Chapter 23

Marie strummed her fingers on her desk as she observed the people passing by her shop. It had been a little over a week since she confronted Lady Arrindell about the rumors, yet nothing had changed. The stories had only gotten worse, some people were now saying that not only did she advise Arabella to leave her family but also that she had been seen around London with the Duke of Wiltshire.

The rumor stated that she had purposefully set him up with ladies who weren't a match so that she could sweep in and finally get a husband of her own.

The sigh that raked through her body hurt her lungs, there was only one other person who had a reason to make her life miserable.

James McFunnugh.

She dreaded the thought of facing him again. There was always the option of telling Dominic what was really going on, but even that didn't seem like a good idea to her. He would more than likely lose his temper and defend her honor, thus starting even more rumors regarding their relationship. Her fingers stopped strumming, poised over the wooden surface of her desk.

When did I start seeing him in this light?

It struck her as strange that she now thought of him as someone who would come to her defense if the occasion arose. Her breathing deepened when she recalled their night together after the dinner. He'd held her so tenderly after repeating his actions from when they'd been in the carriage.

Dominic.

The memory of crying out in pleasure with his name on her lips brought a smile to her face.

"Would you like a cup of tea, miss?" Janey interrupted her thoughts from the back of the shop.

Feeling guilty over the direction her mind was going, Marie quickly reached for her stack of notes and shuffled them. "That would be nice, Janey!" She jumped to her feet when the girl reached for the wall as if she were about to faint.

The girl looked paler than a pint of milk as she raised a hand and pressed it to her forehead.

Rushing over, Marie gripped her arm, helping her over to one of the comfortable chairs in front of the desk. "Have a seat. I'll make you a cup of tea. Did you have breakfast this morning?" Marie fussed over her like a mother hen, quickly retrieving her shawl from the rack beside the door and placing it over the girl's legs.

Janey shook her head, swallowing hard as if the thought of food made her ill. "There wasn't any time this morning. I wanted to get to the market as soon as it opened. I always speak to the maids in the afternoons, I thought that perhaps I could learn of new clients if I changed things up a little."

Marie gave her a pitying look when she realized that the girl was trying her hardest to drum up business. "Janey, you can't make yourself tired like this."

"But I have to get more clients! You haven't had an appointment in weeks, and I can't seem to do anything about it!" She burst into tears and began to sob, burying her face in her hands.

"Please don't cry; it's not your fault that things are this bad." She leaned forward and placed her arms around Janey. "I think I know who is behind all these nasty rumors, and I'm going to do something about it soon. Don't you worry about that."

"But I…" Janey sniffed back her tears and looked up, her eyes red from crying as if she hadn't had a good night's sleep in days.

"But nothing. I'm sorry that I have been so wrapped up in all of this that I didn't see how hard you were trying. I forbid you from working again until you've had proper rest. I can take care of things here at the shop; now I'm going to send you home in the carriage out front. Don't think you can sneak away again because I will be sending a note with the footman to my grandmother. You are not to leave your room until you are rested." She pushed herself up and placed her hands on her hips.

"But, miss, if you would just let me… I'm sure that I could make things right." The bags under her eyes only seemed to get bigger by the second as she sank into the chair.

A wave of pity washed over her as Janey's eyes threatened to shut. "I will not hear another word of this. You are going to do more harm to yourself if you carry on." She sighed heavily again and walked to her desk, retrieving a scrap of parchment before hurriedly scribbling a note to her grandmother.

"Now, to make sure that you don't make any stops; I am going to tell the footman to see you to the door personally so that he may hand the note to my grandmother."

Janey seemed far too weak to protest as she merely nodded with her eyes shut.

Marie took one last look at her before going outside to arrange things with the footman who had gone from picking her up in the evenings to being outside her shop at all times. The man agreed without hesitation and even came in to help Janey into the carriage.

People passing on the street stopped to whisper behind their hands, but Marie didn't care. They were just the mindless carriers of the gossip. There was only one person who needed to be held accountable for everything that was going wrong in her life. And that person was about to see just how confrontational she could be when she was backed into a corner.

She wasn't sure where he was or where he even spent his days, but there were several ways of finding out these things.

Marie felt out of place as she walked the grand halls of Christopher Wyre's house. The butler, after answering the door and allowing her in, had quickly rushed downstairs, leaving her alone, presumably to fetch his master.

After a few minutes had passed, Marie decided to make her own way into the house. Time was of the essence, and she wasn't going to wait around for a stuffy butler to lead the way.

Soon enough, she found herself in a large room where men in tails spoke to each other in hushed tones while others looked down their noses at her.

Marie suddenly realized that she must have stumbled into a social gathering. The scornful looks that the men were giving her certainly made her feel as if she had interrupted the gathering of the century.

Taking a deep breath and holding her head high, Marie approached a group of gentlemen. "Excuse me, my lords, would anyone be kind enough to point me in the direction of Christopher Wyre?"

All three men turned to look at her with an expression of utter horror.

"And why, may we ask, are you looking for him?" The man who looked to be the older of the bunch looked her over as if she had crawled out of a piece of cheese. His overly large belly bounced a little when he raised his arm to place his monocle over his eye.

Keeping her chin up, Marie addressed them as respectfully as she could. "Christopher is a friend of mine; he will not object."

"Aren't you that matchmaker?" One of the other men who was considerably thinner than the first scoffed at her with a nasty sneer.

Her mouth opened with a response before she could even stop herself. It was just her luck to wander into open doors and straight into a pack of wolves.

Where is the butler or one of the footmen?

"I am. And you, my lord, haven't I seen you at the shop before? I thought you looked familiar."

The other two men sucked in their breaths, taking a step back from the man as if he carried the plague.

"How dare you insinuate such a thing?! I will have you know that I am a happily married man. I would not grace your doorstep even if my life was threatened!" His thin face turned beet red as color crept up the back of his neck.

Marie bit on her lips, realizing that she could have jeopardized her only means of finding Christopher, unless she were to wander around his house.

"I ought to have you thrown out of here! Coming in here and disrespecting someone of my station!" The man took a step toward her, balling his fists at his sides as he clenched his jaw.

"Miss Webster? Is that you? I thought I recognized your voice." A deep voice halted the man just as he closed the distance between them, glaring at Marie as she stood her ground.

Tearing her eyes away from the beanstalk of an old man, Marie looked past his shoulder to see a strappingly handsome man coming toward them. He seemed familiar, yet she couldn't quite place him. His tall stature, muscular build, dark brown eyes, and jet-black hair certainly made him stand out from the rest of the crowd.

"It's such a pleasure to see you here. Were you looking for Christopher?" He stopped beside the group of men and shot them all a questioning glance.

"Your Grace." Marie took a step back as she suddenly recalled the Duke of Beaumont.

Anthony Atwood had been one of her more prominent and successful matches. The now Duchess of Beaumont, who had formerly been known as Sophia Braxton, had knitted the green scarf that hung around the neck of the dog statue beside her desk.

The Duke eyed the men suspiciously before addressing them, "Are any of you gentlemen using Miss Webster's services? If you are considering them, I can vouch for her expertise. You will certainly find a wife if she is involved. I think you will all recall that I met the duchess with the help of Miss Webster, and we couldn't be happier."

The older men seemed to shrink back as the taller one muttered something under his breath.

Anthony turned to Marie with an eyebrow raised in question.

"It's good to see you again, Your Grace. I was just asking these very helpful gentlemen if any of them knew where Mr. Wyre was." She breathed a sigh of relief knowing that she knew at least one person who would come to her aid.

"Ah yes, Christopher, I just passed him in the hallway. Would you like me to show you the way? He was good enough to allow us to hold our meeting here this afternoon." Anthony gallantly held out his arm to her.

The men seemed appalled as they looked at him in shock.

"Oh, and gentlemen, I know that all of you are married, but if you ever need any help with those sons of yours who frequent White's more than they do their own homes, I would highly recommend Miss Webster. She has been known to work magic even with the most hopeless of cases." Anthony managed to get in a final blow before leading Marie away.

"Thank you for coming to my aid, Your Grace. I wasn't sure what I would have done if they had me thrown out," Marie whispered to him when they had gotten a good distance away.

Anthony chuckled under his breath and shook his head. "Don't even mention it. The only reason they tolerated my forwardness is because they need my vote on an important matter regarding the distribution of land." He came to a stop in front of a large wooden door that looked more expensive than her house. "And I meant what I said. Sophia and I are eternally grateful for what you did for us; we wouldn't be half as happy if it hadn't been for you." He let go of her arm and winked.

A wave of gratitude flowed through her body. "Thank you, Your Grace, your kind words mean more to me than you will ever know."

"I will leave you to it then." Anthony bowed his head in a greeting before setting off down the hall.

She watched him go for a moment with a grateful smile before raising her fist and knocking on the door.

"Enter," Christopher called from within.

Opening the door, Marie stepped inside the room that proved to be a large office with a solid oak desk surrounded by leather-bound ledgers.

"Miss Webster, this is quite a surprise. To what do I owe this pleasure?" Christopher looked up in surprise as she closed the door behind her.

"I'm sorry to barge in unannounced like this, but I need your help on a matter that is quite time-sensitive." She clutched her purse in front of her as she neared the desk. Her entire plan rested on getting her former landlord's address.

James gestured to one of the red leather chairs in front of his desk. "Please, have a seat; I promise to do all that I can."

"Thank you." Marie accepted his offer and made herself comfortable, unsure of how she would ask such a favor of a man that she had only met once before.

"Is this about your little animal feeding hobby? Because I'm afraid that I haven't had a chance to look into that yet." Christopher leaned forward and clasped his hands in front of him.

"Not at all. There is another matter that needs to be resolved; in fact, I won't be able to continue feeding the animals if I don't find a solution soon. I am afraid that I must ask you not to mention this to the Duke as it would only serve to anger him." She pursed her lips before taking a deep breath.

Christopher's brow creased into a deep frown. "Go on."

"I need the address of the man who previously owned my shop's building. I assume that Dominic asked you for help in tracking him down, and now, I'm asking you for the same favor."

"Wait a moment, isn't this the man who tried to threaten you into a marriage with him?" Christopher sat back and ran his hands over his jaw thoughtfully.

Marie could feel her heart pounding. Dominic must have told him more than she had expected him to. "Yes, it is. I can't confirm it, but I think he is ruining my business. I want to talk with him face-to-face so that we may lay this matter to rest once and for all."

"I see, and you think that confronting him on your own is a good idea? Should you tell Dominic so that he may go with you?" Christopher held her gaze as he examined her face.

"I"m afraid that Dominic would only get angry and make matters worse. I won't go alone; his footman will take me to wherever he is, so there will be at least one man guarding my back." She relaxed a little when the one corner of his mouth curled into a smile.

"I see, I will give you the address, but only if you promise not to tell Dominic I helped. It would not generally be very wise of me to allow a woman to meet such a man on her own, but I have a feeling that you will be able to hold your own." He reached into his desk drawer and retrieved a scrap of paper before holding out to her.

"Thank you. You do not know how much you are helping me." She stood and accepted the piece of parchment.

Christopher's lips curved into a mischievous smile. "Oh, and Miss Webster, I am sure that Dominic is thrilled that you are calling him by his first name."

Heat crept up the back of her neck as she suddenly felt shy for the first time in her life.