“Why is that precisely?” William demanded.
“Because we want to help Miss Holbrooke,” Hawthorne replied, “and hearing him out would be beneficial to that cause.”
Some of William’s anger dissipated at Hawthorne’s words, but not all. “He has five minutes.”
Hawthorne gave him an approving nod. “Haddington and I scoured London and we found Mr. Wycoff in a tavern. We struck up a conversation—”
Mr. Wycoff scoffed. “You threatened me!”
“Words were exchanged,” Hawthorne said with a small shrug, “and we may have used some strong language.”
“May have?” Mr. Wycoff asked. “You were going to speak to the magistrate and have me dismissed without references.”
“Regardless, Mr. Wycoff was nice enough to share some details about Lord Wakefield with us,” Hawthorne shared.
“Which are?” William asked eagerly.
Hawthorne turned towards Mr. Wycoff. “Would you like to tell him, or shall I?”
Mr. Wycoff frowned and turned to William. “As you know, Lord Wakefield hired me to return his sister, Miss Holbrooke, to him, but it proved to be a much more difficult task than I imagined.”
“Why was that?” William inquired.
“Miss Holbrooke was not the simpering miss that Lord Wakefield claimed that she was,” Mr. Wycoff said. “Furthermore, she was hardly alone, and I didn’t dare challenge Miss Ashmore again.”
Haddington spoke up. “You are acquainted with Miss Ashmore?”
“She bested me at the market, and I found myself curious about her,” Mr. Wycoff replied.
“I suggest you forget about Miss Ashmore,” Haddington warned. “She is not someone you should be wasting your time or notice on.”
Mr. Wycoff bobbed his head. “I understand, my lord. I just found it odd that a woman of her station—”
His words stilled as Haddington took a commanding step towards him. “Miss Ashmore is a dear friend of mine, and I do not take kindly to people asking questions about her.”
Mr. Wycoff swallowed. “Consider her forgotten.” He turned his gaze back to William. “After I failed to retrieve Miss Holbrooke at the orphanage, Lord Wakefield grew irate and demanded I return to the orphanage at once. I refused, and he threatened to kill me.”
“You are not alone in that,” William said. “He threatened to kill me, as well.”
“It is not the first time I have been threatened, nor will it be the last, but I was tired of Lord Wakefield’s pompous attitude, and I quit. I knew that he wouldn’t make good on the threat.”
“He let you just walk out of his study?” William asked.
“He did, but he refused to pay what he owed to me,” Mr. Wycoff said. “Frankly, I was just relieved to cut ties with him.”
William furrowed his brow. “How is this going to help us keep Miss Holbrooke safe?” he asked. “I assume that Wakefield will just send another Bow Street Runner to abduct her.”
“I’m afraid it is worse than that,” Mr. Wycoff said. “Before I quit, Lord Wakefield informed me that he had hired a band of ruffians to help bring his sister home.”
“Why would he do such a thing?” William asked.
“He is determined to bring her home, at any cost,” Mr. Wycoff stated. “I was hoping you knew what motivated him, as he refused to tell me, even when I asked him directly.”
William shook his head. “He wants her home to force her into an arranged marriage.”
“But why is her marriage so important to him?” Mr. Wycoff asked.
“I don’t rightly know,” William admitted.
