The comment whipped Mr Smith into a panic. “It all started the night your brother came to the office, miss,” he gabbled.
“My brother went to see Mr Hemming?”
“We were working late, until the early hours. Mr Dunn arrived in a terrible state. Blood oozed from a cut above his eye, and it looked like his nose was broken.”
“No doubt from the beating he’d had off Benham,” Noah said.
“Or from the Turners’ men,” Mr Cole added.
“He’d come to see if he could borrow money. That’s when he told Mr Hemming about his troubles. That’s when they came up with their cruel plan.”
Cruel plan?
For a moment, Eva’s world stopped spinning.
A sudden bout of nausea made her want to heave.
What had she done to deserve such vile treatment?
“What sort of pl—” Her voice broke on the last word.
Noah placed his hand at the small of her back. The comforting gesture gave her the confidence to continue.
“What sort of plan?” she repeated.
The clerk glanced warily at the group of men surrounding him. “Mr H-Hemming would keep your brother safe from the vicious thugs who were after him and get you to withdraw money from the bank to help pay his debts.”
Oh, the sly scoundrels!
“And what would Mr Hemming get in return?” she said, though it seemed fairly obvious now.
“Mr Dunn gave his permission for you to wed Mr H-Hemming and agreed to put an announcement in The Times.”
Eva snorted. “My brother does not decide who I marry.”
“Once you were wed, and Mr Hemming had control, he promised to settle your brother’s debts in full. In the meantime, they arranged to frighten you into submission. The plan was you’d come running to Mr H-Hemming, desperate for his help.”
What had once seemed like the worst of storms, terrifying and impossible to navigate, now appeared as nothing more than a light shower. Two pathetic individuals, two weak men who hadn’t an ounce of common sense between them, had sought to use her for their own gain.
“When you say frighten me, I assume they arranged for Kathleen to steal my shoes and boots.” Lord, that meant they had hired the monster to attack her in the street.
“They read about the murder of your cobbler and had the idea. Mr Dunn said he could get the maid to do his bidding.”
Eva fell silent, consumed by the depth of their deception.
So, the night she had turned to Mr Hemming for help—the night he touched her inappropriately—he was already plotting and scheming with her brother.
Noah cleared his throat. “That doesn’t explain why you’ve come to claim the bounty. Nor does it explain why Mr Hemming has no notion you’re here.”
“Because Smith wrote the second note without their knowledge,” Mr Daventry surmised. “He was going to take the money and run.”
“I had no choice.” The clerk was overcome with panic again. “Mr Hemming has lost his mind, Miss Dunn. It all started the day you came to the office with Mr Ashwood. And he’s not been right since.”
She should have known Mr Hemming would seek revenge. “Mr Hemming lost control of his faculties long ago,” she said.
“Not like this, miss. Mr Hemming was in a devil of a temper. He wanted your brother to help kidnap you and force you into marriage, but Mr Dunn refused when he heard you were betrothed to Mr Ashwood.”
Was it too much to hope that Howard cared, that he sought her happiness? Of course it was! She was not that naive. “Probably because he thought Mr Ashwood the better option when it comes to borrowing funds.”