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“It is so very embarrassing,” she said, her pale blue eyes growing bright with tears.
James grew concerned. Aunt Agatha never cried. There had been few things in his life that were completely and utterly constant, but one of them had been Agatha. She was sharp, she had a biting sense of humor, she loved him beyond measure, and she never cried. Never.
He started to go to her, then held back. She wouldn’t want him to comfort her. She would only see it as an acknowledgment of her momentary display of weakness. Besides, the cat showed no inclination to get off his lap. “Do you have the letter?” he asked gently. “I assume you received a letter.”
She nodded, picked up a book that was sitting on the table next to her, and drew from its pages a single sheet of paper. Silently, she held it out to him.
James gently tossed the cat onto the carpet and stood. He took a few steps in his aunt’s direction and took the letter. Still standing, he looked down at the paper in his hands and read.
Lady D—
I know your secrets. And I know your daughter’s secrets. My silence will cost you.
James looked up. “Is that all?”
Agatha shook her head and held out another sheet of paper. “I received this one as well.”
James took it.
Lady D—
Five hundred pounds for my silence. Leave it in a plain sack behind The Bag of Nails Friday at midnight. Tell no one. Do not disappoint me.
“The Bag of Nails?” James asked with an arched eyebrow.
“It’s the local public house.”
“Did you leave the money?”
She nodded, shamefaced. “But only because I knew you couldn’t be here by Friday.”
James paused while he decided how best to frame his next statement. “I think,” he said gently, “that you had better tell me about this secret.”
Agatha shook her head. “It is too embarrassing. I cannot.”
“Agatha, you know that I am discreet. And you know I love you like a mother. Whatever you tell me shall never go beyond these walls.” When she did nothing other than bite her lip, he asked, “Which daughter shares this secret?”
“Melissa,” Agatha whispered. “But she doesn’t know.”
James closed his eyes and let out a long exhale. He knew what was coming next and decided to save his aunt the embarrassment of having to say it herself. “She’s illegitimate, isn’t she?”
Agatha nodded. “I had an affair. It lasted only a month. Oh, I was so young and so silly then.”
James fought to keep his shock off of his face. His aunt had always been such a stickler for propriety; it was inconceivable that she could have dallied ouside of marriage. But, as she said, she’d been young and perhaps a little foolish, and after all she’d done for him in his life, he didn’t feel he had the right to judge her. Agatha had been his savior, and if the need arose, he would lay down his life for her without a second’s hesitation.
Agatha smiled sadly. “I didn’t know what I was doing.”
James weighed his words carefully before asking, “Your fear, then, is that your blackmailer will reveal this to society and shame Melissa?”
“I don’t give a fig about society,” Agatha said with a huff. “Half the lot of them are bastards themselves. Probably two-thirds of those not firstborn. It’s Melissa I fear for. She’s safely married to an earl, so the scandal won’t touch her, but she was so close to Lord Danbury. He always said she was his special favorite. It would break her heart if she were to learn that he was not her true father.”
James didn’t remember Lord Danbury being much closer to Melissa than he was to any of his other children. In fact, he didn’t recall Lord Danbury being close to his children, period. He had been a genial man, but distant. Definitely of the “children belong in the nursery and should be brought down for viewing no more than once a day” variety. Still, if Agatha felt that Melissa had been Lord Danbury’s special favorite, who was he to argue?
“What are we going to do, James?” Agatha asked. “You are the only person I trust to help me through this unpleasantness. And with your background—”
“Have you received any more notes?” James interrupted. His aunt knew that he had once worked for the War Office. There was no harm in that, as he was no longer an active operative, but Agatha was ever curious, and always asking him about his exploits. And there were some things one just didn’t want to discuss with one’s aunt. Not to mention the fact that James could get himself hanged for divulging some of the information he’d learned over the years.
Agatha shook her head. “No. No notes.”
