“Deem me sentimental,” Henry said with a shrug. “It is a good thing that I do because, if you continue to read, you will see that Lord Blainey refers to The O.”
Michael did so and, just as Henry said, Lord Blainey made mention of The O near the end of the letter. It was done with much enmity, mocking the moniker. “But it does not say who The O is.”
“No, it does not,” Henry agreed. “Nor did it need to. You see, Lord Blainey is a good man. A likeable and passive man who did not have any enemies. There was only one gentleman in London Lord Blainey did not like and that was…”
Henry trailed off, raising a brow. Michael held back his groan of frustration.
“That was whom?” Michael pressed impatiently.
“The Marquess of Grovington,” Henry revealed at last.
Realization dawned instantly. “Oliver Hargrove.”
“The O,” Henry confirmed. “Of course, this is speculation. And Lord Blainey, rest his soul, is not able to tell us if there is any truth in our presumption. But I thought it was important enough for you to know, given the facts you have already revealed yourself.”
It was important. In fact, it made more sense than anything else Michael had thought of. Lord Grovington had benefitted greatly from his father’s conviction, but Michael had always thought it was a coincidence. If the most influential man in the House of Lords took an embarrassing fall from grace, then it only made sense for the second most influential man to take his spot, wouldn’t it? It didn’t mean the marquess had anything to do with it. He had no connection to the matter at all. During Michael’s four years of investigation, the marquess’ name had not come up once.
Not until now.
“This is a heavy accusation,” he said at last, staring at the letter.
“It is. And it has no evidence to stand on. I only offered it to you because I thought it might help.”
“It does. I had hit a wall but this may be exactly what I needed to point me to the truth.”
“I’m glad I could help.”
Michael gave his uncle a dubious look. “I thought you were against all of this.”
“I was against your plan of revenge and your involvement of an innocent lady,” Henry stated calmly. “But I wish for the truth to come to light as much as you do. Not to mention the fact thatnothing I do or say will deter you from your path of vengeance, so I may as well help keep you off the wrong path.”
“I was on the wrong path from the moment I met her.”
“Pardon me?”
“It is nothing.” He stood, carefully tucking the letter into his waistcoat. “Thank you, Uncle Henry. This truly helps.”
Henry stood with him, putting a hand on Michael’s shoulder. “No matter what happens, Michael, your aunt and I stand with you.”
Again, he didn’t know what to say. For a moment, he nearly let his inner thoughts slip, nearly told Henry the mental turmoil that had been plaguing him for days now. But he held his tongue just in time and simply nodded.
As his carriage made its way to his house, Michael read over the letter again and again, until he’d almost committed its contents to memory. It served as a decent distraction for a while. Even as he locked himself in this office and began pouring over his evidence to see if he might have missed something, Michael did not think about Elaine once. For a few hours, he felt like himself again, like he was still being driven by a purpose.
But she was never far from his mind. She lingered there, waiting for him to slip. And as soon as he did, nothing else mattered.
Chapter Nineteen
They would be married by special license. Elaine had not seen or heard from Michael in four days except for a small note stating that he had obtained the license and they could be married in a couple of days. The remaining pieces of Elaine’s heart had broken at that. Lorna, however, took that as a reason to host a dinner with the two families.
Elaine had no desire to attend. She told Lorna as much but Lorna was insistent, saying that the families would have to get along sooner or later. So Elaine knew there was little choice left in the matter and that she would have to face Michael the day before her wedding.
She stared at herself in the mirror of her vanity table and sighed. She looked dreadful. Days of crying and moping around the house had done very little for her complexion and her hair was a lifeless mess that she had no choice but to wrap into a chignon at the nape of her neck. Her dress even hung a little looser than it had when she’d first purchased it. She wore her despondency quite poorly, and Michael was sure to notice it.
What did it matter, though? He did not want her. He was only going through this because he was being a gentleman. She might have gotten what she wanted in the end but this certainly was not what he wanted.
Elaine pulled herself to a stand and trudged out of her bedchamber. Everyone had already arrived she knew. She should have tried to be early and tuck herself into a corner, becoming that wallflower once more. Now, when she arrived, everyone would be looking at her.
She tried to gather her courage as she made her way to the drawing room. It was uncharacteristically quiet. Lorna’s dinnerparties always began with hearty conversation and laughter in the drawing room before making their way to the dining room. But the silence was so profound that Elaine wondered if anyone was present at all.
