“I beg your pardon, may I see the tourmaline necklace that’s reserved under May Carr?”
The boy roused himself from idleness with a deep sigh before lazily flopping through his book of records.
“Sorry, miss, that one’s reserved.”
“Yes,” May tried to ignore her building anxiety, “Just as I said. Under May Carr. That is me.”
“Nay, miss. Says reserved under Lord Baxter ‘ere. Conditional on the last payment.”
Cold dread seized May. “That cannot be. Please, call the owner. Mr. Banks!”
Despite the clerk’s protestations, she kept calling until Mr. Banks emerged from the back at last, popping a magnifying glass out of his eye as he came.
“What’s all this, then?”
“That is precisely what I wish to know, Mr. Banks. What connection does Lord Baxter have with the necklace I am paying off?”
“He can pay, that’s what. Double what you can, and quicker, too.”
“You cannot do that, Mr. Banks.” May fished out the promissory note and slammed it down onto the display. “We’ve had an agreement.”
“Aye, that we had.” The man leaned over it, inspecting it with a grunt. Then, quicker than she’d ever seen him move before, the man had ripped the paper in half, then in quarters—
She desperately clutched at the fragments, clawing back the one mangled quarter bearing her own signature as Mr. Banks swiped the rest into his pocket.
Her hope—her only inheritance—her mother vanished at a moment’s notice with the swipe of a cruel man’s hand.
“Lord Baxter is no one I can afford to offend, not for such a paltry sum. It is unfortunate enough, but you, girlie…” He eyed her and her rescued piece of paper for a moment, as if considering whether he wanted to fight for it, then deciding against it. “Aye, I’ll have to offend ye. Now, leave. Ain’t no point hanging about here unless you’ve means to overbid him.”
“You can’t...” May muttered weakly.
“’Tis done.” The shopkeeper’s eyes were flinty. “No use hanging about. His Lordship’s man will fetch the trinket on the morrow. Until then, it is kept nowhere you can reach, so don’t get no ideas.”
May stumbled back with salt on her lips. What a fool she’d been. This was London’s true face. Just mere weeks in the duke’s estate lulled her into utter complacency. Now, she’d gone and seen her only recourse ripped to pieces. Did she truly think she could forget about the realities of survival forever?
She was no lady.
Reality did not knock; it shattered the very walls that mended her heart, extracting a price she could never pay.
May staggered out the door and let London swallow her whole.
The possibility that Lord Spencer was not an opportunist had crossed Elias’s mind before, but he had never entertained it in earnest. As his sister’s only guardian, his role was to protect their little family. He could not afford to fall for an act.
But as he moved to sit opposite the man who’d somehow managed to charm Hannah, Elias couldn’t help but consider May’s words. May, whom he had to remind himself, Elias had only known for weeks, not months. Yet despite all the cards she held close, Lady May continued to impress him with her keen understanding of the things and people around her. She’d earned his trust. Elias supposed he ought to offer the same chance to the man his sister chose. Or at least converse with the man, before Elias nailed that opportunity shut entirely with his father’s methods. But first… converse.
If he could only find the right words.
“Brandy?” He moved to the parlor’s liquor cabinet before drawing out a bottle. Sometimes inspiration came in liquid form.
“Please.”
Elias poured Lord Spencer a glass to match his own and leaned against his desk, silently observing him with knitted brows. The man drank calmly, nary a twitch that might betray an anxious state of mind. Come to think of it, not once had he shown any discomfort in Elias’s company. Neither Hannah’s trust in Elias nor his position as the duke seemed to daunt the man. What remarkable composure.
Then again, Lord Spencer was a military man until recent times. Who better suited to a good poker face than a colonel distinguished for his war effort by the king himself?
“Good stuff.”
“Indeed. It is easy to get used to the finer things in life, is it not?”
