mean, it’s from my wife?” Lord Roderick straightened up in his chair and opened the missive.
“I don’t know what your wife looks like, and the lady didn’t identify herself. She only said to give it to you.” Without another word, the footman left the room.
It was then that Aaron remembered the wager Mr. Robinson had made. He also remembered that this missive just might have been the idea that he had planted in Mr. Robinson’s head. Aaron’s gaze went to the door, and he noticed Mr. Robinson and a few other gentlemen coming into the room. Yes, this was it. Mr. Robinson was making an attempt to scare Lord Roderick.
Lord Roderick read through the missive twice before he rolled his eyes and tore up the parchment.
That was odd. Perhaps it was something else. “What was it?” Aaron asked, not able to hide his curiosity.
“Some lady has me confused with someone else,” Lord Roderick replied. “It’s nothing.”
Aaron glanced at Mr. Robinson who looked disappointed.
“May I ask what was in the missive?” Aaron asked, directing his attention back to Mr. Robinson.
Lord Roderick chuckled. “Oh, it was from a lady who’s threatening the father of her unborn child. She wrote that she’ll tell everyone about their affair if he doesn’t pay her to keep quiet.”
“And that missive was addressed to you?” Lord Powell asked.
“It was addressed to another person by my name,” Lord Roderick pointed out.
“What name is that?” Lord Davenport asked.
“Nate,” Lord Roderick replied.
“Is that all?” Lord Powell asked.
“Well, she erringly put in my title,” Lord Roderick said. “I think this other Nate lied and told her my title. Come to think of it, he could have lied about the ‘Nate’ part, too. This could very well be someone who is pretending to be me.” He shook his head. “The poor lady.”
“Poor lady?” Aaron asked in surprise. “She’s the one who was intimate with a married gentleman. She is willing to bribe him to keep quiet so his wife doesn’t find out.” Aaron shut his mouth. What was he doing? This was all fake. This lady didn’t even exist!
“I understand that,” Lord Roderick said. “I’m not condoning what she did. I’m just saying that this gentleman wasn’t even honest enough with her to give away his true identity. Lord Edon might have his faults, but at least he doesn’t lie about his name.”
“And he was with Lady Cadwalader’s niece,” Lord Toplyn called out. “Imagine if Lady Cadwalader knew!”
“She’d faint,” Lord Powell said.
“Or fall over dead,” Lord Whitney spoke up.
“Yes, she probably would fall over dead,” Lord Toplyn agreed. “She’d rather die than have Lord Edon tangled up in her perfect family.”
Lord Davenport walked up to them. “This lady,” he gestured to the missive, “believes this is you. Aren’t you worried she’ll go to your wife and tell your wife that you have an illegitimate child on the way?”
“No,” Lord Roderick said. “My wife trusts me. She knows I’d never be unfaithful to her.”
“How can you be so sure of that?” Aaron asked in shock.
“Because I know my wife, and she knows me. We don’t have to question what the other is doing,” Lord Roderick replied.
“That’s ridiculous,” Mr. Robinson, the one who’d been behind this whole sham, said in disbelief. “No one can trust another person that much. You need to run out and warn your wife about what is going on. She could very well take your child and run off. Then you’d never see either one again.”
“He’s right,” Aaron said. “This is serious.”
“It’s only serious if two people can’t trust one another,” Lord Roderick replied. “And if that’s the case, they have more problems than a lady who was lied to by someone.”
As much as Aaron hated to admit it, Lord Roderick had a good point.
Mr. Robinson let out a frustrated groan and stormed out of the room. The other gentlemen chuckled, but Aaron didn’t think Lord Roderick noticed. Mr. Robinson had just lost the wager. He had been unable to frighten Lord Roderick. Now, he owed a good sum of money to the winners. Aaron had also lost the wager, but he hadn’t bet any more money than he could afford to lose. He wasn’t sure if Mr. Robinson had enough to cover his portion of the bet. That would be something Lord Clement might have to deal with once he found out about it.
Since there was nothing else to hold their interest, the other gentlemen left the room. Lord Roderick threw the torn pieces of parchment into a nearby