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She snatched a piece of paper and a pen and started a letter in return to Mr. Richardson. She knew Matthew would disapprove of her prying, but she had to know more. If she rushed, she could make it to the post office before the mail coach departed Inverley, and then she might even have an answer the very next week.
She dashed a series of questions across the page and sealed it closed while the ink was still damp, but there was no time to lose.
The post office wasn’t far, but even still, she sprinted down the street, ignoring the stares from passersby. It didn’t matter that Caroline had broken her heart. It didn’t matter that she might never see her again.
What mattered was that the Reeve family may have been grievously wronged by someone they trusted, and they deserved to know the truth. Her love for them as a family would never waver, despite the romantic love for Caroline that had been torn to shreds.
The post office was busier than usual, and Arabella stood some distance behind the counter as another customer settled his account with the postmaster. She worried the corner of the letter with her thumb, straining her ears for any sound of the mail coach. She didn’t want to delay sending the letter by even one day.
Instead of the coach wheels rolling over the gravel, Arabella heard something unexpected.
Mr. Taylor’s voice.
Chapter Twenty-five
Arabella’s blood ran cold. Mr. Taylor’s voice was too low for her to hear the words, but she was sure it was him. She rose on her toes and saw him speaking with his secretary at a table in the corner of the post office. He was writing something, most likely to post it for today’s mail coach, as she herself was planning.
She slipped out of her place in line and moved closer to a shelf stacked with letters and parcels, which she hoped would shield her from view as she crept close enough to hear his conversation.
“Everything is all set,” Mr. Taylor told his secretary, signing his name with a flourish. “This letter should ease the creditors at the bank at last.”
“Finally,” the secretary said, slouching in his seat. “Then we can leave this godforsaken tiny village behind us.”
“Ah, but Inverley has been a blessing. Nowhere else would it have been so easy to fleece a fortune from a stripling. Smith played his hand well the night of the party and should be happy enough to get his cut of it. It will be even easier to wed one of those foolish Reeve sisters. A trio of more unsuspecting ladies there never was in London, after all.”
The secretary laughed. “Yes, there is that. After the wedding, then, are we to return to London?”
“It will be quick, never fear. Lady Margaret will turn a blind eye to any shenanigans I may need to conjure up as a reason for a wedding. She will be none the wiser. The eldest Reeve was my choice, as her dowry is still the largest—but she’s also a bit too sourfor my tastes and the chit already turned down my suit. Their dowries may only be a pittance now, but I want to wrest all the pennies I can from the estate. I would be happy to settle for one of the others. They would be easier to manage anyway.” He laughed and pushed the chair away, letter in hand.
Arabella shrank away in horror. The Reeves were in danger. Her mind was whirling. Her letter forgotten in her hand, she sped away from the post office as fast as she had arrived.
She must warn Caroline.
At once.
* * *
At the Martins’ ball, Caroline caught sight of her and her family in the mirror that lined the back wall of the ballroom. It was hard to reconcile the fashionable, glittering reflection with the siblings that she had raised. They looked every inch the wealthy family that they no longer were.
Though there wasn’t a smile to be had among them.
“To look at us, one would presume we were each waiting to have a tooth pulled,” Caroline said. “Yet instead here we are at a fine ball surrounded by fine people.”
“Because our fortune has brought us nothing but misfortune,” Betsy said. “If I had never had a dowry, you would have dropped your objection to Mr. Graham’s suit much sooner.”
Jacob nodded. “I would never have wagered more than a guinea at cards if my head hadn’t been turned by talk of thousands in the bank.”
Susan shrugged. “I am not discontented with our new lot in life, but it’s duller than I had anticipated. These London visitors are too full of themselves.”
Caroline had to laugh. “Not three months ago, you were all complaining about one thing or another. Jacob was dissatisfied with his work. Susan and Betsy were forever looking for adventure.”
“It’s not like that,” Jacob said. “Not really. You’re notlistening, Caro.”
“I am listening,” she said. “This is why I will accept James Martin’s hand tonight in marriage, if he is so generous to extend it.”
She was wearing Mama’s amethyst necklace tonight, and she rubbed her thumb over the stone at the base of her throat.
“He never said anything to me about it,” he said, glowering at her. “I’m not so sure I would approve the match.”
