Chapter 16
“Lord Finchley, thank goodness you are home!”
Rupert nearly jumped out of his chair as the door to his drawing room was flung open and none other than Lady Eleanor threw herself into the room.
“Eleanor!” Rushing to her, his heart in a panicked rhythm for fear of what her unexpected arrival meant, he caught her hands in his. “Whatever is the matter?”
She beamed at him. “I think I have found the hackney driver!”
“What?” Preston, who had been in the room with him discussing what they were to do about locating this very person, came hurrying towards her. “You say you have found him? Finchley and I have been searching for hours and yet – ”
“It was quite by chance,” she told them both, squeezing Rupert’s hands and looking up at him with shining eyes.
“But he is at the door still, and Catherine is waiting in the hackney. I instructed him to come here first, and then we were to go to another townhouse thereafter, but I did so only so that he might be brought into the house.”
Blood roared in Rupert’s ears as he stared back at Lady Eleanor, his breathing stalled. He could not quite take it in, realizing with great slowness that hopes of finding the truth were now beginning to be truly realized.
“Well, then?” Preston slammed Rupert on the back with one hand, jerking him forward. “Come! Let us go and get the man!”
“You… you bring him here,” Rupert said, trying to think clearly. “We do not want to overwhelm him nor make a scene. Tell him that you will pay him well or some such thing and have one of the footmen hold his horse for him. Take him to the parlor. I will be there in a moment.”
Preston, without protest, left the room at once.
Rupert, unable to hold himself back, drew Lady Eleanor into his arms and closed his eyes.
She sighed, long and languidly, and a fire lit itself in Rupert’s core.
Keeping his eyes closed and his arms wrapped tightly around her, he chose not to lower his head and kiss her as he so desperately wanted.
He had to hold himself back, had to make sure that his future and hers could be safe and secure before he would allow himself to do such a thing.
“I cannot believe you found him,” he breathed into her hair, tingling going through all his limbs. “I am so grateful, Eleanor.”
“I did nothing,” she answered, lifting her head and forcing his eyes open as he looked down into her face. “It was quite by chance. Fate has brought us this, Rupert. It will bring us to the conclusion of it all too, I am sure.”
Cupping her face, Rupert set his jaw as he battled against his own burning desire. “I want that, Eleanor, truly.”
“He is here.”
The door opened again, and Rupert dropped his hands quickly, just as Preston gestured to them both.
“Do, hurry,” he exclaimed, as Rupert took Eleanor’s hand and hurried her towards the door. “He is deeply uncertain and quite anxious.”
“How did you bring him inside?” Lady Eleanor wanted to know, as their hurried footsteps took them along to the parlor. “What did you say?”
Lord Preston grinned. “I demanded it, that is all.”
“Then he is pliable,” Rupert mused, as his brother nodded. “That is good to know.”
There was no time for him to say anything more.
With Eleanor by his side and Lady Catherine hurrying to join them from where she had been standing by the door, the parlor door was open and waiting for them all to go in.
Rupert, taking a breath, lifted his chin and then stepped into the room, setting back his shoulders and keeping his head held high in the hope of conveying to the driver just how much authority he held.
One look at the man told Rupert that he would not have any difficulty in having the truth from him.
The fellow was small, thin, and slightly hunched, his hands in his pockets and his shoulders rounded.
Given the way his brother had been easily able to bring the fellow into the house, Rupert did not think that he would struggle to get answers.
“You are Matthew, yes?” Keeping his tone commanding, Rupert narrowed his eyes just a fraction as the man nodded. “Good. I have some questions for you.”
“Questions?” Fear sparked in the man’s eyes. “I ain’t done nothing.”
“No, no, we know that,” Lady Eleanor said, a gentleness to her tone that rubbed sharply against his. “But might you not be willing to answer our questions?”
Rupert watched the fellow, seeing how he looked at Lady Eleanor, and then darted a glance back towards him. “There will be some recompense for you,” he promised, still keeping his voice firm. “But you must be honest with me. I shall know if you are not telling me the truth.”
The man nodded fervently. “Yes, of course.”
Rupert smiled inwardly. It seemed that the mention of money, more than anything else, had convinced Matthew to be honest. “You will not know my face, given that it was dark, but a few nights ago, my brother and I set a bag into your hackney and you then drove away.”
The man’s eyes flared, and for a moment, Rupert thought he was going to begin to protest, to state that no, he had not done any such thing. His mouth opened, closed, and then he shook his head.
“I cannot – I cannot say much, my lord,” he stammered, looking down at the floor. “There is too much danger.”
“Danger?” This time, it was Lord Preston who spoke up before Rupert could do so. “In what way?”
Matthew rubbed one hand over the back of his neck, still looking away. “If she finds out, then – ”
“She?” Rupert was flabbergasted, the word breaking from his lips before he could stop it.
Matthew looked up at him and then dropped his gaze again, nodding slowly.
Overwhelmed by astonishment, Rupert let out a slow breath, trying to regain some clarity.
He had never once thought that a lady of the ton would be responsible for all of this!
He had only ever thought that it was a gentleman behind it, but now, it seemed, he had been completely and utterly mistaken.
“I was warned,” Matthew said in a low voice. “I was warned that if I said anything to anyone, she’d find me and – ”
“There is no way for her to discover it,” Lady Catherine said firmly. “None of us will say anything, and if you speak quickly, then you will be returned to your hackney in a trice.”
“And with a pocket full of coins,” Preston reminded him. “Now, this lady, who is she?”
It took a few seconds for the gentleman to answer, and when he did, it was with both a shrug and a sigh. “I couldn’t tell you, my lord.”
Rupert frowned, seeing why the lady in question would not have revealed her name to the hackney driver. “She asked you to wait outside Whites, then to drive the hackney and what was contained within it back towards… well, where was it you were to go to?”
“To the entrance of Hyde Park, my lord.”
That made Rupert’s frown settle even deeper. “To the park?”
“Another carriage was waiting,” the driver explained. “I waited there, I was not to come down. Someone came out, took whatever was inside, and then left again. A gentleman this time.”
Rupert’s eyebrows rose. “So a lady instructed you in what to do and a gentleman took my bag,” he said aloud. “This lady, how did you come upon her?”
The driver frowned. “I was just waiting,” he said, slowly. “This lady came up to the hackney, and I thought she was wanting to hire me. But instead, she told me this was what I was to do and paid me a good deal.”
“A lady,” Lord Preston said, speaking slowly as if he too were struggling to comprehend this. “By herself?”
The driver nodded.
“And where was this?”
“Near to Gunters, my lord,” the man answered, as Rupert closed his eyes to try and make sense of it all. “She came out of the gloom and the dark, my lord, a cloak over her head, and as far as I could see, no one with her.”
Lady Eleanor let out such a gasp that everyone, the driver included, turned to look at her.
Her eyes were fixed and staring, though not at the driver.
Clearly, she had come to some conclusion, and Rupert, glancing back at the driver and then to Lady Eleanor, forced himself to wait for her to speak instead of asking her outright what it was she had learned.
She looked at him. “I have to speak with you.”
“Alone?”
Her eyes darted to the driver.
“I do not think there is anything else I need to ask you,” Rupert said to him, aware now that the lady wanted to make sure they were not overheard. “You have told me everything, yes?”
The man nodded. “I promise you, I have.”
“Then be on your way.” Going to the door, he opened it for him, pulling out a few coins and handing them to the driver. “And not a word of this to anyone.”
The man nodded, ducked his head, and hurried out, counting the coins in his hand as he did so. Eager now to hear what Lady Eleanor had to say, Rupert rushed back into the room and then shut the door, looking back at her. “What is it? What conclusion have you come to?”
She came towards him, her hands outstretched. “It may not be anything of consequence,” she said, searching his face. “Do not think that I have reached some marvelous understanding, for I can assure you, I have not.”
“But what is it?” Preston asked, before Rupert could do so. “Clearly, you have thought of something.”
With a nod, Lady Eleanor looked from Lord Preston to Rupert and then to Catherine.
“I have realized something,” she said, eventually.
“I think we were all, first of all, astonished to realize that the perpetrator might well be a lady, but that in itself is important.” She licked her lips.
“Finchley, let me state this all as clearly as I can and see if you can come to some conclusion or thought.”
“Of course.” Holding her hand in his, Rupert waited for her to speak, his heart thrumming in his chest.
“We know that it is a lady,” Lady Eleanor said, holding his gaze. “There is a gentleman involved also, but she is the one who instructed the driver and who, I presume, sent the note.”
Rupert nodded in agreement.
“This lady knows your sister,” Lady Eleanor continued, her voice softening.
“Somehow, she knows of the child also. Therefore, she can threaten you because of her awareness of the situation.” Her shoulders lifted.
“She was also at the ball the night that you were meant to leave money in your carriage. Hearing of what had happened, she made another plan to gain the money she wanted.”
“But she must have known that my brother and I were to go to Whites,” Preston said, frowning. “The plan could not have been made until after we made our way there.”
“And did you speak of it to anyone else at the ball?” Lady Eleanor asked, as Rupert’s brow began to furrow. “Did you discuss it in the hearing of others?”
“Yes,” Rupert confirmed, his throat going dry as his mind began to settle on an idea. “We did speak of it together at the ball. A few gentlemen were discussing the notion of making their way to Whites thereafter, and we both agreed it to be a good thought.”
Lady Catherine’s eyebrows. “So either this lady or the gentleman working with her overheard you speaking.”
“And thus, the plan was made,” Lady Eleanor finished, as Rupert ran one hand over his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to tell himself that this idea he had, this thought could not be the truth.
“Think of it, Finchley. The person responsible is a lady who somehow knows your sister and the child, but who is also present here in London. It is someone who requires coin, who needs more money for some reason.” Her eyes held to his, her face pale.
“Tell me, is there anyone you can think of who might fit?”
His stomach began to swirl as he nodded, seeing his brother’s furious frown. “I am afraid there is,” he said, heavily. “I cannot be sure, of course, and I would never suggest that she was guilty without purpose, but yes, there is someone who has come to mind.”
Lord Preston let out a low groan and shook his head. “Surely it cannot be!”
“It may not be,” Rupert replied, as his brother’s lips pulled flat. “But she knows our sister, does she not? They have exchanged letters.”
“And she is eager to wed a gentleman who has very little coin and is foolish with what he does have,” Lord Preston agreed, wincing. “It is not something I want to think of, but I fear it may be so.”
Lady Eleanor’s fingers tightened on his. “You have both reached the same conclusion, then?”
With a long, drawn-out sigh, Rupert nodded. “Yes, I fear we have,” he said, with a weight in his stomach that pulled him low. “If my thoughts are correct and my concerns true, then the person we are now considering is none other than Miss Emma Gladstone… my cousin.”