In Bed with a Rogue

She drew her hand back to strike Cora again, but Mr. White lunged and caught her arm. His shock had given way to outrage, and he spoke through gritted teeth. “Mother, if you ever raise a hand to my wife again, you will be tossed on the streets.”

Mrs. White gawked. Her lips moved, but no sound came. She struggled free of his hold. “How can you take her side? Didn’t you hear what she said about you?”

He smiled apologetically at Cora and rubbed the back of his neck. “I am old, at least in comparison to my wife. And it is true I chose her and not the other way around. I cannot fault her for speaking the truth.”

“Oh, Thomas.” Tears filled Cora’s eyes, and she flung herself into his arms, burying her face against his chest. “I didn’t mean it. I’m so sorry. You aren’t too old. You are decent and kind. And the best husband. I do not deserve you.”

She burst into sobs. Helena didn’t know what to make of her sister’s display. As Mr. White stroked her hair and whispered soothing words, Helena began to fidget. She felt like a voyeur and retreated to a respectful distance at the edge of the room with Sebastian and Fergus. Fergus shifted his weight from foot to foot, appearing as uncomfortable as she did, but Sebastian watched the exchange with his keen gaze.

“Ask her what she has done,” Mrs. White said. “Ask her how much money she owes that blackguard, Zachary.”

Mr. White drew Cora under his arm and fished a handkerchief from his pocket. “Whatever Cora has done, it is none of your concern. We will sort it out between us.”

“You stupid man. It is my concern. If she loses the roof over our heads, where will I go? And the embarrassment she will bring on this family… You are as hopeless as your father.” Mrs. White yanked the tie holding her cloak together and slipped it off her shoulders.

Sebastian stiffened, his eyes darkening. “I know you. You were the woman at Vauxhall.”

Cora’s mother-in-law balked. “Y-you are mistaken. I have been here all night.”

Fergus held the lantern aloft, squinting in her direction. “You were there, all right. And in a mighty rush to make the ferry once you bumped into us.”

Mr. White’s forehead wrinkled. “Do you know what they are talking about?” he asked Cora. She lifted the letter from the table and passed it to him. He scanned the page, then lowered it, his lips thinning. “You weren’t coming to retrieve me from the tavern just now, Mother. You were arriving home after extorting money from Lady Prestwick. What has gotten into you?”

His mother looked down her nose at him. “I never took a shilling from the lady. She wasn’t going to meet my demands, so I did the next best thing for this family.” She shoved her hand into a pocket sewn into her cloak, pulled out a stack of pound notes, and shook them at Cora. “I am saving my son and grandchildren from ruin. The Informer pays well for wicked little secrets. Enough to hold Zachary at bay for now.”

The Informer? The floor tilted beneath Helena and her legs wobbled. Sebastian wrapped his arm around her to bear her weight and helped her to a chair.

“Helena!” Cora’s eyes were wide as she hurried to her side. Her sister’s voice sounded far away.

“I am all right.” Except she wasn’t. All her dreams were crumbling around her. Her wish to give their youngest sister a respectable life vanished. Her own reputation would be shattered the moment The Informer went to print. The room blurred as tears welled in her eyes. And Sebastian couldn’t marry her now, not without ruining his family and himself.

Cora spun on her mother-in-law. “You bitch,” she hissed. “No one disrespects my sister. Get out of my house.”

“I am not leaving. I live here, too.”

With a low growl deep in her throat, Cora pounced, but her husband caught her around the waist and lifted her feet from the floor. She shook her fist at the older woman. “I said get out.”

“Quiet,” Mr. White snapped. “Both of you. Cora, sit and don’t say another word.”

He set her down and Helena’s sister did as he commanded, hatred blazing in her eyes as she glared at Mrs. White.