Chapter Sixteen #2
“A simple exchange.” Caldwell’s smile reminded her of a snake about to strike.
“You will return what you took from Harrison’s office - all copies, mind you - and I shall ensure that certain other documents never see the light of day.
Documents that might cast interesting light on your brother’s gambling habits, for instance. ”
“I don’t gamble,” Edmund said flatly.
“No?” Caldwell’s eyes glittered with malicious amusement.
“How fascinating. Then these markers I hold must be forgeries as well. Though I wonder if your father would investigate too closely, given the scandal such accusations might cause? The Earl of Westbridge’s heir, caught up in a tangle of gaming hells and moneylenders. ..”
“You bastard,” Edmund breathed, half-rising before Charlotte’s grip on his arm stopped him.
“Now, now.” Caldwell clicked his tongue in mock reproach.
“Such language before your sister. Though perhaps Her Grace has grown accustomed to crude behaviour, given her husband’s.
.. common tendencies. The current Duke does lack his father’s polish, does he not?
All that tedious attention to estate management, that dreary focus on tenant welfare. ..”
The contempt in his voice when speaking of the very qualities Charlotte most admired in William sparked something deep inside her. Before she could respond, however, the second rider drew alongside Caldwell’s mount.
“They were seen leaving Harrison’s office by the back way, sir, not long after you arrived there.” the man reported in a carrying voice. “Before you arrived, they had nearly an hour with the documents.”
Caldwell’s expression darkened.
“An hour? Time enough to make copies, to see... What exactly did Harrison show you, Your Grace? What conclusions did that interfering old man draw about certain things?”
Charlotte felt the weight of the evidence in her reticule like a burning coal.
One word from her, and his entire scheme might unravel.
Yet something in his manner - that edge of desperate calculation - made her hesitate.
She chose not to respond to his question at all, simply waiting to see what he would say next.
The rain continued to pour down around them, drumming against the carriage roof with increasing intensity.
Through the grey curtain of water, Charlotte could just make out the distant bulk of Alverton’s home farm.
So close to safety, yet somehow, she knew that they would not reach it without resolving this confrontation.
Caldwell’s mount shifted closer still, until she could see the water dripping from his greatcoat onto the carriage step.
“Come now, Your Grace. Surely we can reach some arrangement? For everyone’s protection?”
“Protection?” Charlotte kept her voice steady with supreme effort. “Or blackmail, Sir Geoffrey? Should we not name things accurately?”
“Such an ugly word.” He leaned closer, lowering his voice further. “Think carefully, Your Grace. Your noble husband has worked so hard to restore Alverton’s reputation. Would you see it all fail now? Over some misplaced sense of moral outrage?”
The rain plastered Charlotte’s travelling dress to her side, where it drove in through the open window, yet she felt flushed with an inner heat as anger warred with fear in her breast - not fear of Caldwell himself, but of the damage his words might do to the fragile trust growing between her and William.
“The documents I saw in Mr Harrison’s office,” she said carefully, “suggested something rather different about Alverton’s reputation. And about who had truly conspired to damage it.”
Caldwell’s face worked for a moment before smoothing into careful lines.
“Did they indeed? How fascinating. And does His Grace know that you’ve been investigating his father’s private affairs? Again? After his reaction to finding you in his study that day?”
The barb struck home with devastating accuracy. Charlotte felt Edmund tense beside her, and knew that he would try to intervene, to protect her from Caldwell’s increasingly pointed insinuations.
“How dare….”
“Your Grace.” Caldwell’s voice dropped even lower, pitched for her ears alone.
“Consider carefully. His Grace married you for your father’s connections, for the stability that your name would bring to Alverton’s standing.
Do you truly think that he would thank you for uncovering old wounds?
For exposing secrets he’s spent years trying to bury? ”
“You know nothing of my husband,” Charlotte whispered, though doubt began to curl through her chest like poisonous smoke.
“Don’t I?” His smile held cruel understanding.
“I know how desperately he clings to control, how he measures every action against his father’s failures.
What do you imagine he’ll do when he discovers his wife conspiring with his solicitor behind his back?
That the one person he was beginning to trust has betrayed him yet again? ”
Charlotte’s fingers whitened on her reticule. The evidence within could destroy Caldwell’s schemes utterly - but at what cost to her relationship with William? Would he see her actions as protection or interference? As love or betrayal?
“Sir Geoffrey.” Edmund’s voice, though quiet, held deadly intensity. “You go too far.”
“Do I?” Caldwell straightened in his saddle, his manner shifting to smooth society polish once more.
“I merely offer Her Grace a chance to protect what she claims to hold dear. The choice, of course, is entirely hers.” He gestured to his companion, who moved his mount closer to the carriage.
“You have until tomorrow morning to consider my offer. After that...” He shrugged eloquently.
“Well, certain documents will find their way to interested parties. Including, perhaps, some rather fascinating correspondence regarding Lord Parrington’s supposed gaming debts. ”
“I already told you…” Edmund began hotly.
Charlotte knew full well that Edmund didn’t gamble, but she could easily see how much of society might believe it possible. And the fear of what that would do to him coiled like lead in her stomach.
“The truth hardly matters, does it?” Caldwell’s smile widened unpleasantly.
“Only what people believe. Just ask His Grace - he understands perfectly how reputation can be destroyed by mere whispers. Though perhaps you should hurry home and ask him now, before someone else enlightens him about his wife’s morning activities. ”