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“ S o, what is it you have decided to do?”

Theodore let out a slow breath as he sat opposite Lord Castleton in his study. “This morning, I informed my mother that I expected her to remove to the Dower house once we returned from London. I made it quite clear that I have no further interest in being in her company and even though I am not yet wed I expect her to move there as soon as possible. I do not want her in my day-to-day life any longer, not after she showed me such disrespect.”

Lord Castleton frowned. “And yet you do not look pleased.”

“I am not.” Theodore shook his head and looked away. “My mother laughed at me and stated that she would do no such thing. Again, she reiterated that she had every right to these heirlooms; that because my father gave them to her when he was alive, she has every claim to them now. I told her plainly again that I have kept them for my future bride, but she is determined to have them to herself until that day comes.”

His friend’s eyebrows lifted. “Then what are you to do?”

With a small shrug, Theodor spread out his hands. “The only thing I can do. I must show her that I have strength yet. I will not continue to permit her to disrespect me as she does. Whether she desires it or not, all of her things will be removed to the dower house once we return, and I will take control of my house again.” His scowl darkened. “However, I am now well aware that my mother will make things very difficult for me in the interim. She will blame me and will continually attempt to push as much guilt onto my shoulders as possible, all in the hopes that I will relent and turn from my intentions.”

“But you will not.” The decisiveness of his friend’s voice surprised Theodore, who silently believed that as yet he had not shown enough strength as regarded his mother and her demands. It lifted his spirits a little to hear that his friend seemingly believed in him.

“I am at the point where everything she says or does in an attempt to make me relent only pushes my will all the harder. No, I shall not give in. Within one month of our return from London, I fully expect her to be living in the Dower House and the matter will be settled.” With a determined nod, Theodore reminded himself of his intentions. “I cannot let her continue just as she pleases.”

His friend nodded. “And the necklace?”

Theodore glanced at the velvet-lined box that sat on his study desk, where the heirlooms were now encased. “I have it here. I did not give it back to her last evening, even though she begged me on more than one occasion to do so. The earrings I made sure I took back from her also. Last night was the last time she shall ever have them in her possession.” Walking towards the desk, he picked up the box and opened it, as though to be sure that everything was there. The emeralds glinted gently up at him, reassuring him that all was well. A sudden thought came and he picked it up carefully, his fingers running over the clasp.

“Is there something that troubles you?” Lord Castleton ambled towards him though he stayed a few steps away. “Are you wondering, mayhap how it fell from your mother's neck?”

Theodore glanced at his friend, then nodded. “That is precisely what I am wondering. I did not take a careful look at it last evening, nor even today, but the clasp to me appears to be quite strong. There is no weakness there. There is nothing that would make it slip from my mother's neck as we now believe it did.” He hesitated. “Might it be that my belief was misplaced?”

“What do you mean?” Lord Castleton frowned and leaned towards the necklace, looking down at the clasp as Theodor held it. “You think there was something untoward in the disappearance of the necklace?” His eyebrows lifted as he looked back at Theodore, who gave a small, slow nod. “Are you suggesting that Lady Melford or her daughter were in some way involved?”

Theodore quickly shook his head. “No, indeed not. I think that my mother had something to do with its disappearance, though I cannot say as to what that was, nor what her motivations were.” His lips twisted. “Perhaps it was that the necklace was never meant to be found, though why she would deliberately lose the heirlooms I cannot imagine.”

Lord Castleton grimaced. “Nor can I, though there is still the possibility that the necklace just dropped from her neck. The clasp is strong, yes, but it may not have been fastened properly.”

Theodore sharpened his eyes onto the clasp, silently disagreeing. “That might be, though I would have expected her lady’s maid to have taken the utmost care when it came to placing it around my mother’s neck, no doubt aware of just how valuable it was.” His stomach knotted. “Nor could I imagine that it fell from her without my mother noticing.”

His friend hummed his agreement, rubbing one hand over his chin. “What are you going to do about this mystery, then? Are you going to pursue it, or are you going to leave things as they are?”

Considering this, Theodore bunched his lips for a moment, only to then shrug. “There is no need for me to pursue it. The heirlooms are now safe and I must make sure they are protected from my mother. She is not to have them again and I will make certain of it.”

With a wry smile, Lord Castleton gestured to the emerald necklace. “I think that is wise. If she is to live in the dower house, then you will have no difficulty whatsoever in keeping the heirlooms from her and making sure they belong solely to your future bride.” Reaching out one hand, he brushed it across one of the emeralds, the largest one in the necklace, holding it in his hand for a moment. “Though...” A frown rippled across his forehead and he leaned closer to the jewel, giving Theodore pause as he watched his friend’s expression darken. Silence fell between them for some minutes, but Lord Castletown continued to study the emeralds. In fact, he took them directly out of Theodore's hands and brought them closer to his face, looking at each one in turn. Unable to bear the silence any longer, Theodore gestured to the necklace.

“What is it? Is there something wrong?”

Lord Castleton glanced, his face a little pale now. “I do not want to say unequivocally that there is, but my eyes tell me these jewels may not be...” He trailed off, leaving Theodore in no doubt as to what his friend was trying to say. With a gasp, he lurched forward, grasping a hold of the necklace and pulling the jewels into his hands. Fear ran through him, going cold all over as he recognised what it was his friend had been trying to say. With a shake of his head, he gazed down at the jewels again, trying to ascertain how such a thing could have happened. “That cannot be... it cannot be.” Whispering those words over and over, half to himself, he began to see the truth clearly, his heart tumbling over upon itself. This was not the family heirloom. This was not the real emeralds. Yes, they sparkled and glittered as emeralds ought, but they were not the emeralds. They were paste. They were fake. They had every appearance of the emeralds, but they were not, in fact, the original jewels. Somehow, in some way, the necklace itself had been stolen and replaced instead with a fake.

“How did I not see?” Rubbing one hand over his eyes, his face hot, he gazed down at the jewels again. “How is it that I did not see these were paste? I know the emeralds very well indeed and yet...” He mumbled to himself, trying to ascertain how he could have missed such an important detail. It was only when Lord Castleton put one hand on his shoulder that Theodore started and looked up at his friend.

“You are not to blame for this.” Lord Castleton spoke decisively. “It is not as though you had time to sit and study the jewels, is it? It is not as if you even suspected that they might be fake! All you thought was that the jewels had been lost and then found again. There was no reason for you to expect that they had been stolen.”

Handing the necklace back to his friend, Theodore pushed both hands through his hair, panic gripping him. “I was so relieved that the jewels had been found, and in truth, delighted I was able to then take them and keep them on my person instead of returning them to my mother, that it did not give them more than a cursory glance. Even now, as they sit in that box, I was preparing to place them back in the safe, believing them to be real! I should have made certain all was well. I should have looked to make sure that everything was just as it ought to be.”

“You are not responsible,” Lord Castleton gripped Theodore’s shoulder, his gaze steady, “It is not as though you have done anything wrong.” There was a slight pause, his fingers gripping a little more tightly. “This must have been planned well in advance, my friend. Somebody knew that your mother was to wear these jewels last evening.”

Slowly, Theodore tried to gather himself, his mind screaming at him, his heart pounding furiously as wave after wave of anger, upset and embarrassment crashed into him, one after the other. He had no thought as to what he was to do, no consideration of what steps he ought now to take. There was nothing but buzzing in his ears, his eyes seeing nothing but fog all around him. The family heirlooms, the jewels which had been passed on from generation to generation, were gone.

And he was the one responsible.

“I shall be known as the gentleman who lost the emerald heirlooms,” he whispered, as Lord Castleton thrust a brandy into his hand. “All the generations after me will know that I was the one who brought shame to our family name.”

“Nonsense.”

Lord Castleton’s clear, calm voice broke through Theodore’s confusion, making him stare back at his friend.

“You do not truly think that you will not recover them, do you?” Lord Castleton’s eyebrows lifted. “Of course you shall! It is only a matter of time. I am quite certain you will be able to discover the truth in the end.”

“Alas, I do not have the same confidence.”

“And why not?” Lord Castleton demanded, his eyebrows lifting high. “You know every guest present last evening. You know where they were found, you know whose home we were in.”

A dark thought struck Theodore. “And I know that my mother was there. “

Lord Castleton’s eyes rounded just a little. “Again, you think that she might have done this?”

“It is as you said,” Theodore answered, quickly. “Someone must have known that she would be wearing these jewels to the soiree. Someone must have prepared this necklace in advance, knowing the heirlooms well enough to make a near identical copy.”

“And that person would be your mother,” Lord Castleton finished, his tone steady.

“I might well be wrong, however,” Theodore admitted, though inwardly he felt himself convinced that it would be so. “I shall go and speak to her at this very moment, and from her reaction I hope to ascertain the truth.” Striding out of the room – and leaving Lord Castleton to follow him with the necklace in his hands, Theodore made his way directly to the drawing room, expecting to find his mother there. Pushing the door open, he narrowed his eyes at her, seeing her eyes widen as she took them both in.

“Mother.” Theodore stopped directly in front of her, his eyes holding tight to hers. “Did you know about this?”

Lady Albury blinked, her gaze going from Theodore to Lord Castleton and back again.

“If you did, then I shall discover it,” Theodore told her, anger thudding through his veins with every heartbeat. “I will know if it was you, Mother, so do not think that you can hide it from me.”

Lady Albury pushed herself up in her chair, lifting her chin a fraction. “Albury, I do not know what it is you are talking about. Might you be a little clearer with me, if you please?”

“The necklace.” Theodore pointed to it as Lord Castleton held it up, as if it were some sort of exhibit requiring her study. “Did you do this? Were you a part of it? I know that you wanted the heirlooms but I never expected –”

“Theodore!”

His mother’s voice ripped through the room, stopping Theodore in his tracks.

“You will explain to me what it is you are demanding to know and desist from pressing things upon me that I simply cannot know,” she said, loudly enough so that her voice filled the room. “Tell me clearly, Theodore. Now.”

The way that she spoke told Theodore that she was not, in fact, aware of what he was speaking of. He had not discerned any flicker of awareness in her eyes nor a hint of a quirk about her mouth as she pretended not to understand. Though she had used anything and everything she could to coerce him into doing as she wanted, Theodore had always been able to see through her feigned emotions… though that had not exactly prevented him from being compelled all the same. Now, however, she did not appear to have any true understanding as to what he was saying, making him begin to question whether she truly had been behind the necklace theft.

“This necklace,” he said, speaking clearly but firmly. “I must know if you have stolen it.”

Confusion threw itself into his mother’s frown, her mouth opening and then closing again as she tried to understand. “Stolen it?” she asked, her voice lifting a little higher. “How can I have stolen it when you have it in your hands?”

“Because this,” Theodore answered, taking the necklace from Lord Castleton and bringing it towards, tossing it into her lap, “is not the necklace you wore to the soiree, Mother.” He watched as she picked it up, heard her intake of breath as she realized what he ought to have done much sooner than this. “These emeralds are paste and nothing more. What you have in your hand is a fake.”

The scream that ripped from Lady Albury’s throat made Theodore jump. She leaped up, one hand going to her throat, her eyes huge, her face paling as she threw the necklace onto the couch beside her, as though she could not even stand to be near it.

“Paste?” she screamed, backing away from it and coming towards Theodore, her shock evident in every single movement she made. “How? How can it be? When did it – and how did it…?”

The way that she responded told Theodore in no uncertain terms that his mother had no knowledge whatsoever of the switch that had been made. She was, in truth, quite horrified, torn apart, even by what she had discovered. Despite his awareness, Theodore was then forced to guide his mother back to another seat whilst Lord Castleton poured a half measure of brandy for her. Still murmuring her sorrows over the jewels, Lady Albury closed her eyes and gripped her brandy glass as though it were the only thing offered to her that might bring a little solace.

“It was not her, then,” Lord Castleton murmured, as Theodore nodded, scowling as he did so. “Then what shall you do?”

“There is only one thing I can do,” Theodore answered, firmly. “I shall go and speak to Lady Melford and her daughter.”

“To accuse them?”

Theodore swallowed but did not shake his head. Now, given that he could not believe that his mother was in any way involved, he had to then think about who might have taken it.

And he simply could not dismiss the possibility that either Lady Melford or Miss Trentworth had, in some way and for their own purposes, been involved.