“You live in London, sir?” Holly glanced at him.
“I do, Miss Trease. At the present time I am engaged in redecorating a house I bought recently. Not a job that I enjoy.” He smiled. “In fact, I might solicit your opinion, and perhaps that of your Mama, about interior fashions. A topic on which, I am not afraid to say, I know little or nothing.”
Richard observed the polite by-play, noting Holly’s non-committal response and Lady Hazel’s smooth intervention with some comments of her own.
It was all, on the surface, a charming afternoon tea amongst the gentry in their country home.
But there was something beneath Blackstone’s demeanour. His eyes, expressionless, roamed the room, resting on a portrait or a statue, then moving on to something else, almost as if he was assessing the value of every item there.
Richard knew this man’s public reputation as a wealthy businessman, whose interests included collecting fine art—the purchase of which was funded, according to less than public rumours, by the profits from a string of brothels.
He wouldn’t tell the Treases, of course, but he’d also heard that several gaming houses featured in Blackstone’s financial portfolio. Ones where fortunes were lost on a regular basis by those idiotic enough to think they could beat the odds.
Blackstone had painted himself as a man of modest fortune, wit, and elegance. And had used dishonest gains as his palette of colours. Now he was becoming accepted in higher circles, and his business acumen was attracting people like Sir Duncan, always ready to entertain a new, and possibly profitable, venture.
Watching him chat with Lady Hazel, and even manage to engage Holly in a discussion of some young artist who was making a stir in London, Richard had to acknowledge the skill with which Blackstone dealt easily with the elevated circle he found himself in.
If one didn’t know the truth about him? He might seem quite amiable. But Richard did know, and he made a mental note to himself to remind Holly at the earliest possible moment. She was already leery of this man. Best to be as honest as he could and keep her that way.
Which was a very personal goal, and probably should take second place to his actual business assignment, which wouldhave been much easier if he’d still possessed those damned papers.
What he needed now, and what he resolved to do, if at all possible, was to speak to Sir Duncan Aylmer. And for that, he would need Holly and possibly her parents.
Even then, his mission wasn’t guaranteed to meet with success, and if Blackstone found out who he was, and what he would be telling Sir Duncan?
The results might be damnably unpleasant for all concerned.
*~~*~~*
“Well, that went quite well,” murmured Holly, as she and Richard left the library.
Her father and Blackstone were still there, discussing some recent events in the financial world, so it wasn’t hard for Lady Hazel to rise and announce she was leaving them to it.
The perfect cue for Holly, who had asked Richard to assist her with more decorations; thus the three of them left the library together and paused in the hall.
“I don’t know, Mama,” said Holly quietly. “What do you think?”
Lady Trease shook her head. “Not here. Come with me.” She led them to her study, shooed them inside, and closed the door.
“There doesn’t seem to be a thing wrong with him,” she said immediately. “And you know who I’m talking about.”
“Yes,” said Holly, echoing Richard’s silent nod.
“But…” Lady Hazel paused and stared from the window at the snow. “But there is something.” She turned back. “I can’t put my finger on it, but there is something there that isn’t…I don’t know…comfortable.”
“Agreed, Mama. I felt the same.” Holly turned to Richard. “What do you think?”
His face betrayed nothing of his thoughts for a few moments, and then his brows slowly drew together. “He is not a man I would wish to have in my house. Based on what I know first-hand, and what I’ve heard? I wouldn’t trust him as far as I could throw him.”
Lady Hazel sighed. “You’d best sit down, Richard, and relate what you know, if you please.”
She waved them both to a couch and took the chair next to it. Holly was barely aware that she’d seated herself close to Richard, and had to restrain herself from taking his hand. It was an odd moment when she realised that such a gesture would shock her Mama, though it seemed perfectly natural to herself.
But Richard was speaking, and she knew it was important, so she pushed everything personal aside to listen.
What he said confounded both women.
Rumours of extortion, theft, beatings, and violence, coupled with fraudulent deals, threats, blackmail, and even prostitution…Richard spared no detail when it came to revealing what he had heard the past year or so with regard to Mr Blackstone and his business dealings.
