“But you didn’t, so you couldn’t,” Theo said firmly.“But what you can do now is protect her.And that will be enough.”
“I hope so,” Callum said, shrugging because it didn’t feel like it was enough.Not by a long shot.“What do you think of her list?”
Theo held out a hand and Callum turned over the list of names Bernadette had neatly laid out not an hour before.A slight smile tilted Theo’s lips briefly as he let his gaze slide over the words.
“Etta’s handwriting is perfect,” he explained when Callum arched a brow at him.“Mine is terrible.”
“You don’t have to tell me,” Callum muttered.
“As for the content, I would say your culprit is very likely on this list.The most obvious answer is someone who was in the house that night.Hiding from the violence, but quietly aware of it and its consequences.So if you can get that toady new duke to allow you access, you’ll likely find your culprit.”
“Yes.”Callum let out a long breath before he opened his drawer and carefully removed a stack of fine stationery, a quill and his wax sealing kit.“Then I should begin.”He laid a sheet before him and as his fingers brushed the fine paper, he paused.“That’s odd.”
“What is odd?”Theo asked as he finally took his own drink and sipped it.
Callum dug into his pocket and withdrew the note from the blackmailer.He spread the sheet open and laid it next to his own paper.“The weight is the same,” he murmured.“The feeling is the same, even the color is the same.”
“It’s paper,” Theo said, but he leaned across the desk to examine the similarities, himself.“How could you be certain it’s the same?”
“I had this paper specially ordered,” Callum explained.“It soaks longer so the color is a bit darker than the usual paper.It’s a touch heavier.”
“You are fastidious,” Theo muttered.“So you believe it is the same paper.Isn’t it possible that the author of the letter had access to the same stock?”
“I don’t think so.As you said, I’m fastidious when it comes to these things.What I write on is rare, indeed, and expensive.I cannot imagine a servant in the new Duke of Gooding’s home finding it there.Silas would not have had it and Franklin is, let me put it kindly…I doubt he spends much time on any literate pursuits.”
Now Theo’s brow wrinkled.“So why would he invest in fancy paper?Then perhaps the culprit came from a different house.One of the neighbors.”
“Perhaps.”Callum stared at the pages.“Or perhaps there is a simpler explanation.The author of the blackmail letter got the paper from this very desk.”
“What are you talking about?Someone in your household staff?How would they know about what had happened between Silas and Valaria?”
“They wouldn’t,” he said, rising.“But there was one person in the household who might.Valaria’s maid.”
“Franny, or Fanny, isn’t it?”
Callum nodded and his stomach sank.“Valaria has been so defensive of the young woman.If it is true that it is her own close confidante and friend who is doing this…it’s yet another betrayal.Yet another heartbreak for her.”
Theo shook his head.“Yes.So what will you do?”
“I’m returning to her tonight,” he explained.Theo arched a brow in response and Callum rolled his eyes.“Don’t get all prim and proper on me now, you notorious rake.Yes, I’m going to call on the woman I love, the woman I will marry, to comfort her after what has to have been one of the worst days of her life.”
“And you’ll reveal these suspicions?”Theo asked.
Callum nodded.“I’ll get more information about the delivery of the letter.And question Fanny.”
“What about Franklin?”
“I’ll hold off on contacting him.If I can resolve this without raising further questions, then that’s what I’ll do.”He scrubbed a hand over his face.“I both hope I’m correct and that this terrible thing can be stopped before it truly starts, and pray I’m wrong so I won’t be the cause of yet another pain in Valaria’s life.”
Theo stood and clapped a hand on his shoulder.“My friend, if there’s one thing I know, it’s that you aren’t the cause of her pain.I watch you together, I see how protective you are—if you can overcome her barriers, you two could actually be happy.”
Callum arched a brow.“Are you getting soft in your advancing years?”
Theo snorted.“It seems I am.Unconscionable.”His expression gentled.“Can I help?”
“No, you’re helping just by refusing to say I told you so about Silas.And about the fact that I…that I always cared a great deal more for Valaria than perhaps I wanted to admit.”
“I take no pleasure in the former and a great deal in the latter,” Theo said as he pushed to his feet.“And now I’ll go so you can have a moment to prepare yourself for how you will broach this delicate subject with Valaria.If you need me, send word.”
“I will,” Callum said, smiling with distraction as his friend left the room.But once he was alone, he picked up the two letters and looked at the paper again, his stomach turning with the thoughts he had in his head.
And the ways the truth could cut as deeply as a lie.
