Catherine raised her gaze from her lap. When their eyes met, she felt her body to begin to hum again, that vexing, pleasing feeling working its way across her skin.
Half to cover up the severity of her own reaction, she gave a quick nod.
“I promise.” She had to work to keep her tone neutral.
She saw his expression soften—but only a fraction.
“My father, in his will, did something monstrous. To my sister, Lady Henrietta, primarily. And by extension, to me.”
He seemed to study her face once more, as if trying to divine whether she could be trusted. He didn’t look particularly heartened.
“In one month’s time, if I do nothing, a very large amount of money—a fortune in and of itself—will pass from my father’s estate to my second cousin, Baron Pierce Falk.”
Catherine suppressed a frown. Such a legacy made no sense. Why would a duke leave money away from his own children? It would certainly shock society. Noblemen didn’t leave funds away from their heirs. To do so was a kind of suicide.
“Henrietta is to come out this year. That exact amount: sixty thousand pounds—”
“Sixty thousand pounds?That’s not one fortune—that’s several.”
“I am aware.” He looked terminally unamused. “It was intended for my sister’s dowry. I could, of course, give her a dowry either way, although there is no replacing a portion of that size, even for a duke. The funds themselves, however, are not the sole nor even the chief problem. It is the talk that would be ruinous. Such a large bequest to Baron Falk—combined with the fact that my father will have settled not a farthing on Henrietta—would appear a frank admission that she isn’t his child. It would authenticate the gossip that has circulated since her birth and would destroy her future.”
Catherine remembered the rumors. After the duchess had discovered her husband and Mary Forster together, she had run off with the Baron of Eastwick. And then she had died six months later in childbirth. The girl had survived but the gossips said she wasn’t really the Duke of Edington’s daughter. The duke had always claimed her as his own but vicious speculation had still swirled around the girl, who no one had ever seen. She had never left Edington.
“I need to make sure I understand,” Catherine said slowly, letting a smile play over her face. She couldn’t help but relish circumstances so naturally distressing to the man in front of her. “Your father leftsixty thousand poundsintended for your sister toyour cousin?”
“Second cousin.”
“I agree that that is quite a problem. For poor Lady Henrietta most of all. But I don’t see how that leads you here. It seems there is nothing to be done about this unfortunate”—she smiled here, at her own pun, just to irritate him, and caught his scowl—“decision of your father’s. Like so many of his choices, it can’t be undone.”
“There is a condition,” he said, his voice rising to smother hers. His eyes were hard again, unreadable. For once, the line of his lips revealed nothing of his feelings. “It is, in fact, possible to save my sister’s dowry. To make it right.”
“And that condition is?”
“My father stipulated that the fortune will revert to my sister—if I can find Mary Forster.”
Her mind whirred.Mary Forster.She had not considered that her aunt would have any part in this Breminster family imbroglio. Or, for that matter, that anyone thought the woman could still be alive.
“My father wanted an annuity delivered to your aunt. Specifically, she needs to accept it.”
“An annuity?”
“A thousand pounds, to be exact. Per annum.”
A very large sum, indeed. Why would the duke want her aunt to have this money? Why would he risk his daughter’s future—if she was his daughter and right now that seemed a matter of great uncertainty—to make sure her aunt received such a yearly sum?
“He felt guilty.”
“I do not wish to speculate on my father’s motivations.”
“He must have felt guilty—why else leave it to her? It’s an admission of guilt.”
“Enough, Miss Forster.”
He had nerve, bringing her into this drama and then telling her to be quiet.
“How does any of this concern me? I don’t understand how you imagine I can help you with your problem.”
He frowned. She saw a flicker of confusion flit across his face.
