Page 6 of The Duke of Deceit

“Inanyaspect, you mean.”

“Yes,” she mumbled, feeling a twinge of guilt, “that, too.”

But her plan to force Lucien Grenier, Duke of Crewe, to marry her sister by attacking his black reputationwasworking. It was only a matter of time until Jess presented terms of surrender and saved Amanda. A slow smile curled her lips, and she struck out the second item.

2. Give Coins to the Poor.

At that very moment, her footman John was handing out pennies to beggars and the elderly in front of the steps of St Paul’s. Then, he would make his way to Chelsea and complete the third item for the day—

3. Send Donation to the Pensioners.

When John presented the banknotes to the hospital’s director, he would also hand over a note that Jess had scrawled out in heavy masculine handwriting which gushed admiration for the Pensioners and gratitude for their years of service. Oh, Jess wouldn’t go so far as to ever sign a name to the note. Blackmailing Crewe into marrying Amanda was one thing; she wasn’t mad enough to commit forgery. But it was clear in the carefully worded message who was behind the anonymous donation, the same man who was behind all the other good deeds she’d committed on his behalf during the past week…

Lucien Grenier, Duke of Crewe.

The same blackguard who had ruined her sister.

“She wouldn’t like it if she knew what you were doing,” Auntie scolded gently as she finally set down her knitting and reached for the cup of tea cooling on the little table at her elbow. “She’d be absolutely mortified.”

Which was why Jess hadn’t told her. She loved Amanda. She would do anything to protect her younger sister and give her the respectable, secure life she deserved. Even if she had to do it behind her back.

She frowned down at her list to gauge her progress. Her plan to destroy the Duke of Crewe’s black reputation by turning him good wasn’t a cheap one by any means, and even these few days of instituting it had depleted most of the savings she had earned from her artwork. But she had no choice. She had to hit Crewe where it hurt most—his blackguard’s pride. Crewe’s dark reputation meant the world to him, and she was certain hewould do anything to defend it, including leg-shackling himself to a wife.

It was the only way Jess knew to force him to marry Amanda.

“A little embarrassment now saves her from a lifetime of scandal later,” Jess reminded Matilda. “Which is why she went to stay with cousin Maeve in Ireland for her confinement.”

Jess chewed her bottom lip. If Jess’s plan didn’t work, then Amanda might never be able to come home to London. Even then, she would have to leave her baby behind and pretend she’d never been a mother. It was what too many women had to do when they found themselves the victims of love—or just plain lust.

What Jess couldn’t understand was how Amanda could have fallen in love with a scoundrel like Lucien Grenier in the first place. Enough to let him take her innocence anyway, because her sister would never have given herself to a man she didn’t love.

Apparently, love was blind. And utterly unfathomable.

With a hard breath, she pushed herself away from the desk and crossed to the window to stare out at the street. The irony wasn’t lost on her that she’d stood in the exact same spot last month when Amanda left London.

“Are you certain about this man?” Matilda asked against the brim of her tea cup.

Jess darted a glance in her aunt’s direction. “Are you suggesting that Amanda lied to me about what happened?”

“Of course not! Amanda is a dear, sweet, and wonderful girl who would never intentionally lie.” Matilda paused thoughtfully to consider her words. “But not telling the complete truth isn’t exactly lying. After all, if you’re keeping from her what you’re doing to Crewe, then perhaps—justperhaps—she didn’t tell you the full truth of what happened to her either.”

Amanda didn’t have to tell her. Jess had witnessed the incident with her own eyes. Well, theendof the incident anyway.Jess had gone looking for her sister in Lady Hawthorne’s garden the night of the ball, ducked beneath the bower, and found herself in the darkness with Amanda and the most despicable, rotten, selfish beast Lucifer had ever created—who had her sister’s skirts hiked up around her waist.

How Amanda had kept from crying, Jess would never know. Just as she would never know how she herself had kept from murdering the blackguard right there in the rose bower.

But Amanda had insisted Jess not make a scene, that they both return immediately to the party and ignore Crewe, who simply leaned back against the bower post. He had casually crossed his arms, amused by the whole thing, as if being caught compromising an unmarried miss was an everyday occurrence. Knowing him, it probably was.

She did as Amanda asked, and they returned to the ball, where they pretended that absolutely nothing had happened. There were no other witnesses to the event, and Jess was certain they’d managed to escape scandal and ruin.

Until the following month, when Amanda missed her courses.

Jess had wanted to confront Crewe right then and force him to marry her sister by special license—at gunpoint, if necessary—but Amanda refused. She was too embarrassed by what had happened and didn’t want to scandalize herself further by approaching Crewe directly. She’d begged Jess not to force her to speak to Crewe, finally agreeing after all kinds of arguments with Jess to send him a letter instead. Jess wanted her to demand that the disgraceful devil take full responsibility for his actions and marry her immediately, but Amanda—perhaps wisely—decided to take a more nuanced approach to the situation. Or at least, she said she did. Jess never saw the letter her sister posted.

But the next day, Amanda showed her his reply, comprised of a single word—

No.

“That rakehell ruined her and doesn’t care that he did,” Jess reminded her aunt as she stared at the exact spot on the street where Amanda had climbed into the rented carriage that took her to the George Inn in Southwark. There, she met up with Mr. and Mrs. Thomason, who graciously agreed to let her travel with them to Dublin. They thought she was going to Ireland to help their cousin Maeve with her confinement, not having any idea of the true situation or who was actually helping whom. “He doesn’t care that he’s destroyed her life, or that he left her devastated and humiliated. He doesn’t care at all about her feelings.”