As though he owned the place, Fairfax walked over to the mahogany cabinet where I kept my brandy and poured us both a measure. He handed me a glass, which I tossed back. He was watching me carefully, taking in everything. Normally he wasn’t quite so overt.
“My mother already prefers Diana over me.”
“That’s as it should be,” Fairfax said, savoring his own glass of brandy.
I laughed. I couldn’t deny he had a point. But he hadn’t come all this way for small talk about my nuptials.
“I take it you have news.”
Fairfax nodded. “You should sit down.”
“Should we wait until Diana is here?”
“In due time,” he said. “I thought you would want to know first. Since I assume you’ve gotten to know the young woman, you’d know how she’ll take the news.”
Fairfax wasn’t wrong. I was already keeping secret my suspicion that her uncle had arranged for her mother’s death and that her aunt had been complicit. I’d told myself it was because I didn’t want her unduly worried if my assumptions were wrong. But that was no longer the whole reason. I hated the idea of seeing her in pain, and part of me hoped I was mistaken.
We settled into the winged chairs in front of the unlit fireplace. The room felt cold today, but I knew it was just my dread since I’d been warm enough in the carriage with Diana.
I forced my thoughts back to Fairfax. “What have you learned?”
He leaned back in his chair and watched me. “Rexford and I asked a few discreet questions in the right places. I was able to discover that the Tuttlefords were in debt before Diana’s mother passed.”
I wasn’t surprised. “So they’re accessing Diana’s inheritance.”
Fairfax nodded. “It would appear so. Not large sums of money, because she’s only receiving an allowance, but it is a generous one.”
“Diana comes into her fortune when she reaches the age of majority, or upon her marriage, which her aunt and uncle were clearly trying to prevent.”
“Just so,” Fairfax said with a nod. “But having access to that allowance enabled them to begin making payments on those debts. Not all of them, of course. There are a fair number outstanding. But enough to keep ruin at bay for now.”
I leaned back. “Were you able to learn anything about the death of Diana’s mother?”
He shook his head. “I hadn’t received any solid evidence before I left London. But I have an acquaintance who is tracking down the driver of Lady Atherton’s carriage that night. He’s proving to be elusive.”
A knot settled in the pit of my stomach. “He’s either dead or he’s been paid off to disappear.”
“We’ll find out soon enough. I have reason to believe he’s alive.” Fairfax drained the rest of his brandy and set down the glass. “Rexford was able to reach out to the solicitor in charge of Diana’s trust.”
I frowned. I didn’t like the idea of a family solicitor being loose with secrets. “Did he tell you anything?”
It would come in handy if he had, but then I’d need to let him go. Diana couldn’t retain a solicitor who couldn’t be trusted to maintain their clients’ privacy.
Fairfax shook his head. “He refused to discuss the details of the trust, saying that it was his professional duty to speak only with Diana and her guardian.”
I leaned forward, bracing my arms on my knees. “And of course, the Tuttlefords won’t say anything, so we are at a dead end until Diana and I can speak to her solicitor ourselves.” As a married woman, Diana would no longer need a guardian. The two of us would now have access to all the information about her future fortune.
Fairfax had a gleam in his eye, one that I knew boded well. “That would be the correct assumption. But Rexford was able to learn a vital missing piece of information about Diana’s former guardian.”
A shock went through me. “Guardian? Singular?”
“When the Athertons’ solicitor referred Rexford to speak to Diana’s guardian, he didn’t name Baron Tuttleford or Diana’s aunt.” Fairfax leaned back again, satisfaction radiating from him. “He named Lady Clifton.”
“My mother?”
Fairfax nodded. “Lady Clifton is supposed to be Diana’s guardian.”
His revelation settled over me with a sense of rightness. Diana’s mother had been estranged from her sister so it had never made sense that she would be named Diana’s guardian. After eloping and marrying a wealthy merchant, Lady Atherton had completely cut ties with her family. As the daughter of a viscount, they hadn’t approved of the match.
