implored. “I’m not the villain here.”
“No. You’re not a villain. You lack the courage to be a villain, Burney. What you are is a coward and that is even worse. If you ever think to threaten me or mine, and that includes those in my employ, I will make you regret it.”
“Please!” Burney cried out.
Winn turned back to him. “What?”
“Amelia’s debut is tomorrow… please don’t disappoint her or mother by not coming. I know what I did was wrong, but I’m desperate, dammit! You’ve no idea the dire straits we’re in!”
“I know that hosting an elaborate ball is hardly the way to get yourself out of them! Think man! You’ve spent a bloody fortune on this ball and I know Amelia would have understood if you’d needed to postpone her coming out.”
“It is all worth it if Amelia can marry well! I need to see her settled so that she is safe from scandal!” Burney snapped.
“What scandal, Burney? Dammit, I’ve been a friend to you all your life! I would help you if you only told me what you needed,” Winn replied.
Burney laughed bitterly. “There are some things that cannot be helped. Promise me you will come to the ball. If I had to explain to Mother why you weren’t there—please… having you there would help to cement her status as an incomparable.”
Amelia Burney would never be an incomparable. She was a pretty enough girl, but painfully shy and far too sweet for her own good. Society would eat her alive and Burney was too damned foolish to see it. “I’ll be there. I’ll dance with her one time and one time only, as agreed. And then we are done… and you will leave Miss St. James be. I can help you, Burney, but if you cause that girl harm—”
“They wouldn’t really hurt her!”
Winn shook his head. “My God, but you are stupid. Yes, Burney, they would hurt her. They would hurt anyone who opposed them… or at the very least the dowager duchess would. What Averston is capable of, I’ve no notion. But I wouldn’t trust him any further than I could throw him.”
“You’re wrong about him.”
“Perhaps. I was certainly wrong about you. We might not have been close but, at one time, I would have counted you as a friend.” Winn turned on his heel and left, the younger man sputtering behind him. As he left, he did not return to his house on Piccadilly but instead made his way toward Jermyn Street and the Darrow School for Girls. He needed to speak to Calliope St. James about her parentage and the potential threat she now faced because of it. It was definitely a conversation that needed to take place somewhere that his nieces and nephew were not.
Chapter Ten
C allie was donning her pelisse with the assistance of one of the maids when a knock sounded at the door. The housekeeper, Mrs. Wheaton, who in their unusual house also fulfilled the role of butler, appeared scandalized that anyone would dare knock upon their door so early. It was unusual to Callie’s mind, but far from unheard of. Mrs. Wheaton opened the door and a familiar voice greeted Callie’s ears.
“I’m sorry to have called so early but it is imperative that I speak with Miss St. James immediately.” From his tone, he was clearly unhappy about something.
“Then I suggest you make an appointment to meet with her during the hours when it is acceptable to pay calls,” the housekeeper replied sternly.
“It is urgent, Madam, or I would never dare to presume… please. I daresay it could be a matter of life and death,” he insisted.
Worried, Callie stepped forward. “It’s fine, Mrs. Wheaton. Send one of the maids to fetch Effie and I’ll see his lordship in her study.”
“It’s very irregular, Miss,” the housekeeper warned.
“I understand that, Mrs. Wheaton, but I daresay the Earl of Montgomery would not be here if he did not consider the situation to be of a most urgent nature,” Callie replied.
The housekeeper walked away, grumbling under her breath about lords and their urgencies. It was followed closely by something that sounded rather like “my eye”.
“Not a trusting sort, is she?” he asked.
Callie smiled but it was a cool expression and, with it, she conveyed a warning. “We are standing in the entryway of a home that functions primarily as a school for the illegitimate offspring of gentleman of your standing, my lord. I’d say she’s entitled to her skepticism.”
“Touché, Miss St. James,” he conceded as