“I’m afraid that won’t be possible.” Elliot strode over to the crude wooden chair in the corner of the room and moved it to the other side of the tub. Flicking out the tails of his coat, he sat down and continued to admire the view. “Not until you’ve told us everything you know.”
“Know? About what?”
Despite feeling like a randy schoolboy peeping on his maid, Alexander stepped closer. “Sutherby’s left. He isn’t coming back.”
When she shot up and swung around with a gasp, Elliot sucked in a breath. “You appear to be suffering from the cold. Shall I heat more water?”
She ducked down again. “What do you mean, he’s not coming back?”
Alexander gritted his teeth. “We’ve not come here to answer your questions.”
“Sorry to be the bearer of bad news,” Elliot said crossing his legs out in front of him. “But your gentleman friend has kidnapped Miss Bromwell.”
Her gazed darted back and forth between them. “Kidnapped her? With what? A hawker’s barrow.” Clutching her arms to her chest, she turned to Elliot and wiggled her fingers at the armoire. “Hand me my wrapper.”
“In a moment.” A lascivious grin played at the corners of Elliot’s mouth. “You’ll get your wrapper when you’ve told us what we need to know … Julia.”
She gasped, her eyes wide and fearful. “How … how do you know?”
“We’re wasting time,” Alexander said, suppressing the feeling of hopelessness. As the minutes ticked by, Evelyn slipped further and further away from him. If he lost her, he’d have nothing left. He marched over to the tub, ignoring Miss Sutherby’s state of undress. “Where the hell has he taken her?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. I don’t know what you’re talking about?”
“Sutherby, or Henry or whatever his blasted name is, has tricked Miss Bromwell into thinking she was meeting me. She climbed into a carriage with him at three and has not been seen since.”
Her face turned pale, ashen and her bottom lip almost hit the water. After a brief moment of silence, her wide eyes narrowed, and she jumped up from her bath like Poseidon charging out of the sea.
With no thought to her modesty, she thrust her hands on her hips. “Why, the blackguard … the rogue … the sneaky little … ugh! If he means to cut me out, I’ll … I’ll … ugh.”
“Cut you out of what?” Alexander boomed.
“Out of the inheritance.” She stepped out of the water, grabbed her wrapper and began pacing as she thrust her arms into the sleeves. Alexander could have sworn he heard Elliot sigh. “He told me he would go and see Miss Bromwell, to smooth things over after his pathetic display in Lady Westbury’s garden. I assumed it had gone well, and he’d stayed for dinner. Why, the little weasel.”
Alexander’s blood raged through his veins. He wanted to grab her, shake the life from her, punish her for the part she’d played in this dastardly charade.
“There is no inheritance,” he said, his words full of contempt. “You have made a mistake.”
She stopped pacing and turned to face him, a frown marring her brow. “But that’s impossible. Mr. Smythe said she was to inherit the sum of five thousand upon marriage, plus a monthly allowance from her father’s estate.”
“Mr. Smythe?” Elliot asked.
“The solicitor we … Henry paid for access to the files. He said her father was a wealthy plantation owner and sugar merchant.”
While Alexander struggled to keep his hands at his sides, Elliot burst into fits of laughter.
“I hardly think this is a time for joviality,” Alexander said. Murder was the only thought on his mind.
It took Elliot a moment to catch his breath. “I don’t believe it,” he said, putting his hand to his chest before dabbing at the corners of his eyes. “The lady you’re talking about is Miss Bordwell.”
Miss Sutherby looked aghast. “Miss Bordwell? You mean the dumpling of a girl with the turned up nose?”
Elliot sucked in a breath. “Someone must have … must have made an error at the solicitor’s office.”
Miss Sutherby turned to Alexander. “You mean Miss Bromwell is not an heiress?”
“No, she’s not. Now tell me where the hell Sutherby has taken her so I can wring his blasted neck.”
“So that means Henry is going to marry Miss Bromwell for nothing.” Miss Sutherby looked delighted and even clapped her hands. “Serves the devil right.”