Chapter 26
Henry mentally cursed himself for not asking his mother to leave the breakfast room before he had broken the news. Of course someone would overhear, of course the entire table would fall silent, and of course it would be Miss Brighton who all but shouted the news like a crier in the square.
His mother bit back a smile, her eyebrows rising with delight.
She slipped her hand around his arm. “Is it really true and not some jest, Henry?” she asked, barely concealing her glee.
She spoke loudly enough that anyone who might have failed to hear Miss Brighton’s proclamation couldn’t possibly miss it.
He nodded stiffly. “Yes. Charlotte and I are betrothed.”
The gasps that followed from various corners of the room might have been more fitting if he’d just announced an elopement or a scandal.
Someone, likely one of the younger misses, piped up, “But where’s the ring?”
Charlotte sent him a panicked look.
“It hasn’t been arranged yet,” William smoothly cut in. “The decision was made only this morning.”
A louder voice, shrill with indignation, broke through the murmurs of excitement now filling the room. “Well, what on earth are the rest of us going to do for the remainder of the week? This is most discourteous, I must say.”
All heads turned toward the speaker, a Mrs. Darrow, Henry thought, whose daughter—he couldn’t remember the girl’s name—had taken every opportunity to flutter her eyelashes in his direction for the past four days.
Henry bowed to her and managed a polite smile, though his patience was wearing thin. “There are still other gentlemen present who may be in search of a wife, Mrs. Darrow. The ball tomorrow night will go ahead as planned. I see no reason why anyone should feel their time here has been wasted.”
That earned him a few reluctant nods, though none from Mrs. Darrow herself.
Breakfast was finally served, though the atmosphere in the room had shifted.
He could feel eyes on his back and hear whispers exchanged behind napkins.
Charlotte took her place at the table, composed but pale, and he noticed the way she kept her gaze fixed on her plate.
He knew all of this attention and gossiping would be painful for her.
His mother sat beside him and leaned in. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner? I would’ve liked a private word before you told the entire county.”
“It wasn’t exactly planned this way,” Henry muttered, hoping she didn’t probe any further and suspect something was amiss.
“Well, I’m pleased,” she said. “More than pleased. I’ll speak to Lady Fitzgerald today. We must begin planning the engagement dinner.”
Henry made a vague noise of agreement, but his eyes were elsewhere. Across the table, two of the unmarried women were watching Charlotte with unmistakable disdain, gossiping to each other behind their gloved fingers. Charlotte, to her credit, ignored them. He was proud of her for that.
Still, a protective instinct rose in his chest, and he had to remind himself that there was little he could do in the middle of breakfast. If anyone dared say anything cruel to her, however, he was more than happy to put them straight.
Now he no longer had to hide his feelings for her or appease the others.
When the meal finally ended, he checked in with Charlotte to ensure she was well, then stood and made his way toward his study, craving a moment’s quiet before the inevitable questions and congratulations the day would now bring.
He didn’t get it.
William caught up with him just before he reached the door.
“Well,” William said as they stepped inside the room. “That was quite the breakfast announcement.”
Henry shut the door behind them. “Don’t start.”
“I’m not starting anything,” William said, dropping into a chair like he owned the place. “I’m merely expressing sympathy. You’ve quite set the cat among the pigeons at this party, and all before luncheon.”
Henry gave him a flat look, though his irritation was beginning to ease. “It wasn’t supposed to happen like that.”
“I gathered. But it’s done now. You may as well enjoy the show.”
At least William seemed to have thoroughly accepted the situation. Henry was relieved not to have lost his friend over this. There had been a few horrible moments during the past days when he had thought he would.
He poured himself a glass of water and leaned against the sideboard. “I’ll enjoy it once we’ve figured out who’s threatening to upend my entire life.”
William sobered. “Right. That.”
Henry ran a hand through his hair. “It’s not that I regret it. I don’t. But that wasn’t how I wanted everyone to find out.”
William smirked faintly. “No, I imagine you had something slightly more dignified in mind.”
Henry sighed. “Just a little.”
There was a beat of silence before William said, more seriously, “We’ll sort this out. The blackmailer. The chaos. All of it. Just hold steady.”
Henry nodded slowly. “I hope so. Because for once, I’d really like to have something that’s mine. Something that isn’t tangled up in secrets.”
William didn’t smile. He was staring at the carpet by the door. “What is that? We missed it coming in.” The tone of William’s voice told Henry exactly what his friend had seen before he even looked and confirmed that another message had been pushed under the door.
He frowned and stooped, plucking up the envelope. There was no seal, no name on the front. Just a hurriedly folded note inside.
William peered over his shoulder, his mouth a grim line. “Another anonymous letter?”
Henry didn’t answer. He unfolded the note and scanned the lines. His stomach dropped like a stone.
Break off your engagement to Lady Charlotte immediately. If you don’t, your secret will be made public knowledge.
“It’s the blackmailer again,” Henry said tightly. “They’re obviously unhappy about the engagement.”
“Well?” William prompted. “What does it say?”
Henry handed it to him silently.
William read it twice and tossed the note onto the desk with a look of disgust. “Bloody hell. No name. No signature,” he said. “Same handwriting, I take it?”
Henry gave a short nod. “Definitely the same hurried scrawl.”
William folded his arms. “They must have slipped it under while we were still at breakfast.”
Henry sank into the chair behind his desk, rubbing at his forehead. “So they were there. In the room. Watching.”
“Or heard about it shortly after. We can’t be sure they were in the room at the moment the announcement was made.”
Henry swore under his breath. “But the timing…. It had to have been soon after. Too soon to be a coincidence.”
William made a sound of agreement. “So let’s think. Who was there? Who reacted? Did anyone leave during the meal?”
Henry stared at the far wall, mentally replaying the scene. “Lady Wilmington was near my mother. She looked as though she’d bitten into a lemon.”
“Her daughter is one of the hopefuls, isn’t she?”
“Yes. And Miss Crawford left the table abruptly after the announcement. I think I heard her say she’d forgotten something.”
William tapped a finger against his arm. “And her mother looked rather smug, although doesn’t she always?”
Henry’s jaw tightened. “I can’t believe we’re actually considering this. That someone might ruin lives over ambition.”
William raised a brow. “Have you met our peers?”
Henry let out a humorless laugh. “A fair point indeed.”
They fell silent for a moment, the note sitting between them on the polished wood like a loaded weapon.
“We can’t discount the servants either,” William said eventually. “Any number of them might’ve overheard something over the past week. Or maybe someone bribed one to watch and report.”
Henry tilted his head. “And if a servant told someone else, the note could have come from someone far removed from the actual eavesdropper.”
“We’ll need to watch everyone,” William said. “Not just the obvious suspects.”
Henry rested his elbows on the desk, briefly closing his eyes. He felt a headache coming on. “This is going to make me even more wary.”
“Good. You need to have your wits about you because someone in this house wants to destroy you.”
Henry looked down at the note, then back up at William. “Then let’s make a list,” he said, reaching for a pencil. “We can start with who was at breakfast, who overheard the announcement, who left early, who might benefit.”
William nodded. “Let’s get to work.”
But half an hour later, they had little but a list of guests and servants that amounted to more or less every person in the house. If simple jealousy or advancement was the motive, it could be any one of the duke’s guests.
Henry sighed. He would have to make time to speak with his mother and persuade her to be more forthright with him if they were to have any hope of uncovering the truth.
“I know you don’t want to hear this—” William began cautiously.
Henry interrupted him, knowing what he was about to say. “You’re going to ask me to call the betrothal off.” It wasn’t as though he wasn’t thinking about it himself. Charlotte was in direct danger now.
“Not permanently. You’ll break her heart,” William said quickly. “And besides, I’ve gotten used to the idea of having you as a brother. But perhaps at least while Charlotte is here with this troublemaker in the house. I don’t want her to be targeted.”
The thought of once again causing Charlotte pain was like a dagger to his heart, but he didn’t see a way to avoid it. “Let us go in search of her.”
They found Charlotte standing at the edge of the terrace, the morning sun catching the loose strands of her hair and gilding them in gold.
She was laughing softly at something Helena had just said, one gloved hand resting on the stone balustrade, the other clutching a small plate of berries.
The ease in her manner and the gentle light in her eyes as she turned and saw him made what William had suggested seem all the more unbearable.