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Chapter Seventeen
Kitty sat with Sebastian in her father’s study, rather shocked at the words that had just left her father’s lips.
“Halston? Truly?” her mother said from her shoulder, her hand over her mouth in shock.
“I’m afraid so,” her father replied with a grimace. “He confessed to the blackmail in the note he left. Another servant had been used to give the notes to the errand boy to be delivered back to the house, though she had no idea what the messages actually contained. She would have informed us who ordered her to do so immediately once the boy identified her, so I assume Halston panicked and fled.”
It had been nearly a week since her marriage, and tomorrow was the planned day for the errand boy to examine the staff, or so Sebastian had informed her. They were both surprised to receive her father’s summons this morning, even more so when he revealed that Halston had run off in the night, the butler leaving only a note confessing to his crimes. “Did he give any reasons for the scheme?”
The baron rubbed the bridge of his nose. “He wrote that he has been in love with Mary for years and was affronted on her behalf concerning Kitty’s parentage being kept secret. He had hoped that the blackmail would prompt us to reveal the truth for Mary’s sake.”
“How noble,” Sebastian said with cruel sarcasm. “And what about the murder attempt?”
“The note claims that he had nothing to do with it, though I am not sure how much I believe that.”
“Perhaps, he resented Kitty’s presence and thought she was what prevented me from returning his affections,” Mary mused. “I had no idea of his feelings, though I suppose it does explain how kind he was to me from the beginning of my employment.”
Kitty shivered at the thought of someone becoming so obsessed, enough to murder her in a deranged quest to win the love of her mother. “How horrid.”
“He will be found,” Sebastian declared, resting a comforting hand on her knee. “I’ll hire a Runner if I must.”
“He’s likely half way to America by now,” her father replied grimly.
Kitty grasped Sebastian’s hand. “At this point, I’d rather move on from it all. If he is no longer any threat to me, then I think we should wash our hands of the whole affair. I’m growing rather tired such melodrama.” Between her anxiety about the staff interrogation and the nettling, irascible presence of Sebastian’s mother, Kitty had been on pins and needles for the entire week. Just yesterday her and the dowager had gotten into a scathing row concerning changes in the dinner menu for that evening, with similar arguments over the most mundane of household decisions becoming a common occurrence. Not needing to concern herself with the blackmailer any longer would certainly help bolster her nerves in the face of such disturbances.
Her husband appeared to contemplate her for a moment, his eyes narrowing in subtle displeasure at the prospect of letting the criminal go. She held firm, meeting his eyes steadily until Sebastian relented with a relaxing of his shoulders. “Very well,” he said. “But, I would like to confirm the man has fled the region before we let our guard down entirely.”
She could see the sense in that. “So long as we leave things at that and don’t spend months going on a wild goose chase.”
“I am just happy he is gone from my house,” her father grumbled. “Who knows what else he could have been capable of, especially after my news.”
“Your news, Papa?”
Her father leaned back in his chair, a satisfied smirk coming onto his wizened face. “It is the other reason for me summoning you and Mary here. Your mother and I have been exchanging notes since your departure, and I’ve finally managed to make her see reason.”
Mary rolled her eyes. “Only because you now have a dukedom to hide behind should the truth ever get out.”
“The old girl finally agreed to becoming my baroness.”
Mary sniffed. “I am thirty-eight to your forty-five, old man.”
“Oh, Mama! That’s wonderful.” Joy rushed through her at the thought of Mary becoming the peeress she was meant to be. They would be able to spend time together as equals, would be able to go on as mother and daughter in public, even if society only believed Mary to be a step-parent. “This is so exciting.”
“Indeed,” Sebastian said with a cordial nod. “Be assured that you will have my full backing upon your entry into the Ton, Miss White. I am sure Amberwood and his lady will be equally amendable to providing public support, even if both of our titles are somewhat tarnished at the moment.”
“We’ll be a circus together,” her father said, ending the statement with the odious Highbridge cackle. “If it wouldn’t cause so much trouble for your own marriage, I would even reveal Kitty’s parentage.”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, dear. We don’t want the dowager acquiring more ammunition to needle our daughter with.”
Kitty imagined what the woman’s reaction would be and fought the urge to shudder. No doubt she would hound Sebastian for an annulment, even if he’d only laugh in her face at the prospect and have Kitty’s name on the record corrected. The event would prove to be quite the episode.
“I heard the old bat is proving difficult,” her father said, before giving Sebastian a nod. “If you don’t mind me saying, Your Grace.”
“Never,” he replied immediately. “She has proven herself to be quite the shrew as of late. I am eager to get the dower house aired out.”
“Let us wait to make the announcement until she is gone,” her mother said with a reassuring glance in her direction. “I would rather not leave Kitty’s side until the odious woman has left. His Grace cannot always be there to mitigate their arguing.”
“Oh, very well,” her father said with a mild grumble, though Kitty could tell that he likely saw the sense in Mary’s words. “But no later. I’ve waited twenty years for this.”
