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“You would like me to pay a call on Lady Regina and somehow question her maid?”

Livie nodded. “She … Lady Regina would like to marry you, so she will admit you to the house. If Daisy or I tried to accost Bernadette in the street, the woman would never tell us the truth.”

“I suppose that I am now eligible for marriage to such an exalted personage as Lady Regina,” Joshua said, his voice flinty. “Given that the woman I adore has chosen righteousness over love, and assuming that my beloved brother will die without issue. I can’t say that I look forward to the future.”

He walked away with the brisk tread of a soldier.

“I’m sorry,” Livie whispered—but she told it to an empty room.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

KISSING THE DAUGHTER OF A DUKE

Joshua walked into the library, noted that Frederick didn’t appear to be sodden drunk, and told him, “Put on your coat. We’re going to pay a call on Lady Regina.”

Frederick’s eyes rounded. “Not I!”

“Yes, you,” Joshua said, hauling him from his seat. “I’ll entertain the lady while you search the maid’s room.”

“The maid? Not the infamous Bernadette!”

“The same.”

“What if Bernadette is in her room when I get there?” Frederick asked.

“What maid is allowed to rest before nightfall? If you encounter the woman, pretend that you’re inebriated, and you’ve lost your way,” Joshua advised.

“Even when sozzled, I don’t invade the servants’ quarters, but I suppose I can overcome my scruples in pursuit of a traitor. You aren’t looking very cheerful, by the way,” Frederick said, shrugging into his coat. “Oates-Plagitt informed me at breakfast that you had sallied forth to lay your heart at the feet of your lady.”

Joshua uttered a silent curse.

“Don’t ask me how he knows everything,” his brother said blithely, following Joshua to the door. “As I see it, the good news is that since our butler determines the outcome of Father’s cases, he’ll ensure that your future father-in-law returns to the high seas—whether or not we find evidence for the man’s innocence.”

Joshua threw himself into the carriage, having informed the coachman that they would pay a call on Lady Regina. “You believe Oates-Plagitt has that much influence over our father?”

“Not to disparage our pater familias, but he and Oates-Plagitt discuss each case at length. Obviously, our butler uses his Machiavellian wiles to determine the outcome, allowing our father to conclude that he has reached an impartial, evidentiary-based conclusion.” Frederick’s snort made his opinion clear.

So much for Joshua’s conviction that his father was unimpeachably just. He trusted Oates-Plagitt never to sway a case for personal gain, but obviously, his father’s claim to impartiality was … complicated. “What will Father think when he discovers that Cassio was arrested under false premises?”

Frederick raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t Oates-Plagitt inform you?”

“Inform me?”

“The captain’s seal actually was attached to that sextant. I presume that Tyron gifted the instrument as a symbol of his intent to bestow Livie’s hand in marriage. Likely he had intended Cassio to take his name along with his estate.”

Joshua instinctively curled his lip. While gentlemen did occasionally adopt the name of their benefactor upon inheriting a fortune, he had never heard of a man changing his name to that of his wife.

“Didn’t you learn anything from your moralistic attitude toward your would-be wife?” Frederick said irritably. “Try to be human rather than judgmental. Our father promptly changed his name on being given a title. Why shouldn’t Cassio do the same? Am I to judge from your glower that the lady refused your proposal?”

Joshua ground his teeth. “She did.”

His brother’s hooded eyes narrowed. “Just how apologetic were you?”

“Very.”

“I expect imminent parental execution casts a dark shadow over one’s choices. You can try again once Livie’s father is freed from the Tower.”

“She assures me the case did not influence her decision,” Joshua told him.