“I shall endeavor to succeed.”
Petty nodded but looked unconvinced. “If you are unsuccessful, I’ll lose money. As I said, Louisa is more importantto me. So we will figure something out.” His sadness at this prospect was palpable.
So Petty had already given up. Fletcher understood that Rotherfeld might prove to be a substantial foe. And he only had a week to figure out how to vanquish him.
Chapter Eighteen
“I could leak something to the scandal sheets,” Lark said at the club that night. “A rumor that a certain Duke of R— is having an affair with a Lieutenant H— that would bring them both down, and yet they persist…”
“Subtlety, thy name is a scandal sheet,” said Owen.
Fletcher sat in his usual seat in the club and enjoyed his friends’ attempts both to strategize and cheer him up.
Hugh leveled his gaze at Lark. “You don’t think Rotherfeld would retaliate?”
Lark shrugged. “I’m not saying I thought it through.”
“I have to buy him out, right?” said Fletcher. “I have to push a giant pile of money at Rotherfeld, buy the farm for more than it’s worth, and go into business with Lord Petty, who would then become my father-in-law.”
“Sure,” said Lark, “you could make some kind of deal in a smoke-filled room, out of the gaze of the public,oryou could bring the man down in the papers. I’ve got an in withTalk of the Town. He’ll never track the rumor back to me.”
“You’re in a suspiciously positive mood,” said Hugh. “And possibly have a death wish.”
Lark shrugged. “Things are looking up. Although perhaps not for Fletcher, if he is about to be parted with a large sum of money.”
“I don’t want to own a sheep farm,” said Fletcher. “I can barely handle all of my father’s holdings as it is.”
“Hire someone to oversee your part of the investment but let Petty run it otherwise,” Hugh suggested.
“This is all seeming a bit…” Fletcher struggled to find the word. “I don’t know. Unseemly. Like I’m bribing Lord Petty into letting me marry Louisa.”
“Normally it’s the other way around,” Owen pointed out.
“I don’t understand why money must be involved at all,” said Fletcher. “Why do we make marriage into a business arrangement? Don’t answer that, I know why, I just… Louisa does not want to marry Rotherfeld, I am trying to rescue her, but now I might have to buy half a sheep farm, and it all seems absurd.”
“What’s your plan?” asked Hugh. “You’re real plan, not Lark’s plan to tarnish his reputation.”
“I don’t know. Talk to Rotherfeld, I suppose.”
“Are you having second thoughts?” asked Hugh. “About marrying Louisa, I mean.”
“No.” And he genuinely didn’t. “But I thought I had the solution. No doubt, if she breaks the engagement, there will be social fallout, but it will blow over, especially since it’s not like this will render her unmarriageable. I plan to marry her, after all. And then we can leave town until next season, when everyone’s attention will have moved on to something else.”
“That’s a good plan,” said Lark.
“But only if Rotherfeld agrees to give up on the engagement. Unfortunately, it sounds like that is something he is unwilling to do, and he’s basically bribed Louisa’s father to keep him from ending things.”
“Did Petty say how much his investment in the farm was?” asked Owen.
“No, but this afternoon, I dropped a hint with my man of business that I was interested in finding out, so he’s probably gothalf of Scotland Yard combing through public records. I fear it is a large amount, though, or Petty would not be so reluctant to part with the money.”
“So, what now?” said Hugh. “Is it expected that Louisa just sayyesat the wedding if Rotherfeld does not relent? If you want to marry her, why not just elope?”
“I want to do this right,” said Fletcher. “I’m not marrying her just to rescue her from Rotherfeld. I’m marrying her because I love her.”
“And that’s noble,” said Owen. “But sometimes marriages are not love affairs.”
Said a man whose marriage was arranged after he was caught kissing his now-wife.
