Thoroughly Compromised Lady by Bronwyn Scott

Author:Bronwyn Scott [Scott, Bronwyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance
ISBN: 9780263214598
Publisher: Mills & Boon Series Hardback
Published: 2010-06-04T00:00:00+00:00

Calisto Ortiz was inordinately pleased with himself. This plan had hatched itself flawlessly. The negotiations had opened and the British had asked he be excused from the negotiations. They had concerns about his ‘objectivity’, that he was associated with the murder of an importer who’d carried cargo from Venezuela and had been in possession of a certain map. That map had fallen into the hands of a British citizen and been the source of an attempted burglary of the citizen’s home. Since the map was a forgery, it appeared Señor Ortiz had a hidden agenda to swindle land from the British government. It would be best to excuse him due to a conflict of interest.

It had been nicely said, but Vargas had clearly understood the message. The old diplomat had sputtered, voicing embarrassed protests to save face. Then he’d jumped in, adding to Vargas’s protests. He’d merely said, ‘I’ve been set up by Viscount Wainsbridge, who is in possession of the map and who has a personal grudge against me over a woman. It seems to me that if I were trying to pass off a map I would have the map in my possession. Yet it is Wainsbridge who “found” the map, not in my quarters, I might add. In fact, not once has the map been in my possession since arriving on English soil.’

His claims were audacious, but the bigger the lie, the more easily believed. He didn’t have to have anyone believe him. He needed only to cast enough doubt to cloud the discussion. He watched Gladstone spear Wainsbridge with a look of disgust. Ah, good, a potential ally then. Wainsbridge showed no emotion, managing to look cool, as if people levelled charges of this magnitude against him daily. For all Ortiz knew, maybe they did.

Señor Vargas turned to Ortiz. ‘You swear this is the truth?’

Vargas was so damned honourable he couldn’t conceive of dishonour in anyone. Ortiz stifled a smile and manufactured a look of chagrin. He laid his next layer of argument, the layer meant to distract and confuse. ‘I swear this is the truth. I would encourage you, señor, to ask yourself why would Britain want to put a forgery into play that shows them losing land? It is to start a war.’ There was a general outcry at the table. Ortiz raised a hand for silence.

‘I posit Britain wants to use the false map as a chance to whip up public support for a war in which Britain is fighting to take back what Venezuela has “cheated” them out of. It would be no difficult feat for Britain, an empire with an enormous army at its disposal, to defeat Venezuela and in the end grab more land. These talks are merely a prelude to war. We’ve been called here to be straw men. These talks mean nothing. Britain is using them for a larger, more sinister purpose and Viscount Wainsbridge is at the heart of it.’

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