To Write a Wrong

by Jen Turano

  “What do you suppose Ann’s doing out here?” Daphne asked.

  “Perhaps something concerning really is transpiring,” Cooper said, striding to meet Ann, who immediately flashed Cooper a smile, then took hold of his arm and pulled him closer to Daphne and Herman.

  “Thank goodness all of you are here,” Ann began, her voice no louder than a whisper. “I saw Finetta slip out the back door earlier, so I decided to follow her because she’s supposed to be recovering from ‘the incident,’ as Mildred keeps referring to the archery fiasco yesterday. I then saw Mr. Andrew Ware following her as well, so I hung back a discreet distance, thinking I should still follow them if only to prove our theory about their fondness for each other. I almost lost them because I had to make sure Andrew was out of sight before I crossed the bridge. But then, unfortunately, when I caught up with them, I was not prepared for what is currently happening just past the tree line. I was returning to the house to get help, so thank goodness all of you are here. There’s no time to explain further, though, because the situation is turning dangerous.”

  “Dangerous how?” Cooper asked.

  “A pistol is involved.”

  “We shouldn’t tarry,” Cooper said, withdrawing his pistol and moving with Ann through the trees, Daphne and Herman following them. Stopping behind an enormous maple, Cooper nodded to Herman. “I’m going to investigate. You’ll stay with the ladies?”

  “Of course.”

  “We’re inquiry agents,” Daphne said firmly. “As such, we’re not being left behind, and I’ll thank you to discontinue that nonsense.”

  Exasperation clouded Cooper’s eyes. “You do recall that your strength is contemplating plots and Ann’s is collecting gossip, don’t you?”

  “I’m hardly likely to forget that, but since you’re the one who keeps insisting we participate in physical exertion lessons, as well as other lessons on how to handle dangerous situations in the field, it seems somewhat counterproductive to now insist Ann and I stay behind instead of getting experience out in the field.”

  “She does make a most compelling argument,” Ann said.

  Cooper rolled his eyes before he muttered something about Daphne being obstinate, although he didn’t mention anything about Ann being obstinate, then strode forward and out of the trees.

  Daphne snagged hold of Ann’s hand and hurried after Cooper, making their way into a small meadow, Daphne stopping in her tracks at the sight that met her eyes.

  Mr. Andrew Ware was standing in the middle of the clearing, a pistol in his hand, while Mr. Irwin Rosenward was standing a good twenty feet away from him, holding fast to Finetta’s arm, who seemed to be struggling to get free from him.

  Before Daphne could do more than take in the scene in front of her, Herman strode into the clearing, his gaze settled on Andrew.

  “What are you doing?” he demanded.

  Andrew gave a jerk of his head in Irwin’s direction. “That’s a question you should ask Mr. Rosenward.”

  “He’s a madman,” Irwin hollered. “He wants to shoot me.”

  Herman switched his attention to Irwin. “Madman or not, Irwin, you need to release Miss Shoenburger. She should have no part in whatever quarrel you currently have with Andrew.”

  “I don’t have a quarrel with Andrew,” Irwin shot back. “Or at least I didn’t have a quarrel with him until he pulled a pistol on me.”

  Herman arched a brow Andrew’s way. “And you pulled a pistol on him because . . . ?”

  “He was threatening Finetta,” Andrew said. “I saw her leaving the house and thought she looked distressed, so I followed her. I certainly never imagined the source of her distress was Irwin, a man I’d been under the assumption was a friend to her family. When I happened upon them, he was shaking her.”

  “I was only shaking her to calm her down because she was becoming hysterical,” Irwin said.

  “I’ve never heard that shaking a lady in the midst of hysteria is a recommended solution,” Andrew shot back. “One would think a gentle embrace would be far more effective, or even a nice pat on the back.”

  “Considering Finetta punched me when I tried to embrace her, taking hold of her shoulders and giving her a shake was the only course of action left to me since I didn’t want her to punch me again.”

  “If Finetta resorted to punching you, you must have been threatening her.” Andrew drew off one of his gloves and threw it in Irwin’s direction. “I demand satisfaction.”

  “Did Andrew Ware just challenge Irwin Rosenward to a duel?” Ann breathed, her eyes wide as her gaze shifted to Andrew, then to Irwin, then to Finetta, then back to Andrew again.

  “I believe he did,” Daphne said.

  “There’s no reason for you to demand satisfaction,” Irwin said, dashing a hand over a forehead that was now perspiring. “Finetta and I have merely suffered a small misunderstanding, one we’ve yet to resolve because you took it upon yourself to stick your nose into business that doesn’t concern you.”

  “It was not a small misunderstanding,” Finetta said as she tried to shrug out of Irwin’s hold. “And I’ll thank you to release me.”

  “I can’t do that because Andrew will shoot me the second you step away from me.”

  “It’s nothing less than you deserve,” Finetta retorted right before she stomped on Irwin’s foot, earning a howl of pain from him before he dropped her arm. Finetta didn’t hesitate to bolt across the meadow, not stopping until she reached Andrew. Andrew immediately thrust his pistol into Herman’s hands right before he opened his arms and gathered Finetta close to him.

  “Considering Finetta doesn’t appear to be suffering from hysteria any longer,” Daphne whispered to Ann, “I believe the case can certainly be made that an embrace is a far more effective cure for a bout of hysterics than shaking is.”

  “Too right it is,” Ann whispered back. “And it seems we were right about the affection Andrew and Finetta share for each other.” She wrinkled her nose. “But what in the world do you think Irwin Rosenward is up to?”

  “I think it’s time to find out,” Daphne said, nodding to Cooper, who returned the nod before he moved into motion.

  Stopping in front of Irwin, who was bent over rubbing his foot, Cooper cleared his throat. “Mr. Rosenward, I believe I have a few questions for you, ones I’m going to insist you answer.”

  Irwin straightened. “Why would a coachman have any questions for me, or better yet, why would you think I’d answer a coachman’s questions?”

  “Unfortunately for you, I’m not a coachman. I’m Agent Cooper Clifton of the Pinkerton Agency.”

  “What’s a Pinkerton doing posing as a coachman at a house party?”

  “That’s really none of your concern, but what is of concern to me is what you were doing with Miss Shoenburger.”

  “He was trying to blackmail me,” Finetta called from the safe confines of Andrew’s embrace.

  “I didn’t see that one coming,” Ann muttered.

  “Blackmail you?” Cooper pressed. “For what?”

  “There’s no need for us to discuss this now, Finetta,” Irwin said, taking a step toward her, but stopping when Cooper blocked his way. Irwin was forced to crane his neck and peer at her over Cooper’s shoulder. “It’s a personal matter between us, and it will not serve you well to disclose anything.”

  Finetta stepped out of Andrew’s embrace, scowled at Irwin, then directed her attention to Cooper. “What I’m about to disclose does not speak well of my character, but I simply cannot live with the foolish decisions I recently made.

  “I’ve been distraught of late over the pressure I’ve been feeling from my grandmother, as well as Mildred, to further my acquaintance with Herman.” She turned to Herman. “I know full well that you’re not interested in furthering our acquaintance either but are too much of a gentleman to let that be publicly known. You’re also reputed to be incredibly solicitous of your grandmother, and because Mildred seemed determined to see a match between us, I�
��m afraid I, well, took it upon myself to ascertain that wouldn’t happen.”

  “You decided to murder him,” Daphne said, stepping forward and drawing Finetta’s attention.

  “I most certainly did not decide to murder him,” Finetta all but sputtered. “But I did seek out Irwin’s counsel on the matter, something I’m now regretting.”

  “My counsel was sound,” Irwin argued.

  Finetta ignored him and turned her attention back to Cooper. “After remarking to Irwin right before the reading of the Montague Moreland book how impressed I was with Daphne and how displeased Mildred seemed to be about the arrival of an outspoken, sophisticated lady of the world, Irwin suggested that I take a page out of Daphne’s book and become more vocal at the house party, perhaps even daring to go so far as to argue with Mildred in front of everyone. He believed that might have her becoming annoyed with me and abandoning her desire to see me married to her grandson.” Finetta’s lips curved. “The perfect opportunity for that, of course, occurred when Mildred wanted Miss Evans to continue reading while the croquet match played out. And even though my knees were knocking, I voiced my objections, drawing Mildred’s displeasure in the process.”

  “But it wasn’t enough to have Mildred abandoning her plan, was it?” Ann asked, coming to stand beside Daphne.

  “Miss Evans,” Finetta said with a frown. “I didn’t notice you there. What are you doing out here?”

  Ann gave a breezy wave of her hand. “Mildred asked me to check on you to see if you were feeling better. I noticed you leaving the house and was concerned that you might still be lacking the, er, proper amount of stamina needed to walk about the grounds. I felt it prudent to follow you in case you began feeling faint again.”

  “I was hoping no one else took note of my leaving the house,” Finetta said.

  “Mr. Andrew Ware certainly did since he followed you here,” Irwin said. “Clearly I’ve been played for a fool because I was under the impression you and I shared an understanding.”

  “We’ve never had any type of understanding between us,” Finetta argued.

  “We never had a verbal understanding,” Irwin countered, “but we had an understanding all the same. Young ladies do not seek out a gentleman’s counsel unless they hold that gentleman in very high regard.”

  “I did at one time hold you in high regard, but not regard I ever thought you’d misconstrue to be of the romantic type.”

  “Is that a result of your apparently holding foolish romantic notions about Andrew Ware?” Irwin asked.

  “My feelings for Andrew are not foolish.”

  “On the contrary. Andrew is a bookkeeper who does not have the wherewithal to keep you in style. Besides that, your grandmother will never approve of him.”

  Finetta’s eyes flashed. “I don’t need to marry a gentleman who has the wherewithal to keep me in style, because, if you’ve forgotten, I’m an heiress. Frankly, a bookkeeper would be the perfect man for me because he would know how to manage that large fortune I possess. As for my grandmother’s approval, while I certainly hope she’ll give it to me, it’s not going to deter me in the least if she doesn’t.” She turned and sent Andrew a lovely smile. “Andrew is the love of my life and I intend on marrying him—that is, if he wants to marry me.”

  “This just keeps getting more and more interesting,” Ann whispered, giving Daphne’s hand a bit of a squeeze.

  As Andrew began beaming at Finetta, Irwin’s face turned red. “How romantic, Finetta, but just how likely do you think it’ll be that Andrew will want to marry you after he discovers that you deliberately tried to shoot Herman with an arrow yesterday?”

  CHAPTER

  Fourteen

  “I believe we’re finally getting around to what is behind that blackmail business,” Daphne said, coming to stand beside Herman, her brown hair straggling around her shoulders, her pins and hat evidently lost in the Hudson.

  The urge to laugh struck him from out of nowhere.

  Yes, they were currently witnessing a scene that could have come directly out of one of his novels. But nevertheless, the sight of Daphne looking bedraggled and completely dwarfed by Cooper’s coat, which still revealed the lower half of a dress that certainly looked as if it had been hacked at with a knife, amused him. The sight also left him feeling somewhat off-kilter because, in all honesty, he’d never seen a lady look more appealing, even with the lenses of her spectacles smeared with mud.

  “Here, allow me to help you with those,” he said, reaching out to take the spectacles from her face, leaving her blinking at him in return as he used the least soiled part of his shirt to wipe the mud away. He handed them back and watched as she returned them to her face, blinking a time or two before she smiled.

  “Thank you, Herman. I was wondering why everything seemed somewhat spotty. I’ve also been wondering why no one, not even Ann, has remarked on our sodden state.”

  He swallowed the distinct urge to laugh again.

  It was a testament to the unusualness of Daphne’s mind that she’d be wondering such a thing, especially after the disclosure Irwin had just made.

  “I believe our woebegone condition has gone unnoticed because there’s something much more interesting occurring,” he said, waving in the direction of Finetta and Irwin, who were currently glaring at each other.

  Daphne wrinkled her nose. “I suppose you have a point, but I know I would have noticed, even if I’d been involved with something else, if two people arrived in my midst looking as if they’d fallen into the Hudson. It’s not as if it’s swimming season yet.” She glanced to Irwin and Finetta. “But, returning to the situation at hand, I’m not sure what to make of any of this just yet, although I’m coming to a few conclusions regarding Irwin, the most important of which centers around the notion that he is not the quiet and unassuming gentleman he presents to the world. In fact, I’m beginning to believe he’s a bit of a rogue.”

  “I can’t argue with that, nor can I argue that I might not have taken your warning about young ladies and their talent for duplicity seriously enough. Obviously, Finetta is far more cunning than I gave her credit for. I definitely wasn’t expecting to hear she’d deliberately tried to shoot me.”

  Daphne frowned, but before she could say anything, Finetta stepped forward, her eyes blazing as she began marching Irwin’s way.

  “You know I never intended to shoot Herman,” Finetta began. “I’ve never been able to hit so much as the side of a barn with a bow and arrow. You’re well aware of that, which is why you suggested I try to stage an accident when I was shooting my arrow in order to convince Mildred that I’m far too accident-prone to be a good candidate to marry her grandson.” She inclined her head to Herman. “Everyone knows your grandmother is militant about keeping you safe.”

  “I wasn’t aware that was such public knowledge” was all Herman could think to respond.

  Finetta waved that aside. “Well, it is but . . . ” She returned her attention to Irwin. “After I reflected on our plan, I decided I couldn’t go through with it. I certainly wasn’t expecting you to take matters into your own hands—literally. I was shocked when you stepped close to me as I was getting ready to shoot my arrow, and that shock only intensified when you had the audacity to take hold of my, ah, hip and turn me around. The sheer surprise of your touch took me so aback that I panicked and let the arrow fly, my heart missing a beat when it burrowed into poor Daphne’s backside.”

  “That was unexpected, but it’s not as if Daphne was injured,” Irwin said. “And I would think you’d be more appreciative about my stepping in. Mildred has decided you’re too accident-prone for her liking and thus not an appropriate candidate to become Mrs. Herman Henderson.”

  “I’m hardly appreciative of your giving Daphne a dreadful fright and almost killing her,” Finetta shot back.

  “And here I was under the mistaken belief that your descension into hysterics was a way to distract everyone from what really happened—that being that the situa
tion was no accident.”

  “It was an accident because, again, I decided I couldn’t go through with your plan. You, however, proceeded forward with no warning to me.”

  Cooper cleared his throat. “I’d like to know why you took matters into your own hands, Mr. Rosenward.”

  Irwin let out a huff. “You said you were a Pinkerton. One would think you’d be more astute.”

  “Given the precarious position you’re in,” Cooper said, “I don’t believe it’s in your best interest to insult me.”

  Irwin shrugged. “Perhaps not, but I would think with what I’ve disclosed that you would have already concluded that I was under the mistaken belief that Finetta was romantically interested in me. Because of that, I felt compelled to intercede in her affairs on her behalf. Obviously, she does not return the affection I carry for her, which leaves me feeling quite the fool for having involved myself with her in the first place.”

  “You’ve never given me a reason to believe you hold me in any affection other than friendship,” Finetta said, taking another step closer to Irwin. “Truth be told, you’re more a friend to my grandmother than you are to me, and you have to be at least twenty years older than I am.”

  “Most women prefer older gentlemen because we’re well established in life. That means we’re more adept with lending young ladies our invaluable guidance.”

  Daphne released a snort. “May I assume, Irwin, that you, believing that nonsense you just spouted about guidance, decided it would be in Finetta’s best interest to marry you? And when she obviously refused marriage, you tried your hand at blackmail?”

  Irwin’s brow furrowed. “What an imagination you have, although I’m not certain why you’ve decided to interfere in all this. You’re merely Herman’s secretary. You should remember that.”

  “I don’t heed advice from men who try to blackmail women.”

  “I didn’t try to blackmail Finetta,” Irwin argued. “I mean, yes, I might have told her she was not rationally thinking through my offer of marriage, but I don’t consider that blackmail.”