Corey McFadden by Deception at Midnight Read Free Book Online Page A

man, after all.” Claire ran a fond hand through John’s light brown curls. “Maude may well acquiesce,” she continued. “After all, she will be able to stay here. Nothing will change. Perhaps you might agree to leave her alone after you get a son on her. You’ll be tired of her by then, anyway. It might suit her quite well to choose the status quo over an unknown.
    “Besides”—Claire could not refrain from smirking—“I hope you do not think I have been foolish enough to let her know the real state of her affairs. The chit knows nothing except what I tell her, and that, you may be sure, is precious little. No, I propose that you shall tell her she has very little in the way of assets, that my family money has subsidized the running of Romney Manor all these years....”
    They both laughed; Claire’s own family had had nothing and Jack Burwell had been nothing if not a wastrel.
    “Tell her that you’ll assume all the financial responsibilities, that she must take a husband to save the manor. She will have to agree to wed you. And if she refuses, well, I have a plan to force her consent. It will involve a bit of...coercion”—Claire almost purred with pleasure—“but in the end she will have to agree. She will have no alternative.”
     Claire was enjoying this indeed. It was the perfect plan—involving pleasure for her precious John and pain for the hated Maude. She would best that brat once and for all. All these years, all the indignities of Mr. Parsons, all the shuffling of entries, and the dodging of James’s occasional inquiries when he emerged, as he could do unexpectedly from time to time from his alcoholic stupor, would end. Everything would be hers, or at least hers through John, who would raise no objection to Claire’s suggestion that she continue to keep the household accounts. Her dear son would, indeed, be grateful to her for keeping his bills paid and sparing him the necessity of seeing to the books.
    And the solicitors would be terminated upon Maude’s marriage. It was up to the husband, after all, to select his legal representatives. No more “small percentage” for the opportunistic Mr. Parsons. No more fear that Mr. Booth or Mr. Parks, the senior members of the firm, would choose one day to delve more deeply into the actual accounts.
    Best of all, no more sleepless nights about a full accounting to an unfriendly husband upon Maude’s marriage, a husband who might want to know where every shilling of his wife’s and now his estate had gone since her parents’ deaths. Mr. Parsons had been able to fob off his near-senile senior partners for years with regard to this relatively minor estate. But Claire was under no illusions as to what a careful audit by interested parties would reveal of her stewardship.
    “What precisely did you have in mind for coercion, Mama?” John asked, clearly more than interested now. “I daresay that might be more, ah, entertaining than a simple acquiescence. Besides, you know our dear Maudie; she never takes the easy way out.”
    Claire’s mouth twisted in anger. “How well I know that. The chit has thwarted me for years. She ruined my plans at the beginning of the Season to make Amelia the wife of the Earl of Radford with her spying interference.”
    John just rolled his eyes. He had told his mother he thought that the plan to entrap the earl was overly ambitious, knowing of Radford’s reputation as a savvy, formidable player among the gentleman of the ton . But he had not risked angering Amelia or his mother with an “I told you so.”
    “My plan is extraordinarily simple, precious,” Claire continued. “It merely involves a short seduction on your part, although to be more accurate, perhaps I should say ‘rape’.” Claire laughed, a low, self-satisfied ripple. “Do you think you could manage a little deflowering, my dear, all in the family, so to speak?”
    John’s grin was positively lascivious. “You need not fear my abilities, Mama. I