Free Charlotte Louise Dolan by Three Lords for Lady Anne Page B

misfortune.
    Blackmailed, by Jove! How had it come to this? It had seemed such a golden opportunity when he had met that wretched widow and she had proven to be such an easy mark. He should have known there would be something havey-cavey about anyone he encountered in what was little more than a gambling hell.
    It was the outside of enough! She claimed connections with all the best families, but even with her money she could not pry open the doors of society. Yet she expected him to introduce her and her daughter to all and sundry.
    Confound it, the woman had windmills in her head if she thought she could compel him to comply with her demands.
    No, if she continued on her course, she would find she had sadly misjudged her man. No matter how deep she had sunk her claws into him, he would find a way to escape her clutches.
    The easiest solution would be if he could “borrow” the necessary funds from his nephews’ estate—but even that recourse was denied him, the twins’ own maternal uncle, because their father had been fit to appoint Lord Leatham as sole guardian, and he was nothing more than a second cousin.
    It was a disgusting arrangement. Leatham was absent from the country more days than he was in England, and while he was gone anything could happen to the estate without his knowing of it. Except he always seemed to find out. It was doubtful if a groom could pilfer a cup of oats without Leatham’s discovering it. That man should have been a demmed accountant, such a head he had for figures, and a memory for details like a steel trap. Probably knew to the penny what the income from the estate was, and the cost of each item purchased down to the last tallow candle for the smallest housemaid.
    It was to be regretted that Leatham had not simply vanished permanently on one of his trips to heathen parts, never to return. Then, after a suitable delay, Creighton could have had the courts appoint him guardian, since he was, after all, the twins’ nearest relative.
    Staring out the window, he let the motion of the stage lull him into a light doze. When a halt was made to change horses, he awoke with the answer to all his problems staring him in the face. His plan was not perfect, depending as it did upon Leatham’s presence at Wylington Manor, but something could be worked out.
    It was indeed fortunate that the baron was in England, so chances were good that before he left her shores again, Leatham would make a quick visit to Devon. With a little judicious planning, Creighton decided, that short visit could be turned into a long visit, and that long visit turned into ... what? Public disgrace for Leatham? At the very least. And perhaps ... dare he dream? Transportation for Leatham?
    It all depended on proper planning. Creighton settled down to serious consideration of details and methods, and well before the stage arrived in Tavistock, he was quite pleased with himself and not the least bit worried about the widow and her demands.
    * * * *
    Mr. Black laboriously consulted his occurrence book before beginning his report. “I have not been able in the short time available, to track down any of the previous employers of the woman in question.”
    Bronson suppressed his impatience with the way the runner was couching everything in obscure terms, as if he were investigating someone’s cheating wife or mistress, which he was probably more accustomed to doing.
    “Working through sources that appear to be accurate, I have ascertained that the subject has been employed as governess on three previous occasions.”
    Undoubtedly the runner had merely gone to the employment service patronized by Creighton and asked some lowly assistant for the information.
    “To my regret, none of the three families are presently in London, and since you requested an immediate report, I have postponed traveling to their country residences to inquire further into the particularities of her employment with them.”
    The man paused to consult his