Page 30 of A Spinster for the Rakish Duke (Notorious Sisters of London #3)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

H ere you go dear,” Aunt Barbara set the steaming cup of tea in front of Emma. “I know what you are going through is hard. And I thought you could use something to help you put the color back in your cheeks...”

“Oh, thank you, Aunt Barbara,” Emma said, turning the cup, so that she could take it by the handle but giving it a minute to cool.

The night had been a long one, but even after the family had gotten Benjamin to bed, Emma could not find it in her to seek rest for herself. Her father was restless as well but had bid them goodnight only a short while ago, leaving just Emma and her aunt.

“It shouldn’t be too hot,” Barbara ensured her.

“Hmm? Oh, that’s okay. You always take your tea a bit hotter than I prefer. I’ll just give it a little time,” Emma said with a small smile.

“Of course,” her aunt nodded. After a brief pause, she suddenly spoke again. “I know we have been at odds for some time in regard to your betrothal. But I know how trying this has all been to you, so I was hoping we could let things go back to normal.”

“I think I would like that,” Emma said with a smile, and she spoke truthfully. Having her old Aunt Barbara back would certainly make life seem a little more normal again.

“That was, in part, why I brought you the tea. It is supposed to be... I guess you could say a kind of peace offering,” her aunt said, her voice again earnest.

“Oh, I see,” Emma said. She wanted to provide her aunt with some peace of mind that things could indeed return to how they once were. She raised the steaming cup gently to her lips, the tea still steaming when a sudden, very loud knock startled both of the women and caused Emma to drop her teacup.

The cup survived the fall, but the tea covered the rug. “Oh drat,” she said with a sigh before more insistent knocking derailed her thoughts of cleaning it up. “Who could be knocking so rudely at this hour? Have they no consideration for others?”

Emma went to answer the door. Her father descended the stairs, blinking sleepily behind her.

“What’s with all the noise?” he asked, clearly concerned at the hour.

Neither Emma nor her father noticed that Aunt Barbara wasn’t listening to them, but instead staring at the spilled tea on the floor.

Emma opened the door and gasped to see Donovan standing there, breathing heavily.

He looked so relieved to see her that both she and her father let it slide when he wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug.

“Thank heavens, I was worried I would be too late,’ he said softly as he held her.

Alistair trailed his brother, looking more than a bit uncomfortable being in a home uninvited in which he had never been before.

“Your Grace, given the hour and the circumstances, I am afraid I must demand an explanation,” Emma’s father insisted as he trod towards the embraced couple.

“Of course, Mr. Bradford,” Donovan said, stepping away from his speechless betrothed. “I have been released, my brother proving that I was being impersonated. The impersonator, one Mr. Dole, instructed them to hold Mr. Bradford in my basement.”

“What?” Emma asked.

“So, it was retaliation for marrying Duke Lowe instead?” Emma’s father asked, voice filled with confusion.

“No,” Emma shook her head. “That doesn’t make sense, Benjamin disappeared before I truly became involved with His Grace. But then, why?” she asked Donovan desperately.

“Mr. Dole was just a puppet, in it for the money. He is a contemptuous man, greedy, and a coward, but he didn’t have the will to put all these parts together.

That required someone to orchestrate. Miss Barbara Johnson was the one directing Mr. Dole,” Donovan said, leveling the full force of his accusation towards the older woman in the back of the room.

She had only just turned to face Donovan, and her face remained calm and unmoved at the Duke’s words.

Her brother-in-law let out a short laugh. “Donovan, I think things are getting a bit absurd. I’ve known Barbara for years. She helped raise the children. The idea that she would consider harming them is ludicrous.”

Emma looked at her betrothed worriedly. She trusted Donovan beyond almost anyone, but this accusation was hard to believe. Barbara continued to say nothing as if to defend herself from that sort of accusation was below her. It didn’t matter to Donovan.

“I wish I didn’t need to show you all this,” Donovan said handing a parcel of papers to Mr. Bradford.

It was much smaller than the one Alistair had brought with them to Lowe Manor and tied with red twine.

Mr. Bradford pulled the thread, freeing the contents, and began to thumb through it.

His face became paler, his hands shaking harder as he read more and more.

Still, Barbara said nothing.

“Father? What does it say?” Emma asked. Her words were desperate, but she wasn’t looking at her father.

She wasn’t even looking at her aunt. Emma’s eyes had been drawn to the teacup that still lay on its side on the floor.

The bottom of the cup was thick with a residue that, at a glance, resembled tea leaves.

But with the cup empty, Emma saw now that the substance was thicker and slightly discolored.

Mr. Bradford held the letters closely to his chest, out of Emma’s reach. His lips were tight with anger as he stared at Barbara. “Is this true?” he asked her, his voice a whisper.

“Father?” Emma asked again, and more worry crept into her voice.

“Emma, dearest,” Donovan stepped in, putting his hand on her arm. “They are letters between your Aunt and Mr. Dole. They detail plans about arranging your marriage and Benjamin’s kidnapping. They talk about other incriminating things as well…” Donovan trailed off, willing to leave it at that.”

“Why do you stop, Your Grace?” Barbara hissed in anger. “Why do you deny her the final truths of this? All is done now. What more is there to preserve?”

“Please, Barbara,” Emma’s father begged. “If you care about the family, you will let it remain unspoken.”

“I’ve spent my whole life doing nothing but caring for this family.

And I’ve gotten very little in return.” She turned to Emma, her voice full of venom and accusation.

“All you had to do was marry who you were told, then everything would have worked out fine. I didn’t care who your sisters married, but I needed to keep tabs on one dowry to make sure I had the money I needed. ”

“Money?” Emma asked confusedly. “What did you need money for?”

“Just a little bit of it. Your father was going to give the little money he had away when his last daughter married. But he didn’t plan properly for his own remarriage.” Barbara’s voice was growing more and more frantic.

“Remarriage?” Mr. Bradford looked confused. “What are you talking about?”

“It was always me, John,” Barbara told him, breaking down in those final moments.

A lifetime of truth held behind a dam that would no longer hold it.

“You married my sister, but it was always me who really loved you. And once I got her out of the way, I thought you would be able to tell how much I loved you, but these children were always here. Always reminding you of her. But I was patient, John. I just had to make sure Benjamin was gone, and your daughters were married, then I would have you all to myself with no one to distract you or make you think of her.”

“Barbara... my God, you can’t mean?” Mr. Bradford was horrified, barely able to speak.

“I did what I had to for love. I regret nothing.” She practically spat the words, but the fire died in her eyes. It was clear to anyone that any delusion she had about marrying Emma’s father died with the revelation of truth that night.

Donovan turned to his brother. “Fetch some rope from the carriage and bind her hands. She shouldn’t put up much of a fight, but I don’t want to risk anything until the constables arrive.”

His brother only nodded in response and ducked out the door, returning a short time later.

“You and that Dole fellow deserve each other,” Donovan told Barbara as her hands were being bound.

She gave Donovan a sickly smile. “Did he tell you why he was so keen on helping me? About how I manipulated him? It’s true, I did, but the fool did it to himself.

You see, your involvement was the worst kind of coincidence.

When I saw you in the garden with Emma at the ball and told Dole of your interference, he told me he couldn’t do it.

He felt so guilty about covering up the deaths of your mother and father that he couldn’t go through with a plan against you. ”

“What? What are you talking about?” Donovan asked, shocked to his core. His own voice sounded far away but still so strong. In a sad way, he almost sounded like his own father.

“Your mother and father? He didn’t kill them; that was the debt collectors looking to collect on the money your father owed them.

One too many games of hazard didn’t go his way, I guess.

What Mr. Dole did do was make their death look like an accident.

Greased the right palms, threatened the right people.

He took care of all of that, and he told me this.

So, I made it clear that he would do as he was told, or I would tell you the truth.

So, there it is, the truth.” The tone in her voice made it clear that Barbara was mocking him.

Alistair kept his cool during Barbara’s story, making sure the rope was tight, and that she wouldn’t be doing much. Donovan, meanwhile, stumbled back to a nearby chair, Emma rushing to his side to support him despite her own terrible revelation weighing heavily on her chest.

“Well, that’s an awfully good story,” the younger brother said as he circled around Barbara.

“Probably even true too. But, as much as that hurts, my brother will still be getting married at the end of all this,” Alistair said as he leaned in towards Barbara.

“How are your marriage plans working out for you, Miss?”

Barbara sneered at Alistair. ‘Mock me all you want, child. I have lived a life more difficult than you can imagine. You judge my actions only because you’d never have the fortitude to make them yourself.

A short time later, Barbara Johnson was escorted away by the constables, but this departure didn’t sit right with Emma.

She knew she could not live her whole life not knowing whether she was right about what she suspected, but she also knew, as her aunt was being escorted away, that this may be one of the last chances she had to ask.

“A moment, constable,” Emma said and rested her hand on her aunt’s arm. “Aunt Barbara, please, before you go, I need to know. The tea, was it…?” Emma couldn’t bring herself to finish the words.

“Poisoned?” Barbara finished it for her, staring at her niece intensely. “You are in love now with that Duke. Tell me, do you think a love unrequited could make me capable of poisoning you?”

And that was all her aunt would say on the matter, leaving Emma to sort out the terrible truth before she was hauled away.

Despite having saved the missing solicitor.

Despite having caught the true culprit. Despite having solved multiple mysteries that spanned decades, Donovan and Emma ended that night feeling like they hadn’t managed much.

In truth, at that moment, the victory felt more than hollow; it felt like they hadn't succeeded much at all.