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Martha gave a short explanation of Joseph’s intrusion and how Michael was missing, gesturing for Kitty to take a seat.
Kitty sat stiffly on the couch opposite where Martha and Lydia had previously been sitting. With the eyes of six other women on her, Lydia imagined that anyone, especially Kitty, would feel quite intimidated by the interrogation. She and Martha sat back on the couch facing Kitty. Lydia pressed close to her mother for strength.
“Please, have a seat,” Martha said to Lionel and Ranora. “Miss Benrow was just about to explain her understanding of the situation.
Ranora made to protest, but Lionel shook his head at her, pulling her across the room to take a seat. As soon as they sat down, Kitty took a deep breath.
“Mr. Conner always promised me that he would make me a duchess one day,” Kitty said softly. “I believed him, which is partly why I accepted his proposal initially. He told me that he knew he would be Duke of Marigold someday, and I could use my new power and connections to help improve my family’s reputation.”
“How did he explain that?” Martha asked evenly. Lydia was glad that she took the lead in questioning, as she was sure that she would have been crueler and more demanding in her tone. Lydia knew her mother’s way of phrasing was better, drawing Kitty out of her shell, rather than making her defensive.
“He said that His Grace simply would not or could not have children. I never really understood why, nor did I press either one of them for answers. Mr. Conner said that without children, the title would pass to him or his children. He often said that the duke’s rakish behavior would put him in an early grave.”
“And you believed him?” Martha asked, a single eyebrow arched.
“Of course, His Grace himself often validated the claim. He often spoke of how he never wanted to marry. That led me to believe that Mr. Conner knew that he would inherit the title someday.”
“He did say that frequently,” Lionel added softly.
“So, what then?” Martha asked, barely acknowledging Lionel “Believing he would inherit Marigold may or may not have been realistic. What does that have to do with his actions tonight?”
Kitty stared down at her hands. “Mr. Conner grew increasingly concerned when Lady Lydia came to Marigold. I admit that I was intensely jealous of her, even for a fake engagement. However, Mr. Conner said His Grace was developing feelings for Lady Lydia and he needed my help to convince him otherwise.”
“You tried to break apart His Grace and Lady Lydia?” Martha asked.
Sitting next to her mother, Lydia could feel her stiffening, though her tone did not change. She heard her sisters whispering small comments to each other. Even though they were trying to uphold as much politeness as they could, Lydia felt them all on the brink of breaking.
“Mr. Conner encouraged me to draw His Grace’s attention wherever possible,” Kitty explained sadly. “Though, I must admit that I had my own motivation for trying to encourage his affection.”
“You liked him too?” Lydia asked, softly.
Kitty nodded. “I thought maybe I could convince him to marry me instead of you - if he were going to marry at all. Then, I would still be a duchess.”
Tears started spilling down her cheeks. Lydia could not help but wonder how much of her regret was purely for show, to help her stay out of trouble for her part in the situation at hand.
“Did you have anything to do with my letter?” Lydia demanded. Martha squeezed her hand as though to remind her to be gentler.
Kitty nodded slowly and mournfully. “Mr. Conner asked me to steal one of your letters. If it had anything in it that would imply your engagement was fake, we were going to publish it, expose you and embarrass you. However, the letter we found was so scandalous, we rather hoped that Michael would put you aside anyway.”
“But he did not.”
She shook her head. “No, rather, it seemed to have drawn you two even closer together. So, we determined that we needed to try to scare you away.”
“So, Mr. Conner is the one who wrote the threatening note,” Lydia surmised. “Who put it in my room?”
“I gave it to the maid to put on your desk,” Kitty admitted guiltily.
“The maid said that she gave my letter to my uncle to deliver. That was a lie, was it not?”
Kitty nodded again sadly.
“Then, it was also you and Mr. Conner that published the edited letter for the duchess’s ball, hoping to scandalize me enough to keep His Grace from ever marrying me.”
“Yes,” she said in a low voice. Her tears resumed in earnest; her shoulders hunched in shame. “He wanted to keep His Grace from marrying at all.”
“What about when His Grace decided to wed Lady Lydia after all?” Martha pressed. “What did Mr. Conner do then? Did he intend to ruin Lady Lydia through exposing an affair on her wedding night?”
“What do you mean?” Kitty asked, wide-eyed. She looked back and forth between Lydia and her mother.
