If only that were true.
He’d known something was different about her from the very first. She was too confident, too clever, too beautiful. Every time he thought he had her figured out, she surprised him with something new. He thought about the trip to the hotel where she’d retrieved her luggage, except he now knew she’d never stayed at that hotel. How had her luggage gotten there then? Even more intriguing was the way she had totally deceived his mother, the most discerning of females. Why hadn’t Mother seen through her? Or had she seen something else entirely?
He might never know the answers to those questions, and the only way he’d get them was by telling his mother everything he knew about Elizabeth. He wasn’t ready to do that just yet, though, at least not until he came to terms with all of it himself. He also had to decide what to do about Thornton.
Although the thought of Thornton’s sins made Gideon furious, taking the law into his own hands was wrong. He’d be no better than a vigilante. The law was the only thing that separated man from the beasts, and it must be preserved at all costs. He truly believed all of that. On the other hand, as an attorney, he also knew the shortcomings of the law. He knew justice was a nebulous thing, seldom found by those seeking it. Men like Oscar Thornton, with money and influence, could act with impunity and never feel the hot breath of the law on their necks. Elizabeth was only too right when she said he would never be prosecuted for his crimes. No one would take her word over his, even if she were the woman she pretended to be and certainly not when they found out who she really was. If Thornton had truly killed Marjorie—and Gideon had no reason to doubt it now—he would never be punished by the law. Added to that was the issue of the rifles. Gideon could warn Thornton of the dangers and ask him to destroy the weapons, but once again Elizabeth was right: Thornton would always put his need to make money above the lives of any faceless soldiers.
Gideon had to make sure the U.S. Army never received those rifles. He also had it within his power to punish Thornton for Marjorie’s death. It wasn’t the imprisonment the law provided and he deserved, but in some ways, it would hurt Thornton just as badly. Thornton without his money would be a broken man, stripped of his pride and his power. Gideon could see how it was going to happen. The general’s demand for more rifles and his suggestion that Thornton invest every penny he had into buying them was the first step. What would the general do next, though? Buy them with a worthless check, leaving Thornton penniless? No, surely he had a more sophisticated plan in mind. Would the general tell him what it was? And if Gideon knew the plan, what would he do about it? For all his blustering about his principles, he wanted to see Thornton broken, too.
But would he be so bloodthirsty if he weren’t in love with Elizabeth Miles? If he didn’t want to see the man who had threatened to rape and kill her punished? He didn’t even want to know the answer to that. He didn’t want to know any of this.
But he did know it. And now he had to decide what was more important to him: the law, to which he had dedicated his life, or a woman whose whole life was a lie?
? ? ?
“Oh, Lizzie, what am I going to do with you?” the Old Man asked.
She’d managed to get away from Anna and get to Cybil’s house, with Thornton’s man close behind her as usual. They were used to her going there now, she supposed. Cybil had summoned the Old Man, who had arrived at the back door in a wig and false mustache, dressed as a butcher and carrying a package of meat. But it wasn’t meat, and Elizabeth was very glad he was able to get what she needed.
After she had told him about her conversation with Gideon, he sat shaking his head at her while he stroked his fake mustache.
“It’s your fault!” she said when he made no further comment. “He heard you call me Lizzie last night.”
He nodded. “So I guess we should be grateful that he’s in love with you, because he might’ve said something right then and curdled the whole deal.”
Elizabeth groaned. She wanted to deny that Gideon was in love with her, but he’d made it pretty clear that he was, as much as he hated himself for it. Even still . . . “What makes you think he’s in love with me?”
“It’s obvious, my dear girl, at least to me. The way he looks at you . . .” He shook his head in mock despair.
Was it obvious to everyone else? She didn’t want to know. “So what are you going to do? If he tells Thornton—”
“I could have some of the boys collect him.”
“Thornton?”
“No, Bates. We could hold him for a few days, until—”
“No!”
“They wouldn’t hurt him. Just keep him unavailable until—”
“I said no!”
The Old Man sighed. “This would be a lot easier if you weren’t in love with him.”
“I’m not in love with him!” she cried, outraged.
The Old Man didn’t blink. “Oh, Lizzie, you used to be a much better liar than that. No wonder you’re having so much trouble.”
“I’m not!” she tried again, resisting the urge to stamp her foot, which would only make him laugh.
He rubbed his fake mustache again. “Maybe if he knew you returned his feelings, he wouldn’t warn Thornton.”
“I don’t know if anything will keep him from doing that. He’s so disgustingly honest!”
“You see, this is why women don’t do well in the game. You let your heart rule your head and end up falling for a mark.”
“He’s not the mark.”
“And it’s a good thing he’s not, because this really would curdle, but I think we still have a good chance. Tell Bates you’re in love with him.”
“I will not!”
He raised his eyebrows. “Why not?”
Why not indeed? “Because . . .” Because she couldn’t bear for Gideon to know how much it would hurt when he turned his back on her, and besides, “It won’t make any difference.”
“What makes you think so?”
“Because he’s so honest! He’ll do what’s right, no matter what I ask him to do.”
“And if he thinks he can have you, he’ll decide that what you ask him to do is the right thing.”
“Don’t you understand it yet? Now that he knows what I am, he won’t want me anymore.”
His eyebrows rose again, but he said, “All right, let’s put it to the test, shall we? Let him know that you return his tender feelings . . . somehow,” he added when she was about to protest. “Then find out what he plans to do. If he’s set on warning Thornton off, I’ll send the boys to get him.”
“Isn’t there another way?”
“We could forget the whole thing. I can smuggle you out of here and put you on a ship, and we can hope Thornton doesn’t ever find you.”
And she would be looking over her shoulder for the rest of her life.
Elizabeth knew when she was beaten. “I’ll find out what he’s going to do.”
“And let me know?”
“And let you know.”