Demetria's gaze followed that of her companion. "And who is your little friend, Chillhurst? The on dit is that you are living with her in a house in Ibberton Street. But I refused to credit that tale, too. So unlike you to become involved in a liaison of that sort."
"Lady Beaumont, Lady Kirkdale, allow me to present my wife," Jared's voice was as unruffled as ever but there was a clear warning in the otherwise unreadable glance he gave Olympia.
My wife.
Olympia became aware of the fact that her mouth had fallen open. She promptly closed it and pulled herself together to face the crisis. It had been her idea, after all, to claim that she and Jared were married in the event that they were questioned by anyone who knew him. Jared's reputation was at stake.
The poor man was only following her instructions. She had no choice but to support him.
"How do you do?" Olympia said briskly.
"How absolutely fascinating." Demetria surveyed Olympia as if she were one of the exhibits on display in the museum. "What a stunning surprise. So Chillhurst has at long last done his duty by his title and found himself a viscountess."
Chapter 10
"Viscount?" Olympia stalked into her study a half hour later. She whisked off her bonnet and whirled around to confront Jared. It was the first time she had been alone with him since the scene in the mechanical museum. She was simmering with outrage. "You're a viscount?"
"I regret that you had to learn the truth under such circumstances, Olympia." Jared closed the door and locked it. He stood with his back to it and faced her with the same grim, enigmatic expression he had been wearing since he had introduced her as his wife. "I'm well aware that you are entitled to an explanation."
"I should think so. I am your employer, Mr. Chillhurst." Olympia scowled. "I mean, my lord. Whatever. Damnation. It would appear that I should have insisted upon references, after all. I suppose you did not produce any for my uncle, did you?"
"Ah, not as such," Jared murmured. "No. I'm afraid not. He did not request any, you see."
"He hired you as a tutor for my household and he did not ask to see your references?" Olympia demanded in disbelief.
"He did not actually hire me as a tutor," Jared said evenly.
"This grows worse by the moment. What, precisely, did he hire you to do, my lord?"
"He did not hire me to do anything. He asked me to do him the favor of escorting his shipment of goods to Upper Tudway." Jared looked at her. "A task I carried out very well, if I may say so."
"Rubbish." Olympia tossed the bonnet onto the sofa and went around behind her desk. She always felt strong and secure when she was sitting behind her desk, she reflected. She dropped down onto her chair and glowered at Jared. "Let me have the rest of the story, if you please, sir. I grow tired of playing the unwitting fool in this scene."
Something flickered briefly in Jared's single-eyed gaze. It might have been pain or it might have been anger. Olympia could not be certain. Whatever it was it sent a chill down her spine.
Jared sat down slowly, stretched out his booted feet and rested his elbows on the arms of the mahogany chair. He touched the tips of his fingers together and regarded her with his brooding gaze. "It's a somewhat complicated matter."
"Do not concern yourself with the complexity of the business." Olympia smiled, telling herself she could be calm and cool, too. "I feel certain I am intelligent enough to grasp the essentials."
Jared's mouth hardened. "No doubt. Very well, where shall I begin?"
"At the beginning, of course. Tell me why you are masquerading as a tutor in my household."
Jared hesitated, apparently searching for words. "Everything I told you about meeting your uncle was true, Olympia. We encountered each other in France and I agreed to escort the shipment of goods to you."
"Why did you bother with the task if you were not seeking a position as a tutor?"
"The Lightbourne diary," Jared said simply.
For the second time that day Olympia's mouth fell open in shock. "The diary? You knew about it?"
"Yes. I, too, have been pursuing it."
"Good grief." Olympia felt as if the very breath had been knocked out of her. She sat back in her chair and tried to think quickly. "Of course. That explains everything."
"Not quite."
"You were on the trail of the diary but Uncle Artemis got to it first so you arranged to meet him. Am I correct thus far?"
"Yes." Jared began to drum his fingers together. "However—"
"You soon realized the diary was stowed in the shipment of goods that was on its way to me. So you found a way to accompany the shipment."
Jared inclined his head. "Your cleverness never ceases to amaze me, Olympia."
She tried to ignore the compliment. This was no time to be swept off her feet by honeyed words from the man she loved. She had to remember that Jared had deliberately deceived her. "Once you arrived in this household, you found a way to stay. You apparently realized at once that I needed a tutor."
"Your uncle put the notion into my head," Jared admitted. "He said you had already been through three tutors in six months."
"So you took advantage of the opportunity to stay close to the Lightbourne diary."
Jared studied the wall above her head. "I realize that appears to be the reason I deceived you."
"I suppose you feared you could not decipher it, yourself, so you wanted to see if I could untangle the secrets of the legend for you."
"I know it looks that way."
Olympia frowned in thought. "What drew you to the diary, Mr. Chillhurst? I mean, your lordship."
"Jared will do," he said quietly. "The reason I was searching for the diary when I met your uncle is that it belongs in my family." He shrugged slightly. "So does the treasure, if, indeed, it actually exists."
Olympia froze. "What do you mean, it belongs in your family?"
"Claire Lightbourne was my great-grandmother."
"Never say so." Olympia nearly fell off her chair. "Your great-grandmother? A countess? But there is no reference to a title in the diary."
"She married Jack Ryder when he was still plain Captain Jack. He did not become the Earl of Flamecrest until several years after he returned to England from the West Indies. The family does not like to discuss the matter, but the truth is, he more or less bought the title."
"Good heavens."
"It was not all that difficult to buy a title in those days," Jared said mildly. "It only required a great deal of money and influence. Jack Ryder had both."
"Yes, of course." Olympia remembered some of the entries she had skimmed over in the diary. Jack Ryder had come back from the West Indies a rich man. He had amassed even greater wealth after he had settled down in England.
"After securing the Flamecrest title," Jared continued, "my great-grandfather acquired a second title, that of the Viscount Chillhurst, which is used by the Flamecrest heir. In this instance, myself."
Olympia was reeling from the unrelenting series of shocks. "You're heir to an earldom. Your great-grandfather was Claire Lightbourne's Mr. Ryder." Claire's beloved Mr. Ryder, Olympia thought.
"Yes."
My beloved Mr. Chillhurst.
Olympia's spirits were plunging deeper into despair with every passing revelation. She reminded herself that she had known from the beginning that she would not be able to have her Mr. Chillhurst around for very long. Still, there was no denying that deep inside she had hoped to have him with her for longer than a few short weeks.
Her dream was ending much too soon. Too soon. She had to find a way to save it even if she could only have it for a little while longer.
And what about Jared, she thought with a growing sense of desperation. She could not bring herself to believe that their shared passion meant nothing to him, that he had deceived her even as he took her into his arms. Perhaps he did not love her, but he wanted her. She was almost certain of it.