Chapter Four #3
Her eyes brightened the moment they walked in and she saw the rows of polished rosewood bookshelves. “I suppose this was your granduncle’s doing, too. Look at all these beautiful books!”
He nodded, stifling a smile as she referred to them as beautiful.
But he was not surprised, because she truly had the soul of a bluestocking.
“I’ve added a few, but have hardly had time to take full inventory since inheriting the title.
In truth, it is all so new to me. I haven’t had much time to do anything meaningful yet. ”
He settled her on a cushioned settee of burgundy-red and emerald-green damask, and sank into the chair of a matching green leather opposite her.
Where was he to start? Her excitement at discovering the marvel that was his library soon wore off, and she now looked defensive and worried.
He took a deep breath, deciding to simply tell her what was on his mind.
“Florence, I need to protect you. I won’t be able to properly do so unless you tell me the truth about what is going on.
I shall keep whatever you reveal to me in confidence.
” For good measure, he added, “I give you my word of honor.”
“This is so unfair to you,” she said, now sounding pained. “I never meant to involve you.”
“But it is too late now. I was caught up in your plans the moment you fell out of that tree and crash landed on me.”
She sighed. “I know.”
“There is no undoing what happened. So, now you must tell me everything. What is going on? Who are you working for? It must be someone of importance if you still refuse to give up this assignment.”
“I am helping out a friend of the Princess of Wales,” she said, releasing a heavy breath. “One of her dearest and closest friends.”
This revelation caught him by surprise. “Gad, Florence. A friend of the princess?”
She nodded. “It gets worse. The assignment was at the request of the princess herself. Lady Wilmot must have bragged about my abilities to her, and a few days later I was summoned. So, you see, I cannot simply renege on my promise to retrieve those letters.”
His heart sank, for this was far more serious than he had imagined. “Who is the friend in question? Is it Lady Simmons?”
She looked at him sharply. “How did you know?”
“Not too hard to figure out now that you have narrowed the choices down to the princess’s inner circle.
Lord Simmons is a brilliant man and has a bright future in government, not only on his merits but because his wife has curried favor with members of the royal family.
That gives him a leg up, and Frampton is not happy about it because he considers Lord Simmons his competition. ”
“One among several ambitious men, I expect,” Florence said. “But if Lady Simmons was helping her husband climb the social ranks, then why would she involve herself with another man?”
“Because one has nothing to do with the other, although it is not unheard of for a wife to give her body to some old, high-ranking goat in order to further her husband’s ambitions.”
“Ugh.”
“Anyway, Lord Simmons is a very intelligent man, but I am certain he has not a clue how to pleasure his wife in the sack.”
“Trajan!”
“Gad, must you be so clueless as to sexual wiles? My point is, she is frustrated in the bedchamber, and for this reason has a roving eye. Her eye roved on me for a while.”
“You?” Florence blushed. “You…you…”
“No, I did not bed her. I suppose this is what you wish to know. It took some doing to avoid her, however. My father’s illness was the excuse I often used, although he was not all that ill at the time.”
“So, she found herself another lover? Who foolishly wrote her those letters?”
He shrugged. “I have no idea when those letters were written. It could have been years ago. Lady Simmons has been frustrated for quite a while, probably since the first week of her marriage. It is an open secret among the Upper Crust.”
Florence stared down at her hands, apparently confused.
He reached over and covered them with one of his own. “What is the matter?”
“If it is so well known that she has had affairs with other men, then why are they so worried about those letters?”
“It is all about how one plays these ton games,” he explained. “They all have affairs, husbands and wives. They cheat because these are not love marriages but business alliances, and love is to be sought elsewhere once the wife has produced the necessary heirs.”
“All right, this I understand. But it still does not explain the frantic need to retrieve those letters.”
“There is a protocol to these affairs. One does not put one’s sordid liaisons in writing.
That is the true sacrilege, not the cheating itself.
This is because letters are hard, solid proof that can be produced in a court of law, or in the House of Lords, or given to a newspaper to publish.
” He released her hands and eased back in his chair.
“Love letters are nuggets of gold, capable of inflicting ridicule, embarrassment, and destruction of one’s power and position. ”
“But these are letters to Lady Simmons. Would not Lord Simmons be viewed upon with pity and admired for his forbearance? Why would those letters destroy his career?”
“You are assuming he is the one to be brought down. What if he is not?”
Her eyes widened. “Are you suggesting Frampton wishes to destroy the man who wrote her those letters?”
“Yes, in all likelihood. Do you have any idea who wrote them?”
She shook her head. “No, not an inkling. All I was told is they were quite…er…um, descriptive, and now they are in Lord Frampton’s possession. I just assumed he would use them to make Lord Simmons a laughingstock, if ever Lord Simmons dares challenge him for the position of prime minister.”
“That is among the possibilities, but not the only one. No, Florence. I think Frampton not only finds them convenient to curtail any threat to his ambitions from Lord Simmons, but to another he views as a more serious threat. The man he is most likely after is the one foolish enough to have put his sexual exploits with Lady Simmons into those letters in explicit detail. I wonder…”
Florence edged forward in her seat. “Who are you thinking it is?”
“I don’t know. Any number of men, possibly even Lord Liverpool.”
She gasped. “But he is our current prime minister. Is he one to have affairs? Or be so idiotic as to set down his most intimate thoughts on paper? Could this scandal unseat him?”
“Possibly, who knows? It would certainly weaken him for a time.”
“I hope not. He is a good and steady leader. We are all capable of errors in judgment.”
“Yes, for certain. But his peers and the public might not be as forgiving, especially if they are of a mind to see his downfall. Scandals, especially involving other men’s wives, are the best way to unseat a man as capable and respected as Lord Liverpool.
But I am only tossing his name out as a possibility.
I have no reason to believe he is in any way involved.
In fact, I have a lot of respect for him and would be surprised if he turned out to be the correspondent. ”
“Then who do you think wrote those letters to Lady Simmons?”
“It could be anyone of prominence.”
“Such as Wellington? Or Robinson?”
“Or any number of other men who are much respected and admired. No one is immune to scandal, whether commoner or nobleman. They are all targets to a weaker man who seeks a position of power.”
“Or who hopes to hold on to a position he currently holds.”
“Yes,” Trajan said. “But clearly, Frampton is aiming for high office. He wishes to position himself as next in line for prime minister. So, he is either trying to knock out Liverpool or a likely successor. There are several powerful men vying to be next in line. Lord Simmons is the least likely among them to succeed to those heights.”
“I could ask Lady Frampton when she joins me and Aunt Hermia for tea. Is this not a natural topic of conversation, a general discussion of who might lead our government if Lord Liverpool is not able? Let’s see what names she tosses out. Or if she makes some cryptic comment.”
“Such as?”
“Oh, maybe saying something about Lord Liverpool not being likely to remain in power very long. Or maybe she will give a disparaging snort at the mention of Wellington or another candidate. I don’t know.
Something. Anything. Although Her Royal Highness made it clear it is not my business to read those letters or try to guess who wrote them.
I am only tasked with getting them back for her friend. ”
“Who should immediately burn them if she has a lick of sense.”
“Obviously, neither she nor her paramour were thinking clearly.”
They said no more as Timmons rolled in a cart bearing a pot of cocoa, cups, and some fruit and tarts. “Thank you, Timmons. I’ll take care of it from here,” Trajan said.
“Of course, Your Grace.” The butler nodded and quietly left the library, closing the door after himself.
Trajan was about to resume their conversation when a shadow outside the window caught his attention.
It was only a flicker of something. Perhaps a branch blowing across the back lawn. Or a night owl in flight.
Florence noticed his sudden tension. “What is it?”
“I don’t know. Something feels off.” He rose and crossed to the window but saw nothing in the blackness. He shook his head and sighed. “I must be seeing things.”
“We are both on edge,” she muttered. “Trajan, I had another thought.”
“Yes?”
“Frampton may have more than the packet of letters belonging to Lady Simmons. Would we not be doing a service to the Crown if we stole back any incriminating letters concerning other lords and ladies he may be extorting?”
“By all that is holy,” he muttered. “Florence, I did not want you involved in retrieving those belonging to Lady Simmons, and now you want to expand your mission to save every highly placed idiot in government?”
“It was just a thought,” she countered. “Obviously, you do not think it is a good idea.”