“Do, hurry,” he exclaimed, as Rupert took Eleanor’s hand and hurried her towards the door. “He is deeply uncertain and quite anxious.”
“How did you bring him inside?” Lady Eleanor wanted to know, as their hurried footsteps took them along to the parlor. “What did you say?”
Lord Preston grinned. “I demanded it, that is all.”
“Then he is pliable,” Rupert mused, as his brother nodded. “That is good to know.”
There was no time for him to say anything more. With Eleanor by his side and Lady Catherine hurrying to join them from where she had been standing by the door, the parlor door was open and waiting for them all to go in. Rupert, taking a breath, lifted his chin and then stepped into the room, setting back his shoulders and keeping his head held high in the hope of conveying to the driver just how much authority he held.
One look at the man told Rupert that he would not have any difficulty in having the truth from him. The fellow was small, thin, and slightly hunched, his hands in his pockets and his shoulders rounded. Given the way his brother had been easily able to bring the fellow into the house, Rupert did not think that he would struggle to get answers.
“You are Matthew, yes?” Keeping his tone commanding, Rupert narrowed his eyes just a fraction as the man nodded. “Good. I have some questions for you.”
“Questions?” Fear sparked in the man’s eyes. “I ain’t done nothing.”
“No, no, we know that,” Lady Eleanor said, a gentleness to her tone that rubbed sharply against his. “But might you not be willing to answer our questions?”
Rupert watched the fellow, seeing how he looked at Lady Eleanor, and then darted a glance back towards him. “There will be some recompense for you,” he promised, still keeping his voice firm. “But you must be honest with me. I shall know if you are not telling me the truth.”
The man nodded fervently. “Yes, of course.”
Rupert smiled inwardly. It seemed that the mention of money, more than anything else, had convinced Matthew to be honest. “You will not know my face, given that it was dark, but a few nights ago, my brother and I set a bag into your hackney and you then drove away.”
The man’s eyes flared, and for a moment, Rupert thought he was going to begin to protest, to state that no, he had not done any such thing. His mouth opened, closed, and then he shook his head.
“I cannot – I cannot say much, my lord,” he stammered, looking down at the floor. “There is too much danger.”
“Danger?” This time, it was Lord Preston who spoke up before Rupert could do so. “In what way?”
Matthew rubbed one hand over the back of his neck, still looking away. “If she finds out, then – ”
“She?” Rupert was flabbergasted, the word breaking from his lips before he could stop it. Matthew looked up at him and then dropped his gaze again, nodding slowly. Overwhelmed by astonishment, Rupert let out a slow breath, trying to regain some clarity. He had never once thought that a lady of thetonwould be responsible for all of this! He had only ever thought that it was a gentleman behind it, but now, it seemed, he had been completely and utterly mistaken.
“I was warned,” Matthew said in a low voice. “I was warned that if I said anything to anyone, she’d find me and – ”
“There is no way for her to discover it,” Lady Catherine said firmly. “None of us will say anything, and if you speak quickly, then you will be returned to your hackney in a trice.”
“And with a pocket full of coins,” Preston reminded him. “Now, this lady, who is she?”
It took a few seconds for the gentleman to answer, and when he did, it was with both a shrug and a sigh. “I couldn’t tell you, my lord.”
Rupert frowned, seeing why the lady in question would not have revealed her name to the hackney driver. “She asked you to wait outside Whites, then to drive the hackney and what was contained within it back towards… well, where was it you were to go to?”
“To the entrance of Hyde Park, my lord.”
That made Rupert’s frown settle even deeper. “To the park?”
“Another carriage was waiting,” the driver explained. “I waited there, I was not to come down. Someone came out, took whatever was inside, and then left again. A gentleman this time.”
Rupert’s eyebrows rose. “So a lady instructed you in what to do and a gentleman took my bag,” he said aloud. “This lady, how did you come upon her?”
The driver frowned. “I was just waiting,” he said, slowly. “This lady came up to the hackney, and I thought she was wanting to hire me. But instead, she told me this was what I was to do and paid me a good deal.”
“A lady,” Lord Preston said, speaking slowly as if he too were struggling to comprehend this. “By herself?”
The driver nodded.
“And where was this?”
