The Historical Collection 2018: The Duchess Deal / From Duke Till Dawn / His Sinful Touch / His Wicked Charm

“That’s not what the broadsheets would have their readers believe. You know how eager people have been to make false reports of your exploits.”

“Yes, I do know.” He swallowed his mouthful of pie. “One of those eager people with false stories would be you.”

Well, she couldn’t contradict that.

“I would never be charged with murder,” he went on. “The very thought is absurd. I’m a duke. It just doesn’t happen. Even if I were captured, I would never be brought to trial.”

“How can you be certain of that?”

“To begin, dukes aren’t charged in the same courts. We are entitled to a trial of our peers in the House of Lords. That’s if there were any evidence, which there isn’t. Second, there’s a little thing called privilege of peerage. All we have to do is invoke it, and we’re off the hook for nearly any crime.”

She was agape. “You’re joking.”

“Not at all.”

“My goodness. That must be nice.”

“It is, rather. Can’t deny it.”

On any other occasion, Emma would have been appalled by the injustice of this system. However, given the current state of affairs, she found herself unable to complain.

“Hold a moment,” she said. “You said a peer may be forgiven almost any crime. Which means some crimes are exceptions.”

“Well, treason, naturally. And—” He broke off, clearly reluctant to continue.

She leaned forward. “And . . . ?”

“Murder,” he admitted.

She bounced on the mattress in anger. “You just told me it would be a minor inconvenience! How could hanging be a minor inconvenience?”

“It never goes that far.” He set aside his now-empty plate. “At the most, I’d make a manslaughter plea, and that would put paid to it.”

“What if it does go that far?”

“It wouldn’t.”

“Humor me.”

He sighed as he reached for his glass of wine. “A peer found guilty of a capital felony—which never occurs—could conceivably be executed. Which never occurs, either. No one’s been struck with corruption of the blood in ages now. Literal centuries.”

“And what’s corruption of the blood?”

“It means a bloodline is considered tainted. They take away the peer’s title and property, and none of his descendants can inherit it.”

Emma’s hands were fists in her lap. “So if . . . and I’m allowing you the ‘if’ . . . this exceedingly unlikely event occurred, you could be captured and charged as the Monster of Mayfair, brought to trial in the House of Lords on charges of murder, convicted, and put to death, with the result that your wife and possibly your child would be left without any property or inheritance?”

“It never happens, Emma. Never.”

“But it could!”

“It won’t.”

She took a deep breath to calm herself. “You’ve allowed this ruse to go on too long. We can mend this. Come forward. Let everyone know that you’re the Monster of Mayfair, I’m the missing lady in red, and that it was all merely a lark that got out of hand.”

“So instead of facing the slim chance that I would ever be captured—and the slimmer chance that I would be brought up on any charges—you want me to confess to crimes I didn’t commit?”

“No. I want you to confess to encouraging a silly legend and letting it continue for far too long. Just have out with it. As you say, a duke gets away with everything.”

He drained his wineglass and rose from the bed. “I will not admit to the world that I’m the Monster of Mayfair. There would be a scandal, and you would have to bear up under it. Who knows what the broadsheets would call you? The Beastly Bride of Bloom Square?”

She raised an eyebrow. “Did you have that moniker thought out in advance?”

“No,” he said, sounding defensive.

“Because it tripped rather easily off your tongue.”

“The point is this. I’m not going to do that to you. Whatever name the papers might choose, I refuse to put you under their scrutiny. Much less any child you could be carrying.”

“If you are so concerned for your wife and child, perhaps you ought to have considered that earlier,” she muttered, vexed. She tried to find a compromise. “If you refuse to come forward, at least promise me this. The Monster of Mayfair has retired. He’s pensioned off to the country, never to return. Swear to me that you’ll burn all your capes and never go walking at night again.”

“Done.” He put a finger under her chin, tipping her face to receive his kiss. “The Monster of Mayfair is no more. I swear it.”

“You had better keep your word,” she said. “Or you’ll face the wrath of the Beastly Bride.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven (#ulink_b6a09827-9956-567f-85b5-707b2f60fd1e)

“There.” Emma helped do up the last button on Davina’s new day dress. “Is it comfortable? You don’t feel too pinched?”

“No, not at all.”

With Fanny’s help, Emma had been able to arrange a fitting at the dressmaking shop. They’d kept the shop open late for Davina while Madame was making her weekly visit to the storehouse to see the latest imported silks.

Davina turned and regarded herself in the mirror. “You truly work wonders with fabric, Emma.”

Wonders, perhaps. But not miracles.

“It should help you conceal it for another few weeks, I hope.”

“I hope so, too. Just the other day, Papa commented on my waistline. I told him that I’d been eating too many rich foods.” She took Emma’s hands. “We must secure permission as soon as possible. When will the duke be able to meet Papa?”

Oh, dear. Emma had been dreading this conversation. She would have to tell the girl that their original plan just wouldn’t work. Ash wasn’t willing to circulate in society, and as Annabelle Worthing had made clear at the theater, in London’s eyes, Emma was still a seamstress, not a duchess. She was hardly the sort of lady an ambitious gentleman would allow his unmarried daughter to visit for the winter.

The whole scheme had been doomed from the start. Emma saw that now. She felt horrible for raising the girl’s hopes.

That didn’t mean there was no way to help, however. She had Nicola, and Alex, and Penny—dear Penny, who never met a creature in need she wouldn’t coddle. If the four of them put their minds to it, they could devise an alternative.

Yes, that was the thing to do. She would consult them next week at tea.