Swept Away Read Online Free PDF Page A

ones who thought he was guilty.”
    â€œI don’t know what to believe,” her cousin replied honestly. “I would have said he was one of the most honest and trustworthy men I know. It seems inconceivable that he could have betrayed a trust like that. But the evidence—”
    â€œWas faked!” Julia said flatly. “Someone very carefully set out to make sure that Selby was the one blamed for the disappearance of the money. That someone, I am convinced, was Deverel Grey.”
    â€œLord Stonehaven?” Geoffrey goggled even more. “Really, Julia, if there’s anyone more unlikely than Selby to do such a thing, it is Stonehaven. I never met anyone who was such a stickler about honor and duty.”
    â€œLip service,” Julia told him with an airy wave of her hand. “Phoebe and I have been thinking and talking about this for a long time. The culprit has to be Stonehaven. He discovered it, and he pursued it diligently.”
    â€œWait. I’ve lost the scent. If he had done it, surely he would have wanted to keep it secret.”
    â€œNot when he had put so much time and effort into making it appear that another man had done the deed. He probably realized that someone, the agent or one of the other trustees, would soon begin to question the large expenditures. He had carefully established my brother as the criminal. So he exposed him to the world and whipped up public opinion against him. Selby didn’t stand a chance after that of getting anyone to listen to him. The vigor with which Stonehaven pursued him fairly reeks of malice. Why would he have been so intent on destroying Selby if not for the fact that he was desperately trying to hide the fact that he was the real thief?” Julia gave a decisive nod of her head to underscore her point.
    â€œIt does make a certain sense,” Geoffrey agreed slowly.
    â€œOf course it does! It had to be someone who knew a great deal about Selby and about the trust. It had to be someone with the opportunity to do those things. Since Phoebe and I know that it was not Selby, then it is obvious that the real culprit must be the one who worked so hard to lay the blame on Selby—Stonehaven.”
    â€œBut how? Why? Stonehaven is a very wealthy man, you know. He wouldn’t need to steal money from St. Leger’s trust.”
    â€œSo everyone thinks,” Julia replied darkly. “Who really knows about another man’s finances? Don’t you see? That is precisely why I need to talk to Lord Stonehaven. I need to discover the reasons, the means.”
    â€œDo you think he will simply tell you?” Geoffrey assumed a falsetto voice. “‘Oh, Lord Stonehaven, do tell, did you embezzle forty thousand pounds from young Thomas’s trust?”’ He lowered his voice to a gravelly pitch. “‘Why, yes, dear lady, I did. I’m so sorry that you asked, for of course I could not lie.”’
    Julia grimaced. “You know I’m capable of being much more deceptive than that. Maybe I won’t be able to get him to confess, but surely I can get enough information out of him that I will be able to figure it out.”
    â€œHow can you possibly deceive him when everyone knows you are Selby’s sister?”
    â€œAh, but very few people in London know who I am. And, of course, I shall give Lord Stonehaven a false name.”
    â€œOf course,” Geoffrey murmured. “I should have realized….”
    â€œPlease, Geoffrey…” Julia put on her most winsome expression. “Tell me that you will help me. Say you’ll escort me to Madame Beauclaire’s. That’s all you will have to do. You don’t have to stay with me or see me home or anything. I’ll take care of all the rest.”
    â€œI can’t just abandon you there. I shall have to escort you home.”
    â€œThat’s not much,” Julia noted.
    Geoffrey sighed. “You always make