Silence of Scandal (14 page)

Betty slumped on the side of the bed.

“It was a risk you had to take, but are you sure he’s discovered anything? You didn’t mention the jewels did you?”

Elizabeth shook her head and the jetty curls began to loosen from their pins.

“No, that part is still secret though I tell you I won’t steal them anyway. I di’n’ know Alessander was even still alive. I di’n’ even know it was him until I saw Ormond again. Father told me he was dead in the ‘splosion. I was devastated when I managed to understand what he said. I hate my father for doing this to us. Alessander has never done anything to deserve this betrayal. It will be my own fault if he finds out who I am before I have had the chance to capture his heart. I must be more careful. Maybe it would be best if I didn’t speak to him at all.”

Betty handed a soft cotton square to Elizabeth.

“Tush! It will be a darn sight harder to capture his heart if you never speak to each other. He seems caring enough after all. I was mistaken in that. When I had heard your father speak of the family they sounded as though they never cared for anyone except themselves but it’s clear that isn’t true. Grady and the rest of the staff bore me witless with how good the family are to them.”

Elizabeth shook her head.

“No, father mus’ have made that up to scare me and Alassander isn’t dead anyway so I know that he has lied to me but he repeats the tale so often I think he actually believes his own version of events.”

Betty sniffed loudly.

“The man is not only a fool then but mad too. I always wondered how someone of his nature ever made his money. I could scarcely believe he could employ me at first.” She tugged Elizabeth’s slippers from her feet. “How he ever managed to convince the young Duke to marry you is completely beyond me. I don’t see how you could be of any benefit to him, beggin’ your pardon and not wanting to appear rude Ma’am.” Betty added as she frowned in deep thought.

Elizabeth sat up and wiped the remaining tears from her eyes and frowned with her maid.

“Alessander said that Ormond has bin under financial strain. Do you think my father has anything to do with it? He’s already asked me to steal the jewels. There is more than one connection here or it wouldn’t be possible. How did father persuade Alessander to marry me?”

Betty shook her head.

“I have absolutely no idea. The Duke would be a fine catch for any young lady. Without wishing to offend, I’m sure there must have been others more suited to the position of Duchess than you. It doesn’t make sense. I know your father wants the jewels but he must have managed some trick to actually get you in here in the first place. It’s a wonder he went to all the expense of a wedding. He could have seen that you were hired on as a maid or something. You could have become the young master’s mistress. It would have been a lot cheaper.”

Elizabeth’s frown deepened and then her eyes widened as a fresh idea came to her.

“But maids and mistresses don’t have the run of the place to search for jewels any time of the day or night. A Duchess can do almost anything she likes in her own home and answers to no one. That must have been why my father wanted me to marry him. He wanted to be sure that I could search without the threat of being thrown out or questions being asked of me.”

Betty sighed.

“Well, whatever you father thought, we’ll have to tell him that you’re not going to do it. He’s in no position to argue. We just have to ignore him.”

Elizabeth nodded.

“And in the meantime I must do my bes’ to make Alessander fall in luff with me. That is the only way to secure my position forever.”

Alexander didn’t run after her. He finished his dinner, picked up his glass and finished the watered wine. Grady stepped forwards with a small jug of port and Alexander walked to his father’s study not only hoping to discover if there were any more clues as to how Ormond had fallen on such hard times but also to search for the connection to his new wife. She clearly knew more than she was letting on but short of locking her in the dungeon and demanding that she give him the answers he couldn’t see how he could force the information from her.

Improving the estate had taken every waking hour until now but he knew that he couldn’t leave his questions unanswered. He wanted to bring the man down who had ruined his father and brother. There must have be evidence somewhere.

He was glad that he hadn’t succumbed to brandy that evening. There were piles and piles of paperwork to look through, though he didn’t really expect any files of the nature he needed to be in plain sight. His father would have wanted to keep any sensitive correspondence very discreet. He tried to remember any secret places that his father thought he and Phillip didn’t know about.

The huge desk was his obvious first choice. He remembered his father’s penchant for hiding the decent brandy but there was always the possibility that the brandy was just a cover for something else.

He unlocked the deep bottom drawers of the desk and peered inside. Sure enough the brandy flagon was there along with a balloon. He lifted them out and placed them on the desk and then looked again in the drawer. It appeared to be empty but he knew that appearances could be deceptive. He stuck his hand inside the drawer and felt around the wood. It was smooth throughout as was to be expected of a piece of furniture of that quality. He was about to give up with that drawer and look in another when he noticed that one edge of the drawer itself was thicker than the other. A lot thicker. He pulled the whole drawer out and placed it upon the desk then turned it over to look at the bottom. As he turned it a solid thump sounded from inside the wood.

He brought the lantern closer and peered at the grain of the wood. There was one section that was slightly worn along the edge. He ran his finger across it and found a clear indentation. He stuck his nail into the groove and pulled.

A whole wedge of wood came up in his hand. There was a narrow, dark compartment secreted between the inner and outer edge of the drawer.

He tipped the drawer and a slim black volume slid into his hand.

Alexander stared at it for a few seconds as tendrils of fear curled in his belly. He wasn’t sure that he wanted to read the book’s contents. He took a deep breath, untied the silk ribbon that held it closed and then opened the cover.

Several sheets of yellowing paper were folded in the front of the book. Alexander raised the wick on the lamp and peeled them apart.

Within seconds he began to feel sick.

It was roughly written note in an unskilled hand demanding the incredible sum of five thousand pounds for Phillip’s secret to be kept. The note was undated but it was clearly the first as the next issued further threats and more demands.

At one point his brother must have found a way to pay the fiend the ransom but then another demand had come. This time for ten thousand pounds.

Alexander couldn’t believe that his brother had anything of this value worth hiding. What was there that could possibly warrant this amount of money?

He flicked open the book and his heart stopped as he read the first line.

‘Dearest Alexander,

If you are reading this, I can only hope that you are alone in my study drinking my best brandy and not sitting in a debtors’ prison.’

It was as though his father was speaking to him. Alexander dashed a tear away from his eye and took some calming breaths as his heart began beating again. He scanned through a page or two of the book and then returned to the beginning. His father had written a diary of events and Alexander sat back to read it, hoping against hope that it would enlighten him as to the name blackmailer.

There were a few more laments on Alexander’s possible position and then the meat of the diary began. His father’s precise hand had written;

‘Phillip came to me this evening in great distress. He confessed, on bended knee, that his love for another has been discovered and that he is being blackmailed to the tune of thousands.

I was confused at first as I could see no harm in this love and I immediately gave him my consent to marry whomever he so pleases regardless of her station in life, for I would not care if either of my beloved sons married a girl from the gutter so long as they are in love with her and she makes him happy.’

Alexander wiped another salty droplet before he could read further.

‘
But therein lies the problem for Phillip has revealed to me that he is not in love with a woman of any kind. He is in love with someone completely unattainable and apparently his affection is returned. I cannot mention any name in case this falls into the wrong hands but I am sure you will know who I mean.

My shock at his announcement was nothing compared to the shame Phillip bears, though why I am surprised is beyond me. All the books I left available in the library for you and Phillip to discover should have led me to think in this direction.

Alexander gave a rough snort as he remembered sniggering at pictures of naked women in outrageous positions with wildly contorted naked men lunging greedily towards their willing bodies. He also recalled Phillip’s quick dismissal of such lurid treasures as he trawled Ormond’s library for books on what Alexander considered the drearier subjects discussed by The Royal Society. He returned his concentration to the document in his hand.

I truly feel sorry for my dear son and his situation. He is clearly deeply in love but even a Duke cannot stand against the rule of law or tide of public feeling. I have no doubt that if his situation should ever become public Ormond and all connected with her will be ruined.

We must make plans to refute this accusation, difficult though that may be. I cannot have your mother or you vilified by a report of this nature gaining attention in the ton.

I have agreed to pay the outrageous demand of five thousand pounds on the condition that Phillip marries immediately.

For a few moments Alexander could read no further. His eyes glazed over as he remembered the letter he had received from his brother while in Spain. The desolation in its tone had been tangible and now he knew why. He had been forced to marry Lady Anne in an attempt to assuage suspicion that his natural desires lay in another direction. A futile attempt by the looks of it as a further demand had arrived only weeks after the wedding. This time the accuser claimed to have evidence of Phillip’s crime in the form of letters written by him to his lover. The letters apparently contained dates and meeting places where the lovers would not be discovered.

For a further ten thousand pounds these letters would be returned to Phillip. The next entry in his father’s diary was clearly after another payment had been made.

Alexander, let me tell you now that a title does not ensure wealth or absolve one of guilt. I have sold as much frippery as I can to keep Phillip’s name unsullied. It has been a waste of time and effort. Every day your brother becomes more ill. Even though he has given up his heart’s desire there is no escape from this blackmailer or absolution from guilt. I discovered him standing in the gun room only this week and I truly believe that he would kill himself it weren’t for the fact that I have forbidden him to do such a thing…

Later on in the book Alexander choked as he read a shaky hand.

Phillip’s lover threw himself from the church tower. He sent a note to Phillip stating that he could no longer be responsible for Ormond’s destruction. Suspecting his lover’s plan Phillip set out for the college immediately but it was already too late. Needless to say, your brother is more than desolate. I fear for his mental health. None of his despair can be shown outwardly and dearest Anne, however understanding, can only do so much.

If only you were here Alexander! You would offer your brother solace and support. I know you would not turn your back on your sibling.

There was another short entry near to the back of the book that caught his eye. It was dated on the day of his father’s and brother’s death.

I have hidden the family strongbox. I refuse to leave you with nothing. Ormond may be lost but if you can find the jewels before you are forced out of the castle there may be hope for you yet. Phillip and I are resigned to our fate. It will spare us or take us and there is nothing we can do to forestall it. Search the recesses of your memory to find your treasure Alexander. I dare not reveal its exact location. This menace has eyes everywhere.

Tears dripped freely down Alexander’s face. He flicked through the pages to see if there was any reason other than malice and greed for anyone to do this to his family but he could find nothing of significance.

He wasn’t shocked at discovering Phillip’s sexual orientation or his affair. Whatever the law of the land, it was nothing unusual. One couldn’t help where one’s heart guided them. He had seen it often enough in the ranks and the emotion occasionally displayed on the battlefield when a soldier discovered a downed lover had been heartbreaking.

Now he thought about his brother he realized that he had known for years. His lover’s identity was no secret to him. He had seen their mutual affection grow stronger and stronger over the years.