Dangerous in Diamonds - Madeline Hunter [99]
“I asked her to come here for that and so she might find a way to have the greenhouses tended after I left,” Katherine said. “She said she would go herself, so my leaving would not create more guilt for me.”
“How good of Lady Hawkeswell to oblige you. Now, I must insist that someone tell me what in hell is going on,” Castleford said.
Daphne stood. She took Katherine’s hand and made her rise too. “I will leave it to Mr. Edwards to explain what he can. If he is less than forthcoming, Your Grace, I ask that you remember that your station is such that knowing everything is not always wise. I, on the other hand, am not constrained by rank or oaths.”
She led Katherine to the door. She turned before following Katherine out. “I will learn it all from her and explain it to His Grace when necessary, Mr. Edwards, so do not feel obligated to say more than good sense will permit.” She stepped close to Castleford and spoke softly. “May I remind you that the first day we met, you gave your word to treat her as if she were your sister?”
She left, with him staring in amazement that she would use that fool statement about a sister in such a way, as well as give Edwards permission to dodge after all. She closed the door behind her.
He turned both his attention and his annoyance on Mr. Edwards. “I noticed that you did not deny an affair.”
Edwards flushed. “This is not about that, even if it were true.”
Oh, it was true. And it was about that, in some way. “Start explaining. I had intended to be doing something else by now, Edwards, so this had better be interesting.” He threw himself onto the sofa and looked up expectantly.
Mr. Edwards sat without being invited. Whatever had happened, the young man had forgotten himself.
“That trespasser, the one near the house, was not interested in your investigations of the property, Your Grace. He was interested in Miss Johnson.”
That was at least mildly interesting. “How so?”
“He came again, and this time I caught him. He told me he was hired by her family to find her. He had traced her to the coast where the trail went cold. When he returned some time later with a drawn portrait of her, he chanced upon a shopkeeper who remembered seeing her with Lord and Lady Hawkeswell, in Southend-on-Sea. It took him months to make the connection to The Rarest Blooms, and he came to see if he might be right about that.”
“So she ran away from her family, and now they have found her.” Castleford shrugged. “She is of age, I assume, so it does not signify much. Why this run to London and your barricade behind a locked door?”
As soon as he said it, he knew the answer. Edwards’s expression confirmed his conclusion.
“By family you did not mean her parents, did you? A husband searches for her.”
Edwards remained stone-faced.
“You cannot keep him from her, Edwards.”
Edwards’s jaw tightened. “I ask permission to borrow your dueling pistols, sir. I do not have my own, you see.”
“You have no standing to challenge him. It will be considered murder, if you kill the husband of your paramour.”
“I must do something,” Edwards said through gritted teeth.
“You must not. You cannot have her in any way other than how you have so far. If he takes her away, you must forget her. The stupid marriage laws of England decree this, not I. If he challenges you, you may protect yourself, but I fear you will see the worst of it.”
“You do not understand, Your Grace.”
“You mean that you are in love, and I do not understand the depths of your feeling? That is true, but it changes nothing.” Not necessarily true, anymore. The thought startled him a little, but there it was.
“It is not only that.” Edwards looked away, overcome with emotion. “The scoundrel beat her. I have seen marks.”
That was a regrettable point, and it explained Edwards’s strange behavior in seeking sanctuary here almost too well. Castleford stood, the winds of irritation suddenly gone, and walked away while Edwards got hold of himself.
He supposed the young man had done his duty as he saw it. Edwards might even have done the same