59. Chapter 59

Chapter 59

His apology did not dispel Cassandra’s doubts about Mr Wade. Whilst she believed he had not meant his man to upset her, she was by no means reconciled to the fact that he had employed him to spy on her in the first place. Mr Wade’s explanation was plausible, but she disapproved of his sneaky methods.

To think of all the uneasiness she had endured because Jethro’s investor had wanted information!

Still, it had provoked her husband to spend more time with her, so she supposed she could forgive Mr Wade’s impudence for that. It was harder to dismiss his earnest discussion with Mr Frampton from her mind, or the handshake between the two men she had observed.

What had they agreed? And how would it affect Jethro? She wished she knew.

Cassandra glanced at her brother to see how he fared. His eyes had shut, but they jerked open again, and he shot her a weak smile before once more being overcome with weariness. That was the most cheerful she’d seen him since coming home.

And all because of Jethro.

She had been at breaking point, having endured as much of Eugenia’s spite as she could stomach, but because of her husband’s intervention, it had been the Framptons who had been forced to leave, not them .

Cassandra wondered what Mr Wade thought of Jethro after the way he talked to Eugenia. He stood just inside the door, his expression impassive as he gazed at her husband. How long were they going to stand there, staring at each other in silence?

At last, Mr Wade’s mask of indifference broke. His eyes lit up, and a broad smile spread across his face.

“Congratulations, my boy,” he said, clapping Jethro on the back. “That harpy had it coming to her, and I couldn’t have done that better myself. A masterful set-down, if ever there was.”

Xander’s eyes jerked open again, and Mr Wade grimaced sympathetically at him. “Sorry to put you through that, Captain Vincent, but I needed to know everyone’s true colours.”

“It is as I thought,” he continued, turning back to Jethro. “You have all the integrity I hoped to find in my protégé. I’m proud of you.”

“Thank you, sir. My tongue is my keenest weapon, and can sometimes cause hurt that I don’t mean to inflict, but I believe Mrs Frampton deserved every word.”

“Indeed. Hoist by her own petard!” Mr Wade said with a chuckle.

Cassandra watched him warily. Could they trust a man who employed spies to gather information for him? What kind of game was he playing?

Though she was relieved to discover he approved of Jethro’s behaviour, it did not remove her fear that all was not as it seemed. Was she the only one who had seen him shake hands with Mr Frampton?

Possibly. They had all been focused on Jethro’s conversation with Eugenia, and it was only by the merest chance that her eyes had flicked over that way while the two men’s hands were joined.

She could not stay silent. Mr Wade’s actions must be challenged. She refused to stand by and watch him deceive her husband.

Taking a deep breath to fortify herself, she rose from her seat and took a step toward the older man. “How can you speak of integrity? I watched you shake hands with Mr Frampton. All this while, you’ve talked of investing in my husband’s company, but I saw you make a deal with his rival.”

Mr Wade did not seem the least put out by her observation. “Hmm. Yes, I thought you were a sharp one, my dear. You’re right. I have made an agreement with Frampton.”

She gasped, but he raised his palm in defence. “It’s not what you think. I’ve just offered to purchase Frampton’s firm.”

Jethro leaped up to stand beside her, his face contorted with rage .

“What? You’re buying my rival’s firm? You’ve entertained us, and treated us as if you wanted to be our friend, and yet you were waiting, all the while, to pull the rug out from under our feet?”

He shook his head, his mouth curled up in disdain. “I trusted you. As you had invested in my business for so many years, it never occurred to me you would seek to destroy me—”

“That is not my intention,” Mr Wade said.

“Isn’t it? With your resources behind Frampton’s enterprise, it will be you who expands and gains a bigger market share, not me. I won’t be able to afford to buy the ships now. You have just sounded the death knell of my business.”

Cassandra reached for Jethro’s hand and squeezed it in what she hoped was a reassuring way. He met her sympathetic look with a thin smile.

“No, no, no,” Mr Wade said, drawing their gaze back to him. “You’ve got it all wrong. I’ve no interest in setting up a rival enterprise. I’ve bought Frampton’s business to give to you.”

Cassandra’s eyes grew as wide as her husband’s as they both stared at him.

After a long pause, Jethro spoke. “I don’t understand. You want us to become partners?”

Mr Wade shrugged. “In a manner of speaking, but only in as much as I supply the capital you need—both for the ships and Frampton’s enterprise.”

Jethro rubbed his chin. “And you honestly believe the investment to be worth such a risk?”

“Absolutely.”

“I appreciate your confidence in me, but why? I find it hard to comprehend why a successful businessman like yourself would put such faith in someone you only met face to face for the first time when you came to Weymouth last month.”

Mr Wade chuckled. “Why shouldn’t I believe in you? You have proved yourself to be a shrewd man of business, and you are far too much like your father was at your age for me to doubt you.”

“My father? You knew him?”

Cassandra could hear the eagerness in Jethro’s tone—a longing for any information about the man he’d never known.

Mr Wade nodded.

Then she had been right. The miniature she had found in the locked drawer of the desk wa s of Mr Wade. His investment in Jethro’s company was more than just coincidence. He had been acquainted with her husband’s parents.

Cassandra had refrained from sharing what she’d discovered, hoping she was wrong, but it seemed she had held her tongue for no purpose. The truth was out, and she could not save her husband from the inevitable blow to his pride.

“Then that is why you have invested in my firm for all these years,” Jethro said, spitting out his words in bitterness, “and not because of the promise you saw in me when I was starting out?”

“Don’t sound so dismissive. I am first and foremost a man of business. Regardless of our relationship, I would not jeopardise my fortune by investing in an enterprise doomed to fail. You can be sure that if you hadn’t shown potential, I wouldn’t have put a penny behind you.”

Jethro grunted. “Our relationship? I’d hardly call it that. It’s more a connection, and a tenuous one at that. But after years of being content for it to be only that, why turn up now to make my acquaintance? Why not before, when you first invested in my firm?”

“Because I promised your mother, but since she has passed away, I no longer feel bound—”

“You knew my mother as well? Why did she never tell me?”

“Because she didn’t want you to know.”

“Know what?”

“That I’m your father.”