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Simon shook his head. “But you tied it to his courtship of Miss Drake.”
“Killing two birds.” Harry sipped his whisky.
“No, it was completely thoughtless of you,” Simon said in an irate tone. “If you didn’t wish to marry her yourself, Ainsley would have been a far better match for her than Collingwood. But you were only thinking of yourself. You could not stomach the idea of seeing her with your friend, knowing that he was taking her to his bed while you were stuck with some plain-faced acceptable lady.”
Harry bore the scolding from his younger brother as penance for his actions. But enough was enough. “You’re right, Simon. I was a pigheaded fool for trying to bribe Ainsley.”
“No, you were a pigheaded fool for not telling that beautiful lady how much you love her.”
“Does she hate me?” he whispered, not wanting to know if she did.
Simon closed his eyes with a sigh. “I doubt she hates you, but she is not happy with you now. You will need to make this up to her.”
“How can I do that?”
His brother glanced over at him with a smug grin. “I believe she might be willing to accept your apology if it came with the name of the person who was willing to pay Collingwood.”
Harry rose and paced the room. “Except I have no idea who might have paid him off.”
“Lady Bolton?”
“Why?”
Simon shrugged. “The viscountess loves her son and will do whatever is necessary to keep her good name. Associating your name with the Drakes will cause talk...again. If she keeps you and Miss Drake apart, then there is no gossip.”
“Seems a rather extreme measure.” Harry paced the room. “How can we find out for certain?”
“Whoever is paying him is keeping this extremely quiet. I’ve heard nothing of it until Miss Drake mentioned it to me. So, he or she is not telling anyone about the scheme.”
Harry looked over at his brother. “Then how do we discover the culprit?”
“We break into his home and search it.” Simon gave him a wicked smile. “A man like Collingwood would keep all written correspondence in case he needed to blackmail the person.”
Harry blinked and absorbed what his brother said before laughing. “You suggest we just sneak into his home, while his servants are about and ransack his study?”
“Yes.”
Harry let out a bark of laughter. “Simon, people do not break into houses of peers. It is truly bad form.”
“Perhaps not peers, but I know a few people who will sneak into anyone’s house for a price.”
“We would have to be certain Collingwood wouldn’t be in the house.” Was he considering his brother’s insane idea? “No, this is foolish. I will stick to my original plan and go to Louisa’s home and apologize.”
“She needs more than an apology.”
“She will have my love and become my duchess.”
Simon rose slowly. “And she will always have that sliver of doubt.”
“She will get over that.”
“And if you believe that, you’re a bigger fool than I thought possible.” Simon strode out the door.
Harry grabbed his whisky and swallowed it down in one long draught. His brother was wrong. He had to be. Harry had known Louisa for years. He knew her better than Simon.
Still, doubt remained. But there was only one way to discover who was right in this matter. “Andrews, get in here!” he shouted to his valet.
An hour later, Harry climbed out of his carriage in front of the Drake home on Chandler Street. He moved slowly toward the door. If he was wrong, then what? He couldn’t live without Louisa. He had to make her understand why he paid Ainsley and that he had nothing to do with Collingwood.
