“Probably not, but I have to try.”
“Gideon, he has money invested in these rifles. If he doesn’t sell them, he’ll lose that money. Don’t forget, he just lost fifty thousand dollars, too. He really needs this deal to go through, so if you ruin our plan, he’ll just go out and find someone else to buy them, someone else who also won’t care that they might kill some poor American soldiers. Do you want that on your conscience?”
“Of course not!”
“Then let him sell his rifles to my general. If you do, I swear to you, no American soldier will ever even see one. It’s the only way to make sure of it.”
He got up and ran his fingers through his hair, then strode to the fireplace, where he braced his hands on the mantel and glared into the fire. Elizabeth followed him.
“You know it’s the right thing to do, Gideon. You can prevent him from hurting any soldiers and you can punish him for killing Marjorie. That’s the only justice he will ever get.”
When he raised his head, his eyes were bleak. “That’s ironic, you lecturing me on doing the right thing.”
Stung, she lifted her chin in defiance. “You can’t cheat an honest man, Gideon. Everyone I’ve ever conned knew he was doing something illegal and did it willingly.”
“And how many men have you conned, Miss Miles?”
She couldn’t claim just one. “A . . . a few.”
He turned to face her. “Am I one of them?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Did you fool me about who you really are? Because I knew you were different the first time I set eyes on you. You’re not like any other woman I’ve ever known, and I guess that’s why I wanted you beyond all reason.”
Her breath caught on something jagged in her chest, and her eyes stung with tears she dared not shed. She couldn’t grieve for something that was never really hers, and though it broke her heart to do it, she said, “I’m not like any other woman, Gideon. I’m everything you hate.”
“No,” he said, reaching for her. “No, you’re not.”
“I know I’m early, but . . . Oh dear!” Anna said as Gideon jerked away and Elizabeth turned guiltily to face her.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
For a very long moment, the three of them stared at each other, frozen in place. Then Gideon muttered, “Excuse me,” and hurried out before either woman could manage a word.
Elizabeth laid a hand over her heart and realized she was trembling.
“What was going on in here?” Anna asked. “And don’t tell me nothing again.”
No, not nothing. Not at all. “Would you close the door?” she asked, making her unsteady way to the nearest chair. The servants didn’t have to overhear whatever explanation she could manage to give Anna.
Anna closed the door and hurried over to where Elizabeth sat. “I knew it. How silly of me to think David was my rival. You’re in love with Gideon, aren’t you?”
“Don’t be ridiculous!”
“Of course you deny it.” Anna grinned with delight. “And he’s in love with you, too. Of course he is. You’re irresistible.”
“Stop it, Anna. I’m engaged to your brother, remember?”
“But you have no intention of marrying him, and now I know why. But poor Gideon, he must be in agony. He’s far too honorable to betray his oldest friend, although I think he was awfully close to it when I came in just now. Does he know about Thornton? And why you’re engaged to David in the first place?”
“No, and I’m not going to tell him.” That last part was true, at least.
“Good. I won’t be the only one pining for you.”
“Don’t be silly, Anna. Gideon isn’t pining for me.”
“You’re the one being silly if you expect me to believe that. He was just about to take you in his arms, wasn’t he? If I’d been five minutes later, who knows what I would’ve interrupted.”
Elizabeth didn’t bother to stifle her groan as she rubbed her aching temples. How had everything gotten so out of hand? For a second or two, she considered telling Anna that Gideon knew what was going on, but then she realized Gideon knew far more than Anna did. She couldn’t take a chance on the two of them comparing stories and discovering those stories hardly matched at all. “It doesn’t matter.”
“What doesn’t matter?” Anna asked eagerly, taking a seat across from Elizabeth.
“None of it. Whether Gideon is . . .” She gestured helplessly, unwilling to say the words.
“Besotted?” Anna supplied.
“Or not. Nothing is going to come of it.”
“You don’t know Gideon as well as I do.”
“You forget, I’m leaving the city as soon as this is over.”
“Do you think Gideon will just let you disappear?”
“He won’t have a choice.”
Anna gave her a pitying look. “Elizabeth, if I thought there was a chance you’d love me back, I’d follow you to the ends of the earth.”
Elizabeth wanted to weep, but tears weren’t going to help anything. “Oh, Anna, I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. I’ve done my grieving, and I’m happy to be your friend. But you do need to know Gideon isn’t going to give you up without a fight.”
Was Anna right? And did that mean he wouldn’t betray her to Thornton? Did his desire for her outweigh his blasted principles? “Even if it means he’s betraying his best friend?”
“Oh, I expect you’ll be breaking your engagement to David soon enough, and the moment you do . . .” Anna patted her heart and assumed an expression of rapture. “And in the meantime, just tell me what I can do to help.”
Help? No one could help now. If, by some miracle, Gideon decided not to warn Thornton, she’d still have to disappear when this was over, because Thornton would want revenge even more. She’d have enough money to travel around the world if she wanted to. The thought should have been exciting. Instead, she wanted to weep again. If only she could stay right here and still disappear . . .
“Anna, I just thought of something you can do. You’d have to be very, very brave.”
Anna leaned forward eagerly. “Tell me what it is. You know I’d do anything at all for you.”
“You may change your mind when you hear what it is.”
But Anna shook her head. “I won’t change my mind. I’d die for you, my friend.”
Elizabeth didn’t think she really meant it, but she said, “It’s harder than that.”
? ? ?
After his encounter with Elizabeth, Gideon threw on his coat and left the house, knowing only that he had to get away from her so he could think clearly. Eventually, he found himself at his office and decided that was as good a place to think as any. He shut himself in and paced until he collapsed into his chair in exhaustion, still no closer to a decision than he’d been before.
If he really wanted Elizabeth, he only had to tell David what he’d learned about her this morning. Surely, finding out that his fiancée was a liar and a thief would be enough for David to instantly break the engagement. But if it was, wasn’t it also enough to prevent Gideon from wanting anything further to do with the duplicitous Miss Elizabeth Miles?