He nodded. This was turning out to be the strangest of days imaginable. But then, after the last week, he could believe that almost anything was possible.
<<<
Damien waited, studying the hip flasks before him, until Thomas had walked away, carrying his cane, and he thought that he had heard the door open and close. Then, casually, he turned back and went to the counter.
“Are you Mr Tanner?”
“I am. What’s it to you, sir? Can I help you with something?”
“I believe that you can. I am told that you will know what to do with this,” he laid the package on the counter, and watched Mr Tanner’s eyes go wide at the sight of it, then went on, “and the message which goes with it. The past will be paid for by the present.”
Mr Tanner swallowed, and Damien wondered – it was almost as if he had not expected such a package to ever arrive.
“Indeed, I do know what to do with it, sir. Will there be anything else?”
“I don’t think so, but I’ll look about as I leave.”
“As you wish.”
Damien turned, and went towards the door, but wove in and out of some ranks of high piled shelves as he did. He wanted to know what would happen next.
<<<
Camellia clapped her hand over her own lips, stifling the gasp which tried to come out, and reducing it to a small strangled squeak.
In front of her, the man who looked so very like Blackwater raised an eyebrow. She shook her head. To speak would give them away, so he would have to wait for an explanation. But that phrase – Blackwater had said the exact phrase which the blackmailer had told the girls to say, when they delivered their payment. There could be no other conclusion – the same blackmailer must be blackmailing Blackwater too!
She got her breathing back under control by screwing her eyes tight shut, and concentrating on being calm. But when she opened her eyes again, it was all she could do not to emit an even louder noise. For not twelve inches in front of her, Blackwater stood, watching her with a puzzled and amused expression. This time she felt so much heat from the blush in her cheeks that she wondered that the items around them did not instantaneously combust.
All three of them stood frozen, and, just as Camellia drew in a steadying breath, and went to whisper a question, voices out in the main part of the shop stopped her. Carefully, they inched forward, in unison, and peered around the edge of the shelves, listening carefully. Blackwater’s arm slipped out, and curved around her waist, holding her steady against him, and the heat of his body inflamed every part of her, even as she leaned into that supporting arm, and listened to what was happening at the counter.
The woman whom she had seen enter the shop earlier stood there, speaking to the shopkeeper.
“Mr Tanner, I believe that you have something for me. Once I have it in hand, I will pay you the agreed sum.”
“I do, indeed have something for you.”
“Give it to me, if you please.”
Mr Tanner smirked a little, shaking his head as he lifted the package which Blackwater had given him back onto the countertop
“I’ll say that I’m surprised it was actually delivered. I’ll admit that I thought you a bit barmy, if you’ll forgive me. But you’ve proven me wrong.”
“I should be deeply offended – but I suppose I can’t blame you.” The woman lifted the package, and seemed to assess its weight. Then she reached into her reticule, and withdrew five guinea coins, and placed them on the counter. “There, the sum we agreed on. There may yet be another package come to you, of a similar nature. I will call again soon, to ascertain whether it has arrived.”
Mr Tanner nodded. The woman turned as if to leave. Blackwater’s arm disappeared from around her, suddenly, and Camellia staggered slightly, only to be caught by the other man – the man who she guessed must be Blackwater’s illegitimate half-brother – for what else could explain the resemblance? Blackwater stepped out into the main pathway between the counter and the door, blocking the woman’s way out, and, shockingly, at the same time, Lord Setford appeared, as if by magic, from the far corner of the shop, a grey silk top hat sitting incongruously on his head. It was Setford who spoke first.
“Lady Prunella Danby, I presume?”
Beside her, the man gasped, and in front of them, Blackwater’s face showed shock, but what the woman’s face showed was pure naked fear. She spun on the spot, then froze as Setford’s piercing grey gaze trapped her.
“Aah… umm… yes.”
It seemed that she was unable to think of anything to say, but the truth.
Setford smiled – that smile which reminded Camellia of a wolf - and spoke softly.
“I am so glad that you have not tried to deny your identity. Will you try to deny your crimes? For that package in your hands is most certainly the proceeds of crime, of blackmail.”
Behind Setford Mr Tanner gasped, and took a few steps back, muttering.
“I nivver… nothing to do with me… I’s just the messenger…”
Setford ignored him. Lady Prunella shrank back, her face piteous.
Beside Camellia, the man who was Blackwater’s brother burst forward, his face full of a tangle of emotions.
“You… why? Why would you, my aunt, do this? You are my aunt, aren’t you? I am not wrong in that assumption? Why on earth would you blackmail my half-brother?”
Camellia stepped out at that point, confident that, with Setford there, she was safe. It was time that Blackwater knew what had been happening.
“It is not just Blackwater that she’s been blackmailing – she has threatened and blackmailed his sisters too.”
Blackwater spun towards her, his face filling with anger, far beyond what had been there before.
“What? She has what????”
“They received a demand similar to the one I presume you received, with instructions of a like nature, including the message to go with the package. They refused to tell you, because they did not wish you to suffer more.”
He spun back towards Lady Prunella, and for a moment, Camellia thought that he might strike her. Lady Prunella gave a strangled sob, and her face crumpled. Then Setford’s voice, calm and quiet as always, intervened.
“I do believe that, at this point, it is best if we all repair to Blackwater House, and discuss this in private. Mr Tanner does not need any more drama in his shop, I am sure. And, of course, Mr Tanner is a very discreet man, who will not mention this to anyone,” Setford turned, and dropped a very heavy sounding coin purse onto the counter, “aren’t you, Mr Tanner?”
The shopkeeper slid the coin purse to him, undid it, just a little, and peered in. He stilled for a moment, then his face assumed a blank expression.
“Of course, my Lord, I am the soul of discretion, in fact, I don’t recall seeing anyone in the shop this last hour or more, not since the gent with the gold watch.”
“Very wise of you. Good day to you.” Setford flipped the top hat from his head to the counter, then stepped forward, took Lady Prunella’s arm, and waved them to the door. “My carriage awaits, just around the corner. My men will pay off any jarveys you might have waiting.”
<<<
With five of them in the carriage, it was a little crowded. Camellia found herself pressed against Blackwater’s side, and acutely aware of the scent of him, and the warmth of him. It was enough to make it remarkably hard to think. Opposite her, Setford sat, beside Lady Prunella, who sniffled into her handkerchief. On the other side of Blackwater, his half-brother leaned against the carriage wall, doing his best to take up as little of the seat as possible. Blackwater turned slightly, and looked at Camellia.
“I believe that belated introductions are in order. Lady Camellia Gardenbrook, may I make known to you Mr Thomas Black, my recently discovered illegitimate half-brother.”
Thomas leaned forward to meet Camellia’s eyes past his brother, and smiled.
“Delighted, I’m sure, Lady Camellia, despite the rather unconvention
al nature of our meeting. I must say, this last week has been rather eventful, in all ways, but when I set out to come here today, any kind of drama was the last thing that I expected.”
Blackwater gave a snort of soft laughter.
“I agree. I certainly didn’t expect to see you in the pawnbroker’s shop – or you, Lady Camellia. I won’t be so impolite as to ask what a lady was doing there, unescorted – but I will ask you, Thomas, how you came to be there – for I would not have expected you to be the sort who would have pawned anything.”
Mr Black laughed in turn.
“I’m not – I’ve only done it this once, a few weeks ago, for funds to keep my shop running – before everything changed.”
Camellia looked at him… what did he mean, ‘before everything changed’? Blackwater laughed again.
“You mean before my father’s bequest was revealed, and you became a man of means?”
“Indeed – the first of the funds from that have not only allowed me to pay the current bills, but to reclaim my cane here – and thus, accidentally, to be in the midst of this most interesting drama.”
Camellia gasped. Suddenly, everything fell into place – Mr Black… no doubt of Bentick and Black, the shop she had invested in. Which also explained why Blackwater had been there, that afternoon when she had gone to see the place. She felt a pang of guilt for having taken so long to tell Mr Swithin to invest further of her funds in Bentick and Black, for it seemed that her hesitation had forced Mr Black to pawn a precious item.
She had received a note from Mr Swithin only yesterday afternoon, telling her that the loan had been repaid in full, and that the further funds were no longer needed – it had startled her somewhat, but now it was all clear to her.
“So it was your shop that I invested in… and I had no idea… OH! I…”
Her voice trailed into silence, and her face reddened. What had she done? She had allowed her thoughts to escape as words, and now… what would they think of her? Ladies of the aristocracy did not, most definitely did not, invest in Gentlemen’s Outfitters!
Two sets of bright green eyes regarded her curiously.
Chapter Seventeen
Damien’s mind spun – had he heard aright? Lady Camellia had invested funds into Thomas’ business? He was impressed, and deeply curious – at least, he realised in a moment of clarity, that explained what she had been doing in that cab outside the shop, some weeks ago – inspecting her investment. Thomas appeared as startled as he was – his brother’s jaw dropped open, and then snapped shut. He swallowed, then attempted to bow in his very cramped seat.
“My Lady. I had no idea! But… you have my eternal gratitude. Without your investment, I would not have survived, and old Bentick’s legacy would have been lost as well. I hope that you have received…”
“Yes, Mr Swithin notified me yesterday that you had repaid the loan in full. I am pleased that you have the funds to do so. Now, Mr Swithin will find me another small business in need of help, and I will invest again. I find that helping small businesses to survive has a far greater impact than simply handing out charity.”
She stopped speaking, her face bright red, and Damien suspected that she was waiting to be criticised – as indeed, most men of the ton would do, if they discovered that a woman had dared to assume that she was intelligent enough to invest. The men he knew would be horrified. But he was not. If anything, he was delighted – she was full of surprises, and far from being the empty-headed sort that most women beautiful enough to be regarded as a diamond of the first water were, she demonstrated depths of kindness and intelligence which were quite breath-taking.
The heat of her where she was pressed up against him almost burned, and he remembered that moment in the pawnbroker’s shop, when he had slipped his arm around her, and she had leaned into him. He cleared his throat, pushing aside the thoughts which rushed into his mind, of holding her in his arms again.
Thomas spoke, pulling him back to the present.
“My Lady, that is a most admirable way to approach things. Had my father not left me substantial funds and property in his Will, I would have been completely dependent upon that further investment of funds which you offered. But now… now, everything has changed, and in such a short time.”
“I am glad to hear of it.”
On the opposite seat, Lord Setford watched the conversation with those alarmingly piercing grey eyes, and Damien wondered, as he had been doing since the moment when Setford had materialised in the pawnbroker’s shop, why the man was there, and how he appeared to know so much about what was going on.
He supposed that would all be revealed once they reached Blackwater House.
Beside Setford, Lady Prunella had managed to stop sniffling, and was regarding them all with confusion, as if the words they said made no sense at all to her. He wondered what she would reveal, once they questioned her closely. In truth, he could not imagine a more unlikely blackmailer.
The carriage slowed, and he looked out of the window to see that they had arrived before Blackwater House – he had barely noticed the time pass, so caught up had he been in their conversation. His footman rushed down to open the carriage door, and almost jerked back in shock when he discovered his master inside. With admirable control, he stilled that reaction, stood tall a moment, then let down the steps.
“Your Grace.”
“Thank you, Dibbs. If you would ask Dobson to open the yellow parlour, and order a substantial repast with tea?”
The footman scurried off, and Damien stepped out of the carriage, then turned to assist Lady Camellia. She placed her hand in his with a tremulous smile, and he discovered that he did not wish to release that hand, once she stood upon the street.
He forced himself to do so.
Inside, he sent a footman to summon his sisters, who soon came down the stairs looking worried. He waved them towards the parlour, and, once they had all settled in the room, with the fire built up and a veritable feast laid out on the sideboard, he turned to Lady Prunella.
“I believe, Lady Prunella, that you owe all of us an explanation – indeed, each of us seems to have a part of this tale to tell, before we will have all of the truth – but you, as the perpetrator of the crime at the heart of this, should begin.”
Georgette and Marie looked at Damien, utterly confused, and Georgette spoke softly.
“Blackwater, what do you speak of? What crime? Who are these people, and why are they here?”
It was Lord Setford who answered her, surprising Damien, but he allowed it, as he wanted to hear what Setford said in explanation, almost as much as he wanted to hear Lady Prunella’s story – after all – how had Setford known to be there, and known about the blackmail?
“Ladies Georgette and Marie, I assume?” His sisters nodded, and Setford went on, “I am Cecil Carlisle, Baron Setford. I carry out some… activities… for the Crown, with respect to keeping our nation and our royal family safe. Part of the responsibility involves keeping track of any… oddities… happening amongst the ton. And I have many men and women who assist me in that work. One of them brought to my attention the blackmail threats to you, ladies, and I began to investigate. This,” he indicated Thomas, “is Mr Thomas Black – your illegitimate half-brother,” Damien watched his sisters gasp anew, as Thomas stepped forward, and they saw his face fully, “who is a maker of such items as swordcanes – and a supplier to my… associates. Through being accidentally in the right place at the right time, I became aware of the ledger, Your Grace, that your man of business recently discovered, and I realised, through an alignment of facts, that it potentially related to the blackmail case.”
Lady Camellia spoke softly, almost under her breath.
“Oh, so that’s what Trent did with the information…”
Setford gave her a little bow.
“Yes, Lady Camellia. Mr Black, and Lady Prunella – I believe that you are the only two who have not met Lady Camellia Gardenbrook before? She is the daughter of the Duke o
f Elbury, and a friend to many of the ton – and others. And this,” he indicated Lady Prunella, who was squirming on her seat a little, like a child caught stealing from the kitchens when the cook wasn’t looking, “is Lady Prunella Danby, the sister of Mr Black’s mother, and the person who has been blackmailing not just you, dear ladies, but your brother as well.”
Damien felt suddenly exposed, as his sisters both turned to him, total shock on their faces.
“You… you were being blackmailed too?”
“Yes, and I had no idea that you had been sent demands as well…”
He looked at them, feeling a little hurt, again, that they had not confided in him, no matter the kindness of their reasoning. Georgette turned back to look at Lady Prunella, with a little shudder, rather as if she was some odd specimen of insect.
“You are the person who had been blackmailing us? You don’t look… but… why? Why us, and why would you do such a thing?”
Silence fell in the room, and Damien lifted the tea cup to his mouth, discovering that his hand shook a little as he did so. It was, indeed, the most pertinent question of all, and the one that everyone in the room wanted answered.
Lady Prunella gave a strange strangled sob, and began to speak.
“It was all Augusta’s fault – right from the start! If she had not been such a fool, had not fallen in love with the wrong man, had not allowed passion to overcome sense, then none of this would have happened. You,” she pointed at Thomas, “would not exist, I would not be an impoverished spinster whose life was stolen from her, and there would never have been any need for anyone to pay anyone else to keep the whole sordid affair secret.”
Her words trailed to a stop, and she sobbed in earnest.
Damien spoke after a moment, addressing Setford.
“Lord Setford, you mentioned that the ledger of my mother’s payments related to this. I can see how the ‘Lady P. Danby’ named in that could be Lady Prunella, but…”
A Diamond for a Duke : Book 4: Camellia: Clean Regency Romance (A Duke's Daughters - The Elbury Bouquet) Page 13