When he nodded, Eleanor’s heart dropped to the floor.
“I have received two notes,” he said, as Lord Preston rose to ring the bell for tea. “The first threatened to reveal all about my sister to society. The second note instructed me to give them a good deal of money, although this was done without their being present.”
“Money?” Eleanor frowned as Lord Finchley ran one hand over his chin. “They are trying to blackmail you?”
“They are succeeding,” Lord Preston replied, with a scowl. “For what can be done? It is not as if we can refuse, are we?”
“And you have no knowledge as to who it might be?” Eleanor asked as the door opened and the tea tray was brought in. “That must be very distressing.”
Lord Finchley waited until the servant had quit the room again before he continued. “Yes, it has been most distressing. I have not told my sister anything as yet and do not intend to, but it is clear to me that someone who knows of her situation is now using this as a way to gain… well, to gain whatever they want from me.”
“You think that they will demand more money, then?” Catherine asked, as Eleanor held Lord Finchley’s gaze, her heart aching for him. The burden he now carried upon his shoulderswas heavy indeed, and she had no thought as to how she might help relieve it. “That they will continue to demand more?”
“And more and more,” Lord Preston said, grimacing. “There is no name given, no easy way for us to determine who it is that is doing such a thing to us. The money that was given was handed to a child waiting at the door.”
“Just as a child handed me the first note and then scampered off into the dark alley,” Lord Finchley muttered, with a shake of his head. “You see, Eleanor?” Shadows were lingering in his green eyes, darkening them. “There is nothing that I can do at present, nothing that can be done to prevent this threat from continuing to hang over my head. I do not think that we will be able to – ”
“There must be something!” Eleanor exclaimed, unwilling to let Lord Finchley complete his sentence and bring her hopes and happiness to a crushing end. “If you think on it, Lord Finchley, is it not beneficial that we both now know of this?”
His brows pulled together. “What do you mean?”
“I mean to suggest that whoever it is that is threatening you does not know of our awareness of it now,” Eleanor explained, hoping that she was making sense. “We can assist you in discovering the perpetrator!”
“We could have followed that child, for example,” Catherine said quickly, apparently warming to the idea. “Without the perpetrator’s awareness that we were in any way involved!”
Lord Finchley’s smile was quick but faded just as hastily. “You make an excellent suggestion, but I could not have two ladies such as yourselves scurrying around London, particularly not when there are dark alleyways with all manner of dangers lurking within.”
“There must besomethingthat can be done,” Eleanor said firmly, as Catherine quietly rose to her feet to pour the tea for them all. “This is an enemy that threatens us both, Finchley.”
“Both?” His eyebrows lifted. “My dear Eleanor, it is only I and my brother who face this threat.”
She shook her head. “Does it not also threaten my future? Our happiness?”
Lord Finchley swallowed hard and then nodded slowly. “Yes, I suppose that it does.”
“Then I am determined to help,” Eleanor said firmly. “Do you think you will receive another note soon? Another demand?”
As if the perpetrator had known that she was to ask such a thing at that very time, a knock came at the door.
“Do excuse the disruption.” Lord Finchley, frowning again at the interruption, called for the servant to enter. The man came in at once, apologizing for breaking into their conversation but stating that this note was marked as urgent and, as Eleanor watched, Lord Finchley took it from the footman and, with a scowl, opened it.
Her breath hitched.
“It has no seal,” Lord Finchley muttered as the footman quit the room. “Just as the others.”
“Then this is from your enemy?” Catherine asked, sitting down again and sounding a little breathless. “From the person threatening you?”
Lord Finchley nodded, glanced at Eleanor, and then looked again at the note. Unfolding it, he read it carefully and then handed it to his brother. His hand went to his eyes as he sighed, shaking his head as his brother began to scowl. Eleanor wanted to ask what it was, wanted to know what demand was now being made, but she dared not, sitting quietly and waiting for him to tell her in his own time.
“The scoundrel!” Lord Preston threw the note onto the table, then rose to his feet. “Yet another demand!”
“He knows that we will agree,” Lord Finchley replied, his voice a little quieter now. “He knows that there is nothing we can dobutagree.”
Eleanor glanced at her cousin, who had gone a little pale. “Might I ask if you have any enemies, Lord Finchley, Lord Preston? Is there anyone you know who might wish harm upon you both?”
Lord Preston shook his head. “No, there is not.”
“Does anyone in your extended family have worries or the like?”
