“Absolutely not.”Drake grinned, and there was absolutely no humor in his expression, only the vengeful light of a man on a mission.“Trust me.Blash will receive exactly what he deserves.But desperate men have nothing left to hold on to but hope, and I will be very surprised if that does not loosen his tongue.”
“This afternoon, then,” Matthew said, drawing Drake’s attention back to him.
Drake nodded.“We can gather at White’s.”His gaze alighted for the briefest moment on Johanna.Once again, Drake was trying to keep the ladies out of things.
Matthew was not surprised, but he also was not going to object.His fingers slid over his empty pocket.Drake seemed determined, and in this case, it seemed easiest to just go along.
Johanna was already nervy enough.Besides, she was attending tea with his grandmother and Rose at Lady Chesterham’s.If she was not there, his friends would only be able to pepper him with questions, not her, and he had promised to protect her and her mother.
Johanna
“Mr.Blash has been found and is now in Newgate prison,” Johanna announced as soon as she returned to the sunroom, then immediately came to a halt as she realized Lady Stark had joined her mother and Rose.As far as she knew, this was the first time Matthew’s grandmother had met her mother, and the sight of them together made her heart stutter.
Everyone was smiling—at least they had been before her announcement—though, so hopefully it was going well.She already felt so much lighter, having finally unburdened herself to her husband.It was though she was floating on air.Even thinking about Mr.Blash could not bring her down.
“That is too good a place for the likes of him,” Rose said, a scowl furrowing her brow.“Though how can he possibly be there?I thought he had fled to America.”
“Apparently, that was a false trail, well laid.”Johanna shook her head at the sheer audacity of the man.Though it had worked well enough at first, the arrogance to think it would last forever was astounding.Especially since he had stayed in London.What if she had seen him on the street?Had he not thought that possible?Then again, trying to understand his mind was not at all something Johanna thought she would ever be able to fathom.
And she did not want to.
She did not want to be able to understand such cruelty.
Explaining to the ladies everything the Duke of Ormonde had said, little though it was, made for entertaining conversation.All of them were appalled at the idea of Micah going to Newgate with Ormonde and relieved that the dukes had rejected the notion immediately.Though Micah was growing up far too fast, he was still not yet a man, and the idea of him visiting a prison…
Johanna shuddered to think of it.Her mother was also clearly relieved that he’d been denied, and Johanna was sure Mother would seek out her only son later to speak to him.Now that she was out of bed and out of her room, and she and Lady Stark seemed to be getting on famously, despite their very different demeanors.
She did not bring up the fact that the dukes would be meeting later today to discuss the investigation into their fathers’ deaths.That was what she knew Matthew wanted to talk to his friends about, and she’d been very relieved when Drake had suggested White’s, which would prevent her from attending.Not that she could, anyway; Lady Stark was very much looking forward to showing her off at tea this afternoon.
The morning slipped by quickly, as one conversation led to another.Even though Rose must be chafing at the bit at her inability to question Johanna about the dukes’ fathers and their murders and Johanna hiding her mother’s involvement, she did not show it.After denouncing Mr.Blash, the topic quickly changed to the current Season and fashions.Johanna had not realized that, at one time, her mother had quite a few friends and acquaintances among theton, although she probably should have.
Listening to her mother’s delight in being updated by Lady Stark on their comings and goings, she realized her mother must have let those relationships fall by the wayside after the death of Johanna’s father.Which made her feel terrible.They’d had each other to lean on, as much as possible, but it was not the same as having a friend.She’d had Rose, all these years, while her mother had had no one of her own age and experience to bolster her.
She positively lit up, hearing about the scandals she’d missed, the marriages, the government appointments, the children.
“Would you like to come to tea with us?”Lady Stark offered.“Lady Chesterham will certainly not mind.She is inaltsince her granddaughter secured an offer from a marquess earlier this week.”
“Oh, no, but thank you.”Some of the light dimmed from mother’s face, and she sat back, delicately folding her hands on her lap.“I do not think I am quite ready to face Society yet.And… I have nothing to wear.”
“Well, that we can fix quickly enough,” Lady Stark said with a gleam in her eye that Johanna immediately recognized.She wondered if her mother realized that she had just appointed herself Lady Stark’s newest project, now that Johanna, Rose, and her sisters had been taken care of.Though she was fairly certain Lady Stark was not fully done with Rose.“Tea this afternoon.Tomorrow we will go shopping.”
Johanna could not blame her mother for the look of alarm on her face.
ChapterForty
Matthew
When Matthew arrived at White’s early that afternoon, Gregory and Sebastian were already there, seated and speaking with a weary-looking Zachary.They’d already had the chairs in the room arranged in a circle, with small tables set between them to rest any food, drink, or pipes on.Monkey Sinclair was perched on the top of Zachary’s wingback chair, looking around with an alertness that made it appear as if he was watching over Zachary.
“Good afternoon,” Matthew said, going to the drink cart to pour himself a snifter of brandy before seating himself beside Gregory.
“I take it you have some news for us,” Gregory said, smiling genially.
“I do indeed, but let us wait for everyone to gather.”Matthew did not want to have to go over everything more than once.He cocked his head at Zachary.“You appear done in.”
“We had a small fire in the kitchen last night,” Zachary explained, rubbing his hand over his face.“There was not much damage to the house, thankfully, but mother panicked, of course.I cannot blame her.It brought up all sorts of thoughts for me as well.”
All the gentlemen grimaced.Matthew could not imagine how difficult that must have been, especially since it was Zachary’s mother in the household.She had truly loved her husband to the point of defying Society’s dictates and continuing to wear her widow’s weeds long after the official end of her mourning period.It was only the hunt for Zachary’s bride and the possibility of marrying her son off to her best friend’s daughter that had brought her out of her deep grief.
