message. She had never come looking for him at his club before.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, exiting the building and letting the door fall closed behind him.
Quintina was pacing back and forth on the pavement. “Seger, I apologize for interrupting you, but may we take a walk?”
He stared at her a moment, then met her at the wrought iron gate and offered his arm. “Certainly.”
“I have something to tell you,” she said, as they strolled down the street, “and I don’t know exactly how to say it. It has come as a shock to me, and I hope it will not be unduly painful for you to hear.”
“What is it, Quintina?”
She cleared her throat. “I have a friend in New York, and she has informed me that Clara was involved in some sort of embezzlement a few years ago.”
Seger glowered down at Quintina. “I already know about that. Clara explained what happened, and she is innocent. But I am curious to know how your friend came by this information, and if this is the person who sent me a telegram on my wedding day. Who is it, may I ask?”
Quintina glanced up at him. “An Englishwoman I knew a number of years ago. She moved to America to become a governess, and when she read about you and Clara in the New York papers, she felt a moral obligation to inform me of Clara’s background.”
Stopping on the pavement, Seger faced his stepmother squarely. “I would like to know this woman’s name, if you please. This is a matter that must be addressed posthaste. I will not have anyone spreading lies about my wife—lies that concern something that is dead and buried in the past.”
Quintina sighed. “But Seger…I’m not entirely sure that it is dead and buried, which is why I felt it necessary to speak to you immediately. You see, my friend wrote to me about this issue quite some time ago, but I chose not to mention it, because I like Clara very much, and I want your marriage to be a success. But I could not keep it to myself any longer, not after what happened today. Can we stroll again?”
Seger nodded and offered his arm. They walked in silence for a few seconds before Quintina finally spoke. “First of all, I’m not sure that Clara was entirely innocent. My friend informed me that her signature was on certain documents, but that is not what concerns me now. As you said, it’s in the past. What concerns me is Clara’s association with the man who lured her into this embezzlement in the first place. She was engaged to him, I understand.”
“Yes, but Clara severed her relationship with him when she learned about the embezzlement, and he went to prison.”
“But he is out now. Here in London, in fact.”
Seger stopped again. “In London, you say?”
“Yes, but it’s much worse than that. He came to the house looking for Clara, and she went off with him in the coach. Alone. I don’t think she realized that I knew who he was. She said he was an old family friend.”
Seger glared at his stepmother, then uttered an oath and turned to summon his carriage.
Seger walked into the house, where he found Clara sitting alone in the drawing room, gazing absentmindedly out the window.
At least she was there, and not somewhere else.
He approached and stood over her where she sat on the sofa. Eyes wide, she gazed up at him.
“What happened today?” he asked directly.
She stared dumbfounded for a moment, then went pale. “Seger....” Her voice betrayed her trepidation. “You know?”
“Yes. But I wish to hear your description of the events.”
She continued to gaze up at him with dismay, then rose to her feet, wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest.
“I tried to find you when I came home, but you had gone out.” Her voice began to quiver. “Oh, Seger, Gordon has come to London.”
He would have liked to see her eyes when she spoke, but her cheek was still pressed to his chest. “I am aware. What happened, Clara?”