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Page 34 of Benefactor to the Baroness (The Seductive Sleuths #3)

Three days later

F ontaine stood in front of a long table in the main building of the foundation that had once felt like the center of her life. The members of the board who sat across from her looked both older and more tired than they had less than a month before. Even Mr. Blake, who had once attacked her in an alley, no longer seemed as intimidating. He glowered at her from his place at Mr. Hill’s side, a configuration that did not bode well for Fontaine’s case.

She wondered whom he had told about the contents of Mr. Prue’s letter and why he had not yet raised the subject of her relationship with Rosemary. Such an accusation would be sure to shift the sentiment of many of the members of the board against her. Perhaps they had gotten tremendously lucky, and he had not yet opened the letter.

Mrs. Eris shuffled a stack of papers in front of her, then cleared her throat. Every head in the room turned toward the older woman.

“Lady Kerry, I must agree that the allegations you’ve presented are quite disturbing,” Mrs. Eris said. “But we cannot make such an important decision so quickly, especially not without a proper investigation.”

Fontaine’s spirits sank. She’d feared that the careful Mrs. Eris would say just that and would encourage the board to put together a sub-committee to look into her claims. The formation of that group would take weeks, or even months. She didn’t have time to wait for bureaucracy.

That left only one option.

“I call for a vote of no confidence,” Fontaine said.

Mrs. Eris clutched her blouse.

Mr. Blake gave her a look so full of malice, she was surprised he didn’t leap across the table and throttle her.

“A vote of what now?” Mr. Hill asked.

“I am calling your leadership into question,” she said, pitching her voice loud enough that even the elderly Mr. Hill could not mistake her intent.

“Nonsense,” Mr. Hill sputtered. “You do not have the right.”

Mrs. Eris cleared her throat. “I’m afraid she does. She is a full member of the board. On what grounds do you raise this motion, Lady Kerry?”

The sweat dripping down Mr. Hill’s face made Fontaine realize something important that she couldn’t believe she’d missed. Mr. Blake hadn’t acted alone. That meant she had one last card to play, although it would require her to bluff.

“On the grounds that Mr. Hill knew about the situation in Halifax but said nothing.” When the members of the board gasped and began muttering, she raised her voice again. “Mr. Hill, did you not have Mr. Blake correspond with Mr. Prue?”

This was it. Either the board would support her, or they would dismiss her from their ranks, and she would likely never find another position in a charitable foundation again.

Mr. Hill paled and darted his gaze about the room. “I most certainly did not.” She removed the red, leatherbound notebook from her pocket and a ribbon-wrapped bundle of letters and placed them on the table. “These letters prove that Mr. Hill accepted money from Mr. Blake on behalf of Mr. Prue. I am also willing to guess that the funds did not end up in the foundation’s accounts.”

As far as she knew, the letters said nothing of the sort, but she hoped he would incriminate himself before anyone checked.

He tugged at his cravat. “Well, regardless of what I might or might not have done, there is no need for such a vote. I have decided to retire. Effective immediately. We can proceed with a vote for new leadership.”

A murmur rippled through the room.

“As everyone knows, I support Mr. Blake,” Mr. Hill said. He gestured toward his cousin. “He has demonstrated all the capabilities we’re looking for in a leader, including faithfully establishing relationships with several workhouses that—”

“Derive their value from the manipulation of children,” Fontaine shouted.

Several of the men around the table gaped.

“I say, Lady Kerry,” Mr. Hill said. “It was not your turn to speak. Your allegations will be dealt with at the proper time.”

Mrs. Eris cleared her throat. “I disagree. If we are to vote now, then I believe it is best that Lady Kerry speak, as what she has to say might impact my decision.” She stretched out a wrinkled hand and grabbed the notebook just as Mr. Hill tried to snag it. She flipped it open and tilted her reading spectacles onto her nose. After less than a minute, her frown deepened. She turned a page and then set the notebook on the table with her hand atop it. “Mr. Blake, what did you do with the funds you received from the Halifax branch? Did you supply them to Mr. Hill?”

“Funds!” Mr. Blake shouted, shoving to his feet. “If we are going to speak of funds, perhaps we should also discuss Lady Kerry’s companion .”

Fontaine felt as if the ground had dropped out from under her. “Pardon?”

Mr. Blake crossed his arms, sporting a disgustingly self-satisfied smile. “If you are going to accuse me of using funds for my own benefit, then it seems only fair that your own transgressions be revealed.” He turned to Mrs. Eris. “The funds the foundation provided for Lady Kerry for the past six months have not been used as a salary for a companion but deposited into her own accounts.”

Mrs. Eris furrowed her brow. “Lady Kerry, is there any truth to this claim?”

Lying would have been so much easier than telling the truth. But then she would have been as bad as Mr. Hill and Mr. Blake. So even as her stomach gurgled and her head swam, she nodded. “I’m afraid it’s true. However,” she said, as the room erupted into chatter, “I did not use the funds for my benefit, but to pay workhouses. Not a shilling of the money the foundation paid me stayed in my accounts. I used all of it to send children to Halifax. Children the foundation has chosen not to support, through no fault of the children’s own.”

Mr. Hill cleared his throat. “Well, I believe we should also explore the impropriety of Lady Kerry’s relationship with her companion.”

Oh, no.

Fontaine stiffened as the room filled with murmurs.

Mr. Blake met Fontaine’s gaze as he reached into his coat and withdrew a letter.

Her plan was quickly falling to pieces. She had to find a way to discredit Mr. Blake before he could reveal her secret. She forced her attention away from Mr. Blake and glared at Mr. Hill.

“ You were the one who insisted I hire a companion.”

Mr. Hill huffed. “Yes, but I never imagined what sort of unladylike, uncivil behaviors you two would get up to—”

“Do you mean rescuing orphans on the brink of death? Breaking into workhouses in the cover of night? All while all of you”—she waved her arm, encompassing the rest of the board—“set increasingly strict requirements about who is worthy of our assistance and act as if children are nothing more than numbers on a page?”

Several members of the board gasped.

Mrs. Eris studied the papers in front of her while smiling widely.

“You call me improper?” Fontaine asked, raising her voice. “You, who defile this foundation by making deals with a man who sends children to their deaths in mines? You, who accept money stained with the blood of those we are meant to help?”

“Now, see here,” Mr. Blake said. “That is not what we mean, and you know it.” He brandished the letter. “Mr. Prue—”

“Is a murderer,” Fontaine said. “And if that letter is written by him, anything in it cannot be trusted.”

Mr. Blake’s jaw dropped open. Mr. Hill’s face was pale, his eyes bulging out of their sockets.

“I quite agree,” Mrs. Eris said. She pushed to her feet and snatched the letter from Mr. Blake’s hand.

“Well!” Mr. Hill pushed back from his chair. “I see my wishes will not be respected. I will take my leave. This is not a committee to which I will pay any further patronage.”

Several other men, including Mr. Blake, rose and followed him out the door. It was a crushing blow, more so because Fontaine knew she could not continue their efforts without them.

“Quite a coup,” Mrs. Eris said. “But there are still enough of us. We can form a functioning board. As to that, I support Lady Kerry’s candidacy as successor to Mr. Hill.”

Fontaine gaped. After what Mr. Blake had revealed, Mrs. Eris was the last person she had expected to be her sponsor.

“All in favor of the election of Lady Kerry as chair?” Mrs. Eris asked.

Two-thirds of the room raised their hands.

Fontaine blinked rapidly, too filled with gratitude to speak. The best she’d hoped for that morning was that the board would expel Mr. Hill and Mr. Blake. Now she was surrounded by men and women willing to support her.

Mrs. Eris handed the letter she had taken from Mr. Blake to Fontaine. “I believe you will want this bit of blackmail,” Mrs. Eris said. “I haven’t read it, of course. I agree. Let us pay no mind to the lolling tongues of blackguards. I’d rather see uncivil ladies who actually care about the children we help leading the way.”

Fontaine gulped. “Thank you.”

Mrs. Eris waggled her fingers in the air. “These hands are still good for something. Now, I believe it is time to figure out how the foundation is going to proceed. If you will take your place, Lady Kerry?”