The Formidable Earl (Diamonds in the Rough #6) - Sophie Barnes Page 0,96

innocent as her father was. She doesn’t deserve this.”

“I beg to differ.”

Simon glared at the man he’d known all his life, the man he’d refused to think might have played a part in what had happened to Matthew. “It was you, wasn’t it? You wrote the letters and hired a forger to craft the seals. You helped Napoleon escape from Elba.”

“How dare you imply such a thing?”

“You’re rotten to the core, and I intend to prove it.” He slammed the door shut and strode away with every intention of hiring a carriage to take him to Bow Street post haste

“You’re making a terrible mistake!” Elliot’s voice gave chase. “I only have your best intentions at heart!”

Simon chose not to listen. He had more important things on his mind. God, he’d been blind. The answer he and Ida had been looking for had been there all along. His uncle was the villain. No doubt about it. Which meant he must have forged his handwriting when he’d written instructions to Murdoch and managed to hide himself in the crowd when he’d pushed Ida down the stairs at Huntley House. The man was clearly far more devious than Simon had ever thought possible.

Slumped against the corner of the carriage as it rolled through the streets on its way to the Bow Street Magistrate’s Court, Ida faced her defeat. She’d failed. Mr. Elliot Nugent had stifled her efforts by seeing to her arrest. She would be imprisoned, judged, and convicted. The power of the elite was against her, the desire to see her silenced too strong for her to fight.

It was unjust, but it was the way the world worked. Her father had faced a similar situation. Unlike him, she had Simon and Guthrie on her side, but she feared neither man would have the influence required for her release. Not when the charge against her was so severe, and not when it would be her word against a respectable member of Society.

The carriage came to a jarring halt. Ida bumped her shoulder against the side. The door opened. “Get out.”

The order was curt and Ida complied, allowing the man who waited for her to grab her arm and steer her inside the building they’d arrived at. He marched her along, past men who stopped to stare at the new prisoner, then onward, through a series of doors and toward a cell.

“I need to speak with the Earl of Fielding,” Ida said.

The man unlocked the gate to the cell and shoved her inside. “What you need to do is be quiet.”

“He knows I’m being set up, just like my father was. Please. You have to tell him I’m here. You have to—”

“Enough.” The man closed the gate and locked it. “You’ll have your say soon enough before the judge.”

Ida watched him go. His shoes produced an eerie series of clicks that faded with his retreat. Feeling more helpless than the day she’d realized her father would never return, Ida sank down onto the only piece of furniture her cell offered – a bench that would also serve as her bed. She’d been getting dressed when the chief magistrate had demanded the front door be opened. The shimmering lilac silk gown she wore seemed ridiculous now.

Her throat suddenly tightened while her eyes began to sting. She would no longer be ready for the Fielding carriage to pick her up at six. There would be no evening at Fielding House, no dinner in Simon’s company. A tear trickled down her cheek.

He would come for her. He had to.

But after passing the night without his arrival, she started getting concerned. And when he still hadn’t shown up by noon, her insecurities started playing tricks on her brain.

Stop it, she chided herself. He will come. Simon cared for her. She knew this. So there had to be some other explanation.

And so there was, she learned that evening when he was finally shown to her cell. Tears sprang to her eyes once more the moment she saw his dear face. Deep apprehension was etched in his every feature when he stepped toward the bars between them. He’d brought Guthrie and Huntley with him. Both men’s expressions were just as grim as Simon’s, which only increased her misgivings.

“I’m sorry you had to wait for me this long,” Simon grabbed her hands through between the bars. He squeezed her fingers. “When I tried to see you earlier I was denied access. Apparently my uncle raised concerns over me interfering with your