“But he may not have believed you,” Miss Williams breathed, a slow dawning of understanding now evident on her features. “And so he attempted to ensure that, regardless of what you said or what Lord Fitzherbert wanted, I would already have an offer of courtship.”
“Which, in turn, would lead to matrimony,” Lord Templeton agreed, with a jab of one finger in Matthew’s direction. “It is all quite clear, is it not? Lord Stevenson is attempting to protect Miss Williams – a lady he does not know particularly well at all – from Lord Fitzherbert.”
Another memory sounded in Matthew’s memory, and he turned sharply towards Miss Williams. “When I mentioned off-handedly that you might have an interest in Lord Fitzherbert, Lord Stevenson made specific mention of your father,” he said softly, seeing how Miss Williams’ eyes widened. “He said something akin to ‘the daughter of the late Lord Harrogate has an interest in Lord Fitzherbert?’ as though it was something that ought not to be.”
“But there is no reason for it not to be so,” Miss Williams whispered, one hand now pressed against her heart and her cheeks rather pale, “unless Lord Fitzherbert is the man involved in my father’s death.”
Matthew watched her closely, feeling a coldness wash over him as he nodded. He could not imagine what Miss Williams must be feeling at this present moment, now knowing what they did. The horror of it, as well as the feelings of relief, anger, and pain must be torturous. Her head bent over her clasped hands, her knuckles white and her eyes closed tightly.
“There may be another explanation,” Lord Templeton murmured, “although I feel it is less likely.”
Reluctantly, Matthew turned his gaze from Miss Williams and looked at Lord Templeton. “Oh?”
“Lord Stevenson might be afraid that Lord Fitzherbert will say something about what occurred to Lord Harrogate,” Lord Templeton suggested, spreading his hands. “What if they were both involved and one is afraid of what the other might reveal? Lord Fitzherbert is loud, brash, and certainly not a secretive sort. Might Lord Stevenson be afraid of what Lord Fitzherbert would reveal to Miss Williams?”
Matthew closed his eyes, feeling his satisfaction in having reached what had felt like a conclusion now beginning to be snatched away. “There is that to consider, I suppose,” he admitted, a tad angrily as his frustration began to rise. “That means, then, that there is nothing we can do. No path that we can follow. No one that we can speak to. We simply continue on as before.”
“No.”
The cold, hard voice of Miss Williams broke through Matthew’s agonized thoughts and made both himself and Lord Templeton turn towards her.
“No, we do not continue on as before,” Miss Williams said firmly. “We need to speak to Lord Stevenson.”
Matthew stared at her, aghast. “We cannot!” he exclaimed, as Lord Templeton shook his head fervently. “To do so would be to reveal our true cause in acquainting ourselves with him. We would lose every advantage.”
Miss Williams turned to him, her face set. “But what if we are to gain an advantage?” she asked, a trifle coolly still. “If you believe that Lord Stevenson may be trying to protect me from Lord Fitzherbert, then if we speak to him of what we suspect, then we may find an ally. And,” she continued sharply, holding up one hand in Matthew’s direction so as to prevent him from interrupting her, “if we discover that he is, in fact, involved in the death of my father, then we have the man we are looking for.”
Opening his mouth to interrupt, Matthew tried to find an immediate response that would find a flaw in this plan, but much to his dismay, he could not.
She was right.
“We would have to set up the situation in a very careful manner,” Lord Templeton said, making Matthew realize that he, too, was now finding it very difficult to find any sort of flaw in what Miss Williams had suggested. “We cannot speak to Lord Stevenson about such a thing without ensuring that you are protected, Miss Williams.”
Matthew rounded on Lord Templeton at once. “You cannot think that Miss Williams should be the one to speak to Lord Stevenson!” he exclaimed, throwing his hands up. “That is—”
“Of course I can speak to him!” Miss Williams protested, getting to her feet as Matthew turned back to face her. “Why should I not? I have been involved with this investigation, and I feel as though I have done very little indeed thus far!”
“You have done a very great deal, Miss Williams,” Lord Templeton said, in a most reassuring manner. “More than you might think. If you had not drawn close to Lord Fitzherbert, then Lord Stevenson would not have acted as he has done.” He smiled at her, but Matthew remained quite ill at ease. This was not at all what he wanted. Lord Stevenson could very easily turn on Miss Williams when she began talking of what she knew.
“I will be quite all right,” Miss Williams said firmly, coming closer to Matthew and looking at him with those piercing green eyes that had so often lingered in his memory. “It is as Lord Templeton says. If it is set up correctly, then there will be nothing to fear. You will be present, will you not?” She was standing very close to him now, her expression open and her eyes fixed upon his. There was no sense of anger about her now, but rather a gentle reassurance that she wanted to pass on to him. The worry he felt began to fade away, even the very room wh
ere he was standing began to fade, leaving him standing alone in the shadows with only one light lingering before him. Miss Williams. Daisy. He wanted to draw nearer to her, to pull her towards him and to promise that he would always do his best to protect her.
“Of course I will be present,” he said huskily, as she put one hand out towards his, her fingers touching his and sending sparks flurrying up towards his heart. “I would never allow you to be there alone.”
She smiled at him then, her face lighting up with a contentment that he wanted to keep. “Then I have nothing to fear,” she answered, making him feel as though she had managed to trap him by his own words. “The League will be there with me. You will be there with me. And either we will find the person responsible for the death of my father – and the League will take him and bring about the justice required – or he will tell us more about Lord Fitzherbert and what role he played in the events of two years ago.” When she spoke to him in such practical terms, Matthew knew he could not easily turn her from her plan. As much as he wanted her to stay away from it all, to remain uninvolved and, therefore, safe—Miss Williams was not about to do so. She was singularly determined – and he could not blame her for being so.
“Lord Watt?”
Her voice was so quiet that it barely reached his ears. Seeing how she watched him, how she waited for him to respond, Matthew sighed heavily and dropped his head. “I will make the arrangements,” he said quietly. “But you will have to ensure that you do everything that I ask of you, Miss Williams. For the sake of your safety.” Lifting his head, he allowed his eyes to find hers again and saw that she was smiling again. There was such a beauty about her that it took his breath away and made him want to cling to her and tell her that even in the midst of all of this, he wanted to be close to her.
“Thank you,” she murmured, her fingers pressing his again. He allowed his hand to press hers in return and saw the flickering in her eyes.
“Then, if we are to go ahead with such an arrangement, might I suggest a dinner party?”
Miss Williams dropped Matthew’s hand as he turned his head to see Lord Templeton looking at them both with a small smile on his face.
“A dinner party?” Matthew repeated. “You mean, as the cover for our interrogation of Lord Stevenson?”