His voice sounded thick as if it took an incredible amount of strength even to speak at all. The sorrow and grief radiated off of him with such force, Winnie felt it in her bones. The desire to rush to him and hug him, comfort him, was almost overwhelming, but she knew it would be the wrong thing to do. He needed distance.
And so, Winnie did the only thing she could. She changed the subject from Seth’s deceased sibling to the one missing. It was with horror that she realized the magnitude of what Seth had to experience right now. He’d already lost a brother. There was no way he could lose a sister as well, not without destroying him, and that Winnie could never allow.
“Very well. I have no right to ask, and you are under no obligation to tell me anything. Let us instead concentrate on the task at hand.”
She assessed the chamber and sighed. Rose was not a tidy person. This much she’d already known from the lady’s own admission. Her chamber was in good order, or in as much order the maid could put it in, but there were hints of the lady who occupied it.
However, when Winnifred stepped to the writing desk by the window, she saw piles upon piles of books and assorted quills, ink pots, pencils, and paper.
“Have you looked here yet?” she asked Seth.
When he didn’t answer, she glanced back and found him looking up at the painting. He realized she was looking at him and tore his gaze away, a look of embarrassment on his visage as if she’d caught him doing something he wasn’t supposed to.
My heart aches for him as the pain is clear to see in his eyes. I wish he’d tell me what happened to his brother, for I believe perhaps much of who he is and how he acts these days is connected to it. Alas, I cannot force him. It is as I told him. I have no right.
He swallowed and walked over to her. “I’ve not examined it in detail. I searched it for a hint of anything out of the ordinary, which is how I found the note, but I feel somewhat reluctant to look at her things and read her private thoughts. Perhaps it might be better if you did. You are a lady, after all. Should there be anything in her books that is… that a gentleman should not know…”
He colored a deep red. Winnie could only imagine what kind of things he expected to find among his sister’s things. She pursed her lips. It was understandable, in a way. One never knew what one’s siblings might be hiding. In her case, she’d been almost sure she’d not find anything too shocking in Leo’s possessions once they went to her home to look there.
“I understand how you feel. I am not worried about Leo’s secrets as I am sure they cannot be so terribly shocking. I know him well, and I must say I am surprised anyone would blackmail him. He is so strait-laced, it is impossible to think of him being blackmailed.”
Seth nodded. “I agree. Leo is such a transparent kind of person… And I know him well. I am sad to say I cannot say the same about my sister. She is somewhat of an enigma to me. We are not that close….”
Winnie stepped forward and picked up a leather-bound diary. It was a simple diary, not as adorned as Leo’s, and when she flicked it open, she saw Rose’s neat, tight handwriting filled the pages with dates and appointments, as well as a summary of what she’d done on those days. It wasn’t a diary—Seth was right. These were not deep thoughts, simply notes along the lines of,went to menagerie with Hester, saw a new lion, just arrived. Frightful. Will return next week.
She glanced up at Seth.
“I am much the same when it comes to Victoria. I do not know her at all well. If it were she who was blackmailed, I’d have a much easier time believing she has secrets to hide, as she never tells me anything. I could not tell you how she passes her time, other than going out to balls until the early hours and tending to her horrible little pug.”
To her surprise, Seth chuckled.
“Pugsley?”
“You’ve met him?” She smiled at him.
“I’ve had the misfortune, yes. The feisty little beast. I adore all animals, but that little guy is rather a troublesome one.”
“Indeed, he is. It is because Victoria will not call him to order. She treats him like a child, allows him to do anything he pleases, anytime he pleases. He has taken to eating my shoes when I do not put them away. Last week I caught him eating my favorite straw bonnet. ‘pon my honor, I hope Victoria is a better mother to her eventual children than she is to the dog, for otherwise, she will bless this world with true little devils.”
Seth broke out into a laugh, a sound so unfamiliar it startled her.
“Has Leo told you what Pugsley did to me?”
She frowned. “No, what happened?”
He wiggled his index finger. “I shall show you; wait a moment.” He dashed out of the room. His footsteps echoed for a while and then faded as a door opened and closed. As she waited, she took the opportunity to examine the painting above the fireplace once more as she hadn’t been able to study it in detail while Seth was there. It was apparent it caused him pain to look at it.
Her heart ached for him. Whatever happened to his brother, David, had to be traumatic enough never to want to speak of it or him.
In the painting, she studied the young man’s face. He looked just like Seth, except his nose was shorter, and his blond hair appeared a shade darker than Seth’s. While Seth’s hair reminded her of fresh straw, a yellow tinge running through it, his brother’s was almost white in its starkness. She wondered if he genuinely looked like that or if it was the artist’s version.
She examined the house behind the Dunn children in more detail.
Is this their Derbyshire estate?
It had to be. It looked quite lovely and quaint. To go from living somewhere like that to living in London had to be a shock.
She scratched her chin and directed her attention back to the diary in her hand. Just as she flicked it open, a door opened again in the distance, and Seth’s footsteps returned. A small smile played along his lips when he entered, and he held out a book to her.
