He smiled at that. “Excellent.” He paused a moment and cleared his throat. “Now, what I’m about to tell you is a very private matter.”
“I’ll not say a word to anyone, I swear it.”
“Kilmartin is a rogue,” her grandfather said, his disdain for Simon obvious. “Many years ago, he convinced Mary that he loved her, and Mary, the foolish girl she has always been, ruined an excellent match I’d made for her because of it.”
Anne frowned. “Mary was matched? As in betrothed?” She was unable to keep the surprise from her voice.
“Yes.” Grandfather offered a wry smile. “She has not always been the dour creature you know.”
Anne felt a flush of guilt to which her grandfather responded with a chuckle. “I arranged a rather excellent match for Mary with Lord Darwimple.”
Anne felt herself inhale a breath of shock. She immediately pictured the slovenly, hunting-obsessed son of her grandfather’s close friend. Not only did Anne honestly believe the man only bathed a couple of times a year—based on his stench, that was—but he spoke only of his latest kill or what he wanted to kill. And the man had to be at least thirty years older than Mary.
“Oh, Grandfather! Why would you have betrothed her to Darwimple? Surely, she did not wish the match?”
Her grandfather’s befuddled expression told Anne he honestly did not see what could have been wrong with the arrangement. “Whyever not? Darwimple has a grand title, and he would have been true to Mary. What more can a woman ask for?”
“A man who does not smell like a swine,” Anne said. “And one who is not old enough to be one’s father,” she added. “Did Mary object?”
“She did,” Grandfather said, a contemplative expression coming over his face. “Honestly, though, I thought she was being unappreciative and dramatic. If I recall, I told her she could either marry Darwimple or find a new home to live in.”
“Grandfather!” Anne said aghast. “I must say, I’m awfully glad you have softened in your later years.”
“Perhaps I pushed her into Kilmartin’s arms with my unbending ways. I had not thought of that…”
He sounded so miserable that Anne patted his hand and found herself saying, “You cannot change the past, so there is no need to dwell on it.”
“I suppose not. I tried to make Kilmartin wed her once she confessed to me that she had, er, given her innocence to him, but the devil refused.”
Anne tried to imagine Simon being so awful and failed, which made her worry that she had fallen under his spell. Hewasan admitted rogue. He certainly could have been that terrible.
“And then his grandfather cut ties with him because of what had occurred?” she asked.
Her grandfather nodded. “He was reluctant to do so at first, as I recall. He’d cut ties with his son many years before when he had married a Scottish woman who the old duke was certain was only after a husband with a lofty title. He’d lost his son to the woman, and I think he wanted to keep his grandson in his life. I was not going to intervene, but when Mary found out that Kilmartin might go unpunished for how he’d used her, she became hysterical and threatened to kill herself if I did not ensure the man was served some form of justice.”
As her grandfather took a sip of his tea, Anne thought upon what he’d just told her. It did not make sense to her that Simon would come to England to seek aid from his grandfather and then rather than marry a woman who could provide needed money he chose to defy his grandfather’s demand that he wed Mary which Simon knew would result in his grandfather cutting all ties with him. As a result, Simon hadn’t gotten the help he was after for his family.
“How did you convince the duke of his grandson’s guilt?” she asked.
“It hardly matters now,” her grandfather said, looking away.
Anne frowned at the back of his head. He was evading her question, but she had no idea why.
“The man seduced Mary, and once a rogue always a rogue. Stay away from him,” her grandfather commanded in an unbending tone. “He can have no good intentions toward you.”
“And why is that?” she asked, thinking on what she’d overheard Simon say to Rutledge earlier.
“Because,” her grandfather said, turning to meet her gaze once more, “before he left, he vowed to obtain revenge against myself and his grandfather. I’ll never forget it, and I don’t doubt for a moment that he remembers it, as well.”
“And you think he’d use me to obtain revenge on you?” she asked, though she was certain that was exactly what Simon must be doing. He was obviously seducing her as some sort of plan to get revenge against her grandfather, but exactly what the plan was, she did not know. She did know she had to see him again no matter what, and do all she could to aid Fanny, but it was more than that. She had a gut feeling that she was missing an important fact in this story, and she intended to discover what it was.
Eight
The next morning, Simon found himself too distracted to concentrate on business. Thoughts of his conversations with Rutledge and Anne filled his head. Rutledge had been thrilled with Simon’s offer of a position within his company, but the man had been chilly at best when Simon had broached the subject of wedding Lady Fanny now that he would be financially sound and able to marry whomever he wished. Simon had pointed out that Lady Fanny was now considered ruined in the eyes of theton; therefore, unlikely to make a match. Rutledge had countered by saying it was the woman’s fault for thinking she could trap him into marriage by throwing herself at him. Given Simon’s own experience, he’d been unable to disagree with Rutledge’s argument.
Rutledge had shared that it was perplexing that Lady Fanny had not actually made a single request of Rutledge to marry her, nor had anyone in her family. He guessed that the lady assumed he would marry her when she was seen in his arms, a ruse likely of her own design, but had sensibly abandoned her plan when it had become apparent that Rutledge had no intention of wedding her. Simon found it rather ironic that the lady had thought to scheme to obtain marriage to a wealthy lord, but she’d picked a lord who was near penniless, which of course, she’d had no way of knowing. Rutledge’s family had managed to keep their near penniless state secret. Well, except now it seemed the servants were gossiping, which meant the news would likely be everywhere soon.
And as for Anne, Simon was eagerly awaiting her return—too eagerly. It made him uneasy that when he thought of her, revenge was not the first thing that came to mind but rather the skilled way she sparred with words; her fierce, albeit blind, loyalty to her friend; her incredible blazing eyes; and her radiant smile.
