had hardly wanted anyone to believe him good and selfless. His gifts were often selfish—made in a need to cleanse himself of guilt, or to spite his dead sire. Still, even as intelligent and thorough as Macfie was, Decker had not supposed the man would take note and dig deeper when he saw lines labeled as miscellaneous on the ledgers.
He flashed his man a smile. “I have to make amends for my sins somehow, Macfie.”
“Donae forget to make amends with yer lassie,” the Scotsman reminded him pointedly. “Only a fool would fail tae appreciate a wife with such a perfect set of—”
“Macfie,” he growled, “do not forget about my threats to your ‘puir’ eyebrows.”
Macfie raised the eyebrows in question. “What? I was going tae say teeth, sir.”
Jo was surrounded by a flurry of women in the Duchess of Bainbridge’s drawing room, the appointed location for this meeting of the Lady’s Suffrage Society. The buzz in the room, rather akin to a hive of honeybees, was comforting, keeping her thoughts from wandering too far.
“How many signatures do we have on the petition for the second reading of the bill in favor of suffrage?” the duchess asked Jo’s sister-in-law Clara.
One would never look upon Clara and know she had so recently become a mother. She had thrown herself back into the Society’s work with aplomb, for time was of the essence.
“Two hundred and four,” Clara reported.
“I do believe I can gain two more signatures tomorrow,” said the Duchess of Longleigh, a new addition to the society and a recent mother herself.
Like Clara, she was a flaxen-haired beauty, but she was far quieter and more reserved. There was a sadness about her eyes which could not be denied. Jo had heard whispers that her husband, the Duke of Longleigh, was an unkind man.
“The Countess of Corley has promised me she will sign,” added Callie.
“Viscountess Portsmouth has also indicated her support,” chimed in Helena.
“That will bring us to two hundred and eight signatures!” The Duchess of Bainsbridge exclaimed, beaming with excitement. “We will address it to each member in the House of Lords, reminding them this measure of fairness has been brought before Parliament for nearly twenty years. It is time they voted in favor of change.”
Her enthusiasm was catching. Soon, the entire room was a flurry of chattering and swirling skirts as the gathered members of the Lady’s Suffrage Society celebrated the success of their efforts.
But while Jo was pleased at the number of signatures they had gathered and hopeful the House of Lords would see reason at last, her mind traveled back to her husband’s expression that morning at the breakfast table. To the elegant scrawl on the envelope.
Viscountess Tinley.
As the other ladies spoke, Jo took the opportunity to join Callie, who had wandered from a chat with the Duchess of Longleigh at just the right moment. Jo moved toward her.
“My dear!” Callie said, smiling. “I was just en route to your side. Forgive me for taking so long. How are you?”
Jo was silent, considering how she ought to answer such a difficult question. “Do you know the Viscountess Tinley?”
She had not meant to ask the question, but there it was, no way to retract it now.
Callie’s smile vanished. “Why do you ask?”
Jo swallowed, made certain none of the other ladies were near enough to overhear the conversation. “Decker received a letter from her this morning. He grew quite distressed upon reading it and left. I discovered the envelope with her name upon it after he had gone.”
Her friend frowned. “Did he speak of what the letter said to so disturb him?”
Here was the part that hurt the most.
“No,” she admitted. “Indeed, he did not mention the letter at all. Instead, he sprang up and left, claiming he had just recalled a meeting of some import.”
Callie bit her lip in a telltale gesture that bespoke her own discomfort. “Oh, my darling.”
“What is it?” Jo asked, fear curling around her heart. “Is Lady Tinley the woman you spoke of yesterday?”
“She is,” Callie acknowledged quietly.
Jo felt as if she had been dealt a physical blow. The pain was crushing.
“That is…” She trailed off, then tried to gather her whirling thoughts and failed. “I feared as much.”
“I never should have told you about her,” Callie fretted. “I thought it would help you to understand Decker better if you knew. Had I any inkling he would receive a letter from her, I would not have spoken out of turn.”