LITMIR.BIZ

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am a little bruised, no more. I was knocked over by some boys. Hugo came to my rescue.’

      ‘Hugo? Pacey said you took three of the men with you. Where were they?’

      ‘It was crowded. It was hard to stay together. I have discovered,’ she added, with a rueful smile, ‘the disadvantage of being escorted by one’s servants. One can hardly walk along Bond Street on a footman’s arm, can one? And you were right, Aunt. I should have waited for Mr Damerel to escort us. I only wished to return my book, it was hardly a matter of life and death.’

      ‘Unlike last night,’ Lady Rothley said.

      ‘Pacey told us what happened,’ Sir Horace said, patting Lady Rothley’s hand. ‘What a dreadful experience, dear Lady Rothley. You will pleased to hear, Lady Ashby, that Mr Damerel has acquired that pistol on your behalf, so—’

      ‘Pistol?’

      Matthew cursed under his breath. Why hadn’t he reminded Sir Horace not to talk of the pistol in front of Eleanor’s aunt?

      ‘Matters of life and death? Pistols? Would somebody please tell me what, precisely, has been going on?’ Hugo said.

      Eleanor caught Matthew’s eye. He interpreted her silent plea and told Hugo all that had happened since the library at Ashby Manor had been set on fire.

      Hugo stirred and rose elegantly to his feet. ‘It would appear that, despite my every effort to appear otherwise, I do have a sense of familial duty after all,’ he said. ‘Mama, Ellie, I shall see you both later.’

      ‘Where are you going?’

      ‘Why, to fetch a change of clothing, of course. I shall move in until after this villain is caught. As your sole male relative here in town, I am almost honour bound to join the fray, do you not agree? It should not be the responsibility of—’ his gaze switched from Matthew to Sir Horace ‘—random strangers to protect you. However, I find I do have one question before I go—have you any idea who the culprit might be?’

      Matthew stood, gritting his teeth against the other man’s deliberate provocation, conscious he needed Hugo’s co-operation if he were to have any chance of proving his innocence of cheating.

      ‘You have one thing wrong, Alastair. You are not El—Lady Ashby’s only male relative in town. James Weare, her other cousin, is our main suspect.’

      Hugo’s eyes gleamed. ‘James Weare—well, I never. I had forgotten he was your cousin—and your rightful heir to boot, if I am not mistaken. The little worm,’ he added, softly.

      Matthew instantly warmed towards Hugo. He might give the appearance of careless, pleasure-seeking selfishness but with those three last words he had revealed his dangerous core—a good man to have on the spot, protecting Eleanor. But... Matthew’s spirits plunged at the realisation that his own indispensability was shrinking by the minute, what with Hugo moving into Eleanor’s house and the watchful presence of Stephen’s friends by night.

      ‘That reminds me,’ he said to Eleanor, ‘what did Weare have to say for himself last night?’

      Eleanor pulled a face. ‘The conversation was...stilted is the best description. He did ask if I’d had any other problems, and I told him about the man I saw, and about Agnes. He was uneasy and Ruth seemed timid.’ She paused, then continued in a quiet voice, ‘James was reluctant to leave Ruth and me alone. And when he did...’ she chewed at her bottom lip, her eyes haunted ‘... Ruth is scared of him.’

      Hugo crossed the room to take Eleanor’s hands in his. ‘Do not fret, little coz—’twill all be settled before you know it, now that I am here,’ he said, with a mischievous glint in his dark eyes as he flicked a glance towards Matthew.

      Matthew thought if his jaw clenched any harder his teeth might shatter.

       Remember. You need him.

      Eleanor tilted her head, a sweetly loving smile on her lips as she regarded her cousin. ‘Dear Hugo,’ she said. ‘You have always been such a reliable fellow, has he not, Aunt? I declare, I do not know how I should have managed all these years without such constant, devout attention.’

      Lady Rothley laughed as Hugo grinned.

      ‘Minx,’ he said and bent to kiss Eleanor’s cheek.

      ‘Before you go, Alastair, might I have a word in private?’ Matthew said.

      Hugo raised a brow. ‘Secrets?’ he murmured. ‘Do tell.’ But he followed Matthew to the far end of the room without further demur.

      ‘That card game,’ Matthew said, ‘the one where Henson accused me of cheating. Do you remember it?’

      ‘I do. And, before you say any more, and because I’m a generous sort of fellow, I do know it was a false accusation.’

      A hard ball of anger lodged in Matthew’s chest. ‘If you knew,’ he said, ‘why the hell didn’t you say so at the time?’

      Hugo raised a brow. ‘For the very good reason that, at the time, I did not know.’

      ‘Then you can prove Mr Damerel was innocent,’ Eleanor said. She had joined them, unnoticed. Matthew sighed. He should have known.

      ‘Ellie, my dear, this is not for your ears.’ Hugo attempted to usher Eleanor back to the other end of the room, but she held her ground.

      One look at the determined set of her mouth persuaded Matthew. If she did not hear what Hugo had to say now, Matthew would only have to repeat their conversation later. ‘It is all right, Alastair,’ he said. ‘Your cousin knows about the game and the accusation, although she did not know you and your brother were present that night.’

      ‘Lucas was there, too?’ Eleanor said. ‘Why did you not tell me?’

      ‘Lucas. Yes,’ Hugo said. ‘And, as this appears to be important to my cousin, I will tell you. Luke is your man. He was friends with Henson, until he caught Henson cheating. He challenged him and Henson just laughed—congratulated Luke on being the first to catch him out. Luke was furious and then, not long after, they had a huge row. Over some woman, I believe. However, I digress. Luke told me Henson admitted it was he who had cheated that night. He—Henson, I mean—thought it highly amusing that you had taken the blame.’

      ‘Why did he not say something to clear my name?’ All that time, he could have been back home, with his family.

      Hugo shrugged. ‘No one knew where you’d gone. There didn’t seem much point.’

      That was true. Apart from his father and Claverley not one soul in England had known where he was, or what had happened to him.

      ‘This is wonderful,’ Eleanor said. ‘Now you can prove your innocence to your father.’

      ‘I shouldn’t have to. He should have trusted me.’

      ‘But he did not. And think of your mother and your sisters.’

      She was right. Finally, he could hold his head up in the knowledge that nobody could point the finger at him.

      ‘Hugo, will you write down what you have just told us? Or, better still, do you think Lucas would write a letter, setting out the facts?’ Eleanor said. ‘So that you have written proof, should anyone ever mention it,’ she added, to Matthew.

      Hugo shrugged. ‘I can try,’ he said. ‘Lucas keeps himself to himself these days, but I shall use my best powers of persuasion. I will fetch my belongings and then, dear cousin, I shall write to my brother.’

      ‘This is so exciting,’ Eleanor said after Hugo had left.

      She gazed up at Matthew with glowing eyes and Matthew’s heart sank. Did she not know him at all?

      ‘You can reconcile with your family,’ she continued, ‘and take your rightful place in society with no fear of those past lies lurking in the background

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