Part 34 (2/2)
”I also don't deny a selfish motive.” He let silence fall until Liam was looking at him again. ”I love Caroline. I want her happinessa”and yours. I learned long ago that the end does sometimes justify the means.”
”That sounds more like the Peregrine Sinclair I know.”
”But how little we do know each other. How little we know ourselves.” He forced himself to focus on the issue at hand. ”Let me dispense with the tong business first. It was when I learned of the carriage mishap that I realized there was more going on than our disagreement over Carolinea””
Liam sat up against the pillows. ”How did you learn about it? Only Chen and Forster knewa””
”And both are loyal to you. But I do have experience in getting information, old man, as you discovered when you investigated my past.” He saluted Liam with two fingers to his temple. ”You were good at unearthing matters I'd thought buried. But I was the best at what I did for the mother country.”
”You were a d.a.m.ned spy and hireda””
”We're speaking of the present, not my past.” He leaned back in the chair again, ignoring the sting of memories he'd put behind him. ”Following the incident at Cliff House, I came to Sacramento Street fully intending to have it out with you. But the accident persuaded me it would not be the right timea”and also convinced me that someone meant you ill. When Forster saw me on your grounds he advised me to leave, since he'd overheard you threaten to kill me. I thought it best to lie low and see what I could learn about the true villains of the piece.”
”And made yourself the most conspicuous suspect.”
Perry shrugged. ”It was a risk I had to take. I'd already lost your trust. And I was reasonably certain at that point that you would not ask Caroline to marry you until her birthday, because I knew you did not truly wish to marry her at all. I had nearly two weeks in which to investigate.”
Liam looked away. ”Wiser than G.o.d himself, aren't you?”
”No,” Perry said softly. ”Not always wise. But I didn't want to see you dead, Liam. I already knew about your work with the slave girlsa”yes, I made it my business to know all you did, for Caroline's sake. It didn't take me long to realize that the tongs and their outside supporters had decided to riska dealing with you. They'd lost too much business and too much money on the girls you'd rescued. They arranged the accident as a warning. If you died in the process, all the better.”
”Your resignation from active service was a great loss to the queen.”
”Thank you. Once I knew the nature of the threat, I set about contacting the tong lords in question and offering my services to them. As your friend, I had access to you that they did not. I offered to get rid of you for a portion of their profits in the slave trade. They saw the benefit of having one outsider take care of another; less risk of police interference that way. The boss couldn't pa.s.s up the opportunity. I told them they mustn't take any more action until I was ready.”
”And they believed you.”
Perry grimaced. ”Apparently not enough, since they planned to kill us both in the end. In any event, I knew you would almost certainly propose to Caroline the night of the ball, so I came disguised and spoke to Rose about how we might prevent it. I'd learned of your raid for the following night, so I warned the tongs and then set an anonymous message to Chen that the tongs knew of it. As I hoped, you moved the raid to that very eveninga””
”d.a.m.n you,” Liam said, pus.h.i.+ng forward as if to rise. Only physical weakness held him down. ”You were the informant. They were ready for us when we went that nighta””
”Yes. I'm not proud of that miscalculation. Apparently my warning put the tongs doubly on guard. I am sorry.”
”Be sorry for the girls we couldn't save.”
Shame was not an accustomed emotion to Perry, but it was one he'd begun to learn. Love did that to a man. ”I shall make up for that,” he said evenly, ”in time. The next morning I learned of your expected rendezvous with Caroline at the Poodle Dog, and saw to it that the invitation she received was altered.”
”You sent Mac in her place.”
Liam's coldness belied the concern he'd shown earlier for Rose. Perry wondered how much he'd underestimated the threat to Liam's pride. ”It was my idea, Liama”don't blame her. You see, she couldn't accept that I'd tried to kill you, however little her faith in me seems justified. But she was worried about youa”deeply.”
That gave Liam pause, enough that Perry felt a renewal of hope. If the man had his eyes opened to the chance he had right in front of hima ”You made sure Caroline walked in on us,” Liam said.
”I did. But Rose didn't know that was part of my plan.”
”And what about the drugged wine?”
Ah. There was no avoiding this confession. Perry wrapped indifference around himself and spoke without a trace of emotion. ”That was an errora”an overeager waiter in my employ. If Mac hadn't succeeded in winning your interest, I determined to get you out of harm's way. I could only delay the tongs for so long, and I knew they meant to kill you eventually, whatever the risks.”
”You put Mac at risk. She almost drank it.”
There was more dangerous anger in Liam now than at any time before. Another hopeful sign.
”The drug would only have rendered you both unconscious. I have connections in this city and beyond that you know nothing about. I could have spirited both you and Rose to a safe place, long enough to convince Caroline you were not truly interested in her, and the tongs that you were no longer a threat. I would never have harmed either one of you, Liam.”
He only stared at Perry as if he wished he were on his feet and capable of knocking his former partner to the floor. ”If Mac had been harmeda”” But he caught himself and was satisfied to twist his sheets into tortured b.a.l.l.s between his fingers.
”And was Mei Ling's kidnapping also your idea, Perry?”
”No. The tongs knew you'd come if they abducted her. I took full advantage of the trap. I told them I'd have a carriage to get you out of Chinatown when you came to rescue Mei Ling, and all their problems would be solved.”
”And you thought you had everything so well controlled that no one would be hurt? Not Chen, not Mei Ling?”
”It was a risk, but I did what I could to minimize it. Did you wonder why it was so easy to free Mei Ling and hold off the hatchetmen until she and her uncle escaped? I did what I could without betraying myself. When it was apparent they might kill you, it was necessary to hit you in order to a.s.sure them of my sincerity.”
”And what if you had got me away?”
”I would have gone through with your 'disappearance,' at least until matters with the tongs had cooled. Quite a moot point now, since they know I betrayed them.” Perry rose and walked halfway across the room. ”I doubt the tongs will feel comfortable making any further attempts on either one of us, given the renewed police interest in their activities. Nevertheless, I think a change of scenery might be advisable for the players in the game.”
”Is that all it ever was to you, Perry? A game?”
Strangely enough, that accusation hurt more than any of the others. ”It was never a joy to me, Liama”not here, and not in England. I would like nothing better than to settle into a quite uneventful life with the woman I love.”
Liam's eyes were empty of emotion. ”How can I trust you with her?”
”Perhaps it would help to tell you that I'm not the fortune hunter you feared. A rather large family breach was recently healed, and I've been welcomed back to the bosom of the Sinclairs. I came into a nice sum of money, old mana”enough to support Caroline comfortably without dipping into her funds in the foreseeable future.” He paused, smiling wryly. ”It is something your mana”Mr. Bauer, is it not?a”can confirm easily enough.”
”How long have you known?”
”Only for a week, but by then there was little point in telling you of it. There were more pressing matters to deal with. Given the current situation, I wish to take Carolinea”properly chaperoned, of coursea”to England to meet my brother. He was always the most decent of my immediate family, and she would enjoy the travel.”
Liam was quiet for a long time. ”Mac always trusted you,” he said at last. ”But you used her as well.”
”I doubt anyone can use Miss MacKenzie without her cooperation. She's a very bright girl, though one might question her taste.”
Liam's gaze locked on his with a strange, burning ferocity. ”What do you mean?”
”Do you know what she told me when she first approached me? That she wanted to help me, and all she wanted in return was you. Not your money, but you. Now I'm inclined to think she was telling the truth all along.”
”Truth? What is the truth in any of this?”
”I've learned one thing in my varied career, old man, and that's that there is no one truth. Each man must find his own.”
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