A Rogue to Ruin (The Pretenders #3) - Darcy Burke Page 0,8

husband and Regan was her four-year-old stepdaughter. “While we were at Sutton Park, we had a picnic near a lake.”

The air in Rafe’s lungs escaped in a rush. He said nothing but went to stand near a high-backed chair. Resting his hand on the top, he dug his fingertips into the velvet back.

“I spied a folly across the lake,” Beatrix said, and Rafe knew what she was going to say next.

He said it for her. “It was the folly.”

Beatrix nodded. “Complete with the dolphin and Aphrodite in the center.” Just as Rafe had remembered. He’d drawn what he recalled and shown the rendering to both of them.

Rafe squeeze the chair. He couldn’t believe she’d found it. “You’re certain?”

“Quite. Especially given the proximity to the lake.”

“It’s at Sutton Park?” Rafe had no idea where that was.

“No, the neighboring estate, Ivy Grove. It’s owned by the Earl of Stone.”

The Earl of Stone. Who the hell was that? Rafe hadn’t yet made the connections he wanted to amongst the highest members of Society. He was well on his way, however, since his sister was now married to the son of the Earl of Aylesbury and his pretend sister was now a viscountess.

The two of them also belonged to a women’s philanthropic organization called the Spitfire Society, whose membership boasted duchesses, marchionesses, countesses, and more. Women of influence and prestige.

How in the bloody hell had they found their way here?

Through hard work and persistence. Since meeting at the boarding school more than fifteen years ago, Selina and Beatrix had formed a bond as close as sisters. In fact, they told everyone they were sisters, and as a result, Rafe, who had been introduced as Selina’s brother, now had a fake half sister. He had no quarrel with the lie, particularly since Beatrix had been family to Selina when she’d needed it most. When Rafe had sent her to the school and abandoned her. He hadn’t meant to not see her for nearly two decades, but when he thought of her returning to the life he’d saved her from, he’d stopped writing while continuing to pay for her education. He hadn’t seen her again until a few weeks ago.

While he knew it had been the right thing to do, he suffered a deep, piercing anguish that would haunt him the rest of his life. Because while he’d protected Selina from the dangers of East London, she’d had to forge a path for herself and for Beatrix. As two women alone in the world, they’d done whatever they must in order to survive, including swindling and theft. He felt guilty about that too—if Selina’s background hadn’t been that of a thief and a swindler, perhaps she would have found another way.

He supposed she had, finally. Through love. She and Sheffield were quite thoroughly and wonderfully in love, and Rafe couldn’t have been more grateful. The same was true of Beatrix and Rockbourne.

Hopefully, for them it would last.

“Do you know Stone?” Selina asked. “You’re clearly lost in thought.”

Indeed he was. “No. I’m trying to think if I know of anyone who knows him.” In his most recent life, Rafe had been a moneylender called the Vicar. In that role, he’d met some men who moved in Society, most notably the Viscount Colton.

Rafe hadn’t ever encountered Stone or heard his name, but perhaps Colton could help him. As it happened, the man owed him a favor that Rafe had yet to claim.

“Tom’s cousin, the Countess of Sutton, does,” Beatrix said. “Because they’re neighbors. I’m certain we could all go to Sutton Park.”

He appreciated that, but it wasn’t enough. “I want to go to Ivy Grove.”

Selina walked toward him, stopping a couple of feet away, her mouth set in determination. “I do too.”

Of course she did. She remembered almost nothing of their parents—just that coral necklace, which he noted she was wearing again. She’d worn it every time he’d seen her since receiving it from Beatrix.

It couldn’t be their mother’s actual necklace. But they had no way of knowing since Beatrix had purchased it from a receiver shop that Rafe had only recently sold as he’d worked to divest himself of the businesses he’d owned as the Vicar. Rafe had gone back to ask, but they’d only said it had come from Petticoat Lane. Since that was the center of stolen goods in London, the necklace could have come from anywhere.

“Then it seems at the very least, we must be introduced to Stone.” Rafe planned to visit Colton as