Page 24 of The Earl's Error
“I cannot simply accept her help without considering it all first!” he exclaimed, his gaze fixing now on Lord Castleton. “You clearly see her innocent whereas I do not.”
“It makes sense to my mind, all that she has said,” came the reply. “She came to tell you to truth for fear that you would view her as guilty otherwise!”
“She could be hiding the truth even behindthat!”
“And what guilty creature would tell the servants to search the very room she knew the necklace to be in?” Lord Castleton continued, clearly ignoring him. “If I was someone who had planned to take the necklace, then I would certainlynothave demanded that the servants search my own room also! Norwould I have been foolish enough to leave it on the bed for everyone to see! Besides which,” he continued, speaking so quickly that Theodore could not get a word in, “you forget that the lady had no prior knowledge of your mother’s necklace! She had not seen it before, had she? She had not recognised it to be of value so why would you think that she sought it for herself?”
“Because of her mother.” With a slightly hard look towards Lord Castleton, Theodore made his position quite clear. “Her mother and mine have a rivalry, just as my mother has with other ladies in theton, so I know full well that she is not the only one! However, it might well be that this rivalry was enough to push Lady Melford into action and, thus, her daughter became involved also.”
Lord Castleton rolled his eyes. “Or they could be entirely innocent,” he stated, sounding a trifle frustrated, “and you entirely mistaken.”
Theodore shook his head, refusing to let go of Miss Trentworth’s involvement entirely. Yes, it might be that she did not have anything to do with it but there was still something about her that niggled away at him.
Though quite what that was, Theodore could not make out.
11
Joceline looked around the room. “Ladies, thank you all for joining me.”
“We were all glad to!” Miss Sherwood smiled warmly at her. “It seems to me to be an excellent notion to have all of us bluestockings together.”
After she had learned the truth about the necklace from Lord Albury, Joceline was determined to do something about it. Once the shock had worn off a little, she had recognized how he did not trust her completely and, in that, saw the need to prove herself innocent. This, along with her offer of aid towards Lord Albury, was precisely what she needed. Having just completed her explanation of what had happened thus far to both Lady Rosalyn and Lady Amelia – for Miss Sherwood and Lady Isobella had already been told all of it – Joceline reached to serve the tea. “Now you know what has happened and the worry that I have.”
“I can imagine that this must be very difficult for you,” Lady Rosalyn murmured, as the other ladies glanced at each other. “Why would someone lay the necklace on your bed?”
“They wanted her to take the blame for the theft, mayhap? Or the exchanging of the heirloom for the paste jewels?” Lady Amelia shook her head. “This is dreadful. I am especially disappointed that Lord Albury seems to believe that you are in some way guilty! That does not make any sense. I thought he would be more sensible than that.”
Joceline took in a deep breath and nodded. “Indeed. But though he does not hold me responsible entirely, there is still a part of him that distrusts me. I say this with certainty for though he did not say a word to me in that regard, I could see from his manner towards meandfrom the way that Lord Castleton pushed him at certain moments to keep him from saying what he was thinking. That is why I offered my help – offeredourhelp, in the hope that you will all be willing to come alongside me in this.”
The response to her request was immediate. All the ladies spoke as one, a slight hubbub of noise breaking across the room as Joceline smiled, grateful to her friends for their willingness and determination to help her.
“What is it that you want us to do?” Lady Amelia wanted to know. “How can we be of aid to you, mydearfriend?”
“I do not know precisely,” Joceline answered, serving the tea cups one at a time. “But if Lord Albury thinks that I am the one behind the stealing of his necklace, then I must find a way to prove him wrong. And the only way I can do that is to work with him and show him the truth.”
“Which means you must first find the truth.”
Joceline nodded in Lady Rosalyn’s direction. “Exactly.”
“There is so much that we could investigate!” Lady Isobella exclaimed, her eyes bright. “First of all, we can search for the person responsible for making the necklace in the first place! Lord Albury might not be able to do so with the same ease, for he will simply throw open the door of a shop and demand to knowwhether or not they made such a thing… and I highly doubt he will get any answers that way!”
This made Joceline chuckle, fully aware that what her friend said was quite true, though she knew that it was not because of anger that Lord Albury behaved in that manner. He was upset, and it was more than just the necklace itself. Something about his mother having taken the heirloom without his consent had bitten at him, hard, and as Joceline considered, she wondered if there was a part of him that blamed himself for the loss of his necklace. Sitting down with her cup of tea, she mulled over Lord Albury’s reaction to her telling him the truth about where the necklace had been found. There had been shock in his expression, of that she was quite certain, but he had not said anything to her for some time. The way that he had watched her, however, with that steadiness in his eyes that was, at the very same time, filled with questions, had left her with no uncertainty as to what he thought of her. He was not sure of her, it seemed though part of her could understand that, given the strangeness of the connection between her mother and his. If, as she suspected, he understood that his mother had a good deal of animosity towards Lady Melford, then would he not suspect that it had been she involved in the theft of the necklace? Perhaps in some hope of gaining back some standing or simply to take Lady Albury down in her own estimation? A small, sad smile touched the corners of her mouth. The truth was, having Lord Albury tell her that he thought her bluestocking ways to be nothing of consequence had been greatly refreshing and there had been both surprise and a little stirring of interest in her heart. Now, however, that was over. Of that, she had no doubt.
Which is a great pity,she thought to herself, sipping her tea.For there might have been –
“Joceline?”
She looked up, seeing Lady Isobella smiling at her. “Yes?”
“You were lost in thought, which is quite understandable given the weight you must have on your mind,” Miss Sherwood said, with a smile. “We were suggesting that we meet together as often as we can while, at the same time, each of us seeking to investigate what we can, where we can.”
Joceline’s eyebrows lifted. “That is a wise thought, I must say.”
“I can speak to my friends and acquaintances and ask them where they would go to purchase paste jewelry,” Lady Amelia suggested. “Rosalyn thought that she might find out a little more about the necklace itself though that would require careful study.”
“There must be something written about it, if it is an heirloom,” Lady Rosalyn interjected. “I can find the information, however, I am sure. There are so many circulating libraries here and, of course, the great London Library that I am sure I will be able to find something.”
With a nod, Joceline set her teacup down. “I thank you. I will have to speak to the maid again in detail, to find out exactly what happened. I will have to question the staff in general, I think, to see if they saw any of the guests coming near to my bed chamber.”
