Chapter Fourteen
Diana
Diana adjusted her gloves as she stepped out of the carriage onto Bond Street, grateful for the crisp morning air while she left Graham at home to spend some time with his mother.
Lydia followed, then Hannah and Marina, to browse a few shops.
She hadn’t had a shopping trip with her friends since she married.
“The modiste first,” Marina declared. “I would like to find a new pair of gloves for the next ball.”
“And I need ribbon,” Hannah added. “The blue silk at Madame’s would be perfect.”
Diana enjoyed the opportunity to spend a bit of time with her friends, though her mind kept drifting to Graham. He’d come home exhausted last night. And it had been the first night of their marriage that they hadn’t been intimate before bed.
“Diana, you’re wool-gathering,” Lydia said gently, linking their arms. “Are you feeling all right?”
“Yes, of course.” Diana forced a jovial tone.
“We have missed having you at the balls with us,” Hannah said from behind her.
Diana surprisingly hadn’t missed attending such events at all. “After the gossip surrounding our marriage, we are enjoying this time together. We are planning to depart for a honeymoon soon to tour our estates.”
“So things are going well then?” Marina asked, an edge to her question.
“Yes,” Diana replied, but she wasn’t certain it was the truth. She had been satisfied with the answers from Graham after she’d questioned him, but something still didn’t seem quite right.
“Lady Powis.”
There was a man standing before her. He was in his thirties with dark hair and eyes that didn’t quite match his pleasant smile. Something about him made her uncomfortable, particularly the bruising all over his face and nose.
“I don’t believe we’ve been introduced,” she said carefully.
“Forgive me. Silas Rothwell, at your service.” He bowed elegantly. “I’m an associate of your husband’s.”
Associate? She had never heard the man’s name before. But he appeared somewhat familiar to her.
“I see,” Diana said, attempting to move past him, but he shifted slightly, blocking her path.
“Indeed. Your husband and I just concluded some rather significant business yesterday. Quite profitable for both of us, I’d say.”
Lydia, Marina, and Hannah, stepped closer to Diana, as if they were protecting her.
“Is everything all right, Diana?” Marina asked.
“Perfectly,” Diana said, raising her chin. “Mr. Rothwell was just leaving.”
“Not quite yet.” Rothwell’s smile widened, and she stared at the bruising on his jaw. Could it be the same man she had seen leaving their home? “I simply wanted to congratulate you on your marriage. Your husband is a fortunate man.”
“Thank you,” Diana said stiffly.
“Very fortunate for Powis, indeed.” Rothwell pretended to examine his gloves. “Your dowry was particularly helpful in settling certain… obligations.”
Diana wobbled a bit, but Hannah gripped her arm. “I beg your pardon?”
“Oh dear, did he not tell you?” Rothwell’s eyes lit up.
“Your husband owed me quite a substantial sum. Well, his cousin did, but debts pass with titles, don’t they?
Powis was quite creative in gathering the funds through property sales and I suspect your dowry contribution.
But you will be glad to know what he has paid in full. ”
“You’re lying.” The words came out as a whisper.
“Am I? Why don’t you ask him? And when you do, be sure to tell him that he should be more careful when he decides to strike a man.”
Diana’s vision blurred. She heard Marina’s sharp intake of breath before she threatened the man if he didn’t get away from them.
“Diana,” Lydia said sternly. “We should go.”
She climbed back into the carriage and fell into the seat, her heart shattering in her chest and she replayed everything in her head.
As soon as Marina climbed in, she said across from her, “That vile man! How dare he approach you—”
“But was he telling the truth?” Diana’s mouth went dry. “About the dowry?”
“We don’t know that,” Hannah said quickly. “He could be lying to cause trouble.”
“But this would explain everything.”
The ride home passed in tense silence. Diana’s mind raced through every interaction with Graham over the past weeks. His refusal to show her the household accounts. The way he’d deflect her questions with intimacy. The papers she’d glimpsed on his desk about payments.
And then if used the funds that he told her was allocated for her and their future children, he had looked her in the eye and lied.
By the time they reached the townhouse, Diana was shaking with rage.
“Perhaps we should—”
“Just go,” Diana said, after a footman handed her down from the carriage. “I’ll be all right.”
She didn’t believe those words, but she didn’t need her friends to help her face Graham. It was something she had to do on her own.
Once Diana was inside, she tossed her reticule and hat aside. She immediately went to Graham’s study, and found it empty.
She went to his desk, trying each drawer. The bottom one was locked. She took a letter opener from his desk and worked the lock. The wood splinters from where she forced the lock open, but she was able to access the drawer.
Part of her felt guilty about breaking into his locked drawer. But she had to know if he was lying to her. It might contain the only proof to the contrary so she could confirm that she could trust him and the man was nothing but a liar.
Inside the drawer were bank statements, correspondence, and property deeds. She spread them across the desk and began to read through each of the papers.
Then her eyes landed on a withdrawal slip dated yesterday. Ten thousand pounds from her dowry account, that had been transferred to another account. And then another slip for a forty-five-thousand-pound bank draft that has been drawn up.
Next was correspondence from Rothwell demanding that he be paid the funds that he was owed. And then property sale documents and the ledgers for a couple of the estates with the parchment where she’d written the valuation and the plans for the enhancements.
She thought back on their conversation. The way that he’d asked her questions about the value of the properties and how he never wanted to discuss the estates after that.
She had solved his problem for him. Told him exactly which properties to sell without knowing about it. He’d used her while lying to her face.
And if he could lie to her and keep all of this from her, what else was he capable of? She thought she knew him, loved him even. But he was as much of a stranger to her as the day they’d met.
“Diana?”
Graham appeared in the doorway, appearing confused. Was everything a performance?
“What are you doing? I didn’t realize you were home. Mother would love for you to join us for tea. I think she adores you more than me.”
Tears welled in the corners of Diana’s eyes. She loved the man before her, and he betrayed her. She had been the worst kind of fool to let him have her heart.
Graham rushed to her. “What is the matter?”
She pushed him back, too afraid to allow herself to be in his arms. Because as angry as she was, she still wanted him to hold her. Which was why she couldn’t trust herself.
He glanced at the desk and the color drained from his face. “Diana. Please, you have to let me explain.”
“Explain how you lied to me? How you used my dowry after you said you wouldn’t. You’ve been hiding things from me from the start. And I let you trap me so you could have it all. You got my body, my knowledge, and my dowry.”
Graham reached for her again, but she stepped back. “Diana, I swear to you that what happened in the garden wasn’t some kind of plan. You must believe me. I will tell you everything like I should have from the start.”
Diana shook her head, not wanting to hear anymore. Because she didn’t trust herself not to believe him. She took off from the study and raced toward the staircase in the foyer.
“Diana,” Graham called after her.
“Where is he?” A familiar voice boomed from the front doorway.
Elias.
“Brother,” Diana cried and ran in front of him. “Please. Don’t make matters worse.”
“Trust me, sister. This will be much better after I have dealt with the bastard.”
Graham appeared in the foyer, holding his hands up. “Elias, please, allow me to explain—”
“Explain?” Elias released Diana and stalked toward Graham. “Explain how you lied and tricked my sister from the start so you could steal from her?”
“What is all this commotion?” Augusta appeared at the top of the stairs, looking between them with alarm.
“Mother, please just go back to your room,” Graham said quickly.
“I will do no such thing.” Augusta descended the staircase and moved to stand by her son. “What has happened?”
“Your son is a liar and thief,” Elias spat. “He took ten thousand pounds from Diana’s dowry to pay gambling debts.”
There was a knock at the front door, and when Mitchell opened it, Lydia entered, followed by Marina and Hannah, with Hudson and Matt close behind.
“I had to tell Elias,” Lydia said quietly to Diana. “You shouldn’t face this matter alone.”
“Why are Hudson and Matt here?” Diana asked, mortified that most of her friends were witnessing the most embarrassing and devastating moment of her life while her heart was broken wide open.
“They were with Elias, and we all couldn’t keep up with him when he tore out of the house,” Hannah said.
Diana watched Elias take a couple steps closer to Graham, nostrils flaring. “I don’t require any assistance in this matter. He’s a lowlife who took advantage of my sister so he could get his hands on her dowry, just as I knew he did all along. You really almost had us all fooled.”
“That’s not what happened,” Matt said, stepping to join Graham’s side.
“You mean to tell me you knew about this?” Elias thundered.
“Graham told me about the situation with Rothwell, yes,” Matt replied calmly. “He was afraid to tell you because he thought you might react much like this.”