Chapter 19
“Lord Neath.”
George lifted an eyebrow as Lord Neath turned towards him as the rest of Hyde Park filled with the chatter of society members. The scowl that drew itself onto the gentleman’s face told him that he was not in the least bit welcome into Lord Neath’s company.
He did not care.
“We must speak.” George looked straight into Lord Neath’s eyes and held his gaze steadily. “Now.”
Lord Neath drew himself up. “You demand such a thing of me, Lord Surrey?” he asked, his voice filled with pride as the other gentlemen and ladies in his group looked back at George, perhaps thinking that he was the one very rude in his manner. “I hardly think that – ”
“It is about Lord Turnhill and his daughter,” George interrupted, speaking over Lord Neath.
“It is about your actions in not only threatening my late father but thereafter, threatening Lord Turnhill so that he would do as you demanded.” He watched with an ever growing sense of satisfaction as Lord Neath’s face whitened immediately, the color fading from his cheeks and his eyes widening.
“It is about the way you have tried to manipulate a certain course of action for your own benefit – and how you have attempted to manipulate me. Now, do you wish to continue this conversation here, or shall we step away?”
“Wait a moment.”
Another gentleman from the group took a step closer to George, putting out both arms so that he held the space between George and Lord Neath. George said nothing, lifting an eyebrow and waiting for an explanation as to what this gentleman was doing.
“Are you suggesting that Lord Neath has behaved in an inappropriate manner?” the gentleman asked, as Lord Neath shook his head quickly. “I cannot believe that what you have said is true of him!”
“And yet, it is,” George replied, before Lord Neath could say a word. “There is evidence of it, and Lord Turnhill has been most forthcoming. If you will excuse us, however, then – ”
“But… but you have requested to court my daughter,” the gentleman said, speaking now to Lord Neath who, no longer confident, winced and looked away. “I was about to accept your request, and now I hear that you are involved in some nefarious scheme to manipulate and control others?”
“Wait a moment.” A lady stepped towards Lord Neath and the other gentleman, her eyes wide. “You say that he has asked to court your daughter? When?”
“Only yesterday,” came the reply.
The lady drew back, her eyes turning to Lord Neath. “Two days ago, you asked if you might court my daughter.”
George shook his head and sighed aloud. “Lord Neath, you are not the gentleman you purport to be,” he said, loudly enough for the others in the group to hear. “I am very glad indeed that others are seeing it.”
“I want to know what it is that he has done to you.” The gentleman looked back at George, anger flashing in his eyes.
“Why should he gain a private conversation between you both? If he has done something quite dreadful, then surely you can share it with us all? It seems that he is not the gentleman we thought him!”
Lord Neath moved away from the gentleman and the lady, sidestepping them both. “Now, do not be unfair. I have not done anything dreadful, have I? I was only seeing which young lady I might prefer and courtship – ”
“You are a coward also,” George interrupted, as Lord Neath’s jaw tightened, his lip curling.
“Why not simply admit that you have done wrong instead of trying to seek a way out?” He spread out his hands.
“There is nothing you can say about what you have done to me that will have me believe you innocent, so what purpose is there in pretending?”
George watched as Lord Neath turned his head away, perhaps looking to make his escape by running through the crowd.
Triumph rang in his heart as Lord Warwickshire turned his head and looked straight back at Lord Neath, then shifting his entire stance so that he stood facing them both, blocking Lord Neath’s path to escape.
Lord Neath shifted his gaze, looking from one place to the next, but George knew that he would see no way of escape.
Lord Dorset and his wife, Lady Norah, Miss Williams, Lord Welton and Lady Welton, and even Lord Turnhill stood all around, not only protecting George but ensuring that Lord Neath would have nowhere to turn.
It had not been George’s intention for them to speak publicly but given what the other gentleman and lady had said about Lord Neath, it seemed that the conversation would be so regardless.
“There is nowhere to go, Lord Neath,” he said, eventually. “You must face me.”
Lord Neath’s scowl darkened. “You seek to trap me?”
“Just as you did me,” George responded sharply, keeping his anger tempered. “Lord Turnhill owed you money, did he not? And instead of being gentlemanly and accepting his vowel, instead of giving him time, you came up with another scheme.”
Lord Neath’s eyes glittered. “There is no love between my family and his. Why should I show him any kindness?”
“Because that is what a gentleman ought to do,” George responded, without hesitation.
“Even if one’s family has behaved a particular way for decades, that does not mean it has to continue with us.
You chose to demand that money from Lord Turnhill and, when you called upon him, found him with documents that were of great interest to you. ”
Glancing around him, George noticed just how many of the ton were now listening to what he was saying.
For a moment, he wondered if the rest of this conversation would be best had in private for Miss Burnley’s sake, only to realize that even now, what he had said would be whispered and passed on as gossip. It would be best for him to say all.
“The document stated that there was to be a marriage between the Surrey line and the Turnhill line,” he continued, as Lord Neath shifted his gaze away from George. “This was to fortify the sale of land and property. You read all four document pages, did you not? And then you came up with a scheme.”
“What scheme?” the gentleman asked, his expression one of utter astonishment. George was, perhaps, revealing more about Lord Neath’s character than this gentleman knew. “What was it he tried to do?”
George gestured to Lord Neath whose expression was now sullen and dark.
“He forced Lord Turnhill to hide the fourth page of the document. A page which stated the opposite – that if any subsequent marriage took place between the two families, then a large portion of the Surrey estate would be given to the Neath family line.”
The gentleman’s mouth fell open, and a few gasps of astonishment rang around George.
“My great-grandfather knew that there was no love between the Neath line and the Turnhill line,” he said, quietly, looking straight at Lord Neath.
“He wrote that document so that there would be no desire on either the Surrey side or the Turnhill side for any further connection between our families. But you, Lord Neath, you determined to use the first three pages of the document to manipulate me into marrying Miss Burnley – and in doing so, would eventually be given a substantial amount of land and property to add to your own estate.”
Lord Neath shrugged, his gaze darting around the other members of the ton who were now whispering wildly about all that George had just said. He folded his arms over his chest and curled his lip, his dark gaze hovering around George’s face.
“You will not deny it, then?” Seeing the gentleman’s refusal to respond, George sighed heavily. “Lord Turnhill could not pay you what he owed, and thus, you forced him to show the documents to my father.”
Another glance and then Lord Neath dropped his head.
“When my father came to call upon Lord Turnhill, you were present also. My father was, no doubt, aware that there had been a marriage between the Turnhill family and Surrey family and, I believe, knew what the consequences would be should another marriage take place. But you cared nothing for that, did you? You wanted the Surrey land and property, your greed overpowering any goodness within you. With that darkness in your heart, you were determined to force my father into writing to me. Quite what you said to him, I do not know, but he had no other choice but to write to me that day.”
Lord Neath’s face went whiter still, and George, certain now that he was right, let out a hiss of breath and closed his eyes.
“He threatened you, Lord Surrey.”
Another voice came over George’s shoulder, and he glanced back at Lord Turnhill.
“Just as he threatened to ruin Miss Williams, just as he coerced me into doing as I did, he threatened your name and reputation. Lord Neath has no scruples, Lord Surrey. He would have brought your family name to ruin – and your father not only saw that darkness in Lord Neath but believed what he would do. I must hope that he would have told you everything, had you been able to meet again… but it is to my eternal shame that I came alongside Lord Neath in this.”
Pain clung to George’s heart, making his eyes grow heavy with tears for a moment or two.
He dropped his head forward, closed his eyes, and dragged in air, reminding himself of just how stalwart and good a gentleman his father had been.
“Yes,” he said, after a few moments. “I believe that my father would have told me the truth about everything, including all that Lord Neath was trying to do.” Opening his eyes, he looked back at Lord Neath, who was now staring at the ground, his shoulders rounded.
“You have no strength nor power left, Lord Neath. Lord Turnhill’s debt is paid, your scheme has been found out, and it is your own reputation now left in ruins. ”
Another few murmurs had Lord Neath’s head lifting, glancing around him before his gaze held fast to the ground again.
“I should call you out.”
Lord Neath’s head shot up.
“As should I,” Lord Turnhill added, as George looked straight at Lord Neath. “What say you to that, Neath?”