Blame It on Bath Page 0,113
information?”
“I don’t know!” Gerard shoved his hands through his hair as his temper ran short. “He didn’t learn it from the minister, though. I’ve just returned from unearthing his wedding registers, and if they’ve seen the light of day in ten years, I’ll eat every page. The minister himself died a decade ago. You’ll have to sort that out yourself.”
“Then how—” Charlie stopped short. “Myself?”
Gerard nodded, jumping to his feet. “I’m going after Kate. You might be able to track down Scott since he was in Bath this morning. The notebooks are in my study; let me get them for you.”
“Howe said she was well, merely visiting her mother. A day or two delay won’t do any harm!” Charlie protested, following Gerard into the study.
“It will to me,” he said simply. He picked up the eight notebooks and handed them to Charlie. “Somewhere in here may be proof of Father’s clandestine wedding—or not. It’s the best I could do. With this, and whatever you can find about Hiram Scott, you should have a good start on cleaving this Gordian knot.”
“A name and some notebooks,” said Charlie incredulously. “That’s all?”
“It’s more than Edward and I began with,” Gerard retorted. His brother’s face was stony, but his eyes weren’t. Curiosity conspired with his temper. “Why have you taken this so calmly, Charlie? Why do you act as though you don’t give a bloody damn whether we all lose everything?”
Something flickered across Charlie’s face, guilt or anxiety or even mere indignation, but he said nothing. Gerard threw up his hands and turned to go. He could leave for Cobham at first light if he sent Bragg out to get a fresh horse now.
“Do you truly think this whole thing has been aimed at us rather than at Durham?” asked Charlie slowly from behind him.
He shook his head. “I don’t know. It seems as likely as anything else at the moment. Father said he burned the marriage certificate, so no one stumbled across that. These records have been hidden in a barn in Somerset for at least a decade, and likely longer. Augustus wouldn’t blackmail Durham even if he stands to benefit the most; he’d have no need. The ransom was never claimed, nor even mentioned again. What else could be the purpose of this?”
Charlie looked down at the notebooks in his hand. “Do you have the blackmail letters? The originals?”
“Yes.”
“May I have them?”
“Of course,” said Gerard in surprise. He went to his desk and got them.
Charlie’s face was drawn and troubled as he took them. For a moment he just looked at the letters, holding up one after the other. “Yes, it’s my turn to take this on,” he said quietly. He glanced up. “And you’re right to retrieve your wife. Let me come with you.”
“You don’t have to,” began Gerard.
“Please.” Charlie gave a faint smile. “Allow me to meet my newest sister-in-law. I seem to be collecting them faster than I can make their acquaintance. Besides, my travel coach stands ready.”
That was a good argument. “Very well.” Gerard cleared his throat. “Thank you for coming to Bath, Charlie.”
His brother tucked the blackmailer’s letters into his pocket. All trace of indolence was gone from his demeanor. “I suppose I’m the only one left with time and freedom to solve this, as the last bachelor among us.” He shot Gerard a measuring look. “Lady Howe was rumored to be a very wealthy woman. You married her because you feared we’d lose Durham and be left destitute, didn’t you?”
Gerard thought back to his first meeting with Kate, when she’d been as somber and stiff as a schoolmistress making her proposal. Even then he’d been tantalized by the prospect of thawing her, though he’d never guessed how it would turn out. “Yes,” he said softly. “I married her for money. But I’m going after her now for love.”
Chapter 27
At Gerard’s prodding, they left just after dawn the next morning. It was forty miles to Cobham. At first Gerard regretted leaving his horse behind, but as the miles rolled on he grew more appreciative of the coach. Charlie traveled in style, with Durham’s best-sprung coach and four. It would also make the return journey more comfortable for Kate, assuming she returned to Bath with them—and Gerard meant to make sure of that. But even now that he knew where she was and that she was safe, he was having trouble keeping himself in check enough to sit still. Charlie finally told him to bugger himself before dropping