Page 57 of The Duke of Scandal

“I must also ask a favor. For the use of one of your men. Someone who is reliable and capable of acting independently.”

“You seek to make use of my household staff?” Simon said with eyebrows rising.

“Yes, you seem to have a reduced household based on what I’ve seen. Not what I expected for a house this size but I was hoping that you could spare someone?”

If those ledgers contain anything but columns denoting losses, I’ll be a Frenchman. I don’t need to see the books to know a man who is in dire straits.

Out of deference to Simon’s pride, Edward did not mention the rooms he had seen which were closed off. Or the unfinished maintenance work. Or the chaotic state of the gardens for that matter. He had expected to run into more than one member of household staff on his way from Harriet’s room to Edward’s study. All he had seen was a groom at the main door, doing the work of a maid, polishing, and cleaning.

“You have the impudence to ask for favors?” Simon said with a red face.

“Yes. I have no intention of leaving until Harriet is well enough to accompany me. And I must arrange for my correspondence to be sent here. I am engaged on important business and cannot be out of touch for the time I believe it will take Harriet to convalesce,” Edward replied.

“No. I would rather you left now, Your Grace. Your behavior has been unconscionable,” Simon challenged.

Edward smiled grimly as he took a step closer to Simon until he stood with hands resting on the edge of the large desk.

“I am trying to behave in a respectable manner. Though I am sorely tempted to simply call you out and…” he took a breath, “but you are Harriet’s cousin and I will not. My dear Worthingam, I can assure you that I have the deepest of esteem for your cousin. The manner of our betrothal may be bizarre but I believe it has brought about a match that both of us want. The best possible match either of us could ever wish for. I thank God for whoever wrote to the newspaper with that announcement. I would like to shake his hand, in fact.”

He put out his hand and Simon stared at it dumbfounded.

“It was not I,” he said. “I would have it that my name was next to hers in that paper instead of yours. We are only related by the most distant of connections. Hardly at all.”

“Then I offer you my hand in simple brotherhood. As two men who worship at the altar of that incredible woman. A common cause between us.”

Come on, man. Put your wounded pride aside and accept the offer of peace, for Harriet’s sake!

Simon looked down, fists pressing into the hardwood surface of the desk. Then, without looking at Edward, he thrust out his right hand. Edward clasped it and shook it once.

“I do not seek brotherhood but…I would not see Harriet upset,” Simon said as though the words were being dragged from him. “I will seek to persuade her that you are the wrong man for her though. I promise you that I will make it my mission to end your engagement.”

Edward grinned wolfishly, showing teeth. “Then may the best man win, old chap. May I have the use of one of your staff? I will pay for his time of course. Furnish me with pen and paper and you will have a note that can be fulfilled at my bank in Threadneedle Street in town whenever you are next in the capital.”

“That would be entirely appropriate. My thanks for the consideration,” Simon said, offering a sheet of paper, pen, and ink.

Edward admired the way the other man conceded defeat gracefully.

Some would be too proud to accept money but he puts the needs of his family first. If we weren’t rivals in love, I could consider him a good friend.

Edward wrote out the credit note, blotted and folded it. Then he penned instructions for his own household, to be carried by Simon’s man. He ordered that all correspondence be redirected to him at Erdington and that the bearer of the note was authorized to bring back with him any correspondence already received and waiting for Edward. Simon gave him leave to have a servant direct him to a guest room and extended an invitation to dinner. Then he took his leave. As he left the study, he heard the sound of running footsteps from somewhere just ahead. A door opened and closed and the sound faded away.

That girl again? Surely the Dowager Countess could not run so swiftly, no matter how spry she became the moment she knew of my engagement to her daughter. There is a woman who seems to know more than she is telling. But it does not matter.

Edward began climbing the stairs once again to return to Harriet’s room and ensure that she was taking the opportunity to rest. On his way there a maid approached him and relayed a request for an audience from the Dowager Countess. Edward stopped mid-stride and after a moment’s thought, accepted. He followed the maid in the opposite direction, through a wing that seemed filled with furniture covered in white dust sheets, and presently to the rooms belonging to Harriet’s mother. Or at least those that she made use of when staying at Erdington.

The lady in question sat, regally, in a large wing-backed armchair and was sipping from a large brandy glass. Edward entered and took a seat opposite her, feeling as though he had been summoned to a royal audience.

“Let me begin by congratulating you, Your Grace, on your engagement, and assure you that all in the Worthingham family are ecstatic at the impending nuptials. Despite initial reactions. I put that down to the…unorthodox way in which it was done. But, I suppose that is the way with the current generation. Tradition can go hang.”

Edward suppressed a smile at the slang coming from the very prim and proper lady.

“I have made my peace with Lord Worthingham,” Edward said.

“You must excuse him. He sees himself as Harriet’s guardian, clearly. A father figure despite their close age,” the Dowager Countess said.

Edward nodded, letting the comment go and choosing not to correct her.

“I wanted to discuss your sister, actually.”

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