Read Online Six Degrees of Scandal by Caroline Linden - Free Book Online Page B

a far darker picture. Whether Henry was coldhearted or simply feckless, Jamie couldn’t tell, but there was no question that the man had left his wife penniless and at the mercy of a dangerous man.
    The greater question was why. Thanks to Atherton, Jamie thought he knew the answer, but he would need Olivia’s help to prove it.
    â€œAre you ready to talk about Clary?” he asked gently.
    She shoved back her chair and leapt to her feet, bending over the fireplace grate to check the warming slice of pie. She brought it back to the table and took her time arranging her cutlery and refilling both mugs of tea, even though his was almost untouched. “I don’t suppose I can persuade you that this is not your problem and you have no obligation to get involved,” she said at last.
    â€œRubbish.” He leaned toward her. “He tried to kill my sister. Do you honestly believe I’d walk away and let him try the same to you?”
    She flinched again at the mention of Clary’s attempt on Penelope’s life. James didn’t care. He was relieved beyond measure that his sister and her husband were both alive and well, but he felt, deep in his bones, that Clary wouldn’t leave things to chance if he got his hands on Olivia again. Pushing Penelope overboard had probably been an impulse when she refused to answer his questions. Olivia, though . . . Whatever the man wanted from her, he was willing to risk everything to get it.
    â€œYou once trusted me,” he went on. “I came for no other reason than to help you, as one friend to another.”
    â€œI know.” She paused as if struggling for words. “I would never forgive myself if anything happened to you because you tried to help me, though.”
    â€œThen you know how I feel,” he replied. “Should I step back and let you bear all the risk? Could I forgive myself if I did nothing and Clary did you a great harm? No. Besides . . .” He winked, trying to lessen the tension. “Atherton told me things that may help us put the noose around Clary’s neck. Don’t forget that: I’m not just offering my manly brawn but also useful intelligence.”
    Slowly she smiled. As it always had, it made him want to smile back. There was something about Olivia’s face that changed when she smiled; it was the spark of humor in her eyes, or perhaps the endearing little quirk to the left corner of her mouth, or even the way her chin went down a bit. Whatever it was, it had entranced him for nearly twenty years, and still did. “How could I resist such an offer?”
    â€œOf course you can’t,” he agreed with a straight face. “No one could.”
    She ducked her head and poked her dinner with her fork, but the smile lingered. “What can I tell you? You may know more than I do.”
    â€œWhat does Clary want from you?”
    â€œI don’t know,” she said. Jamie cocked one brow and she flushed. “Well—yes, I thought I knew what he wanted, originally. After Henry died, Lord Clary was almost kind. He offered to help sort out Henry’s affairs, see that debts were paid, and so on. I had Mr. Brewster—Henry’s London solicitor—so I assured Lord Clary that I was content to leave things in Mr. Brewster’s competent hands.”
    She put down her fork and folded her hands in her lap. “Then his lordship offered me otherthings: his box at the theater, his carriage if I ever needed one.” She hesitated. “When he wishes to be, Clary can be almost charming, in a rather overbearing way. But eventually he must have got tired of his offers being refused. He called on me one day and made a blunt proposition: he wanted me to be his mistress. He offered a house in St. John’s Wood, a staff of servants, credit at the finest shops . . .”
    Jamie eyed his pistol and somehow kept his mouth shut. How could Olivia not have told someone Clary was harassing