He took the doubtfulness in the countess’s tone as a challenge. Somehow, he would make peace with Lady Sophie. After all, he rather enjoyed sleeping with both eyes shut, and in the lovely swan’s current mood, relaxing at all could be detrimental to his wellbeing. In fact, when he retired, not only would he keep his door locked, but a dagger under his pillow might not go amiss. “We will sort this between us, my lady, I assure you. All will be well.”
Rather than answer, Lady Rydleshire merely glanced aside and sipped her tea. A determined air settled across her as she slid the saucer and cup to the table and lifted her chin as though about to issue a challenge. “I assume the queen’s announcement that the earl would be deemed expired without an heir concerned you.”
“I am not certain the wordconcernedproperly describes my initial feeling. Confused would be more accurate.” He set his drink aside as well, glanced at the door, then leaned toward her. “Does she wish himexpiredby my hand?”
Lady Rydleshire studied him for a long moment, her expression impossible to read. “If she does?”
His mentor’s coldness about her own son’s life seemed greatly out of character for her. This was not the stern yet caring teacher he remembered. “My loyalty to Her Majesty is, as always, unquestionable,” he answered quietly. “Forgive me if that disturbs you, my lady.” Although, in truth, the woman did not seem disturbed at all.
“Rest easy, young Bromley.” She interrupted herself with a soft laugh. “Forgive me, sir. I still think of you as that ambitiousyouth in what now seems so very long ago. In my mind, you are still my most prized yet impetuous student. Young Bromley.”
“I took no insult, my lady.” In fact, whenyoung Bromleyhad slipped from the dowager’s lips, it had hit him like a mother using a pet name for a cherished child.
“I am glad.” She resettled herself in her chair, stiffening her spine and sitting taller. “The queen does not require you to eliminate the young earl. Her command was directed at me.”
“She wishes you to assassinate your son?” That thought disturbed him no small amount. A mother ordered to end her own child’s life? If the act indeed had to be done to protect queen and country, he would handle it himself to spare the dowager countess as much as he could. “Permit me to accept the order in your stead, my lady. I understand it will not keep you from losing your son, but at least he will not die by your hand.”
Lady Rydleshire closed her eyes, as though fighting to hold her composure.
“Shall I send for Lady Sophie, my lady? To help calm you?” He was at a loss, inexperienced in dealing with overwrought women. Saving or seducing them? Easily done. Catering to their unsteady emotions, absolutely not.
The dowager countess opened her eyes and smiled. “No, thank you. I assure you I am quite…gathered.” She laced her fingers together and primly folded her hands in her lap. “Announcing the earl expired with no heir will end the charade I created twenty-five years ago to prevent the title from reverting to the monarchy and becoming a bargaining tool for King George. Thereby leaving my precious Sophie and me almost destitute and dependent upon the charity and kindness of others.”
Nash stared at her, trying to take in the enormity of what she suggested.
“Your jaw is quite slack, young Bromley,” she said. “Close your mouth and breathe.”
“But…but provisions for you in case of…your marriage contract. Was your dowry not set aside in the case of such an unfortunate event as the death of your husband?” He clenched his teeth to stop his nonsensical babbling. “You are telling me that the fourth Earl of Rydleshire, Lady Sophie’s brother, never existed?”
“Only in the minds of those in which he needed to exist.” The lady released a weary sigh, took another sip of her tea, then returned the cup to its saucer. “Sophie’s father and I loved each other with a ferocity that sometimes frightened us both. And while we were proud to be the queen’s best agents, we were quite poor at handling finances or forming contingency plans in case something ever happened to David.” Her faint smile held no happiness as she stared off into space. “We were young and full of our own perceived self-importance. We thought ourselves invincible.” Her voice softened. “Then David was murdered a month before Sophie was born.”
Nash found himself sitting on the edge of his seat. “But how did you do it all these years? How did you manage to invent a person and make the world believe he was real?”
“Determination. Loyal servants. And my dearest friend and ally, Queen Charlotte.” She offered him a thoughtful look. “And when Sophie reached an age to help, things became much easier. She is quite brilliant, if I do say so myself.”
“Could the queen not simply—”
“I did not wish the queen implicated any more than she already was. Her knowledge of my rather delicate situation was dangerous enough for her.” Lady Rydleshire rose and returned to staring out the window. “King George was more stable back then, but still not quite…right. It would have been difficult andperilous for her to attempt anything more than what she had already done for Sophie and me.”
“And yet now she has ordered the title to revert to the monarchy and be given to another,” he said. “The precise situation that prompted you to create the farce in the first place.”
“Yes,” the dowager said, without facing him. “It appears that the past twenty-five years were for naught.”
“I am sorry, my lady.”
Lady Rydleshire turned and eyed him, her expression hard and unyielding. “Do not apologize for the error of my ways, young Bromley. But know this—if you do not protect my Sophie with all your being, I will make you sorry you were ever born.”
He rose from his seat and returned the lady’s fierce stare. “You will both be kept safe, my lady. Make no mistake.”
“Then I suggest you go to Sophie,” she said. “She has the letters, the threats, in her possession. That would be a good place for you to start.”
“Lead the way, my lady.”
She remained beside the window, framed by the day’s dreary, wet grayness. “I would prefer Thornton showed you the way.” She nodded at the doorway. “Do be good enough to ring for him. I have a great deal on my mind.” Then she turned back and stared out the window once more.
Nash felt the dismissal as keenly as if she had shouted for him to get out. He didn’t bother to answer, just did as she requested and yanked down on the tapestry bellpull hanging beside the door.
The butler appeared so quickly that he wondered if the man had been eavesdropping in the hallway. Probably so. First rule of discovering anything about a household was to befriend the servants. They knew everything. Another reason that the Rydleshire earldom scheme seemed so unfathomable.
