Lady Emma’s hand tightened on his arm.
“What had occurred?”
He shrugged.
“My solicitor informed me that I had given my fortune away. At least two-thirds of it had been signed over to another fellow, whose name I do not yet know.” Seeing the question written in her eyes, he shook his head. “The document was taken by this man, and he refused to allow any of his identifying papers to be kept at my solicitors.”
“How terrible.” Lady Emma held his gaze, her fingers pressing his arm gently. “I cannot imagine your emotions at that moment.”
Henry gave her a wry smile.
“It was greatly distressing. It grew all the more painful when I realized that I could not, in any good conscience, ask you to remain with me, not when I could no longer offer you the same comfort and security that I had been able to, before. Therefore, I decided to end our connection, albeit against my own will.”
“You did it out of care for me.”
“I did.” Henry let out another long sigh. “You may indeed wonder how it could be that I have lost my fortune to someone I do not know. It appears that my friends and I were all given something to make certain that we could not remember. We have all very little memory of that evening.”
Lady Emma’s breath caught, and she stopped walking, her eyes staring wide.
“You mean to say that something was administered to you without your knowledge?”
“Yes, I believe so.” Henry gritted his teeth, hating the fact that he had been taken in so easily. “Although I have returned recently to the very place where we were taken advantage of, and have discovered that the man responsible formyloss of fortune has such a hold over the proprietor in terms of his threats, that the man will say nothing of him. However, there was also another fellow present that night.”
“And this is the small, wiry fellow you were speaking of.”
Henry grinned, despite the circumstances.
“Yes, Lady Emma. It is as you have heard. That is the man I am seeking. He was changing the brandies that I was offered. Lord Stoneleigh believes that it is because he was doing all he could to protect me from the situation, but that he ultimately failed. If I can find him, then I can find out who it was that stole my fortune. “
“I see.” Lady Emma frowned and looked away. “What was the description of this man?”
“Wait a moment.” Coming to a stop, Henry turned to face her, releasing her hand from his arm but taking her hands instead. “You mean to say that you have not a single moment of doubt? A single question about anything I have told you? There is nothing about what I have said that you find questionable, that you worry about?”
Lady Emma blinked quickly, then smiled.
“No, indeed not.”
Henry’s heart began to race as he looked into her face, realizing just how wonderful the lady was, only for his heart to then turn over on himself as he thought of just how quickly he had let her go from his arms. He had misjudged her. He had misjudged theentiresituation and was now filled with gratitude that Lady Emma had such tenacity that she had refused to let him go.
“You are quite incredible.” The softness of her smile told him that he had spoken directly to her heart. “I do not think that I have ever met anyone like you. How foolish I was to even think of letting you go.”
“You did notthinkabout trying to let me go, you were attempting to push me away,” she reminded him with a small smile. “But the fact that you did so to protect me, to make certain that I had a future that was secure and safe – albeit with another – proves to me that your feelings for me are genuine and long-lasting.”
“As much as I have tried to deny them to myself, that is quite true. Now, I admit to you that the thought of seeing you courted by, or even wed to, another gentleman was so difficult that I could not even let myselfthinkon it! I told myself that I would concentrate solely on this task and that I would forget everything else, but you were continually there, dogging my steps. It astonishes me that you have not even a single flicker of doubt over what I have told you.”
“That is because I believe it is true. I believe that you have spoken honestly, for why would you hide anything from me now, after all we have shared?”
And what more shall we share in the days and weeks and months to come?
“Now, tell me. What does this man you seek look like?”
Quickly managing to recall the man whom he spoke of, Henry began to explain as they fell into step again.
“This fellow is the only one who might be able to offer me some answers. The proprietor was glad to describe him – although I believe he regretted it shortly afterward –said that he has a small frame, with a thatch of dark hair and a wiriness about him that cannot be missed. He certainly had some great determination to make sure that I was not allowed to become overwhelmed with what was being offered to me. He did not succeed, however. I do not know what happened to him. The proprietor did not see and certainly would not answer me now, even if I asked.”
“And you say that he was attempting to help you?”
“To Lord Stoneleigh’s mind, certainly, and I must confess that I now agree with him in that regard. I did not think so at first, but now it does make sense. Whoever this man is, he knew of the scheme and tried to protect me, for whatever reason.”
