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“You will worry yourself to death until you read it.”
LOUISA NODDED, KNOWING he was right, but nothing good ever came express. Her hands shook as she slowly opened the letter.
D
ear Louisa,
I do hope you will not mind that I opened the enclosed letter. I feared Mamma would attempt to read it and discover something untoward. I have no idea who sent it as the boy was a messenger and refused to inform Davis who had paid him.
I am dreadfully sorry.
Your dearest sister,
Emma
Louisa frowned wondering who had sent the second letter.
“What is it?”
“I am not certain. Some messenger boy delivered this without stating who had sent it.” She opened the second letter and looked to the bottom for a signature, but there was none.
Miss Drake,
I only send this letter to you because I believe you deserve to know the truth about the gentlemen in your life. Lord Collingwood has proposed to you strictly because he is being paid to marry you. Whilst you may have heard he is having financial difficulties, I doubt he told you the full truth of the matter, as he did me.
Some people say he has four thousand a year, but in truth, he has less than half that amount. The income does nothing to resolve his remaining debts.
He informed me that someone was paying him five thousand to marry you. Regretfully, he did not disclose the name of the person. Although, I am quite certain you must already know the likely candidate.
I do apologize for causing you any distress.
Louisa stared at the paper, unable to comprehend what it all meant. Slowly, she pulled her hand out of his grip. Who had done this to her? There was only one man she knew with the means to make such a payment. But why? Why would Harry pay Collingwood?
But who else could it be?
While she knew Harry had asked Collingwood to dance with her the night of Lady Leicester’s ball, she had never imagined Harry had played any other part in the matter. He had been the one to push Collingwood at her, telling her he was a good man for her. Anger flooded her as she concluded there was no one else who could have done such a thing.
“What is wrong? Is someone ill?” he asked.
She rose and then turned back to face him. “Did you do this?” she asked, waving the paper at him.
He tilted his head and stared at her with a scowl. “Do what?”
“Pay Collingwood to marry me,” she cried.
He rose and looked down at her as anger darkened his face. “I never paid Collingwood to marry you. To my knowledge, he hasn’t even screwed up the courage to propose.”
“Well, he has,” she retorted, crossing her arms over her chest.
“When?”
“Five days ago. The afternoon of your sister’s party.” Louisa’s heart pounded as her anger took over her entire body. Her hands shook as she stared at his gray eyes. But there was something else in his face too. She had noticed it the moment he denied paying Collingwood.
Guilt.
“A man proposes to you, and then you run to another man’s bed?”
“I ran to you, Harry. The man I thought was my dearest friend. The man I thought I...”
