CHAPTER FIFTEEN #2
“You’re wrong.” He tossed a handful of receipts onto the desktop. “I never fully trusted you before.”
Adam said nothing for a beat, then grudgingly admitted, “That’s understandable.
” Adam nodded, accepting that. “I’ll also be going through all the things I left stored here while I was in India, to take with me what I’ll need and perhaps sell off what I won’t.
” He eased back again in his chair. “Since it’s raining and cold, it’s a good day to stay inside and rummage through the attic. ”
“Good idea.” He focused his attention on the bills in his hand and scanned each one before tucking it at the bottom of the stack in his hands. One less reason for you to come back again.
“Do you mind if I take some of the empty trunks rather than buy new ones?”
“Not at all, but ask Verity first,” he mumbled, preoccupied by both the bills and his brother’s presence in his study. “She’s planning on taking up residence in Brighton for the summer once the wedding is over. She might want them.”
Gabe stilled when he saw the bill from Mrs. Swenson, Helena’s dressmaker.
“What’s the matter?” Adam asked. “You look like you just saw a ghost.”
“No,” he murmured as he read over the bill in detail and added up the total in his head to double-check the final figure. “Just the tick from the mantua maker.” He frowned. “It’s not what I expected.”
Adam laughed. “You’ve been widowed so long you’ve forgotten how much blunt women can rack up on dresses and fripperies.”
“That’s not it.” He took the current account book down from the narrow set of shelves framing the large window behind his desk and flipped it open.
He ran his finger down the ledger page and found the amount he’d authorized to Helena.
“The bill Mrs. Swenson sent is for less than the amount I approved for Helena’s trousseau. ”
“A frugal wife? Then I think you should elope with her immediately.”
Gabe didn’t find Adam’s teasing amusing. The amount was for much less than what he and Helena had agreed upon after their second negotiations regarding her wardrobe and wedding gown. And far, far less than the amount Bennington had transferred to Helena to pay the accounts.
Money was missing.
As if reading his mind, Adam offered, “Perhaps Helena kept the difference without telling you.”
Gabe’s gaze darted up to pin his brother, every muscle in his body tensing. “Are you implying my fiancée is dishonest?”
“Not at all.” He held up his hands in defense.
“Everything has been happening so quickly with your wedding that perhaps she just hasn’t had time to return the extra funds yet.
That’s all. I’m certain she didn’t pocket it.
” He grimaced into his glass. “I’m very fond of Helena.
You know that. I’d never imply anything unkind about her. ”
“You mean like when you said she wasn’t good enough to be a duchess?”
Adam had the decency to wince. “That was five years ago, and it was Wentworth’s doing, not mine. Both Wentworth and I were young and stupid then. We cared more about rank and reputation than about what truly matters in life.”
“Good to know you’ve had at least one revelation during the intervening years,” Gabe muttered.
He folded the bill in half, as if dismissing it.
“Mrs. Swenson simply forgot to account for all the items.” Unlikely.
The woman was tighter with a ha’penny than the governor of the Bank of England.
She would have made certain every pound and pence was billed for.
“That’s it, I’m certain.” Adam swirled the cognac in his glass and mused, “After all, I’d hate to think that Helena is more like Clarissa than what you give her credit for.”
What the devil did he mean by that? “How so?”
“Don’t you remember how Clarissa used to lie to her father about her clothes and accessories?
” He laughed into his cognac as he raised it to his lips.
“She ordered two or three of everything and had the merchants bill her father in advance for the full amount, only to cancel the extra orders and keep the difference herself. The old earl was clueless, and she made a small fortune.”
“How amusing.” Not at all. Gabe closed the account book and turned to slide it back into place on the shelf.
“Did Clarissa ever do the same with you?”
Gabe froze, the book halfway into place. All the damned time. Before she simply began taking the money outright, that is. “She knew better than to try that with me,” he lied and slid the book into place.
Adam slowly swirled his glass, focusing his gaze on watching the golden liquid sheet down the sides of the crystal tumbler. “Do you think all society women do that kind of thing?” Adam mused. “Lie about receipts to steal money?”
“Do all second sons?”
Adam’s eyes narrowed angrily for just a beat, but then he gave a low chuckle that mingled with the thunder.
“Don’t you need to pack?” Gabe asked bluntly, wanting an end to this conversation. “Better make good use of the rain, don’t you think?”
Taking the hint, Adam tossed back his last swallow of brandy. He pushed himself out of the chair and crossed to the side table to help himself to a refill to take with him. Of course, he reached for the most expensive liquor on the tray.
“If the weather clears tomorrow,” he called out over his shoulder, “I’ll take one of the saddle horses and ride into Canterbury to meet with Bennington. I have some other loose ends to tie up before I leave England. I expect to be gone overnight.”
“Enjoy the taverns there.”
Adam laughed as he sauntered from the room. “You know me too well!”
Gabe let out a low but fierce curse and snatched up his glass, downing his cognac in a single, gasping swallow. Then he raked his trembling fingers through his hair and forced his breath to turn calm and steady.
An angry roll of thunder that suited his gray mood broke over the estate, and the rain that had been trickling against the window now let loose in driving torrents.
He stared at the bill sitting on his desk and tightened his jaw. The numbers were off, and he had no explanation for it. Helena had kept him informed of costs, for both the wedding and the new school, and every one of those bills had come in at the exact right amount. But this one… Christ.
He had no explanation for it. Hell, he shouldn’t have even seen this one at all except that it had gotten mixed up with the bills for the construction.
All the dressmaker’s bills should have been paid directly by Helena, from the household money and the allowance Bennington had made available to her.
And if it had, Gabe would never have known about the discrepancy.
He snatched up the bill and strode from the study.