“And?” said Elinor, without moving to help.
“And…” Miss Armitage pursed her lips consideringly as she set a delicate fern to one side of the rose, and adjusted their positions half an inch in each direction. “I very much hope that you may be able to enlighten me. Why exactly would Miss Hathergill turn away an advantageous offer of marriage just when one might imagine she would be in most urgent need of it?”
The tension in Elinor’s shoulders eased, and she let out her breath, curling her lips into a half-smile. “Are you telling me that she’s refused your brother?”
“I did not say that,” said Miss Armitage. “‘Turn away’ was the phrase I used—it was a refusal to give an answer…yet. So perhaps you can tell me, Mrs. De Lacey…what exactly is your young cousin waiting for?”
“Miss Armitage,” said Elinor, “I could hardly answer for Miss Hathergill’s whims. Perhaps she wishes to make her début first, before making any decision. After all, she might meet a young man tonight who sweeps her off her feet.”
“Tonight?” Miss Armitage raised both eyebrows this time. “This is a small country ball, ma’am, as you and I both know. My brother and Mr. Hawkins and his odd scholarly friend are the only gentlemen outside Miss Hathergill’s usual circle of acquaintances. All the other young men in attendance must have known her since birth. They can hardly surprise her at this point.”
Elinor frowned. “It was an odd coincidence, those other two young men from London both canceling their attendance at the last moment, wasn’t it?” She’d been so busy this morning, and so distracted by her own worries, she’d only been annoyed by the news as it had impacted Penelope’s temper, without thinking more about it. But now that she did…
“Very distressing,” Miss Armitage agreed calmly. “It was almost as if they had come into some disturbing knowledge of the family.”
Elinor’s eyes narrowed. “I have noticed you writing a great many letters since you arrived at Hathergill Hall.”
“Have I?” Miss Armitage smiled serenely. “My goodness, I am flattered that you noticed…especially when you were so busy writing them yourself. Although not to your usual sort of correspondent, I don’t think.”
Elinor blinked. She’d only sent one letter.
One letter…
She remembered Benedict setting it atop the pile of letters in Miss Armitage’s hand. She hadn’t had the chance to hide it deeper in the pile before the others arrived, and she hadn’t been with them when they’d returned to Hathergill Hall. She’d been in the wilderness with Benedict. But still…
“I wonder,” Miss Armitage said dreamily, “how exactly would Sir John react if he knew you were writing letters on his niece’s behalf? Seeking her out a comfortable new positionandusing his daughter’s own stolen dragon as an inducement for them to hire her?”
“You opened the letter,” Elinor said blankly. “You stole a private letter and you read it—and you don’t even feel ashamed to admit it.”
“I?” Miss Armitage laughed gently. “I am not the one who would feel shame if confronted with the truth, Mrs. De Lacey. Sir John is a magistrate, is he not? And—correct me if I am wrong, but—it is a legal crime, is it not, to knowingly aid and shelter a thief?”
Elinor pressed her lips together. They felt oddly numb. The room seemed to be narrowing around her, until she could barely breathe.
Sir John stood in the doorway, haranguing the housekeeper. Sally stood five feet behind from her, glaring at her back. Miss Armitage smiled with false kindness.
There were no escape routes, no matter where she ran. Even her one chance at governessing had been taken away.
“What is it that you want from me?” Elinor said, for the second time in minutes. But this time, she heard despair in her voice.
Miss Armitage must have heard it, too. She smiled as she set a final fern among her roses. “I want only the best for my brother,” she said, “so I want him officially and publicly betrothed to Miss Hathergill by the time her début ball is over, with no doubts in anyone’s head as to their binding.”
Perhaps it was the overpowering smell of the roses, or the fact that Elinor hadn’t slept well in days, or that she was just being blackmailed by one too many people. But she found her mind stuttering, as if it couldn’t take in this one last demand.
“Why?” she said. “Why should it matter so much to you? Those other gentlemen were frightened away by the stories of madness—stories that you spread, to drive them off. Why haven’t they driven you off, too?”
“Oh, Mrs. De Lacey.” Miss Armitage shook her head reprovingly. “You know just as well as I that Lady Hathergill is not mad. If all I have to fear from Miss Hathergill’s bloodline is a bit of plain speaking in middle age…well, my brother is not so cowardly as to mind that.”
“But why is it so important to you?” Elinor studied Miss Hathergill’s elegant figure, bent over the flower stand. “Why can’t your brother wait any longer to persuade Penelope to accept his offer? In fact, why should it matter so much whether she accepts him at all? Everyone knows about his fortune…and you cannot pretend that he’s actually in love with her.”
“You have a great many questions, Mrs. De Lacey. And you are, of course, admirably intelligent. Unfortunately…” Miss Armitage straightened and dusted off her hands. “You are in no position to demand any answers. I have your letter, and I am fully prepared to pass it to Sir John, with my deepest horror and outrage on his behalf, if my brother is not betrothed to Miss Hathergill by ten o’clock tonight. Do we understand each other?”
The flower arrangement in the vase was, of course, perfect. Miss Armitage’s smile glinted with satisfaction.
Elinor hadn’t thought that she could dread tonight’s ball any more than she already did…but of course, she had been wrong.
“Perfectly,” she said, and walked away with both of her blackmailers’ gazes on her back.
Chapter 28
