Page 58 of Fortune Favors the Frivolous
And Caroline went on, “How can you know this?”
“It was mentioned in writing by my father. I came across his letter after his death when I was going through his correspondence.”
“Your father wasexecutorof the Playford estate?” Caroline asked with a gasp, but Mr. Rothbury shook his head.
“No, his cousin was, and he had an understanding of the financial transfer that occurred upon Venetia’s father’s death.” He shook his head. “A very reasonable annuity was settled upon Miss Playford. Her aunt was adequately provisioned to ensure the care and upkeep of her niece. It’s all laid out here in conversation between him and his cousin, who was executor.”
He handed Amelia several letters before returning to his seat.
Caroline leaned over Amelia’s shoulder, scanning the angled, sloping writing while Amelia clicked her tongue, saying in tones of wonder, “It does indeed indicate that Miss Playford was far from penniless.” She hesitated before sending Caroline an incisive look. “Are you sure you have properly interpreted your friend, and that Venetia was not representing her aunt as more… miserly than she was?”
“Venetia hasnotmisrepresented the situation!” Caroline responded hotly. “I’ve known her since schooldays which were a reprieve to her since she didn’t have to live under her aunt’s roof. But since she was a child, her Aunt Pike has locked her up alone in a cupboard whenever she says a word out of place. Mrs. Pike constantly taunts Venetia for being penniless, which is why Venetia did not wed in her first season out. And yesterday I saw the bruises on her arm when—”
“Bruises?” Mr. Rothbury interrupted.
“Are you sure it wasn’t some innocent accident?” Amelia asked. “That is a very serious charge you’re making, Caroline.”
Caroline was not going to walk this back. Mulishly, she said, “Her aunt has often been violent, and she was particularly sowhen she found Venetia in her study looking for letters from her father to Aunt Pike.” Caroline was too deep into the situation to concern herself with the fact that she was speaking far more candidly than Amelia or any other lady of respectability would countenance. But something in Mr. Rothbury’s eye, and his tone, suggested sheoughtto speak thus.
“Perhaps Mrs. Pike believed Venetia had no right to go through her aunt’s drawers when her back was turned,” Amelia suggested mildly.
Caroline drew herself up. She hadn’t been going to say it, but now she just had to reveal the terrible confidence Venetia had relayed to her. She prayed it was a terrible lie, but since Mr. Rothbury knew so much about Venetia and her parents, perhaps he’d be able to refute it. It was a dangerous risk and perhaps Venetia would have begged her to remain silent, but Caroline could not.
Drawing in a deep breath, she burst out, “Mrs. Pike told Venetia that her parents were not married at the time of her birth. She said Venetia’s father had been in love withher,but that Venetia’s mother had enticed him away. Of course, Venetia needed to find these letters. Especially when her aunt told her that if she didn’t renege on her marriage to Henry, Mrs. Pike would tell Henry that Venetia was—” she drew in a difficult breath, before whispering, “—illegitimate.”
“What!?” cried Amelia, clearly outraged.
“Yes, and her Aunt Pike threatens to make this public knowledge if Venetia does not comply with her wishes and… marry Lord Windermere.”
“Dear Lord!”
Caroline wasn’t sure what part of her torrent of words elicited such shock from Mr. Rothbury, but he quickly shook his head. “I am sure that is quite untrue!”
Eagerly, Caroline leaned forward. “You have proof?”
Rothbury was silent for a moment. “Not proof. But it makes no sense with what I know of her father’s financial affairs and everything else mentioned in my own father’s correspondence.”
Distracted by the arrival of the tea, he finally said, when the maid had deposited the tray upon the table and Amelia was pouring, “These letters that… Miss Playford discovered that were written by Mr. Playford to Mrs. Pike,” he finally said. “Have you seen them yourself?”
Caroline, disappointed that Mr. Rothbury had not magically produced evidence of either Venetia’s parents’ marriage, or her birth, shook her head. “No, only Venetia has. They were in her father’s hand, and she was dismayed to find that they really were letters from her father conveying affection towards her aunt prior to his marriage to Venetia’s mother, who was Mrs. Pike’s younger sister.”
“So you have seen no other letters to either prove or disprove what Mrs. Pike says?” asked Mr. Rothbury. He reddened, then added, “Regarding the circumstances of her birth.”
Caroline shook her head. Suddenly, she felt deflated. How could there be a solution to the conundrum which faced not just Venetia, but Henry and herself, before it was too late?
“I see.” Mr. Rothbury rose and moved to the window, his back to Caroline as he gazed out at the garden. “And you believe Mrs. Pike would follow through on such a threat?”
How strange to be talking on such intimate terms, regarding such revealing matters, about Venetia, Caroline thought suddenly.
And how deeply invested in her situation he appeared to be.
“Without hesitation. She is utterly determined to see Venetia married to Windermere,” said Caroline. “In fact, Mrs. Pike sent her off in a carriage with him, against her will.”
“Against her will?” Mr. Rothbury turned, frowning, while Amelia blushed fiercely, murmuring, “Caroline, that should, perhaps, not be made public.”
“No, it’s a scandal!” Caroline cried, clenching her hands together to hold back the tears as she recalled her own horrors. She closed her eyes, refraining from mentioning the full extent of her own involvement as she said, “I prevailed upon Henry to go after her and stop him. Windermere threatened Henry with a pistol, but he managed to rescue her, and it was when they were at an inn that Mr. and Mrs. Gascoyne discovered them and insisted that Henry was honor bound to marry Venetia.” Caroline put her face in her hands.
“Oh, Caroline,” whispered Amelia, putting her hand on her shoulder. “I am sorry if Frederick and I did not offer the support that was needed at the time. I had no idea of the extent of Windermere’s villainy.” She hesitated. “For I think you were perhaps too close to the drama to relay it in all its awfulness.”
