“That is certainly not believable either — that I let a woman and an entire building escape me?”
“It will if you are convincing, and if you concoct a story that is believable — and you must help ensure that no one will ever find her. How did you determine the address of the publication?”
“I visited the print shop, asked the proprietor to deliver a message to the publisher, and then followed the messenger.”
“You see?” Viola said with a pointed look. “You must work backward to help Phoebe hide her tracks from any other.”
He nodded absently and was about to reach for pen and paper in order to contact Phoebe, but the door flew open and Rebecca burst in, her long blonde hair billowing behind her in her rush to find him. She slammed the door dramatically, ensuring it was closed before continuing her breakneck pace, then came to a halt at Jeffrey’s desk, splaying her hands over its top. Her eyes were wide as she looked at first Jeffrey and then Viola. She hardly noticed Maxwell as he attempted to jump up into her arms.
“Jeffrey,” she said, her breaths coming in quick gasps, as though she had run through the entire house to find him — and it was very well likely she had. “I’ve just overheard something completely wicked.”
“Oh?”
“Ambrose was speaking with his valet, and, oh Jeffrey, he is going to bring down Phoebe’s entire publication! Not only will it be destroyed, but she will be completely ruined as he is going to expose her secret to the world!”
“Calm down,” he said, rising and bringing his hands to his sister’s shoulders, as he looked her in the eyes with as measured a gaze as he could manage. “Start at the beginning and tell me what you heard, when and where you heard it, and then we will determine our next steps from there.”
She nodded, beginning to catch her breath, and Viola tugged at her hands to encourage her to take a seat next to her.
“Very well,” Rebecca said, her words still coming quickly as she finally sat, though her hands continued to wring together worriedly.
“I was passing by Ambrose’s chambers, for as you know, his rooms are next to mine. I heard voices, and a few words caught my ear.”
Viola gave her a look out of the corner of her eye, and Rebecca rolled her eyes. “Fine, I eavesdropped on purpose. Are you happy now, Vi? Ambrose is always up to some adventure or another, and I wanted to hear the latest. So anyway, my ear was to the keyhole of the door, and I heard Ambrose saying he was going to do something that would prove to you, Jeffrey, the fallacy of attempting to control him, of not supporting him in his own endeavors. He told his valet that Phoebe was the publisher ofThe Women’s Weekly— as we all guessed, Vi — but that you, Jeffrey, were not going to do a thing about it as … well, perhaps I shouldn’t repeat exactly what he said, but something to do with you being fairly besotted by Phoebe. Anyway, he said he had a plan to take her down himself. That he was going to gather Totnes and all the rest of them who wish to see the paper destroyed, and go down to the office and take everything they had, destroy the building, and then report the names of every woman they found working there.”
“He would do all of that — ruin the lives of all of these women — in order to makemeangry?” was the question Jeffrey first asked, ire simmering within his belly. He knew his brother was completely self-centered, but why take this action against the woman he loved, to women who would have no effect upon him?
And that was the very ‘why,’ he realized. Ambrose had no care for others — just look at the scheme he became a part of, which preyed upon those with little to their name. He had determined, rightly so, that it would hurt Jeffrey far more to see someone he cared for ruined than to take revenge on him directly. Rebecca affirmed his suspicions.
“He said that this is what you deserve, for supporting a woman more than you would one of your own family members. He said that now you will see what happens when you cross him.”
Jeffrey lowered his forehead into his hand, rubbing at his temples.
“My God,” he muttered. “Did he say when he proposed to take action?”
“He will put everything in motion the next time you speak to the gentlemen, when you compose a lie. He said he would then out you, providing his proof. He said it will cause you to look a fool to all — as you always make him out to be. His words, not mine.”
“So we at the very least have the ability to set the time ourselves,” he mused.
Jeffrey rose from the desk, paced back and forth behind it, and then finally rounded its corner, and picked his sister up in a huge hug, one she seemed completely unaccustomed to as she let out a yelp of surprise. Maxwell jumped up from his slumber and began barking excitedly as he seemed to think they were beginning to play some kind of fun game.
“Thank you, Rebecca,” he said, placing her feet back on the floor and then lifting Viola and doing the same to her. “And you as well, Viola. Not only for your words today, but for your presence in my life to keep me from the stuffy, boring marquess that I could have been, who would never have known how to see past his own prejudices and learn that, perhaps, there are other opinions out there worth listening to. Now,” he left the two of them where they were standing, gaping at him, as he grabbed his cloak and began walking out of the study, “I have much to do within a few hours. And please, ladies, do not allow Ambrose to know you’ve spoken to me of this. Thank you again.”
And, without another word, he left.