CHAPTER 25
CLIFTON
Rexford had promised to look into the Tuttlefords and see what he could discover. In particular, whether there was anything suspicious surrounding the carriage accident that had taken the life of Lady Atherton. Fairfax’s presence here now meant they’d learned something.
We made our way back to my study, where we could speak in private. “I hope you didn’t make a mess of my desk,” I said, trying to lighten the tense atmosphere.
Fairfax opened the study door with a flourish as though the room was his. “It’s good to see you too. I take it things went well?”
“We made it just before Tuttleford arrived. Sent him scurrying home with his tail between his legs.” I shook my head. “It seems unbelievable that three of us have married within one season.”
Just a little over a week ago, I’d been reeling from the fact that Moreland and Kendrick had married. Now I’d joined them.
Fairfax examined me closely, his eyes narrowed. “Are you having any regrets?”
“No.”
The answer came readily enough. I had already fully accepted the fact that having Diana as my wife was an unexpected benefit. One I never thought I would receive.
Fairfax nodded. “I figured as much.”
“What do you mean?”
He shrugged. “Just a feeling I had.”
Damn this man and his intuition. How was it possible for someone who seemed to flit about in life as though he hadn’t a care in the world to pick up on things no one else saw?
“How is the new Lady Clifton?”
I shrugged. “Well enough, I believe. I’ve been going out of my way to ensure she doesn’t regret her decision to marry me.”
As though he owned the place, Fairfax walked over to the mahogany cabinet where I kept my brandy and poured us both a measure. He handed me a glass, which I tossed back. He was watching me carefully, taking in everything. Normally he wasn’t quite so overt.
“My mother already prefers Diana over me.”
“That’s as it should be,” Fairfax said, savoring his own glass of brandy.
I laughed. I couldn’t deny he had a point. But he hadn’t come all this way for small talk about my nuptials.
“I take it you have news.”
Fairfax nodded. “You should sit down.”
“Should we wait until Diana is here?”
“In due time,” he said. “I thought you would want to know first. Since I assume you’ve gotten to know the young woman, you’d know how she’ll take the news.”
Fairfax wasn’t wrong. I was already keeping secret my suspicion that her uncle had arranged for her mother’s death and that her aunt had been complicit.
I’d told myself it was because I didn’t want her unduly worried if my assumptions were wrong.
But that was no longer the whole reason.
I hated the idea of seeing her in pain, and part of me hoped I was mistaken.
We settled into the winged chairs in front of the unlit fireplace. The room felt cold today, but I knew it was just my dread since I’d been warm enough in the carriage with Diana.
I forced my thoughts back to Fairfax. “What have you learned?”
He leaned back in his chair and watched me. “Rexford and I asked a few discreet questions in the right places. I was able to discover that the Tuttlefords were in debt before Diana’s mother passed.”
I wasn’t surprised. “So they’re accessing Diana’s inheritance.”
Fairfax nodded. “It would appear so. Not large sums of money, because she’s only receiving an allowance, but it is a generous one.”
“Diana comes into her fortune when she reaches the age of majority, or upon her marriage, which her aunt and uncle were clearly trying to prevent.”
“Just so,” Fairfax said with a nod. “But having access to that allowance enabled them to begin making payments on those debts. Not all of them, of course. There are a fair number outstanding. But enough to keep ruin at bay for now.”
I leaned back. “Were you able to learn anything about the death of Diana’s mother?”
He shook his head. “I hadn’t received any solid evidence before I left London. But I have an acquaintance who is tracking down the driver of Lady Atherton’s carriage that night. He’s proving to be elusive.”
A knot settled in the pit of my stomach. “He’s either dead or he’s been paid off to disappear.”
“We’ll find out soon enough. I have reason to believe he’s alive.” Fairfax drained the rest of his brandy and set down the glass. “Rexford was able to reach out to the solicitor in charge of Diana’s trust.”
I frowned. I didn’t like the idea of a family solicitor being loose with secrets. “Did he tell you anything?”
It would come in handy if he had, but then I’d need to let him go. Diana couldn’t retain a solicitor who couldn’t be trusted to maintain their clients’ privacy.
Fairfax shook his head. “He refused to discuss the details of the trust, saying that it was his professional duty to speak only with Diana and her guardian.”
I leaned forward, bracing my arms on my knees.
“And of course, the Tuttlefords won’t say anything, so we are at a dead end until Diana and I can speak to her solicitor ourselves.
” As a married woman, Diana would no longer need a guardian.
The two of us would now have access to all the information about her future fortune.
Fairfax had a gleam in his eye, one that I knew boded well. “That would be the correct assumption. But Rexford was able to learn a vital missing piece of information about Diana’s former guardian.”
A shock went through me. “Guardian? Singular?”
“When the Athertons’ solicitor referred Rexford to speak to Diana’s guardian, he didn’t name Baron Tuttleford or Diana’s aunt.” Fairfax leaned back again, satisfaction radiating from him. “He named Lady Clifton.”
“My mother?”
Fairfax nodded. “Lady Clifton is supposed to be Diana’s guardian.”
His revelation settled over me with a sense of rightness.
Diana’s mother had been estranged from her sister so it had never made sense that she would be named Diana’s guardian.
After eloping and marrying a wealthy merchant, Lady Atherton had completely cut ties with her family.
As the daughter of a viscount, they hadn’t approved of the match.
But Diana’s mother had been very close with mine. As close as sisters. It made sense that she would entrust my mother with Diana’s care over her own sister.
I swore. “The Tuttlefords lied to him.”
Fairfax nodded. “Somehow they intercepted the solicitor. When Rexford mentioned that Diana was staying with them, he’d been confused.
He’d been told it was only a temporary arrangement and that they were helping Diana to settle her mother’s affairs.
But they were entrusted with taking her to live with your mother. ”
“So he didn’t know,” I said.
Fairfax’s expression was grim. “He did not. He was very angry when Rexford told him that the Tuttlefords were passing themselves off as Diana’s guardians. He also said that he was going to be stopping all payments to Diana until this whole mess could be straightened out.”
I stood. “We need to tell her.”
Fairfax rose to his feet and clapped me on the shoulder.
“After dinner will be soon enough. It will give her time to get settled in after the past week of continuous travel. We can return to London tomorrow and begin setting things to right.” He glanced at my desk.
“If you don’t mind, I’ll just write a letter to Rexford now so he’ll know to expect us late tomorrow. ”
I nodded dimly. Fairfax’s revelation had shocked me, but now I felt only anger.
The Tuttlefords had put Diana through hell over the last two years, doing everything in their power to turn her into a shadow of the woman she was destined to be.
The delightful, beautiful, intelligent young woman I was blessed to call my wife.
I froze as I was hit with a sudden realization. “Fuck.”
Fairfax had already settled at the desk, but he looked up now. “Am I missing something?”
I massaged my temples, wondering how I could have been such a blind idiot before this moment. “I’m in love with her.”
Fairfax grinned. “It’s about time you figured that out.” He tilted his head. “Do you think Diana will return to London with us?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know if it would be safe.”
“The Tuttlefords won’t do anything to her now. They are no longer in line to inherit anything. Her fortune will be absorbed into yours.”
He was correct, of course. But somehow coming to terms with my feelings made me slightly irrational. I wanted to keep her here, where she would be safe until everything had been settled. Then we could begin our lives together in earnest.