“That might not be a bad idea,” he muttered.
The small hairs rose on the back of her neck. “Excuse me?”
Even from several feet away Mac could feel Perry’s intensity—an almost palpable aura she usually associated only with Liam.
Determination. Tenacity. Ruthlessness.
“You didn’t disappear just to make it easier on me,” Mac said. “We were supposed to work together on this. If I don’t know what you have in mind—”
“I have in mind to stop Caroline from marrying Liam,” he said. “And I’m afraid it has become necessary to take more drastic measures to assure it doesn’t happen.”
There was a flat certainty in his words that chilled Mac through the layers of stifling gown, though she’d been thinking along the exact same lines. “Why now?” she asked.
He touched his upper lip, and Mac realized with a shock that he’d shaved his mustache. “I told you that Liam was planning to propose on her birthday. After tonight he’ll no longer have control over her fortune, but he wields enough authority and influence over Caroline that I fear she will accept him.”
“Then why didn’t you take the risk of asking her yourself?”
“She isn’t ready.” Perry paused to observe Liam and Caroline dancing—watching with an almost frightening concentration, as if he could reach out and pluck Caroline from Liam’s arms by sheer force of will. “The situation is delicately balanced. To push the issue now would play into Liam’s hands. She needs time.”
“Which we don’t have.”
“The carriage accident complicated matters considerably—”
“Carriage accident?” Mac interrupted. “What are you talking about?”
“The Beautiful Blue Danube” rolled by uninterrupted for several excruciating seconds.
“Then Liam didn’t tell you?” Perry said. “I shouldn’t be surprised. I knew you weren’t in the surrey when the accident occurred, but—”
Mac closed the space between them in a few awkward strides and barely restrained herself from grabbing the satin edges of his cape. “What the hell are you talking about?”
He told her in so many dry, colorless words. Mac searched his eyes.
“How did it happen?”
“My sources tell me the axle was sawed halfway through.”
She went very still. “Then you’re saying it was deliberate. Someone wanted the carriage to crash.”
And it must have happened after he dropped me off. Damn it, Liam, why didn’t you give me some clue…
“Someone,” she said coldly, “wanted to kill Liam.”
“So it would seem. And judging by your expression, Rose, you’re remembering Liam’s accusations at the Palace, and wondering if I had anything to do with it.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You disappeared after this so-called accident—”
“Given Liam’s earlier suspicion and our recent contretemps, it wasn’t difficult to guess where he’d assign the blame for the latest mishap.” He held her gaze steadily. “Come, Rose. If I bore Liam such fatal ill will, why would I volunteer this information and earn your suspicion as well as his?”
He had a very good point, and yet—”How can I be sure? I hardly know you.”
“But you of all people should understand what it is to be falsely accused of a crime. If I wanted him dead, I would have found a far more efficient means of committing the deed. Either you trust me, or we are both in very hot water.”
What he said made a grim kind of sense. Somehow she couldn’t see Perry trying to kill someone and making a mess of it not once, but twice.
“Even if I take your word,” she said, “Liam won’t.”
“All the more reason for me to remain incognito—for the time being. That is in your hands, Rose. Do you trust me?”
“I don’t have much choice. But I warn you, Perry—” She stared him down with fierce determination. “If you try to hurt Liam in any way, you’ll regret it.”
The corner of his mouth twitched. “I wonder if Liam appreciates what a vigilant protector he has in you, Rose. You would make a formidable enemy. But have no fear. There is no need to kill Liam to secure Caroline’s happiness.” He glanced quickly about the room. “You must be prepared to act quickly and do whatever is necessary if we’re to keep this marriage from taking place.”