“Yes, Emma. There is something that I would not do, regardless of how much love I have in my heart for her.”
Eleanor’s heart lurched, but she did not let fear or dread take over her. Instead, she simply waited, trusting Lord Finchley implicitly.
“What could you possibly refuse to do for her?” Emma replied, her tone one of utter disbelief. “I have seen your connection; I have heard my brothers speak of it even when it was not a connection you were permitted to share. I know how you feel, for I feel it also for Lord Wigton. Whatever he asked of me, whatever he desired me to do so that we might have a future together, I was willing to give it.”
“At the expense of others?” Lord Finchley asked, his voice very quiet indeed, but his words seeming to echo around the room; such was the significance of them. “That is where you and I differ, Emma. I love Eleanor desperately. I want to marry her, I want to make her my wife and to share my days with her – but I would never force others to endure sorrow, brokenness, orbetrayal for my sake, foroursake. That is what I would not do. I would never bring harm to another soul.”
Miss Gladstone snorted and tossed her head. “Then your love is not as strong as you think.”
“On the contrary.” Unable to help herself, Eleanor made her way to Lord Finchley’s side, putting her hand in his but looking straight back at Miss Gladstone. “Our love has great strength because it has endured. It has fought through difficulties and confusion, and it has battled against doubt and sorrow. We have feared we might be set apart from each other forever, only to realize that nothing could separate us, not even the very worst that society might bring upon our heads.Thatis strength, Miss Gladstone. That is what our love is built upon.”
Lord Howerton let out a low groan and rubbed one hand over his eyes. “Let me understand this correctly. You are stating, Finchley, that my sister has threatened to reveal all about Rebecca and her present situation to thetonunless you give her a good deal of money?”
Lord Finchley nodded. “I received notes from your sister, demanding various sums. She and Lord Wigton – for I presume he was involved in every one – used street urchins to deliver some of their messagesandused them to take the coin from my hand to theirs. Earlier this morning, however, was the first time that I had seen Emma come to collect the coin herself.”
Lord Howerton said nothing, stalking across the room to pour himself a brandy. He also poured one for his brother, who had gone very pale indeed, staring at his sister in evident shock.
“I want to marry Lord Wigton!” she wailed, her eyes closing as fresh tears fell to her cheeks. “Can you not understand? You continue to keep me back from him, telling me that he is unsuitable, that he has not enough coin nor good sense in him, but I do not care!”
“And you thought that, in garnering more funds from your cousin, you might convince us that he was solvent enough for you?” Lord Wishart asked, his throat rasping as Lord Howerton pushed a glass into his hand. “You believed that?”
Emma looked down, and Eleanor’s heart squeezed with a sympathy she had not expected to feel. This Lord Wigton had trapped Miss Gladstone with his lies of affection, for Eleanor was quite certain they were nothing more than that. Dare she say it? Dare she speak such a thing in this present circumstance? The last thing she wanted was for Miss Gladstone to feel more pain, but would it not be right for her to show the truth?
Pressing her lips together, Eleanor took in a calming breath, looked up at Lord Finchley, and then back to Miss Gladstone. “Miss Gladstone – Emma, if I might call you that – can I ask you something?”
The lady looked at her, her shoulders lifting and then falling.
“If Lord Wigton cares about you so very much, if it is true that he loves you as you love him, then where was he this morning?”
Emma blinked, frowned, and then scowled. “You are trying to speak ill of him.”
“No, I am not, truly.” Trying to speak quickly so that the lady would understand, Eleanor continued. “Lord Wigtondiddo something quite dreadful.”
“He injured Lord Finchley, yes.” Emma sighed and looked away. “I will admit that striking him as he did with whatever he had – ”
“A heavy stone, I think,” Lord Preston interrupted, darkly, but Emma did not so much as glance at him.
“I will admit that striking him was quite wrong although I willalsostate that I can understand why he did such a thing. He was afraid of being caught by you all and – ”
“And yet, he was more than happy foryouto be discovered and foryouto bear the blame.” Eleanor watched Miss Gladstone carefully as she spoke. “He did not come back for you; he did not rush towards you to make certain you were quite all right. Nor has he come to the house today, ready to share the burden of responsibility with you.”
Miss Gladstone licked her lips and looked down at her hands.
“If I were in any sort of trouble, I know for certain that Lord Finchley would come alongside me in an instant, even if it meant the worst for him,” Eleanor said confidently. “Do you not think that it speaks poorly of Lord Wigton and all he feels for you – or said that he feels for you – given that he is not here? Given that he did not come back for you?”
“And,” Lord Finchley said, in a very gentle tone indeed, “given that he has taken all the coin for himself thus far also.”
“You – you are suggesting that he used me to gain some more coin for himself.” Emma looked back at Lord Finchley as he nodded, and Eleanor squeezed his hand, her heart filled with sympathy for the young lady rather than anger or upset. It was clear to her that she had been taken advantage of and, whilst what she had done was quite wrong, shehadbeen manipulated by a selfish, arrogant, inconsiderate gentleman.
“You will have to wait and see, but yes, I suspect that to be true,” Lord Finchley said quietly. “Do you think he will return to your side now, Emma? That he will approach your brothers, beg their forgiveness, and beg for them to give him the opportunity to prove himself?”
Lord Howerton shook his head. “My dear Emma, if there was any sort of goodness in him, thenhewould have found a way to make himself solvent again. Instead, he brought you into a terrible, wicked scheme, which meant he had to do very little, and you did a great deal. There was no effort on his part, nowillingness to fight against difficulty and trial to prove himself a changed gentleman.”
Eleanor’s heart twisted painfully as Emma put her head in her hands and began to sob brokenly. She leaned in to Lord Finchley, who put one arm around her shoulders, pulling her close as they watched the sorrow and regret overwhelm Emma. She sighed heavily, seeing Lady Catherine move to stand by Lord Preston perhaps feeling the same need for comfort as she.
“I am sorry for her,” she murmured, as Lord Finchley looked down at her. “I know that I should feel anger for all that she did, for all that she nearly stole from us, but instead, all I feel is compassion.”
Lord Finchley’s lips curved just a little. “That is because you have a beautiful character, my love,” he said, his voice near to a whisper. “I admit that I do not feel any anger either, much to my relief. I see what she now endures, I think of all that she was promised and all that she hoped for, and I confess, I can understand why she was driven to do as she did. The urge to do all she could for the promise of happiness is a strong one, is it not?”
