“I will move slowly,” he said now. “Targeting your friends first. Mr Comerford, our delightful host, will be the first to learn of your indiscretions. Then your other friends.”
“And if I assure you of my cooperation?”
“Then you have until the end of the week to deliver the first five thousand,” he said. “And if you have given me nothing when we return to London, I will meet with Prinny and tell him the whole.”
Five thousand by the end of the week. It could be done—in the scheme of things it was not such a large number, and she could withdraw it easily enough—but she balked at the principle of the thing. Paying her blackmailer—it would not do.
“You said until the end of the summer,” she said, shutting the lid of the pianoforte with more force than strictly necessary.
“Did I?” There was no flicker of sympathy in Knight’s eyes. If ever he had harboured misgivings, they were well and truly gonenow. “Then I have changed my mind. Don’t be late, Lady Bolton. I do not make idle threats.”
No, she suspected he did not.
Then again, neither did she.
“You don’t say!” Caroline sat straight up from where she had been sprawled across the sofa in Louisa’s bedroom. Candied nuts spilt onto the floor. “Even the filthy ones?”
Louisa levelled her friend a quelling stare. “Yes, even the filthy ones.”
Caroline cackled. “Oh, my husband would have been shocked to his core to know a lady painted those. Prinny has a collection, you know.”
“I’m aware,” Louisa said dryly. “That’s half the reason this is such a disaster. And why Knight’s threatening to meet with Prinny so soon is forcing my hand.”
“What are you going to do? Pay him?”
“That entirely depends on what I find in his room,” Louisa said, pacing the floor. “I’ve sent my men to search through Knight’s house while we’re certain he’s away, but if he is still employing guards, there’s a chance they won’t succeed. My thought was that he would suspect me of acting against him while he was away and so would take the evidence with him, but if I can’t search his room and find it, then I may have to pay him just to keep quiet.” She folded her arms across her chest. “The paintings are the biggest problem. Bolton’s letter could be forged, Hyatt is still in Italy to the best of my knowledge, but the paintings prove all.”
“Do you truly think he would have brought them with him?” Caroline asked, popping a nut into her mouth.
“Perhaps. I hardly know. I expected him to not let them out of his sight—it’s his guarantee that I will pay.”
“I always knew you had a secret,” Caroline said, watching her. “And I knew it would come to light in the end.”
“I need an ally.”
“Well of course you need one, darling. This is war.” Caroline tucked her legs under herself as she considered. Her blonde curls were ever-so-slightly dishevelled, giving her the appearance of having just walked out from a liaison, but although the effect ought to have been sordid, it was charming. “What do you need? All I have is at your disposal. Which,” she added with a wink, “is very little more than you see before you. But I am more than free to offer advice.”
Louisa regarded her friend. “What would you suggest?”
“Either you extract his evidence from him or find a way to undermine his leverage. What do you know of him?”
“As yet, very little.” Louisa sighed. “He covered his tracks well—whatever his background, I can’t use it against him if I don’t know what it is.”
Caroline nodded sombrely as she considered. “In my experience, there is only one way to extract information.”
“Let me guess,” Louisa said wryly. “Flirtation?”
“Seduction. A naked man is a vulnerable one.”
“Do all your solutions involve seduction?”
“We are women,” Caroline said. “We have limited powers in this world, and it is our responsibility to know how to use them to our best advantage.”
“Is that so,” Louisa said. Part of her wished Henry could be privy to this conversation; she hoped he would be shocked. She hoped he would bejealous. “Then what, pray, aremypowers?”
“As though you aren’t aware of your uncommon beauty.” Caroline scoffed, and returned her attention to the nuts. “And, because you are fussy about which men you bring to bed,you have the advantage of being unobtainable. Men rarely find anything so valuable as that which they cannot have.”
“Then why doyouhave so many gentlemen queueing to get a glimpse of your bedchamber?”
