Edward was right; when Chorley stepped into the room, he deflated somewhat at the sight of Edward standing beside her. ‘My Lord,’ he said. ‘I was not informed of your arrival.’
‘It is irrelevant,’ Edward answered. ‘It is Miss Hornel who wishes to speak to you.’
It was perhaps not the most auspicious moment to realise it, but it suddenly hit Kate that she loved Edward, quite desperately. He did not want to be here, did not approve of her plan, and yet in front of the man who had tormented her for months and had tried to destroy her, Edward was going to stand by her silently, allow her to talk but be the solid presence she needed. He really was the very best of men.
‘Mr Chorley,’ she began, ‘you have been sending me flowers and messages. That has to stop.’
His top lip curled in a gesture that used to make her whole body want to fold into a tight ball. ‘I would never send flowers to a whore like you.’
Beside her, Edward flinched. She placed a reassuring hand on his arm. ‘You have. But I am not going to argue with you. You are the type of man who would argue the sky is brown despite all the evidence pointing otherwise. I realised, too late, that you would not respond to pleas to stop, so I did a little research of my own. Someone told me you have lots of debts and that got me to pondering why. It really was not very hard to discover your dealings are not above board.’
The colour slowly drained out of Chorley’s face.
‘Now, I am going to ask you never to contact me or my brother or anyone associated with me again. If that remains the case, the knowledge I have uncovered stays with my lawyer. Should anything happen to me or anyone close to me, my discoveries will be revealed to the world.’ She smiled, even as tremors ran through her whole body. ‘Are we clear?’
Chorley nodded once.
‘Excellent. We shall take our leave.’
She made to sail out of there, as gracefully as she could considering her legs were not quite working properly. They had almost made it to the door when Chorley muttered, ‘Whore.’
Edward took several steps back into the room. Kate didn’t see what he did but when they left, Chorley was lying on the ground groaning in pain. She took Edward’s hand again and they departed without another word.
Chapter Thirty-three
Opposite Edward, Kate was bouncing her knees up and down, as if she wanted to get out of the carriage and run. Rage, hot and molten, burned beneath his skin and he wanted to jump down from the carriage and pound his fist into the bastard’s face. He didn’t. Kate’s solution was better than violence, although it had been very satisfying to hit him at the end.
‘Edward,’ she said, pulling him from his thoughts.
‘Yes.’
‘I am going to need a lawyer.’
He stared at her face for a long time before she grinned, laughter bursting out of her.
‘Do you even have proof he is engaged in dodgy dealings?’
Tears streamed down her face and she wiped them away with the pads of her fingers. ‘I really thought he would listen to reason. What was I thinking?’ She continued to laugh, holding her sides. ‘I mean, I guessed there had to be something wrong with those debts. I did do some research and found some things out, but I don’t know,know… It just came out in the moment.Goodness, I was lucky. I am so very naïve, Edward. I thought…’ She shook her head, turning to look at London as the carriage moved through its streets.
He sat staring at the woman who held his heart. ‘That could have gone badly.’
Her laughter slowly faded away.
‘Luckily,’ he continued, ‘I have looked into him.’ He held up a hand. ‘Do not be cross. You did not inform me of your plan and as much as I would be happiest burying him somewhere, I have not killed before and I am not entirely sure I could cope with the mess. You have seen what I am like.’
Her eyes crinkled at the corners, her gaze soft.
‘Anyway, you were right in your guess. A lot of his deals do stretch the letter of the law. Rather than hide them with a lawyer, I think we should pass the details on to someone in authority. He might go to prison and then his family would be better off, would they not?’
‘Yes, I think you are right. Thank you, Edward.’
He settled back on the squabs to watch her face. He had understood why she had wanted to leave Glanmore House, even when the others hadn’t. At first he had been hurt, cut to the core that she wanted to leavehim, but now he didn’t think it was that at all. She wanted a life where she did not have to rely on anyone. He hadn’t liked her dependence on him and his family either, because he’d hated the power imbalance. It was for that reason he had not put any money towards her new accommodation, although he knew Tobias had and that she would be able to live comfortably in her lodgings for as long as she needed to. He wanted her to be separate from him. He wanted,needed, them to be equals.
He was watching her intently and saw the look on her face when she saw the building he wanted to show her. Her lips parted softly and then she pressed her nose against the glass, trying to get a better look. He did not try to hide his smile.
‘This will be outside our budget.’ He liked that it wasour. It meant she could see a future with him in it. Perhaps not the one he wanted but one he would accept.
‘It is within budget, but it is not in good condition inside and will probably need work.’
