Chapter 18

Chapter 18

By the time Louise returned home, she was exhausted. She knew that she had returned later than she had promised, so Aunt Harriet was going to be really upset. Louise didn't have any patience to deal with being shouted at again.

She was more worried about Charles and his family, and what they were going through.

Across from her, Bethany yawned loudly.

"I feel like I could fall asleep," she said.

"Same here." Louise rubbed her hands over her face. "I'm not even hungry. I'm just worn out. Perhaps I'll have a small dinner in my room."

"I can ask for a tray to be sent up to you, if you'd like? You do need to eat something."

Louise smiled at her maid.

"I do appreciate that, thank you. And I apologize for what happened. You did have to do a lot more work to help tidy up the mess."

"Don't worry about that, my lady. It's what we're meant for, and I was more than happy to help." Bethany shrugged. "Duffy and I got a lot done, so it wasn't like I was alone."

"Duffy, eh?" Louise giggled. "You mean Lord Chesterfield's valet?"

"I…"

Bethany's face went red, which made Louise laugh even more. It had been pretty clear for a while that there was something between Bethany and Duffy. They had tried to hide it, but the more time Louise spent with Charles and his family, the more it became obvious. It wasn't often that Bethany was so flustered about anyone, so it was actually quite sweet.

"You don't need to be embarrassed. Duffy's not bad-looking, and he's a really respectful man."

"Is it bad?"

"What is? Finding the earl's valet attractive? Of course not." Louise wagged her finger at the other woman. "As long as you don't do anything stupid…"

"No!" Bethany's eyes widened. "We're not courting or anything. And we wouldn't do something to jeopardize our positions!"

"Then you don't need to worry about it. Just be sensible, that's all I can say."

Much like Louise was with Charles, although could she call what they were doing courting? Charles had not actually asked her if they could start a courtship; they had simply spent time together while Louise was being asked to go out and about with Lara and Archie. Charles had simply been the chaperone.

And yet…had they been courting, and she hadn't realized it? Louise wouldn't be surprised if they had and she hadn't noticed anything. After the early years of courtship, when it had gone disastrously wrong, Louise hadn't intended to look for another man to fall in love with again. Not when she had such bad luck.

But then Charles had come along, and things had changed. Louise felt a blossoming of warmth in her belly whenever she thought about him. It felt good and she didn't want to lose that.

Although, given everything going on, Louise wouldn't be surprised if she lost that as well. And the thought left her feeling sick and uncomfortable. Why couldn't she have something for herself for once? It wasn't fair.

They arrived home, and Bethany went on ahead to speak to the kitchen about fixing something light for Louise to have in her room. Passing her coat and hat to the footman, Louise headed toward the stairs. The exhaustion had hit her more on the way back, and all she wanted was to lie down and sleep. It would mess up her ability to sleep tonight, but Louise didn't care. She just wanted some quiet.

"Where on earth have you been?"

Louise had barely gone up four steps when she heard her aunt's voice. Sighing, she turned and saw Aunt Harriet storming toward her. She must have been lying in wait in the drawing room, waiting for her niece to return. And the older woman looked furious.

"You were meant to be back three hours ago!" Aunt Harriet shouted, pointing a finger at Louise. "You said you would be back when we agreed. I can't believe the disrespect you give me…"

"Lord St. Simon collapsed at the garden party, Aunt Harriet," Louise cut in sharply.

"What?"

"He was taken ill very suddenly, and we had to get him back home for the doctor to see him. I offered to help because his daughter was in distress, and her mother was fussing over her husband." Louise took a deep breath. She wanted to tell her aunt about the possible poisoning, but decided against it. Aunt Harriet would use that to her own advantage in some way.

If she gossiped about it to her friends, it would be all around the ton, and if it wasn't true, then there would be more trouble. "I was just helping a family in need, that's all. I know I should have sent word that I was going to return later than planned, but it slipped my mind. That is my fault, and I apologize for it, Aunt Harriet."

For a moment, Aunt Harriet looked bewildered. She was clearly not expecting that response.

"Lord St. Simon? Will he be all right?"

"We hope so. The doctors are running tests right now. He was unconscious for quite a while."

Her aunt recovered quickly and sniffed.

"Well, it sounds like that's all the more reason for you to not be associated with the Earl of Chesterfield, then."

"What?" Louise frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Lord St. Simon is Chesterfield's brother-in-law, isn't he?"

"Yes, but what…"

"He could have something contagious. And the rest of them…" Aunt Harriet shook her head. "They bring nothing but trouble. I don't want you to see them anymore, and I won't have any arguments about it."

Louise couldn't believe what she was hearing. How could she say something like this after hearing about a shocking incident? And there was no chance of Louise cutting that family off when they had become such good friends to her.

Charles is not a friend. You don't see him like that.

I have no intention of walking away from him anytime soon.

"No."

"I beg your pardon, Louise?"

"I'm not cutting off Lord Chesterfield or his family, Aunt Harriet." Louise drew herself up and squared her shoulders, ready for the fight. "They are my friends, and I'm not going to isolate myself further just because you're not happy that I have a social life for the first time in a long time."

Aunt Harriet scowled and folded her arms.

"May I remind you that I'm still your guardian?"

"So what?" Louise shot back. "You keep saying that you're my guardian and I should listen to you, but all you do is cut me off from the rest of Society. I barely have any friends because nobody wants to be around someone who gives me so many restrictions, and you keep treating me like a child. I'm five-and-twenty years, Aunt Harriet! You can't keep treating me as if I'm a little girl who doesn't know what she's doing."

"Well, you don't. You're not experienced."

"Because you don't let me get those experiences!" Louise knew that she was shouting now, but she didn't care. Her tiredness and concern for Charles' family were mixing together and letting her anger loose. "You don't even like me! Why would you care about what I'm doing when you hate me so much? Do you hate me to the point that you don't want me to have any autonomy at all? Why would you be so controlling over me?"

Aunt Harriet's face was turning bright red, her eyes darkening in her own anger. Normally, Louise would back off a little, but not this time. She was not having it.

"I'm fed up with you dictating everything, Aunt Harriet. You're not being a guardian. You're being a jailer. You want to lock me up in a cage and hide the key. If you hate me, why don't you make sure I find someone to marry as soon as possible so I can get out of your way? Isn't that the best solution?"

"Have you finished?"

"No, I haven't. I've only just gotten started." Louise moved down the steps, pointing at her aunt. She felt a bit of satisfaction seeing the older woman step back a bit. "You want my money, is that it? I know that my parents had money, and it was left to me in trust. If I take charge of it and leave, you lose your income, don't you? Shouldn't you tell me how much money is left? Are you leaving me destitute because you are too greedy?"

"It's the least you could do for me!" Aunt Harriet snapped.

"So you're not denying it?"

"It's the least you could do when you didn't die alongside your parents!"

Louise blinked. That had come out of nowhere. She stared at her aunt as the older woman growled and paced away furiously.

"I hate children!" she declared. "I always have. I knew that I would have to bear children once I was married, but the knowledge that someone else could raise them and not me spurred me on. Then word reached me that my sister and her husband had died, and they left behind a little girl. People wanted me to take her in, as I was her closest relative.

I wanted to refuse—there was no chance I wanted to raise a child at all—but it was only because I would be paid for your upkeep through the money your parents left you. That was the only reason I took you in when what I really wanted to do was to throw you into an orphanage." Aunt Harriet spun around to Louise, which made Louise sway at the sudden movement.

"If I could have taken out all of your money in one go and thrown you aside, I would have, but the conditions were very strict. I could only take out a certain amount at a time, and I would have to get written consent from you once you were old enough to allow the money to come out. Of course, they wanted to see you in person whenever I wanted more money, so that stopped pretty quickly."

Louise let that sink in. She had suspected that her aunt hated her, but she had never expressed it in this way. She swallowed.

"So, you wanted to steal my money, then? That was all you wanted?"

"Well, you needed to compensate me."

"Compensate you for what? What did I do except want someone to love me?"

Aunt Harriet barked out a harsh laugh.

"Of course, you weren't aware," she sneered. "I was on the cusp of getting married myself. He was wealthy and handsome, and I was smitten with him. If things had been different, I would be a very wealthy wife.

But once he heard that I needed to take in my niece, he broke off the engagement and married someone else. When I begged for him to support me, he said that he wasn't about to have a child that wasn't his around, and he would never support an orphan."

Louise had had no idea about that. She had wondered why Aunt Harriet had never married before now and had thought it was because her aunt preferred to be alone. To think that her coming to live with a relative would cause that.

"You can't blame me for that! I was a child! And if he broke off the engagement for something as horrible as that, maybe it was a good thing you didn't marry him. He doesn't sound like a good person if he knew the circumstances."

"You little…" Aunt Harriet advanced on her, but stopped suddenly. Her hands were clenched into fists at her sides. "You ruined everything for me! It is your fault!"

"I didn't cause my parents' accident!"

"You were still foisted on me, and I lost the only man I loved because of you!" Aunt Harriet was shouting now. "You're the reason I'm alone and having to keep an eye on a little brat like you. I've resented you all this time, Louise. Did you never notice that?"

"Oh, I noticed. You made it very clear, but you shouldn't blame me for something that was out of my control."

Aunt Harriet sneered at her.

"You were the reason for my life falling apart. So I made sure that I ruined yours."

"What are you talking about?"

"You think that those gentlemen who took an interest in you weren't influenced by their decision to run away? You tried courting before, and nobody stayed around for long. You were considered a pariah because of lies and rumors spread around the ton. " Aunt Harriet looked a little smug about it. "You suspected that someone hated you enough to take you out of the marriage market, but you never thought that your own aunt would be doing that."

Louise let the words sink in. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her aunt…

"You? You were the one who ruined my chances of having a loving marriage? You were telling everyone lies?"

"I wouldn't call them lies. More like embellishing the truth a little."

"So you made sure I wasn't considered marriage material?" Louise didn't think it was possible to get any angrier. She gripped onto the banister to stop herself from lashing out physically at her aunt. "I can't believe you. You're the reason I'm not married by now? I could have gotten out of your life and started on my own! If you hated me so much, you should have just ignored me as normal and been happy that I was leaving the house."

"Oh, I wanted you out, but it would mean I lost my income."

"You mean the money you were stealing from me!" Louise snapped. "Money I never saw unless you absolutely had to use it. You were content with stealing from me, and you couldn't do that if I ended up marrying."

"That, and the fact I couldn't bear the thought you were going to get married when I never got the chance." Aunt Harriet shrugged. "I don't regret doing it. Someone like you, who can happily ruin people's lives, doesn't deserve to go away and have their own happiness. Not before I've had my chance to wring everything out of you. By then, you'll be penniless and too old to get married, and nobody will want you then. After that, I can toss you out and say you're no use to me anymore."

Louise felt like she had been hit over the head. How could her aunt have thought this was all right? She was happy to admit that she had been keeping Louise around for the money because she blamed her own niece for her life-changing. Louise had known Aunt Harriet was heartless, but this was something else.

She needed to get out of there. This was disgusting, and Louise needed time to digest it all.

"I'm going to pack," she said, turning and heading up the stairs.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to stay with Clarissa for a while. If you try and stop me…"

"Fine. Go." Aunt Harriet shrugged. "It's no problem for me anymore. You'll be back here begging for me to take you in after a few days."

Louise shook her head, but she didn't answer. After what she had just heard, to know that Aunt Harriet believed this would happen was even more shocking. It was like she had detached from reality with her hatred.

She needed to get out of there as soon as she could. Otherwise, Louise was going to do more than lose her temper.

***

Louise didn't want to wake up in the morning. She stirred and lay in her bed, taking a moment to realize that she was sleeping in one of the guest rooms at Clarissa's house. Her friend had been more than happy to let her stay for a while, shocked that Aunt Harriet would say something so horrible. She saw it as disgusting that a woman could blame a child for something that was unavoidable. Louise was glad that someone else was being reasonable, but she doubted that it would get through to her aunt.

While Bethany had taken her belongings to Clarissa's house, Louise had taken one of the footmen to the bank and managed to speak to the bank manager without an appointment. She refused to budge until she was told the truth about her account.

That was when she found out that while there was still money in her trust fund, Aunt Harriet had told the bank that Louise was not mentally competent and shouldn't be given charge of the trust fund. The stipulations of how much she could take out were still in place, but the bank was under the impression that Louise was unable to make any decisions.

Aunt Harriet had managed to weave that so she could get more money, but that had not worked as she had wanted. So the bankers were surprised and suspicious when Louise declared who she was and that she wasn't mentally unwell as claimed. They had arranged to see her later in the week to get it sorted, but they had agreed to stop the money to Aunt Harriet for the moment until they got everything sorted. Louise was frustrated that they were moving slowly with it, but at least they were doing something, and Aunt Harriet would be blocked from any more money.

It made her angry with herself for not getting anything sorted long before, but it hadn't crossed her mind that her aunt would be doing everything possible to keep her a prisoner in revenge for something she perceived, in her mind, as Louise's fault. Of course, they didn't like each other, but to go to this extent over something that happened twenty years ago…

Louise didn't think she would ever understand what went through Aunt Harriet's mind. It was just ridiculous. She felt sick knowing that she had been played and toyed with by the woman who was meant to look after her. And Aunt Harriet couldn't even do that.

Plus, she was meant to be moving on, wasn't she? She had been courting the Earl of Mansfield for a while now, so would her aunt want Louise to find a husband of her own and get out of the house? Louise was getting a headache trying to figure it all out.

She was going to spend a bit of time with Clarissa, and then she would go back and tell Aunt Harriet that she was taking care of her own money, and that she would be moving out. That cottage Louise had been thinking about was becoming more and more enticing. It would take her out of London, but if it meant she could leave and start afresh, Louise would take it.

Although it would mean she might not see Charles as much as she wanted, if at all. That did leave Louise feeling sad, knowing that she would feel hollow walking away from whatever was blossoming between them, but she had to do it. For her own sanity, if nothing else.

Hopefully, Charles and his family would understand.

After trying to get back to sleep and ignore the fact that she had to face the day, Louise got out of bed and washed and dressed herself. Bethany was nowhere to be found, but Louise guessed that her maid was exhausted and was still sleeping. She had worked hard the day before, and had been helping Louise with everything. Louise wasn't going to be upset that her servant was sleeping in.

Unlike some people, she wasn't mean.

Keeping her hair loose and simply brushed—she couldn't be bothered to deal with it today—Louise headed downstairs. She wasn't feeling hungry, but she needed to have something to eat, or she was going to feel faint later on.

She got to the bottom of the stairs when she heard someone saying her name. Louise turned, and did a double-take when she saw Lara in the doorway to the morning room. The girl looked exhausted, her face pale and her expression troubled.

"Lara!" Louise hurried to her. "What are you doing here at this hour? I didn't know you were here."

"Forgive me, Lady Louise. We found out where you were, and Lady Clarissa said that we could come in and wait for you to rise." Lara bit her lip. "I know it's not what we should be doing, but I think she could tell that we were in distress."

"We? Is Archie here as well?"

"No, I'm here with Lucy."

Lucy was here as well? Louise didn't know what to think now. Why had Charles' daughter and niece come looking for her? Had something happened to Lord St. Simon? Was Charles all right? Louise tried not to panic as her mind raced with the possibilities.

"We wouldn't bother you normally without an appointment, especially so early," Lara went on, "but this is important. We needed someone to talk to."

"What about your father? Can't you talk to him?"

"We needed an outside perspective. Father does listen, but I have a feeling he won't listen to us."

"I'm sure he will." Louise steered Lara toward the morning room. "Well, how about you tell me what's wrong, and then we go and speak to your father? I'm sure he'll understand better if I'm present."

Lara gave her an appreciative smile and walked across the room to where Lucy was sitting on the settee. The two girls sat together, both looking as solemn as the color of their gowns. Louise took one look at the pair of them and knew why Clarissa had allowed them to come in at such an early hour; something was really wrong.

She sat on a chair across from them, all thoughts of trying to have breakfast leaving her head.

"Now tell me what's wrong," she said. "I want to know why you're here and not speaking to your father and uncle."

"It's…it's about Papa," Lucy said quietly, taking Lara's hand. Her cousin squeezed her fingers as if to tell her to be brave. "I've seen something lately, and it's scaring me."

"What have you seen? Maybe you should speak plainly to me, Lucy?"

Lucy took a deep breath.

"I don't think Papa became ill naturally. I think Mother did something to him."

That was not what Louise was expecting, and things froze in her head. She shook herself.

"You…you think that Lady St. Simon might have hurt your father in some way that made him collapse?"

"I think she's poisoning him."

Louise's mouth fell open.

"Poison?"

Lucy nodded, looking like she was close to tears.

"I've not said anything, but I've seen my mother putting something into my father's drink if she's the one dealing with it. Or she'll sprinkle something over his food when nobody's looking. Somehow, nobody else saw her doing it except me." Lucy seemed to grip Lara's hand tighter because her cousin winced a little.

"She doesn't know that I know about it, but if I mention it to her, not only am I going to get told to mind my own business, but I'm scared…"

"You're scared that she might do something to you as well?" Louise finished.

Lucy blinked hard, and it seemed that telling this was enough for the tears to fall freely. Louise stood and went over to her, bringing out her handkerchief and handing it to the young girl. Lucy wiped at her eyes, but she couldn't stop the tears.

"How long has this been going on now?" Louise asked.

"A couple of months, I think. I don't know exactly when she started doing it. I've wanted to say something, but Papa would say that I was being silly, and there's a chance that he would tell Mother in passing."

"What about your uncle?"

"No. And I'm scared to mention it to him." Lucy looked up at her. "Uncle Charles and Papa are like brothers. They're so close. If I tell him that I suspect my mother is poisoning my father, he's going to be furious."

"And quite rightfully so," Louise pointed out, keeping her tone level and gentle. The girl was clearly scared. "He'll be able to get the answer out of your mother, won't he?"

"I believe he will," Lara said with a scowl. "I told Lucy that she needs to tell Father, and I'll be with her when she does it, but she was too scared to do it. That's when I suggested that we come to you. You would be more levelheaded about this."

Louise didn't know about that. She certainly wouldn't be able to confront Lady St. Simon about her actions. Especially if she was actually poisoning her husband; she hated Louise, that much was clear, so who was to say that she wouldn't turn her ire upon Louise instead? Charles needed to be the one to sort this out. It was too much for them.

Although Louise hoped that it was some sort of mistake. Lady St. Simon was a cold woman to her husband and daughter, but poisoning them? What would she gain out of that?

A knock at the door had Louise turning, and then Clarissa came in. She looked uncomfortable.

"I didn't mean to bother you, Louise," she said before Louise could speak, "but you have another visitor."

"Another one?" Louise looked at the clock. "What's going on? It's not Aunt Harriet, is it?"

"No, it's the Earl of Mansfield. He went to your house this morning and was told where you were."

Louise groaned. Of all the things to happen this morning, why did Mansfield have to get in the midst of this mess.

"Can't you tell him to go away? We can have the reason be that he's not made an appointment, and this is far too early for him to be coming here."

"I've already told him that, but he's refusing to move unless he's actually spoken to you. He's saying that he's not going to budge off the front stoop until he's talked to you." Clarissa shook her head, not looking happy. "I'm not having this on my front doorstep today. The neighbors are going to think that he's coming here to cause trouble for my family."

Louise knew that. She wasn't comfortable with having the man here, either, but Mansfield was stubborn. Was he here to plead Aunt Harriet's case? How was he going to do that when her aunt had done one of the worst things possible? Nobody could justify hatred and stealing from a family member.

But it wasn't going to get him to move, and Louise didn't want to bring further trouble to Clarissa's door. Sighing, she moved toward her friend.

"All right, I'll see him in the garden. That way, you can bring him around the side of the house, and he doesn't have to go in."

"Are you sure?"

"But don't leave me alone with him," Louise warned. "I want more than one person watching us. There is no chance I want to speak in private with him."

Clarissa nodded.

"That's a given. I wasn't going to leave you alone with him, anyway."

"We'll come with you." Lara got to her feet, Lucy jumping up with her. "We won't leave you alone."

Louise frowned at her.

"You two have got more than enough problems without getting involved with mine."

"But after hearing about this gentleman and what he's been up to, I think it's only wise that you have more than one witness." Lara lifted her chin and gave Louise a defiant look. "I'm in need of something to distract myself from having to tell my father that our aunt is poisoning and trying to kill my uncle."

Clarissa's eyes widened. Louise sighed.

"It's a long story. Just get Mansfield into the back garden. And, for goodness sake, don't let me out of your sight."