Joseph glanced to Ellen with a bit of surprise as the two of them walked on, almost as though nothing had happened. “You do not like Lady Margaret.” It was a question wrapped in a statement.
Ellen glanced ahead to where Lady Margaret and her minions were leaving the park and drawing looks from passersby as they did. She sighed and said, “It is not so much that I don’t like her, it’s that she doesn’t like me.”
Joseph paused, then said the single most wonderful thing he had ever spoken to her. “I cannot understand why anyone would not like you, Miss Garrett.”
The simple compliment was so artlessly given and so sweet that Ellen wanted to burst into tears. “Thank you for saying so, Joseph,” she said in a quiet voice, resting her free hand on his arm that had hers looped through it.
Joseph still looked confused. Or perhaps not confused. He had to know that she wasn’t popular with the London society crowd, and he was not ignorant enough to not know the reasons why. He looked as though he had something to say about it, though.
Ellen didn’t feel much like discussing the matter, so she blurted out, “I am very sorry that Montrose was so awful to you,” just to take the subject of her conversation away from her.
Joseph frowned as he snapped his mouth shut. “I have grave concerns about what that man is up to now,” he said. “He has not resurfaced so soon after his attempts to destroy my family for no reason. He must have found a source of income with which to continue his dastardly war against the aristocracy, which means he must have found another target to exploit.”
Ellen could have burst into joyful song. It was terrible that Montrose was such an ass and that he was harassing good people—or perhaps not so good people, if the things Lenore and Phineas had told her about the man and his targets were true—but pondering the problem had Joseph buzzing with determination again. She liked it when he had a bee in his bonnet and a sense of purpose to his steps.
“What do you plan to do about him?” she asked, pleased to think she could encourage him in his pursuits. That was what a wife did, after all. She encouraged her husband to achieve everything he could.
Joseph slowed his steps with a sigh and glanced up at the sky for a moment. “I am not certain what I can do yet,” he admitted. “I do not have enough information.”
“What information do you need?” Ellen asked, using her tone to make it a leading question.
Joseph stopped walking entirely and turned to her with a frown. Even though he looked at her, he wasn’t seeing her. He was ruminating on the problem of Montrose.
“If Montrose is back, that means he has a scheme in action,” he said, talking his way through the problem. “If that is the case, then he has a target. It must be a sizeable target as well—a nobleman of exceptional means—because as my brother and his wife discovered several months ago, Montrose himself is deeply in debt.”
“So the man attacks aristocratic families with the intention of ruining them, financially and socially, but he is miles in the hole himself?” Ellen asked.
Joseph blinked at her metaphor, then said, “Yes. For as Sam discovered, it takes a great deal of capital to buy up crooked debts and call them in. Not to mention the untold expense of hiring thugs and paying authorities to look the other way. Montrose says he has a grudge against wicked noblemen who use their power and wealth for evil and debauchery, but he is guilty of the same crimes as any of them.”
“A hypocrite if ever I’ve heard of one,” Ellen sighed.
She bit her lip as she gave Joseph’s problem some thought. As far as she could see the situation, Montrose was just mean. He sounded like some of the cattle barons involved in the range wars in Wyoming. They claimed to have honorable intentions, but really, they were just a bunch of thieves and dictators who wanted to prove they were better than the other thieves and dictators. Part of her reason for choosing to seek a husband in England, like Lenore had done, was to get away from all that, but it seemed she’d found herself enmeshed in another war.
“I need to discover who Montrose’s latest target is and warn them,” Joseph said, still half caught up in his own thoughts. “Once I discover that, perhaps I can work with whomever he plans to attempt to destroy next to bring him down.”
Ellen hummed and nodded along with his assessment.
She was about to say something when Joseph’s expression softened and his focus shifted to her. “I am still concerned about you, Miss Garrett,” he said. “The more I think on it, the more I dislike the way Lady Margaret treated you.”
Ellen sighed and shook her head. “I am used to that sort of treatment at this point. Pay it no mind.”
Joseph seemed to contradict that suggestion entirely and looked even more concerned. “What do you mean?”
Ellen bit her lip, then admitted, “I am not accepted by society. At least, not very well. And don’t pretend you haven’t noticed.”
Joseph looked shocked for all of two seconds before melting into a look of sheepishness. “I have noticed, and I am very sorry for it.” He frowned, then went on with, “I was under the impression that it didn’t bother you, though, that you were proud of who you are and the rest of us could go suck an egg.”
Ellen laughed out loud at that…which drew several startled looks and frowns of disapproval from the other people walking through the park. Unfortunately, Joseph noticed the reaction as well.
“I will admit,” Ellen said with another sigh, “it makes me unhappy. I came to London to find myself a husband, true, and I have found that.” She gestured to Joseph…who turned bright pink and squirmed a bit. “But I was hoping for a little more than that. Not to offend you, Joseph, because I find you utterly delightful.”
“No…offense…taken?” Joseph continued to fidget at her compliment.
“I was just hoping to find…friends as well,” Ellen continued. “Or at least a bit of social acceptance. I wanted to be a part of something here, to feel like I belong.”
Joseph started to say something, but stopped himself. He closed his mouth and placed a gloved finger against his lips, as if thinking. Ellen’s pulse sped up as she watched an idea form in his mind, as indicated by the light in his eyes.
“Do you know,” he said at last, when Ellen didn’t think she could stand the suspense for a moment longer, “I think I have an idea as to how you could find more acceptance with London society.”