Page 31 of An Enchantress for an Earl

Violet gave a soft laugh.

“Perhaps. But you might only discover the truth of that assumption if you got to know her better.”

Although she didn’t say so, Violet rather agreed with Iris. There was something about Lady Petrina which suggested that there was more to her – perhaps, the startling thought came, she was rather better at dissembling than her brother?

“I do believe that I will set out to do just that.”

As Iris made that declaration, their mother, rapidly followed by their father, returned to the room. The Duchess dropped back onto her seat, and poured herself another cup of tea. The Duke selected a lemon cake, and bit into it with obvious appreciation. Only when it was gone did he speak.

“I will be away from the house for longer than usual over this next week. I expect the sessions in the House of Lords to be long, and four days from now there is to be a long break in the middle of the day, to allow for the demonstration of some of the anti-forgery techniques that Westerhazy’s committee have identified, so when we resume after that, it’s likely to go very late into the evening, as the discussion will no doubt be extensive.”

Violet regarded her father with curiosity, her attention caught by his words. After her reading of ‘Paper Against Gold’ and what she had learnt about the issues facing the government with respect to forgery, she was most interested in what might be shown at that demonstration. She sighed – for she was unlikely to find out, being a female. No-one would expect her to care in the least about such things. Her mother also sighed, with a different kind of resignation.

“I know that it is your duty to the country, but sometimes, I really do wish it didn’t take up quite so much of your time. It is a pity that parliament is not something that most of your family can join you in.”

The Duke laughed.

“It is, indeed, a pity. For most of you would express far more intelligent opinions than many of the Lords. However, on that subject, in this particular case…” He turned to face Violet directly. “…Violet, as you expressed so much interest in how the matter of monetary policy works, I wondered if you would like to attend Westminster Hall, just for the demonstration itself? I am sure that, if you remain quiet and inconspicuous, no one will object, although they’ll likely quiz me about it later.”

Violet was shocked, the teacup rattling slightly on its saucer the only indication of the quiver which ran through her.

“I… Yes. Thank you, Father.”

“I thought so. I’ll arrange for William to have the smaller town carriage ready to bring you to Westminster Hall at the right time that day.”

As her father gave her a benevolent smile, Iris rose from beside her with a shrug.

“Really Violet, I can’t imagine anything more dull. I’ll leave you to discuss it – I have new music to play.”

As Iris left the room, the Duchess rose also, a frown on her face.

“Are you sure that is wise, Violet? You don’t want the gentlemen of the ton to decide that you are an irredeemable bluestocking!”

Violet laughed.

“Mother, I am an irredeemable bluestocking. But I promise that I will continue to do my best to hide that fact from them. Which is generally easy to do, given how little expectation they have of intelligence in a woman.”

>>>

Arryn was at his desk, making sure that everything was in place for the demonstration, every list ticked off, and every item where it should be, when his father, returning from the House of Lords, tapped on the door and came in.

“Still working? It’s late, I thought that you might have retired for the night.”

“I am about to. Ibbetson’s here – our carriage arrived with him late this afternoon. He’s brought a miniature printing press, all readied with what will be needed to give a full demonstration. That slowed them down on the road, making sure that nothing was damaged getting here, and it’s also meant that I’ve had to re-arrange what we had planned a little. I sent the man to bed in the guest suite we prepared, but I couldn’t go to bed myself until I had updated everything. I won’t let anything go wrong with this.”

“And I am very grateful that you have that attitude, especially as we haven’t heard from the blackmailer again. Given that Lady Gillieston seems to have managed to completely defuse the gossip about Petrina, I’ve been worrying about what the blackmailer might try next.”

“So have I. And I’ve been doing as you asked, and thinking about what sort of person might want the Committee to fail at its task. I have just one idea. I don’t like it, as a conclusion, but I’ve not been able to think of anything else.”

“Oh? What conclusion is that – for I admit I’ve made no progress at all on that aspect of things – I’ve been too busy answering inane questions in the House from Lords who don’t truly understand what we are trying to achieve.”

Arryn set the last of the paperwork aside, stacked it neatly, and slipped it into his desk drawer, before meeting his father’s eyes.

“I considered what a person might think they would gain if the committee failed to find a solution. At first, nothing came to me – I could not see why anyone would want to perpetuate a situation where forgery was rife, and there was the risk that any bank note they received might be forged. Then it struck me that I was only considering one group of people.”

“One group of people? What do you mean?”

“I was only considering honest people.”

“Ah. I can see how you would do that, with your personal insistence on honesty. But… where did that realisation lead you?”

“When I considered who might benefit from forgery continuing, I could only come up with two possibilities. A person who was committing forgery would not want a method set up which would make their task impossible. And a person who was knowingly benefiting from forgery in some way, be that receiving funds or goods, would not want those benefits to stop. Beyond that, the only possibility would be if an extreme radical wanted the country to fail completely, through economic ruin – and I considered that probably too far fetched in this particular case. Radicals usually do things loudly and dramatically, not through quiet threats.”

Westerhazy regarded his son consideringly, then smiled.

“That is very sound reasoning. So – which do you think it is?”

“I cannot be sure, but I’m inclined to think it the second – someone who benefits from the forgery. My reasoning for that is that most men with the skills to actually do the engraving and printing of forged notes would be commoners. They would know little of what was going on in the House of Lords, and would mainly be intent upon staying well-hidden. So for them, even if they heard about the committee, which is unlikely, sending notes with threats would be foolish, for it would just risk drawing attention to them. I cannot imagine a man like that trying to blackmail us. But if we have a man of the ton who is involved, and benefitting – well then, he would be a far more likely option as our blackmailer, wouldn’t he?”

“He would. It seems so obvious now that you say it, yet I had not thought of it. I suppose that I am far too inclined to want to believe that gentlemen of the ton are at the core honourable – even the ones who get themselves deep in debt and the like. So the question now becomes – if it is a man of the ton, how do we work out who it is?”

“That, I do not know yet. My reasoning stopped there. I can only suggest that you watch closely, when the matters relating to the committee are discussed in the House, and that we both watch everyone closely at the demonstration. We must hope that one way or another, our blackmailer does something which reveals his identity.”