Page 26 of Letters to a Wallflower
“Did you give them to him?”
“No! I’m not wicked at that, Miss, but I am so ashamed! I saw you laboring over them, more than once. Such a big stack of them, and one day I saw you tuck them away in that drawer. I don’t know why I told him. But he was always pressing me for information. Secrets he thought I might know, about your family. I shared what I had seen with him and I just thought it would be a shared joke. Then when the papers came out and the scandal broke, I asked him if he’d done it. He swore he knew nothing of it. Denied it outright. I could not puzzle out who might have taken those letters, but he always insisted you had likely done it yourself, in a bid to get Mr. Hargrove’s attention.”
Helen could not stop the scowl from breaking over her face. “You said you discovered this today?”
Maggie nodded. “I found the proof of it, today. And I packed my bags and left. He’s in Town and doesn’t even know I’ve gone. I hope I’ll be far away before he finds out, but I had to talk to you, first.”
“How did you discover it?”
A great sigh came from the girl. “I had a visitor the other day.”
Helen waited.
“It was your Mr. Hargrove. He set me to thinking. And the doubt wormed in. But it was when I saw the Prattler’s last issue, the one about Lady Littleton and her lovers, that I really knew.”
“How does that relate to my scandal?” asked Helen, confused.
The former maid shrugged. “Another man came after Mr. Hargrove, in the evening. He demanded to speak to Leighton. I listened in and heard him demanding the money he was owed. Leighton put him off and the man blustered about the next printing. He told Leighton he shouldn’t include himself in the article, but Leighton insisted he must, to keep everyone from suspecting him. The visitor swore this was the last he would print until he got his money. I didn’t understand any of it, until the Prattler came out and named him as one of Lady Littleton’s long-time affaires.”
“Oh, dear.” Helen knew the girl must have had her feelings hurt, but her mind was buzzing with the word printing and article and suspecting him. More of the puzzle snapped into place with a click that struck her hard. Leighton hadn’t only betrayed her with the letters, he was the unknown editor of the Prattler!
“Of course, I assumed he must have other flirts. He stays over often in Town. I’m not a complete fool. But I had no idea he had a longstanding affair with this Lady Littleton! That is a betrayal of a different sort and I suddenly understood that he had hadn’t hesitated to hurt me, to protect himself. Just as he must have hurt you, to prod at his enemies.” Tears welled in her eyes. “I couldn’t stay. But neither did I wish him to get away with all of his sins. Today was my first chance to search the house. I found some handwritten copies of articles that I recognized from the Prattler.”
“Proof that he’s the anonymous editor.”
“Yes, but I found more. I discovered the vowel that McKay wrote out, pledging the paper as collateral in their gaming. And an agreement between the two of them, after Leighton must have won the thing. He forced McKay to pledge to never reveal how he lost the paper or to whom it went.”
“You have these papers?” Helen asked.
“I do.” The maid reached into her portmanteau and dug out a folder. “I thought you must have them and decide what to do with them.”
Helen took the thing and sank down into a chair. She rifled through and saw all was as Maggie said. For a long moment, she said nothing, but then she looked up. “Maggie, I fear I must be going away, quite soon. Probably to the country for a while, but afterward, I meant to travel. It will likely be a long trip. I’ll need a small amount of staff to go with me. Might you be interested?”
“Oh!” The girl looked shocked. “Travel? Me? With you?”
Helen nodded.
“Yes, Miss. Thank you!”
“Good. You should stay here, then. But first, there are things we must see to. Loose ends to tie up.” She stood and tucked the folder away in a drawer before she swept her cloak back on.
Maggie stared. “Tonight, Miss?”
“Tonight. It ends tonight.”
Ben checked the offices of the Prattler, but they were dark and locked up. He gambled that Akers would not wish to travel out to Camden so late and he took himself off to the boarding house off Holborn. He’d been lurking in the shadows on the third floor nearly two hours, though, before he heard footsteps approaching up the stairs. He ducked into his corner, held his breath and waited.
The air exploded out of him when two figures emerged from the stairwell. They carried a dim lantern as they headed for Akers’ door. It showed?—
“Helen! What are you doing here?”
“Ben!” She clasped a hand to her chest. “You scared the wits out of me!” Her expression darkened. “I’ve come to see Leighton.”
“You knew he lived here? But—” He slapped a hand to his forehead. “But of course, you would know his address.”
“Yes. I’ve never come to his rooms before, but now I find I must . . .” Understanding dawned across her face. “Oh. You followed that courier here? You wouldn’t know it was Leighton’s rooms.” She looked suddenly stricken in the dim light. “Oh, no. If only we had spoken more thoroughly earlier tonight, we might have realized . . . we would not have?—”
“No.” He said it earnestly, but he could not suppress a smile of reminiscence. “I do not regret a moment of the time we spent together, tonight.”
