‘She flatly refuses to say a word about them, claiming she will explain it all to the new Comstock when he arrives.’ She waved a hand at the jewellery beside her and laughed bitterly. ‘What will she say to him that might matter? A theft of this magnitude cannot just be explained away.’
‘You were planning to give yourself to the Earl,’ he said, shocked, but not surprised.
She cocked her head to the side, looking up at him with a smile that had become wiser in the last hour. ‘I did not think of it in that way. I was not planning togiveanything but my hand. But that was not what he actually would have wanted from me.’ She looked into his eyes and one part of him melted as another grew hard. ‘I may have diminished my value somewhat, since meeting you.’
‘You most certainly have not,’ he said. ‘You were worth more than a pile of cold stones when we began. And now? I would not trade a minute with you for all the jewels in England.’
‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘But much as I like to hear them, your beautiful words will not solve my problem.’ She patted the bed beside her, indicating that he should sit. ‘I need your beautiful brain to do that. Or at least Mr Leggett’s beautiful money. How much has he given you to sort our problems?’
‘He said I could have what was needed,’ Gregory said, collapsing prone on the bed next to where she sat. ‘I was to spare no expense.’
‘Ha.’ She made a sound that was far too harsh to call a laugh and fell back to lay at his side. ‘And how much have you spent so far?’
‘Seventy-seven pounds, five shillings and sixpence,’ he said.
‘That is very precise,’ she said, glumly.
‘I have receipts,’ he said. ‘I would not be in demand if I were not so accurate. I will waive my fee to him, of course, since we are to be family.’
‘Are we?’ she said, rolling to face him.
‘That will be up to his wife’s younger sister.’ He took her hand and kissed the knuckles. ‘I plan to speak to your grandmother the moment we return to London and hope that I shall claim a connection to Mr Leggett before he has even come back from Italy.’
‘Do you think he might give us a wedding gift of fifty thousand pounds?’ She reached to the jewels at her side and perched the tiara awkwardly on her forehead. ‘Or perhaps one hundred and fifty,’ she said, with a regal wave of her hand. ‘You are far better at guessing the value than I. But I guess that the diamonds must be worth at least that.’
‘You are assuming we could buy them back,’ he reminded her. ‘I doubt the biggest stone remains uncut. There will be no equal to be found, even if we could afford it.’
‘At least we still have the settings.’ She sighed. ‘Although, with the luck I’ve had, I would not be surprised to scratch the surface and find they are gilded tin.’
‘But at least this restores my faith in your grandmother’s sanity,’ he said, staring up at the canopy above the Dowager’s bed. ‘I was wondering why she sold such rubbish to get by. If she had already run through the money for the diamonds, it makes more sense.’ He stopped, confused. There was something wrong in that assumption as well, but he was too tired to see what it was.
‘It would have made even more sense, in the eyes of the law, if she had sold things that actually belonged to her.’ Hope gave a bitter laugh. ‘The rest of the jewels in her jewel case are real and not entailed. When I asked her why she did not part with those, she told me that they were gifts from Grandfather and had sentimental value.’
‘Of course,’ he said weakly.
‘And now you see why I thought it was hopeless to even tell you. With your help, we have been able to replace the least important items. But I doubt that the Earl will be impressed by our efforts once he learns what is still lost.’
‘That is quite possibly true.’ And now he could see why she had not wanted to tell him of the problem, for he could not think of a better solution than the one she had been considering.
‘Have you heard anything more about his arrival? How long do we have before he learns what Grandmama has done?’
‘No,’ he admitted. Strickland was already overdue. At best, they had a few weeks before the reckoning she had feared. Now that she’d told him the whole truth, it appeared she had been right all along. For a wrong of this magnitude, marriage would have been a reasonable way to heal the breach and reunite the two branches of the family. If it had been any other woman, he’d have brokered the match himself.
Instead, he’d made bold promises about solving any problem put to him. He’d lain with her and ruined the best chance she had for the security she craved. Now the only thing he could do to set things right was to produce a king’s ransom in diamonds on short notice and out of thin air.
She poked him again. ‘You have not fallen asleep, have you?’
‘No. Merely thinking.’
‘You had gone so quiet, I was beginning to wonder. Do you have a plan?’
‘The beginnings of one.’ He was lying to her again. He had no idea what to do, other than stall and pray. ‘Is the jewel case here? I wish to examine it.’
She rose on one elbow and gave him an odd look, then pointed to it, sitting on the mattress, a few inches from his head.
‘Silly of me,’ he said with a shrug and reached for it. ‘It seems I have eyes for nothing but you.’ Now that he’d started lying he could not tell one truth in twenty.
‘I don’t know what good it will do,’ she said. ‘He will not be impressed by a nice package if the jewellery is false.’
