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Edward's hand tightened on the note. "No. What he wants is five-thousand pounds."
Marissa and her mother gasped. Somehow, asking for money seemed even more crude than trying to force her into marriage. Marissa crossed the room and dropped onto the sofa to clasp her mother's hand.
"That's outrageous," Cousin Harry harked.
Jude clasped his hands behind his back. "Five-thousand pounds or he'll do what?"
They all looked to Edward, whose hand slowly fell to his side. He pressed his lips together and didn't answer.
"What will he do?" Marissa demanded.
Edward cleared his throat.
"Oh, just read the note, Edward!" she cried, unable to take the suspense a moment longer.
"Yes, do," her mother chimed in. Obviously, it would be impossible to gauge the appropriately dramatic action if one didn't know the details.
He cleared his throat loudly again, then snapped the paper out in front of him. "It has come to my attention that the honorable Miss Marissa York was recently discovered in a scandalous embrace. If you care to protect Miss York's precious reputation, you will surrender five-thousand pounds at the location and time specified below."
"I presume," Jude drawled, "that the letter isn't signed?"
"It's not."
"Then how can you know it's from White?"
Edward's face turned red. His jaw clenched and jumped.
Aidan propped his back against the wall and crossed his arms. "That could be from anyone."
"He offers proof," Edward finally ground out.
"Oh, Baron!" their mother cried. "Just read the letter!"
His ears turned red as he looked down to the paper, and though Marissa had no idea what he might say, she started to raise a hand to stop him. She was too late.
"If," Edward ground out, "you do not provide the money as directed, I will reveal to society that Miss York has been compromised. As proof, I'll offer a description of a heart-shaped birthmark very high on Miss York's thigh."
A rush of sound seemed to enter the room with his words. Oh, part of it was certainly the gasps of those around her. Her mother, in particular, was letting out a distinctly warbling kind of wail. But there also seemed to be an ocean tide washing in and out of her hearing.
"Does he think we won't kill him?" she heard Aidan snarl.
"I made that quite clear," Jude responded with his usual calm.
Cousin Harry asked the most pertinent question, "Does anyone know where he's gone?"
The roaring waves swept in and out of her hearing until she finally identified the sound as rushing blood.
"He's close, I don't doubt." Edward's voice was hard as stone. "I assumed he'd gone to stay with the Brashcars. His sister's family. They're only an hour or so away."
"Well, then, "Aidan drawled. "Let's go pay him a visit, shall we? Apparently he needs a demonstration of just how much more valuable his life is than a measly five-thousand pounds."
She heard the rustle and the mutter of men forming a mob, and Marissa realized she'd closed her eyes. She forced them open even though she wanted to hide forever. If she could only disappear from this moment, she wouldn't have to face the next.
Tucking her hands into her lap to stop the shaking, she spoke. "It might not be him."
Her words had no effect on the group. The preparations for murder and mayhem continued.
Beside her, Marissa's mother muttered a continual stream of sound, the emphasis falling on words like blackmail and scandal and rapscallion. She sounded equal parts horrified and enthralled, but Marissa was sure she also detected a soupcon of joy.
