My dear Rose,
I am sorry if our conversation yesterday upset you. I understand that you wish to tell your brother the truth. So do I. However, I cannot help but worry that it might destroy so many relationships. I regard him as my dearest friend, but I cannot allow myself to forget that he is also a Peer of the Realm—several rungs above me in the hierarchy. And while I am by no means poor, I do not have the title nor the wealth to justify my making an offer. I am afraid that despite our friendship, your brother will not agree to a courtship between us. I fear that if we tell him the truth, our friendship will suffer and our business relationship too. As for you and I… As long as we keep our relationship a secret, we can enjoy it. But if we tell him, if he is opposed to it, it will be all over. And then what are we to do? I love and respect you too much to take you to Gretna Green. I do not know what the answer is. If there even is one. I am not opposed to telling him with time, but not now. I require more time to think, my dearest.
“There it is. Do you see? They were so convinced that I would disapprove of the union simply because your brother is a Baron. How could he think this of me?”
I genuinely do not know what I am to say to this, for I cannot disagree with Leo. I, too, would’ve been hesitant about confiding in him. After all, one of the reasons I always thought Seth and I could never be was that he would never look at me as a potential match. I am the sister of a Baron, nothing more. Does he not understand what being a Duke means?
She looked at him for a long while and licked her lips, pondering how to answer his question. However, as it turned out, she did not need to. Seth nodded his head and averted his eyes away from her and out the window.
Outside, rain clouds hung heavy in the gray sky; the weather entirely matched their mood.
“I see. You agree with what he has written. You, too, think I am so prideful and haughty that I would disapprove of a union simply because of the difference in standing between the partners.”
“Given that you are a member of the House of Lords, you know very well how different Barons are treated from a Marquess or Dukes. My father was looked down upon because of his lowly title. Do you know that in the eyes of many of the nobility, Barons and Viscounts are little above commoners?”
“But I have never given this impression to either of them, not intentionally. I assumed my sister wished to marry a Duke or a Marquess, but I didn’t insist upon it. I care little if one is above or below me in rank. I want my sister to find happiness. I want my good friend to be happy.”
Winnie did not know what to say to this.
“I… I suppose we all assumed that it was your idea of what a union should be, one of equal value. I must say that I thought you would never consider… I mean that is to say… That you always… “
Her words trailed off, for she could not put into a sentence what her heart wanted to say. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, settling herself. When she spoke again, she raised her eyes and looked squarely in his face.
“I always thought that the reason you have not married yet is that you wanted somebody of high birth, a fellow Duke’s daughter. I thought you would consider any other beneath your touch.”
“Beneath my touch? No, never. It hurts me that you would think of me as such. I have not married because the idea of love terrifies me. After losing my brother, the idea of attaching myself to anybody to such a degree is… It’s unfathomable. And it’s not that I have never loved, it’s that I cannot allow myself to confess….”
He jumped up and left her side. With his hands clasped behind his back, he strutted across the room.
“I am sorry, Seth. I suppose it was because I did not know about your brother, thus, I didn’t consider any other possibilities. And since Leo doesn’t know the details about your brother’s death, either, I am sure he thinks the same as I. And Rose…”
Seth spun around. “Rose does not know me any better than I know her. It would stand to reason she would think me unwilling to allow her to marry a Baron.” He groaned and clapped his hands in front of his face. “Heaven forefend, I attempted to make a match for her with a local Marquess whom she promptly rejected. If she already thought that I did not want her to marry someone lower-ranking in the peerage, then that would’ve only convinced her further. And if she told Leo….”
Winnifred leaned her back into the soft cushion behind her. “Of course. And that conversation happened just before the blackmailing letter arrived. I am sure both of them must’ve assumed that the blackmailers referred to their secret relationship. But how does my uncle figure into all of this?”
“I do not think he does. My assumption is the gang your uncle borrowed money from did a fair amount of research into your uncle upon learning that his nephew was involved in a successful business venture. I would assume that they trailed Leo and uncovered his secret relationship with Rose. They then attempted to combine their efforts by asking for money from them both. Then, they decided to kidnap them for extra funds.”
A dull headache took hold of Winnifred’s temples, and she pushed against them, running her fingers in circles to help ease the pain.
“But the blackmail letters didn’t ask for amounts. Would they not have first asked them to bring a certain amount of money and then kidnap them?”
Seth smirked.
“You were with me in St. Giles, you overheard the conversation between the two men. Did they strike you as men who thought ahead? If their leader is anything like them, it stands to reason that the kidnapping might’ve been a last-minute decision. No, I think they asked both Rose and Leo to the meeting point so that they would each find themselves confronted with the other. Just proving that the blackmailers indeed knew all about their illicit relationship. I assume that then they asked for money, and likely either one or the other refused. Leading to the kidnapping.”
“I suppose…” she leaned forward, a sudden faintness overtaking her. She was not one to think much of young ladies who utilized the ‘fainting couch’ to elicit attention from their paramour. In fact, she’d be mortified if she fainted in front of Seth.
Seth rushed to her side and sat down. “Are you in pain? You look pale.”
“Just a headache. That is all.”
He gently placed a hand on her forehead, and the sensation made her skin tingle. She smiled weakly at him.
“Seth, it’s just a trifling headache. You need not worry.”
He gave her a nod and removed his hand, placing it in his lap.
“Have you taken any food this day?” he asked. Winnifred thought about it and shook her head.
