Chapter 28
Twenty-Eight
My hand shook a bit as I opened the letter that the servant said Lord Brookhaven had just delivered himself.
Dear Miss Robbins,
You must think it very odd that I gifted you fifty thousand pounds and equally odd that I invented a dead relative to disguise the fact that the fortune was from me.
Perhaps it was ill-conceived, and perhaps I should not have done so.
I certainly did not do it to upset you in any way, nor did I do it to trap or manipulate you.
But it was unfair of me to deceive you. I did, however, give you the fortune for your benefit, not intending for anyone to discover what I did, and the fortune is and always was for you to do with whatever you wish, and therefore I ask that you do not return it to me.
Also, it could not have been easy to have such a sudden gain in fortune but allow me to say that you have acquitted yourself very well.
Yours respectfully,
Brookhaven
What was I to make of it? This was no explanation at all!
I threw the letter on the floor, lay across my bed, and made a sound like a wild animal into my pillow.
The man was impossible!
What was it he had said? That it was unfair of him to deceive me? Well, at least he was right about that.
I got up and grabbed the letter off the floor and reread it.
It was intolerable. How could I endure his meddling in my life to such a degree, and for what? Why did he do it?
I sat at my little desk, grabbed a pen and paper, and started writing.
I am glad you realize that deceiving me was unfair. I hope you also realize it was demeaning, confusing, and cowardly.
I stared at the words. It was somewhat satisfying to write them, but it made my hand shake at the thought of him reading such words.
I tore that paper into pieces and took up another.
Dear Lord Brookhaven,
I am bewildered by your actions. I do not know what they mean. But I shall be returning your fortune to you forthwith, with or without your consent or cooperation, and I thank you for the enlightening experience.
Perhaps it was wrong to use sarcasm. I sighed, ripped that paper in half, threw it in the bin, and took up another sheet.
I realize I have you and Lady Derringer to thank for introducing me to your social set in London.
But what I appreciated most was your friendship.
I had thought you and I were good friends when I was your siblings’ governess in Berkshire.
I very much enjoyed our talks, and I’ve missed them since I left Lowndesbury House.
I am sad that things have turned out this way between us, sorry that you didn’t cherish our friendship as I did.
I have wanted to know your thoughts during these last weeks while I’ve been in London, but you were distant and didn’t talk with me as you had before.
But now I realize I didn’t know you at all.
You were someone who would invent an elaborate ruse to observe me as if I were an exotic animal to be studied. It is intolerable.
I was going in a direction I didn’t want to go in accusing him, and what would that accomplish other than venting my anger?
I took a deep breath and thought about what I wanted to say before continuing—and my tears dripped onto the paper as I wrote.
I thought perhaps there was some affection between us, something tender and beautiful, but obviously I was wrong.
I admired your mind, the way you thought and felt about the world and God and people.
You were honest and kind and seemed capable of great feeling, openly sharing your thoughts with me.
But I am not sure if that was the true person I was seeing, or if the true person is the one who would deceive me into thinking I had an uncle who loved me enough to leave me his fortune.
My heart is broken to think that they are one and the same person.
However, I am most sorry for what will happen to my servants, who were depending on me, and to Joshua and Sarah, who didn’t deserve to lose their only security in life.
You owe it to me and to them to make sure they are taken care of.
I hope you will make a plan to do so, since I will no longer be able to.
Yours sincerely,
Charlotte Robbins
Perhaps I shouldn’t have spoken so freely, but there was something satisfying in airing my feelings, in seeking to be understood. At least as long as I could believe that he understood.
I sent the letter by a servant. Only a minute later, before he could have even received and read my letter, I received a note from Lord Brookhaven.
If you choose not to keep the fortune as you have asserted, Joshua and Sarah will be taken care of. Lady Derringer will convey the plan and some particulars to you before the day is over.
The brevity of the note sent a pain through my heart.
But of course, he hadn’t yet seen the way I’d poured out my heart and spoke of my feelings for him.
It was difficult, but I had to push those thoughts away and concentrate on the very happy fact that he had promised to take care of Joshua and Sarah.
It was time to tell Millicent, Hattie, and Mrs. Drake that the fortune was no longer mine and that we must vacate the premises as soon as possible.
I found Millicent and Hattie alone in the sitting room. Thankfully Mrs. Drake was elsewhere, and I told them a shortened version of everything that had happened. I might regret it later, but I felt I needed to be completely honest with them.
They were both shocked but said very little.
“Please do not tell Mrs. Drake the truth about where the fortune originated. She is not likely to be discreet, and I’d rather people not imagine evil things about Lord Brookhaven and me.
I will tell her about Mr. Sullivan and the woman coming and saying that the daughter of my uncle is alive and is demanding the fortune be given to her, as the rightful heir. All of which did happen.”
They both nodded, and I went to find Mrs. Drake. I told her as quickly as possible and took my leave before she could express thoughts and opinions that would only make me feel worse.
William rode his horse the fastest way to get to Sullivan’s home. He still wasn’t sure what he would do. He couldn’t take him by the neck and choke him, which was what he’d imagined doing, but he also didn’t want to wait for the constable. He’d confront the man himself.
It was a poor plan. He realized this before he even reached his address. If he confronted the man, told him he knew what he’d done, Sullivan would be on the next ship to the Continent, or even to America. He would escape justice.
William turned his horse around and went to find the constable, Beckwith. He told him only that Sullivan had tried to trick Miss Robbins out of her fortune.
He could have told Beckwith that Sullivan owed him two thousand pounds and that he wanted the man thrown in jail for swindling him. But if Sullivan went to trial, he would no doubt make it known that William had blackmailed him into deceiving Miss Robbins.
Beckwith immediately rounded up two of his stoutest men.
Together, the four men went to Mr. Sullivan’s address and knocked on the door. No one answered. They knocked again. When Beckwith tried the door, it was unlocked. They went inside, the constable’s two men going around to the back door.
They called out, “Anyone here?” but there was no sound.
William and Beckwith rummaged around, opening cupboards and drawers, closets and cabinets. Sullivan’s clothing had been cleared out, the silver was gone, and the servants appeared to have cleaned out their spaces as well.
“He’s hiding out somewhere,” William said. “And he’s probably got someone watching the house right now. Let’s go. Come. Now.” He waved at the other men, and they quickly left the house.
When they were back at Beckwith’s home, the constable said, “Our only hope is that he didn’t see us raid his house. We’ll wait at Miss Robbins’s home tomorrow morning for him, and if he keeps his appointment, we’ll apprehend him there.”
Which is what he should have done. This had been a mistake, all because he wanted to confront the man himself.
William nodded grimly. He thanked the men for their time, then went to speak to the Bow Street Runners. If Sullivan was still in England, perhaps they could find him.
When he returned home, he found Miss Robbins’s letter.
His heart sank lower with every paragraph. It lifted a bit when he saw the words, I thought perhaps there was some affection between us, something tender and beautiful, but it sank lower than ever as he read, but obviously I was wrong.
He’d ruined everything. How could he hope that she would ever trust him again?
The servants were busy packing up everyone’s belongings.
Millicent and Hattie were also rushing around making sure they had everything for their trips home, while Mrs. Drake was always underfoot, clicking her tongue against her teeth and saying things like, “I suppose now you wish you had accepted one of the perfectly good marriage proposals. Perhaps Mr. Welton will still have you.” Or, “I wonder that Mr. Sullivan made such a mistake as to not find the rightful heir before giving you the fortune.” And, “Far be it from me to give advice, but you should return half of the young woman’s fortune and tell her you will keep the other half for your trouble. ”
“Mrs. Drake, don’t you have your own packing to do?”
“Already done. I had an idea that I wouldn’t be here long, so most of my things were still in my trunks.”
In the midst of this slightly chaotic activity, a servant announced that Mr. Welton was asking to speak to me.
I sighed and was about to say I didn’t have time to see him, but Mrs. Drake, who was behind me, said, “Show him into the sitting room. She’ll be down in a moment.”
When the servant was gone, I gave Mrs. Drake a severe look.
“You need to hear what he has to say, now that you have no fortune.”
“Did you send for him?”