Which was the same reason that he couldn’t rush right over to Charlene’s house to comfort her. They needed to keep their distance from one another. It wasn’t just his reputation at stake.
Nor was it simply about her reputation. Someone had already framed her father, landing the man in prison with the possibility of a swift hanging death. He couldn’t risk someone deciding to harm Charlene to ensure that Eric didn’t marry her.
He wished that he could send her a message telling her that he was still looking into her father’s death, though. No rumors could keep him from staying true to his promise to her. He was going to prove the man’s innocence. Somehow.
More than that, he wished that he could tell her that if he had to do it all over, he would still kiss her. Even if kissing her, being alone with her, had led to these dreadful whispers.
Unfortunately, the more information he gathered about Lord Henrich’s case, the more it sounded like Dr. Ellington was guilty. Surely that couldn’t be, though.
Eric believed Charlene when she maintained her father’s innocence. What’s more, he had heard the man himself profess that he hadn’t done the deed that he was accused of. His insistence of his innocence had rung true.
Eric doubted the doctor was that skilled of an actor.
How to prove that he had been framed, though? They needed to find the man who had really poisoned Lord Henrich, but that was proving impossible.
There simply weren’t any leads. No loose ends that he could unravel. Whoever had done it had done a good job.
That worried him. If the killer, whoever he was, realized that Eric was trying to help Charlene prove her father’s innocence, would he come after Eric as well? When Eric had first agreed to help Charlene, he hadn’t even thought about the potential danger to himself. Not that it would have changed his resolve to help her.
When Michael told him that he had a visitor later that afternoon, when he had returned from Whites, Eric’s heart leapt with hope. Was it someone with a lead in Dr. Ellington’s case?
Could one of his requests for information have paid off so soon? Perhaps he had been overzealous in his worry and there was still a chance after all.
He couldn’t bear the thought of Charlene marrying Lord Ambrose. He would do whatever he had to do to make sure that that never happened.
He wished that he could help her more directly by offering a counterproposal. He had a feeling that Charlene would be more than happy to accept if it meant that she was free from Lord Ambrose forever.
At least Eric was nowhere near as loathsome as the Marquess was. However, he doubted his tenants, and the rest of the peers of the realm, would approve of his marrying Charlene. Not only that, but the bribe that Lord Ambrose had offered to sweeten his deal was the safety of Charlene’s father.
As long as Dr. Ellington’s fate was still in the hands of Lord Ambrose, Eric couldn’t be seen having anything more to do with her. The last thing he wished was for the doctor to be sentenced to hang out of some spite on behalf of the Marquess.
No, first things first: Eric had to prove, somehow, that Dr. Ellington was innocent and that someone else had committed the crime of poisoning Lord Henrich.
Once that matter was cleared up, he would see if there was anything that he could do about his affections for Charlene. He only hoped that this current visitor came bearing good news.
Except it wasn’t one of the investigators. “It’s the Lady Annabelle. Shall I have tea brought in for you?” Michael asked.
Eric barely kept from groaning aloud. Annabelle. Of course. She would have heard the gossip, and she would be here to make sure that he remembered that, in her eyes, he was meant to be courting her.
She’d no doubt want to list off her own reasons why he should have nothing to do with the spinster.
Tea would make her stay longer. But if he didn’t offer her tea, she would no doubt feel slighted, and the last thing he needed was for more jealous gossip to spread about himself right now.
Especially since as far as the Marquess was concerned, it was probably best for Eric to make it look like he wasn’t interested in Charlene in the slightest. That he truly was courting Lady Annabelle.
Eric sighed. “Yes, please have tea brought in to us,” he said. “But make sure it’s not too hot when it comes in. The sooner it goes cold, the sooner I can send her on her way.”
Michael looked like he was trying not to laugh as he bowed to his master and then hurried off to tell the cook. Eric headed into the other room and found Annabelle waiting for him.
She stood up, her hands pressed together and her face displaying false worry for him.
“Oh Eric, I’m so sorry to come unannounced like this, but I did just want to make sure that you were all right!” she said. “It must be so dreadful to have your reputation questioned all over town.”
“You know how gossip is,” Eric said. “It’ll all be back to normal in a matter of days, I’m sure. In the meantime, I’m trying not to think about it too much.”
The comment was pointed: he hoped she would realize that she had nothing more to say and just leave. But of course, that was asking for too much.
Instead, Annabelle seated herself, and Eric swallowed another sigh and sat across from her. The lady was shaking her head.
“It’s no surprise, really,” she said. “Miss Ellington has never acted as a well-bred young woman. It’s a shock that they allow her to continue to masquerade as an educated young woman of society. After all, she hardly comports herself to be around others. Riding a horse astride, can you believe it? I can only imagine what she must be teaching to the young ladies she chaperones!”
She paused, giving Eric a chance to agree with her. When he remained silent, she pressed on, not seeming to think it was at all awkward.
“It’s not as if her aunt is much better. Lady Helene acts as though there’s no reason in the world why a woman should be married. It’s no wonder the family raised such an unseemly child. You know, I heard her father allowed her to be educated in medicine too.
“And look where that’s gotten Dr. Ellington: accused of murder! One must wonder what sort of things he might have taught his daughter.”
Annabelle lowered her voice, leaning in closer, her eyes earnest.
“I’m sure you realize that you must have no further dealings with Miss Ellington. If she is upset to hear the things that they are saying about her around town, I’m not sure what she might do. But I’d be worried if anything were to happen to you.”
Eric felt his hands clench into fists. He had tried to stifle his anger while Lady Annabelle listed off Charlene’s supposed faults, but this, accusing the other woman of potentially trying to murder him, was too far.
“I hardly believe that Charlene would come after my life,” he said rather stonily, “since she did, in fact, once save my life. As for her father’s case, I would advise you not to proclaim a man guilty when you know nothing of the man, the situation, or the law.”
Annabelle’s mouth snapped shut with an audible click, and Eric couldn’t help but feel satisfied at shutting her up. Even though he knew that he should probably entertain the woman for longer – especially since their tea hadn’t even come yet – he was through with this meeting and her fake pity.
“As you’ve reminded me, the whole town is already gossiping about me,” he continued. “All because a woman showed up at my manor by herself. As you have done too. I’d rather not give everyone more to gossip about, so I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to leave.”
Annabelle’s eyes turned stormy, but Eric could see from the determination there that he hadn’t seen the last of her. The young duke stifled another sigh, wishing that there were some way to make her understand he was never going to be interested in her.
Of course, she didn’t care about that. She wasn’t looking for love; she probably didn’t even understand what love was. She merely wanted to better her position at court. She wanted a conquest. Eric just wasn’t interested.
He showed her to the door, breathing a sigh of relief when she was gone. He hadn’t seen the last of her, and he could only hope that more gossip wouldn’t spread around town about this visit. But he had more important things on his mind.
How would he prove Dr. Ellington innocent? There had to be a clue that he was missing.
Eric went back to the reports that had already come in, poring over the information there. By the time night fell, however, he was no closer to finding out the truth.
Chapter 15
Miss Charlene Ellington
As the days passed, Charlene felt increasingly hopeless. Her lack of job afforded her too much time to dwell on her current situation.
She had no friends to whom she could turn for advice about any of this either. Many who were once her friends had scorned her now, not wanting any part of the gossip that still seemed to follow her wherever she went.
There were no social outings to distract her, and there was still no good news about her father’s situation.
She was starting to think that things were well and truly over for her. If her father was convicted, she would have no future. If her father wasn’t convicted, she still had no future.
There was no chance of her father not being convicted, save her marrying Lord Ambrose. That had become rapidly apparent. There was too much evidence stacked up against Dr. Ellington, and Charlene on her own couldn’t find any information refuting any of that evidence.
She wished that Eric were still helping her. There had been no word from him since the rumors had spread about the two of them seeing one another in private.
Charlene knew things had to be that way. He would risk his reputation by sending her even a final letter. And what that meant was that he could have no continued role in helping her to prove her father’s innocence. It would have risked too much.
She never should have asked him in the first place. It had been too great a favor to ask from him, and it had landed both of them in hot water.
The gossip about Eric had changed, of course. Another couple balls had passed, and everyone was again talking about the young duke and the Lady Annabelle, who had been seen dancing together once again.
Everyone seemed to be wondering when Eric would finally ask the woman for her hand in marriage.
It made Charlene feel sick to think about it. Eric had told her that he wasn’t interested in the other woman, but had he merely been saying that? He certainly seemed to like dancing with her, if nothing else. Otherwise, why would he not say no?
Charlene looked out the window, feeling restless. What was there for her to do, though? She was sick to death of staying inside day in and day out, but she couldn’t go out into the city without Helene’s supervision.
In any case, she had no desire to hear the hushed whispers as she passed. Really, she would have thought that everyone would have moved on by now.
The worst was when they likened to her ‘murderer of a father’. It seemed that the entirety of London had made up its mind that Dr. Ellington must be guilty of poisoning Lord Henrich.
If he wasn’t hanged, who knew who the man might murder next.
Worse, even though Charlene had been in London at the time that the man was killed, everyone seemed to think that she must have had some role in the murder.
“She’s mentioned more than once that she knows how to treat most basic ailments,” one woman would say.
“She advised me when my Davey was sick that he should have a certain type of medicine,” another fretted. “Was she trying to murder my Davey too?”
Helene always grit her teeth and kept her head high. Charlene couldn’t seem to muster that level of aplomb. She ducked her head and shuffled along behind her aunt, no doubt looking ever guiltier with each new rumor.
It was better that she remain here in the house. Was this to be the rest of her life, though, hidden away in the shadows like some disfigured thief?
“You received a message from the Marquess this morning,” Helene informed her one morning over breakfast. Charlene could barely eat and instead had been picking listlessly at a roll, shredding it to crumbs on her plate.
She looked guiltily up at her aunt. But her aunt clearly had more on her mind than her niece’s table manners.
“What does it say?” Charlene asked, certain that her aunt would have already opened the message.
“He was hoping he might call on you. No doubt, he’s hoping that you might have an answer for him regarding his proposal.” Helene paused. “I presume it won’t be too much longer before it’s too late to save your father.”
Her voice was choked, and it made Charlene feel all the more guilty. They hadn’t talked about the marriage proposal again since the first time she had told Helene about it, but it was always there in the background of their interactions.
She couldn’t stop thinking about what her aunt had initially said: she wouldn’t force Charlene to marry against her will, but if their roles were reversed, she would have done whatever it took to save her brother’s life.
Charlene knew that she should just marry the Marquess and be done with it. It was the only logical thing to do. Marry Lord Ambrose and all the whispers would stop. She’d be free to return to her normal activities.
Perhaps she wouldn’t be accepted as a chaperone again, but she would find other pursuits. The other women might still sneer about her behind her back, but they would be friendly enough to her to her face. It would at least be better than being cooped up here.
Except for the fact that she would be married to Lord Ambrose, sharing a home and a bed with him. She still felt sick at the very thought of that. Yet she felt sicker at the thought of her father going to the gallows because she had refused to marry the investigator.
She had just been so hopeful that she and Eric would be able to prove her father’s innocence and… And then what? The Duke would never be free to marry someone of her stature. Even if the man was interested.
The more Charlene thought about it, though, the more she knew that she had merely built up some sort of fairytale in her head.
The first time that Eric had kissed her, he hadn’t even known her. He still barely even knew her. How could he possibly want anything more than sex with her?
He likely thought that as an old spinster, unmarried and likely to remain that way, she would be the perfect choice for a mistress.
Charlene didn’t doubt that he would treat her well, but they would both know that she could never hope to ask for anything more than that.
“Have you made a decision with regards to the proposal?” Helene asked.
Charlene sighed. “You know I don’t want to marry him,” she said frankly. “But nor have I any wish to be the reason that my father is sent to hang.”
She frowned unhappily. “I just wish we could get to the bottom of this investigation. I’m sure that Father didn’t kill Lord Henrich, and I’m certain that he wouldn’t have made such a strange mistake.
“It’s enough to make me wonder if Lord Ambrose fabricated this whole situation himself just so that he could con me into marrying him.”
“Charlene!” her aunt said, aghast. She looked around like she was afraid that someone might overhear the two of them. But they were still alone. “That’s a very serious accusation,” she hissed.
“I didn’t truly mean it,” Charlene muttered. “I simply wonder how it is that the investigator has found so much damning evidence about a man who has committed no crime.”
She looked sharply at her aunt. “Or have you made up your mind that your brother must have done what he is accused of?”
It was Helene’s turn to sigh. “I don’t know what to believe, Charlene,” she said truthfully. “I don’t like to think that he intentionally poisoned Lord Henrich.
“On the other hand, you know firsthand that corruption runs rampant in this country. There’s no telling what someone might have blackmailed him with in turn.”
Charlene’s hand flew to her mouth. Sh
e had never even considered that someone might have blackmailed her father like Lord Ambrose was trying to blackmail her. Even still, she had the perhaps childish belief in her father.
No matter what someone tried to use against her father, Charlene believed the man would never do anything immoral.
Was that naïve? She didn’t know.
“I do believe that whatever it is that truly happened, the wisest course of action would be to marry the Marquess,” Helene added, taking a bite of her breakfast. “Shall I arrange for him to come to see you sometime this week?”
Charlene had no response to that either. She knew that her aunt’s words were true. It would be best for her to agree to Lord Ambrose’s proposal. It was a likely way out of the situation that they were currently in.
Regency Diaries of Seduction Collection: A Regency Historical Romance Box Set Page 68