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“Nothing.”
“Will you return the book?”
“I have to go.”
He expelled a measured breath. “Right. It’s none of my business. But Cleo—”
“I’ll see you in the morning.” I turned away, aware of the terseness of my response. It would seem I was upset with him, after all.
I went to walk off, but he caught my hand.
“Cleo. I am sorry for the subterfuge. I didn’t ask your permission to investigate him, because I thought you’d forbid me.”
I withdrew my hand from his. “You’re right. I would have.” I headed towards Frank, standing ready to open the door, my skirts whipping around my ankles with my brisk strides.
I gavethe book to Terence at the post desk to pass on to Mr. Miller when he collected his mail. After exchanging pleasantries for a few minutes, I returned to my suite to change into something pretty for luncheon. I was pinning my hat in place in front of the dressing table mirror when there was a knock on my door. It was Harmony.
“Just the person I need to see,” I said, pulling her inside. “I have so much to tell you.”
“It’ll have to wait. Sir Ronald wants to see you.”
“Now? I have to meet Flossy and Aunt Lilian.”
“I wouldn’t keep him waiting if I were you. He seemed angry.”
“Why?”
“I’m just the messenger.”
Perhaps he’d learned that I’d rejected Mr. Miller and was upset that his matchmaking efforts had come to nothing. But that seemed unlikely. I’d only just returned the book, and I didn’t think my rejecting him would make Uncle Ronald angry, just a little deflated.
What would anger him was me telling Mr. Miller at the ball that I was a detective. Uncle Ronald had made it clear that I could continue investigating as long as it didn’t interfere with my social engagements or tarnish the Bainbridge name. It had just slipped out at the time, because I’d felt comfortable with Mr. Miller and didn’t think it mattered. Yet it clearly had mattered to him. He couldn’t understand how important it was to me to continue. If he’d mentioned it to my uncle in the meantime, Uncle Ronald would be furious that someone outside the family knew.
I steeled myself and prepared my responses.
“Why did he send you?” I asked Harmony as she escorted me to my uncle’s office further along the corridor.
“I asked him if there was anything I could do for him. He said there was and he sent me here to fetch you.” She sighed.
I clasped her arm. “Keep trying. I’m sure a task more worthy of your skills will crop up soon.”
She knocked on Uncle Ronald’s office door, then opened it and announced me before leaving me to face the music alone.
Uncle Ronald wore his emotions on his sleeve, so it was obvious that he was indeed angry, although from the tone he used to invite me to sit, I suspected the anger wasn’t directed at me.
“Is something the matter?” I asked.
He leaned back in the chair and rested his clasped hands on the mound of his stomach. “I’ve just had a very difficult discussion with Miller and his nephew, and now I’m afraid I need to have a difficult discussion with you.”
I held my breath. “Oh.”
His thumbs dueled with each other over his clasped fingers. “I’m furious with them. Livid, in fact.”
“Withthem?”
“I’m sorry, Cleopatra. This ought to come from your aunt, but she’s unwell and I didn’t want to trouble her.” He leaned forward and moved his clasped hands to the desk. He fixed me with a sympathetic gaze, which was somewhat unsettling, since Uncle Ronald rarely felt sympathy for anyone. “It came to my attention that the nephew is no gentleman. He broke off an engagement with a young lady when her father’s fortune disappeared.” He shook his head. “Apparently, Miller is quite poor and is reliant on his uncle’s goodwill. Now, I was prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps he wasn’t in love with the girl, and that’s why he abandoned her. However, it crossed my mind that if he was a fortune hunter, he might only want to marry you because he assumed you were an heiress. Naturally, as your guardian and protector, I wanted to test him to find out for certain if he does love you and would accept you as you are.” He cleared his throat. “So I told Miller your situation and gave my blessing to your union.”
“You had no right to do that without discussing it with me first.” It was probably not the moment to point it out, but it needed to be said. “And who informed you of Mr. Miller’s situation?”
