Vexing the Viscount

Constance’s eyes widened as if in panic. “Mr. Adams?”

“Yes, my lady.” The butler continued on with Adams following on his heels.

“Are you all right, Lady Bunworth? You look quite peaked.” Tia felt a pang of concern for the woman.

“Do you know of Mr. Adams?”

“No, is he someone of importance?” Tia asked, wondering how the lady knew of him. There was only one way that made sense. And that changed her tactics.

She shook her head. “No, he is not important at all.” She sat in the chair across from Tia. “Why exactly are you here, Miss Featherstone? I doubt you came all this way just to give me your condolences when a simple note would have sufficed. I suppose you came here to beg me for money?”

Tia smiled at the bitter woman. “Why would I have a need for that? Oh, I am dreadfully sorry. You must not have heard that Middleton changed his will. Since I was to be his wife, I am the sole beneficiary to his fortune. Of course, the estate will go to the next heir, but Middleton confessed to me that the estate was doing poorly.”

“I beg your pardon?” Constance rose from her seat and glared down at her. “He left his fortune to you, not the next viscount?”

“Yes, Lady Bunworth. Apparently, we both received what we wanted. Me, the money. And you, the title. That was what you were after, wasn’t it?”

Chapter 27

Tia wondered how long it would take to get a reaction from the woman. She had barely counted to ten before Constance’s ire exploded.

“How dare you enter my home and treat me so disrespectfully!”

Tia tapped her lip with her finger. “Oh my, did I get that wrong? Were you after his money too?”

“Get out of my home.”

“Do calm down, my lady. I only speak the truth. I would hazard a bet that if I searched this home, I would even find a certain maid still in your employ. It was truly brilliant to keep Mary at your brother’s house, should you need her to use a poison on him.”

Constance raised a brow at her. “And yet you saved Middleton from poisoning. Why?”

Ah, curiosity. It might just be the lady’s downfall. “I had no choice. We were not betrothed yet. I needed him to commit to marriage to get him to change his will. But saving his life did bring us closer . . . much closer.”

Constance sat back in her seat. “I never expected you to be so ruthless, Miss Featherstone. But I had no part in the fire. That was all God’s doing. Unless you had some part in it?”

“No, my lady. I was visiting with my mother in the Midlands.”

“That’s not to say you couldn’t hire someone to start a fire.”

Tia leaned forward with a smile. “Is that what you did?”

“I have no idea what you are talking about, Miss Featherstone,” she said with a slight laugh.

The woman was evil. Tia had no way of finding out if she truly had been trying to kill them. “I did feel bad about Mr. Jonathon Tavers and your brother being with Middleton. I hadn’t expected that.”

“But how did you realize I was next in line?”

Tia smiled again as she pulled the book out. “This book. I had started to read it one day to ease the stifling boredom of Middleton’s attentions. It has several interesting facts.”

“I read the book and that is how I determined I was in line for the title.”

“And you wanted the title, didn’t you?”

Constance leaned forward. “Wouldn’t you? I’ll bet you would have married the bastard for it. Just like your sister married for one.”

“No, my lady. It was purely the money.”

“Hah! You loved being in Society until Middleton turned you into his mistress.”