A Study In Seduction

chapter Twenty-Eight




Twilight blanketed Long Acre, the front entrance of St. Martin’s Hall concealed by a mass of traffic—pedestrians, carriages, carts, and wagons all swarming about like bees in a hive.

“Accident or something, miss,” the cabdriver called. “Can see it from up here, looks like a cart crashed into something. Can’t go much farther.”

With a curse, Lydia pushed open the door. She tossed two shillings up at the driver and darted past the people clustered around to gape at the accident, shoving her way through a group of constables. She pressed forward, inhaling sharply when she saw Sebastian hovering near the entrance to St. Martin’s Hall.

“Sebastian!”

He looked up, worry clearly etched into his features. “Lydia, what—”

“Jane.” Lydia came to a halt before him. “Where is Jane?”

“I don’t know. That’s just it. She was with me all afternoon, then went to look at a display while I helped Castleford at the Chinese exhibit. When I went to find her, she was gone.”

“Gone? What do you mean, gone?”

“I couldn’t find her. I thought she might have been with Castleford, but it appears he’s already left and none of the curators have seen her. I heard the commotion out here and thought she might have come to investigate, but there’s such a throng—”

“Keep looking,” Lydia ordered, heading for the front door. “Look in the classrooms and the library. Check the retiring room at the back as well.”

“But where—”

“I can’t explain now, Sebastian, please. We must find her!”

She ran into the entrance hall, her hard breaths echoing in the vast foyer. She hurried up the main staircase that led to the great hall, the length and breadth of which occupied the entire first floor.

Pushing through the doors, she went into the exhibition. Workers milled about the exhibition displays, the sounds of hammers ringing through the air even as people streamed toward the entrance to see the commotion on the street.

Lydia suppressed a fierce urge to scream Jane’s name. If she was still here, if Cole was with her… God only knew what he might do to the girl if he knew Lydia was looking for her.

A shadow passed above her, moving across the window. Lydia peered up at the empty gallery, unable to discern much of anything through the dusk. Her heart thundered in her ears as she crept up the stairs to where the glowing embers of a fireplace illuminated a section of the gallery.

Her vision blurred, then cleared to sharp precision. Jane sat in a chair near the fireplace, one arm cradled close to her chest and her body trembling.

Lydia choked back a cry, an immense wave of relief sweeping through her. She fought the urge to scream for help.

A movement caught the corner of her eye. In the instant before her brain registered what was happening, a male hand clamped around her wrist. Pain spiraled up her arm. Cole jerked Lydia forward, his granite features mapped in shadows from the dying fire.

“Lydia!” Jane straightened, her eyes wide and frantic.

Lydia yanked her arm from Cole’s grip and ran toward her daughter. She wrapped her arms around Jane and pulled her from the chair. Hugging the girl close, Lydia twisted to pin Joseph Cole with a glare.

“What do you want?”

His gaze on Jane, he replied, “How much is it worth to you, Lydia? How much will it be worth to keep the information from him?”

“Northwood already knows the truth. I told him.”

Cole’s smile appeared, as cold and sharp as a crescent moon. “You expect me to believe you would ruin your life like that?”

“Believe what you will. He knows Jane is my daughter.”

“Our daughter. Perhaps you can convince her to tell me where the document is.”

“What document?”

“The acte de naissance she hid,” Cole said. “If she tells me where it is, this can all be ended very quickly.”

No. It would never end. Lydia knew that to the core of her being. Never.

She felt the press of Jane’s body against her side, the girl’s hand clenching her arm. She met Jane’s eyes. An odd understanding passed between them, something that spoke of regrets and sorrows that perhaps had some justification, some well-intended motive.

Lydia forced her gaze back to Cole. “Dr. Cole, why are you doing this?”

He looked at her with that clear, owl-like gaze that seemed capable of penetrating the deepest recesses of her mind.

“I lost everything, Lydia. First my position at the university. Couldn’t find another job to save my life. Then Greta… you know how weak she was, how frail. She couldn’t withstand the strain. Crumbled underneath it, really. What savings I had went to medical expenses, then, of course, to the burial.”

Lydia wanted to clamp her hands over her ears to avoid hearing about Greta’s death. “Why did you lose your professorship?”

A vague smile wreathed his mouth. “Ethics violations, of a sort. Can you imagine?”

“Ethics—”

“She was dead when I arrived. Shame they never believed me.”

Lydia’s breathing grew shallow, bile burning in her throat. “Who… who was—”

“The daughter of one of the history professors. Pity too. Lovely girl. I’ve no idea how many men she’d entertained in her rooms.”

“And you… you—”

“They said she’d been strangled. They claimed I was a suspect, but they never proved I did the deed. Still, talk of the whole thing was enough for the education minister to see fit to dismiss me.”

A door banged open somewhere. Voices rose from the lower floor like a flock of birds. Something crashed.

Lydia pushed Jane behind her, trying to make the movement inconspicuous. She wanted to shove the girl toward the stairs and the safety of the lower floor, but she had no idea if Cole was armed.

“It has been a year,” Cole continued. “Then I read of Sir Henry’s death and thought of you, so I returned to London. I wanted to know if you’d had the child. And when I found out about Jane, I wondered if she had your intelligence, your prodigious mathematical abilities. I thought that with you as her mother and me as her father, her genius might already be legendary. So I wrote to her.”

A sick feeling swirled in Lydia’s stomach at the idea that he had lured Jane into a correspondence. “What did you want from her?”

“At first, I thought she might have some novel ideas, different approaches to mathematics,” Cole said.

“You wanted to mine her talents for your own purposes, didn’t you?” Lydia snapped. “You thought she might provide you with some brilliant new theorems or identities. And you would have stolen them, published them as your own in a desperate attempt to regain your lost prominence.”

He frowned. “That’s not quite accurate. She is my daughter, after all, so by rights her theories would have been mine to begin with. Imagine my disappointment when I realized she possesses a rather ordinary mind. Comparatively speaking, of course.”

Lydia clenched her teeth to prevent herself from contradicting his erroneous observation. “So what led to your current plan?”

“The news of your father’s death,” Cole replied. “I knew it would be a good time to contact Jane, and then I learned of your… relationship with a wealthy peer. If I can’t have my reputation back, then a sizable amount of money might well assuage my disappointment. Enough so that I can live somewhere else, perhaps France or Italy, in comfort for the remainder of my days.”

He doesn’t want Jane.

Lydia’s greatest fear, the one that had haunted her for the last decade, eased a little. She didn’t care what he wanted, what he did, as long as he didn’t try to take her daughter away.

“If you get the money, will you go away?” she asked. “For good?”

“Perhaps. Though I will require the acte de naissance to ensure I can control the situation. With that document in my possession, with you knowing I have proof of Jane’s true birth, I will know you cannot renege on your word.”

“You cannot blackmail me forever.”

“Actually, I can.” Cole tilted his head as he studied her. “Why did you agree to marry him, Lydia? For the title and money? You’ve put both in jeopardy, haven’t you?”

Lydia didn’t respond, her throat constricting so hard it was difficult to draw in a breath.

“I will not let you touch Lord Northwood.” She steeled her voice and loosened her hold on Jane in the hopes her daughter would run. “Tell people whatever you want, Dr. Cole. I’ll take full blame. You’ve no idea how things work, how they can be manipulated. Northwood can emerge from scandal intact if I’m the one who is vilified and liable. Then how effective will your blackmail be?”

Her words didn’t appear to disconcert him in the slightest. “Suppose the revelation doesn’t destroy Northwood. What do you think it will do to Jane?”

Lydia flinched. Cole smiled.

“I’m not a fool, Lydia. I know how much you want this kept secret, though I suppose your willingness to sacrifice yourself for your fiancé is admirable.” He leaned forward to peer into Jane’s face, lowering his voice to a gentle cadence. “It’s quite simple, my dear. I will have either that document or you. Which shall it be?”

“You will not have Jane.” A cold, deep voice lashed into the growing darkness. “Ever.”


Alexander.

Lydia’s mind registered his presence, his voice, even as her heart refused to believe it. And yet he emerged from the shadows, an ice-cold rage emanating from him.

“Lord Northwood.” Cole raised an eyebrow, his expression wary but unafraid—as if he knew he was the person in control. “Perhaps you’re the one who will prove sensible. The female mind is prone to emotional decisions, I’ve found.”

Alexander moved closer, pulling Jane away from Lydia. He pushed her behind him to shield her from Cole. Without taking his eyes from the other man, he said, “Lydia, the carriage is at the Langley entrance. Take Jane and go.”

Before Lydia could take one step toward her daughter, Cole moved as swift as a wasp, his hand clamping around Lydia’s arm. Jane shrieked.

A gasp stopped in Lydia’s throat, her body tensing to fight. The cold muzzle of a pistol pressed against her neck. Cole pinned her to him and dragged her toward the gallery railing.

“Miss? Miss!”

A flood of workers swarmed the floor below, staring up at the sudden commotion. Several men started up the stairs.

“No one move!” Cole shouted. “No one! I’ll kill her.”

The men froze. Alexander cursed and started forward, but Cole pushed the muzzle harder. Fear swamped Lydia.

Alexander stopped, his muscles bunched with tension beneath his coat. Behind him, Jane looked at Cole wide-eyed, then turned and ran. Relief over her daughter’s escape overwhelmed Lydia’s fear.

“Let her go, Cole.” Alexander held up his hands in a placating gesture. “Whatever amount of money you want, you will have.”

“No.” Lydia flinched. Sweat trickled down her back, Cole’s breath hot and harsh against her ear.

“Who’s worth more to you, Northwood, the girl or Lydia?”

“They are of equal value.”

Cole laughed. “Are they? Suppose I leave Lydia with you? Take Jane with me? I’d have myself quite a trump card, could bring her out any time as the daughter of Viscountess Northwood, the eminent—”

“Stop!”

Cole whirled, turning as Jane hurried along the length of the gallery, her hand outstretched. A piece of paper fluttered in her grasp.

“Let her go.” She thrust the paper toward Cole. “And I’ll give you this.”

Cole stared at the girl, then gave a low laugh. “Perhaps I underestimated your intelligence, Jane. Even among this illustrious group, you might well be the smartest one here.”

He held out a hand to take the paper, but Jane kept it from his reach. Determination hardened her features.

“First release Lydia,” she ordered.

Cole shook his head. “Not until I have the document.”

“How do I know you’ll let her go?”

“You’ll have to trust me. I am your father, after all.”

“No, you are not.”

A vibration of impatience went through Cole’s body. “Give me the paper, Jane,” he snapped.

Jane’s eyes darted to where Alexander stood beside the fire. Lydia’s heart jumped at his sudden movement. He hurled himself forward, his big hand coiling around Lydia’s arm as he tore her from Cole’s grasp.

The gun went off. Lydia stumbled to her knees. Jane screamed. A collective gasp rose from the crowd below, followed by a surge of movement.

Alexander plowed into Cole and slammed him against the gallery railing. The wood fractured and cracked. Cole grunted, swinging his arm back to catch Alexander on the side of the head.

Jane ran to Lydia. The document fell as she gripped Lydia with both hands and tried to drag her away from the brawling men. Lydia pressed a hand to her stomach, her vision blurring. She blinked and tried to focus, tried to…

“The girl!” a man shouted. “Get her away!”

Lydia pushed Jane toward the stranger’s voice. The crowd below seemed to swell and shift like an ocean’s tide.

A sickening thud echoed through the room as Alexander gripped Cole’s collar and shoved him against the railing again. A bloody gash bloomed on Cole’s forehead.

He cursed and kicked his foot upward, catching Alexander hard in the knee. The crack was enough to make Alexander loosen his grip. Cole tore away from him.

The gun. Where was the gun?

Lydia pushed to her feet, desperate, but Cole was advancing, closing in. He grabbed the gun from where it had fallen by the hearth. He swung it up, firing at the men advancing on the stairs, then toward the crowd.

People screamed. Doors slammed open and closed. Footsteps thundered.

Alexander crashed against Cole’s back, bringing him to the ground. The gun went flying. Both men grunted, bones cracking.

Jane darted forward and grabbed the birth certificate. Cole twisted, breaking from Alexander’s grip. He plunged forward and dove for Jane.

Lydia knew what was going to happen before it came to pass. Just as she knew she could do nothing to prevent it.

Horror flooded her as she watched Cole plow into her daughter, breaking through the splintered railing with a thunderous crack.

Unable to stop the forward movement, Cole shoved Jane aside before he crashed through the railing. With a shriek, Jane skidded against the floor as pieces of wood crashed onto the globe display below.

The crowd swarmed in a mass of confusion, shouts and gasps rising.

“Jane!” Alexander yelled.

He lunged for the girl, his hand clamping around her wrist just as she started to slide over the edge. He yanked her to a halt and braced one foot against a post.

Panic swamped Lydia. She stretched to reach for Jane’s other hand and sent up a million prayers of gratitude when her daughter’s fingers closed around hers.

She looked over the edge. Cole had grasped a broken post to prevent himself from falling. Beneath them, a dozen globes gleamed, the round surfaces of earth and sky undulating in the twilight.

Fear and exertion contorted Cole’s features. His legs thrashed in midair. The wood cracked again, jerking him downward.

Alexander and Lydia hauled Jane back to the safety of the gallery. Jane flung herself into Lydia’s arms, sobs tearing from her throat and her body shaking.

Alexander reached his hand to where Cole still hung suspended. Cole’s sheet-white face glistened with sweat. Alexander cursed and stretched farther. Cole released one hand from the post and tried to grab Alexander’s hand. His legs kicked to find purchase. The post splintered with a noise like a fired bullet.

Oh, dear God.

Pressing Jane’s face to her shoulder, Lydia stared down at Cole. His gaze, wide-eyed and panicked, met hers.

The post broke. With a cry, Cole fell, his arms flailing. His head smashed against a massive glass globe, a sickening crash splitting through the hall. Blood sprayed over the clear surface before Cole crumpled to the floor and lay still.

Screams rent the air as chaos erupted below.