"Well, apparently she didn't," James said, his voice tight.
"Did she tell you why?"
"She and I have hardly spoken about it. It was Lord Harbury who told me the engagement would be so accelerated, and when I asked him for his reason, he told me that it was what she wanted. Apparently she requested it."
"Are you sure?"
"That's what he said. And I have no reason to doubt him. If she wanted to be married quickly, I'm sure he would have given her that. I don't know what made him decide so suddenly that he wished to marry her, but I know he was desperate to do so."
"Well, that's what I came to talk to you about," William said. "I'm not sure his motives are entirely pure."
"I don't know what you mean."
"Have you looked at your ledgers?"
"My ledgers?"
"You told me a while ago that you thought something was the matter with them. Don't you remember that?" He took a seat opposite James. "You said that you thought your late cousin might have been involved in illegal activities, and you asked me to look at the ledgers to see whether or not I could make sense of what was going on—to see if I could detect anything illegal."
"That was quite a while ago," James said. "I actually forgot I had asked you to do that."
"Well, I didn't forget," William said. "I've been going through them diligently, as a matter of fact, and I think Ihavefound something."
"I can't deal with it today," James said. "I have too much else on my mind at the moment."
"I understand that you're preoccupied," William said, "but truly, I think that this might be important and worth your time. I'm asking you to take a look. Here, I even wrote it all up for you." He pulled out a sheaf of papers and laid them on the desk between them. "Just take a look," he urged. "I think you'll see that this was worth the time it took. There's a lot here."
"I tell you, I don't have the energy for it today," James said. "Another time, perhaps."
"James, don't be a fool. You knew there was something wrong with the books. Well, you were right. If you look at these papers, you'll see?—"
"I've asked you to let this go," James said. "I don't want to discuss it. Not today."
"James, for God's sake, you asked me to look into this," William said. "You wanted me to find out what was going on here. Now I've done as you asked, and—what? And you no longer want the answers?"
"I want the answers. I just don't want them today. Can't I have one day off from worrying about these affairs?" James demanded. "Today of all days, am I not entitled to a break?"
William shook his head. "If you had feelings for her, you shouldn't have pushed her into a marriage to someone else."
"Stop it, William. Get out of my house if this is all you came here to do. I haven't got the energy for this, as I told you. I don't want to talk about it. If you want to sit down and have a drink with me, I'm willing to do that, but I'm not willing to go through all of this. As I said, we can do it another day, but we cannot do it today."
"And I tell you that youmustdo it today," William said. "You must look at these papers. I need to know whether or not, when you look at them, you see the same thing I saw. And much more importantly,youneed to know whether you see it. Because if you do see it?—"
"Take your leave," James said, rising abruptly to his feet. "I've had enough of this."
"Damn it, James! You're going to regret not having listened to me."
"Just go," James said. "I have too much on my mind today. I thought you would have come here with compassion—with empathy in your heart for me and for what I am going through. But I see now that it isn't true, and so I don't wish to spend any more time in your company. Go, now. Don't make me regret having allowed you into the place to begin with."
"You're going to wish you'd listened to me," William said darkly. "You're going to wish you'd heard what I was trying to tell you when you look at those papers. You're going to wish you hadn't allowed?—"
James opened the door. "Get out."
"You're a fool," William snapped. "You're being an utter fool, and I feel sorry for you, James. If there was anything I could do to make you see what a fool you're being, I would do it, believe me." He turned and strode from the room.
James, still in a fury so hot that it felt as if he might ignite, returned to his chair and sat down.
He stared at the papers William had left behind.
