Chapter 25
“What are you up to today?” Lady Hartwood asked as she sipped her coffee.
“I was planning on escorting Helena today.” Alastair looked over at his sister. “She wanted to look for some new fabric for a dress, and I have a couple of errands to do, so I suggested that I accompany her.”
Helena nodded, carrying on with the ruse. Lady Hartwood raised her eyebrows. “It’s not often you agree to do that. What are you up to?”
“Do we have to be up to something, Mother?”
“I suppose not.” The dowager duchess shrugged. “I don’t know what to make of you anymore, Alastair.”
Alastair wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or not. His mother was likely a little annoyed at having to give in a little to whom he wanted to be with romantically, but at least she was trying. She’d been a little cool toward Arabella, but she hadn’t been outright rude. That was small progress.
He hoped that she would calm down and see that this was a good match. Alastair certainly did, and once this mess with Viscount Fairleigh was over, he was going to ask Arabella to court her properly, make it real.
He would even ask if he could marry her immediately if it was possible. The decision had come to him during the night, and Alastair hadn’t been able to get out of his head. He never thought he’d be thinking about marriage, and yet it was happening. He felt comfortable with it.
All that was needed was for Arabella to say yes.
“I’m finished,” Helena said, standing up. “I’ll be waiting for you in the foyer, Alastair.”
“I’ll be right behind you.” Alastair finished his toast and dusted the crumbs off his trousers. “We’ll be back later, Mother. Have a good day.”
He caught her surprised look as he left the room. He didn’t normally tell Lady Hartwood to have a good day. Maybe he was elevated by his good mood, determined to get to the bottom of the mess he and Arabella had gotten mixed up in.
A few minutes later, he and Helena were leaving the townhouse and were about to get into their carriage when Alastair heard someone shouting for him. He turned, surprised to see Edmund rushing toward them, his face slightly red from running.
“Edmund? What is it?”
“I just heard something,” Edmund gasped, bent over with his hands on his knees. “It’s about Arabella.”
Alastair didn’t even think. He grabbed Edmund’s arm and practically threw him into the carriage, sending his friend sprawling across Helena’s lap.
Slamming the door shut, Alastair hit the roof with his fist, and the carriage started to move.
He sat before he ended up tipping on top of his friend and pulled Edmund upright, putting him on the seat beside him.
“What are you doing? Where’s your carriage?”
“It broke a wheel around the corner. I had to run.” Edmund clutched at his chest, breathing heavily. “I thought you’d want to know what happened last night.”
“What?”
Edmund glanced at Helena, who looked equally confused. “Philip Fairleigh announced Sebastian’s engagement to Arabella last night.”
Alastair thought he hadn’t heard him correctly. He stared at his friend. “What did you say? Arabella’s engaged to Sebastian?”
“From what Fairleigh said. He announced it in front of several people. Now everyone’s starting to talk about it.”
“But Arabella’s meant to be courting Alastair,” Helena said, her forehead creasing into a frown. “Isn’t there something wrong with this? She can’t be engaged to one person while courting someone else.”
“With Fairleigh being her guardian until she marries, he can make that judgment,” Edmund said darkly. “And from what I’ve heard, Sebastian offered to help pay off the debts the family has in exchange for Arabella’s hand. Fairleigh accepted pretty much immediately.”
Alastair couldn’t believe it. Sebastian had jumped in the way, taking advantage of his sudden fall from grace. Now he was trying to claim Arabella as his own.
He couldn’t let that happen. Not if he had anything to do with it. Sebastian shouldn’t be anywhere near Arabella, not with what they suspected of him.
“We’ve got to do something,” Helena cried. “We can’t let this happen to Arabella. She can’t be happy with this.”
“I spoke to someone who was at the dinner last night where it was announced,” Edmund said. “Arabella immediately spoke up and objected strongly. He could hear her arguing outside as she left. I think it’s safe to say she’s not happy either.”
“She’s not the only one,” Alastair muttered.
Helena shook her head. “We’ve got to do something. We can’t allow this to happen! Even Mother wouldn’t approve of this.”
“How has she taken Alastair’s arrest, by the way?” Edmund asked. “I’m sure she wasn’t impressed.”
“To say she was angry that I was falsely arrested was an understatement,” Alastair remarked. “She’s sent letters to the necessary authorities demanding an audience and an explanation. She’s planning on raking everyone over the coals.”
There were times when he had to admire his mother.
She wanted things done a certain way, and she might not always agree with what her children did, but if they were in need of help, she would be there fighting their corner.
She wouldn’t let anyone hurt her son and daughter. Alastair was glad about that.
It opened up a chance for him to focus on Sebastian and find something, anything, that would tell them who had killed Viscount Fairleigh.
“Also, I’ve got something you might find interesting,” Edmund added, turning to Alastair. “I’ve found someone who was there that night.”
“That night?”
“The one when Fairleigh died? I found an eyewitness.”
That got Alastair’s attention, and he stared at his friend in stunned amazement. “Really? How did you do that?”
“Just know that it took several hours and talking to everyone I could think of. But they’ve agreed to talk to you today. We need to go and see them.”
Alastair could feel the anticipation prickling in his veins. They were getting close. They had something to show that Sebastian might’ve been involved in Fairleigh’s death. If he killed the Viscount…
“I suppose that means our errands are going to be dealt with later,” Helena commented.
Alastair reached out and touched her knee.
“Forgive me, Helena. I’ll make it up to you.”
“You’re right about that.” His sister grinned. “Because I’m coming with you. I’ll only forgive you if I come along to meet this witness.”
That made Alastair chuckle. He didn’t think anything less of his sister. Then he looked out of the window and realized where they were. He sat up and thumped on the ceiling. “Can we stop here a moment?”
“What are you doing?” Edmund asked as the carriage slowed to a stop outside the clubhouse.
“I’m just going to check on something.” Alastair jumped out, turning back to his friend and sister as they peered curiously at him. “You stay with my sister. The driver will be your chaperone. I won’t be long.”
He hurried away before either of them could say anything, darting into the clubhouse. There was something he needed to check first, something he should’ve thought about first.
Somehow, Sebastian had managed to get a study of his own at the clubhouse.
It wasn’t something that many people got, so it had been a surprise that Sebastian had a study at all.
Alastair hadn’t looked through it, not remembering about it until just at that moment, and he was sure it would have something there for him.
If Sebastian was going to have proof of what he’d done, he would hide it in a place nobody else would look. And nobody was permitted into his study at the clubhouse without express permission and a key.
Alastair hoped that he could get around it.
To his surprise, he saw Sebastian in the foyer talking to one of the footmen. He looked very pleased with himself as they talked, confidence oozing from his pores. Alastair’s hope to not be seen was dashed when his cousin turned and saw him.
“Alastair!” He brightened and approached Alastair, holding out a hand. “It’s good to see you here! I thought you wouldn’t be permitted to come back given what you were arrested for.”
“It was a false arrest, and everyone knows it,” Alastair said stiffly.
“Not everyone. Viscount Fairleigh certainly believes it. You were arrested in front of him, after all.”
“Is that why you took advantage of his vulnerable position and said you’d marry Arabella?”
Sebastian shrugged. “I thought it would be the best solution. You were arrested, and she was romantically linked to you. She was going to suffer a lot of humiliation. Someone had to get her out of it.”
“And I heard that she didn’t approve of it at all,” Alastair remarked, feeling a flash of satisfaction as Sebastian’s eyes flashed and then narrowed.
“She’ll come to accept it eventually. She’s not going to be fighting it for much longer.” He paused, a slight smirk tugging at his mouth. “I feel like I must apologize, though. I took her away from you, and I know you two were getting particularly… close.”
He sniggered. “But you have to admit that I’m better for her. You two wouldn’t have worked well together, I know that much. Your marriage would’ve been boring as soon as you returned from your honeymoon. Neither of you would’ve been happy.”
“You don’t know that,” Alastair snapped. “You had no right to get in the way.”
“I think I did. Fairleigh wasn’t going to agree to anything from you after your arrest, was he?
Arabella wouldn’t have been happy. At least I’ll be able to give her what she deserves.
” Sebastian turned away. “Anyway, I’m going to head over to her house and have tea with her.
Arabella said she would love to see me as soon as I’ve finished my errands, and I’m not about to disappoint her. Good day, Alastair.”
Alastair watched him go, knowing that this was a lie. Edmund had told him Arabella strongly objected and was angry about the sudden engagement, so to hear her suddenly turning around and being eager to see Sebastian was ludicrous. Alastair knew Arabella wouldn’t be happy to be around Sebastian.
Not when they suspected him of having something to do with her father’s death.
As soon as Sebastian was out of sight, Alastair hurried up the stairs and made his way along the corridor to the room Sebastian used. To his annoyance, the door was locked. He wouldn’t be able to get in.
Then he remembered something. All the club members had keys to the private rooms in case they wanted a private meeting or a quiet moment alone without being bothered.
And the butler who’d given him the key told him all the keys were the same in the building so they wouldn’t have to worry about needing more than one.
Fumbling in his pocket for his own, Alastair inserted it into the lock, relieved when the key turned easily.
Then he slipped into the room and shut the door behind him.
He didn’t have long, and he didn’t want to be caught by anyone.
Even if the servants who worked there could be discreet, there would always be someone who would let Sebastian know what happened.
His cousin’s study was very tidy. It was almost like there wasn’t anything in there apart from a few papers across the desk. Alastair took a look over them, but nothing really jumped out at him. It just looked like Sebastian’s business and how he ran the card club.
How had he not known that his cousin was doing that? They were meant to be relatively close, and yet Sebastian kept a lot of things back. Why would he do that when he happily admitted to practically everything?
Maybe it was illegal? He loaned money and got it back with big interests and threats. Alastair wouldn’t put it past Sebastian to do that.
While he wanted to point the finger, that would have to wait. He needed something to prove his cousin had been involved with Fairleigh’s death. He had to find it.
But it had been months. It wasn’t going to be likely that Sebastian had kept anything. But he had to try.
As he looked through the papers in one of the drawers, one handwritten note caught his eye. It was half sticking out of the pile, and he caught a glimpse of the signature. Curious, he brought it out and looked it over.
It was signed by Viscount Fairleigh, addressed to Sebastian. It looked like a written contract.
And as Alastair read, he began to realize how things had happened and why.