Page 10

His expression grew grim, and he tilted his head back, looking at the ornate glass roof of the sunroom.

“James must have seen him, and he was the one who went to the local constabulary before either Arthur or myself could intervene. It was terrible. The magistrate recommended death by hanging, but Arthur and I hired Louis Garretty to defend the man. It was a successful defense, but it caused a considerable amount of damage to our reputation among the local families, and it opened us up to the blackmail Garretty then carried out against my brother.”

I stared at him, stunned into silence momentarily before I got my wits about me. “And you still let him return?”

“James is our cousin,” Charles said. “We’ve tried to keep our relationship with him as normal as possible, but between what he did then and how he’s treating you now, I have a feeling Arthur will agree with my decision to have him leave for the summer.

I’ve no idea what his goal is. His mother was raised here, so perhaps there’s some element of that in what’s taking place, but he’s become more hostile since his brother was named lord. ”

I considered this, a darker picture of the situation emerging than what I’d been anticipating. “Arthur thinks that James is trying to take Ashford Hall?”

“Well, he’s a military officer with no title to come home to now that his brother has become lord.

Ashford Hall would certainly be a prize, and the rules of succession make it clear that if Arthur or I were unable to perform our duties, the title would pass to the oldest eligible male of the next family line. That would be James.”

“So James did all this to undermine you both,” I said, frowning. “And Garretty is involved? But you don’t know what the blackmail consisted of.”

“No.” Charles shook his head, looking at me again.

“Arthur wouldn’t tell me. All I know is that it happened after the poaching situation was resolved.

I have no idea what he has against Arthur, but I know that it could have destroyed him if it had gotten out.

That’s most likely why he hasn’t allowed me to find out the details. ”

I sighed, setting my empty teacup down on the table and trying to figure out exactly what was going on with the limited information I had at hand. “Do you know if Arthur still has the legal documents from the poaching case? I’d like to take a look.”

“He should,” Charles said. “I wanted this to be a quiet summer for you, Tom. I didn’t want any of these issues to be something you had to deal with.”

I reached out instinctively, gripping his hand with the most affection I could muster. “You and I have been brothers since we first met, Charles. Any issue affecting you is something I would be happy to help with. I’ll talk to Arthur about getting the papers, and we can go from there.”

He turned his hand over in order to squeeze mine in return, smiling at me.

“Okay,” he agreed, and while I had no way of knowing yet what it was I was agreeing to, at the moment all I wanted was to help Arthur and Charles, and damn the consequences.

“Arthur’s in the library. He took breakfast there this morning.

Our routine has been disrupted by James, unfortunately. ”

“Understandable,” I said, getting to my feet after forcing myself to let go of his hand. “I’ll go see him now, see what he can tell me.”

I left the sunroom, heading towards the great hall and mulling over the conversation that had just played out between myself and Charles.

He’d revealed a great deal of information, but he had avoided my gaze at a few key moments, and I knew him well enough to know that he was still hiding something from me, some small detail.

Even if he didn’t know for sure what the blackmail had consisted of, brothers knew things, and I was sure that Charles had an inkling when it came to what had happened.

Why he refused to tell me, I couldn’t begin to fathom, only that it must have been something that even I could not be trusted with.

I found Arthur in the library as indicated, dressed plainly in a white linen shirt that draped him nicely and a pair of leather trousers that had clearly been tailored perfectly for him.

I was reminded briefly of James’s apparent feeling that I had been invited by Arthur and not by Charles and had to tell myself not to read too much into it.

Clearing my throat, I waited until Arthur looked up before I spoke. “Good morning, Arthur.”

He fixed his gaze on me, appraising, his mouth set in a thin line that told me I had interrupted his solitude.

“Hello,” he said in return, setting down his fountain pen.

There was a letter on the desk in front of him, penned beautifully, and I thought briefly about trying to see who it was addressed to before composing myself. “Did Charles find you?”

“Yes,” I said. “And he told me what James did to you in the poaching incident.”

Arthur sighed, leaning back in his chair and eyeing me for a few moments before he gestured to the chair across from him.

“Sit down.” I did as I was told, settling into the lavishly upholstered chair, and watched him closely.

Arthur was quiet for a while longer, lifting his pen and continuing his letter before he finally set it aside and looked at me again.

“Why did you come to talk to me? Charles told you everything, didn’t he? ”

“I want to look at the documents from the poaching case,” I said. “You still have them, don’t you?”

“I do,” Arthur said slowly, as though he wasn’t entirely convinced. “You’re welcome to look through them, but I’m not sure what you think you’re going to find.”

“James implied heavily that you invited me here, and he seems to think you had an ulterior motive for doing so. He was quite bothered by my presence,” I said, and was pleased to see that Arthur shifted in his chair, somewhat uncomfortable.

“He’s planning something, if I’m not mistaken, and I think if we can pinpoint when it began, we can be better prepared for when it comes to fruition. ”

Arthur considered this, and as he thought, I considered him in return.

He was more relaxed in this environment than normal, a softness about him that made me want to reach across the desk and run my fingers through his hair, and when he finally looked at me again it was clear that he was trusting this to me.

“All right,” he said. “I’ll have Felix gather up the information and deliver it to your room.

” He paused, and his next words sent heat through me, fire in my veins.

“I did ask Charles to invite you here. I thought it would be good for him.”

“Even though you didn’t trust me?”

“I knew he trusted you, and that was enough,” Arthur said.

“James no doubt came here to size you up, and he must have gotten what he was looking for when he saw you. But he is right. I wanted you here for Charles, and he wouldn’t have asked you if I hadn’t given my blessing. He knows how I feel about lawyers.”

“Well, I intend to prove you wrong,” I said, getting up again. “I’ll begin reviewing the case as soon as I have the paperwork. By the time I’m finished, you’ll trust me as much as Charles does.”

Something like a smile flickered in Arthur’s eyes, the corner of his mouth briefly turning upward before he caught himself and waved his hand in dismissal. “I’ll have Felix bring them by afternoon. Now go. I have letters to finish.”

“See you at dinner, Lord Ashford,” I said, purposefully teasing, and the look he gave me buoyed my heart as I left the library, unable to ignore the sense I had that I had finally, however slightly, begun to worm my way into the good graces of the man.