“Thank you for waiting for my return.”
“But of course, I could do nothing else,” she told him honestly, ignoring the fact that her mother would soon expect her to return with Miss Cartwright. “Pray tell me what you have been discussing on your way here. What is it that you are going to do as regards Lord Coatbridge?”
Lord Wiltsham cleared his throat, swinging his hands behind his back.
“It is a delicate situation,” he admitted softly. “I suspect that Lord Coatbridge will refuse to admit to anything of the sort, regardless of what we put to him. He is a conniving creature who has sought to do a good many evils, whilst maintaining his anonymity as best he can. I believe that is why we were given something in the brandies and the whiskies which we enjoyed – whatever it was - to render us nearly unconscious. Yes, it was so that we would more easily agree to whatever was forced upon us, but also so that those involved could hide away without consequence, for how could we accuse them if we could not remember them? We could put a great many things to him, and he could simply deny that he was ever there. He could state that the people we have spoken to are mistaken.”
A sudden idea fought its way forward, and Sara caught her breath, her eyes rounding suddenly.
“What if I put it to him?” she asked, as Lord Wiltsham and Lord Stoneleigh turned to her. “If I speak to him of what he has done, if I tell him that I am aware of his actions, then perhaps he will admit it to me rather than if you were present.”
“Why should he admit such a thing to you?” Miss Cartwright asked, clearly now understanding a little of what was taking place. “What would make him admit his wrongdoing to you when he would refuse to admit it to any other?”
Sara took another breath.
“I might threaten him,” she said slowly. “I might state that I would speak to Lady Nora and her father if he did not recompense me for the sorrow which he has caused me in choosing to behave as he did, and for hiding his true character from me.”
Lord Stoneleigh shook his head.
“It would be a weak excuse,” he murmured, just as Lord Wiltsham replied.
“Recompense?” The questions came immediately, pushing aside Lord Stoneleigh’s concern. “What sort of thing are you considering?”
Sara hesitated for a moment, searching her mind quickly for ideas.
“I could state that my father is so disappointed in the situation that he has determined to leave London and that I will not have another Season until next year, if at all. I will blame Lord Coatbridge for all of this. I will tell him that it is because of his actions that I have been treated so, because of his lies that I am being forced to leave London. I will threaten to tell Lady Nora of what he has done so that he might suffer in the same way as I.”
“But he will ask how you have discovered it.”
Shrugging, Sara smiled quickly at Lord Wiltsham.
“Yes, he may ask, but he need not know the answer. Well, I can simply say that he is not the only gentleman within London to have hidden ears and eyes in certain places, ready to do his bidding! I could mention the East End briefly so that he knows that I speak the truth.”
Lord Stoneleigh shook his head.
“No, I do not like the idea. He might react most unfavorably.”
Her determination grew despite this.
“Yes, he might well do, but that is a risk which I am willing to take.”
Lifting her chin, Sara looked first at one gentleman and then the other.
“You shall have to be present also, however. You shall have to hear him speak his words of either refusal or admittance. If he does the former, then we must think of another way of forcing the truth from his lips. And if he does the latter, then you might reveal yourselves to him in due course, knowing that he has told everyone the truth.”
Miss Cartwright gasped.
“I know precisely when this could be done! My dear Lord Millwood is hosting a soiree in some two days’ time – you have all received and accepted the invitations, have you not?” Seeing Sara nod, Miss Cartwright clasped her hands together. “I know that Lord Millwood’s parlor has a door within it which appears to be a bookcase, except for the fact that it is not. It leads to the next room, but it is not obvious in its appearance.”
Sara’s heart began to jump around her chest in anticipation.
“That seems to me as though it has been made for this situation! Lord Coatbridge is invited also, I presume?”
Miss Cartwright nodded, her smile fading.
“I would not have wished him to be present, but Lord Millwood insisted.”
“I am glad that he did.”
