Page 71 of Married to the Earl

“Mr. Tobias Dawson to see you, Lady Middleborough,” he announced, directing her father into the room.

“Thank you, DuBois,” Astrid said. “Father, please, won’t you sit down?”

Tobias turned in a slow circle, taking in the room around him. “This really is a lovely home you have,” he said. “I must admit, I’m impressed by how comfortable you seem here, Astrid. It’s good to see you doing well.”

Astrid nodded. “I’ll be doing much better once my husband is released,” she said. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to get right to business. Every moment wasted is another moment Lord Middleborough spends alone in a cell.”

Tobias nodded. “I quite agree.” He sat down in the chair that would ordinarily have belonged to Conor.

Astrid felt her throat constrict. It felt wrong to have anyone else sitting in Conor’s chair, even her own father.But he doesn’t know, she reminded herself.It’s only a chair. It’s not as if it matters. You’re just upset because you miss him and wish he would come home.

So she sat down in her own seat and forced herself to be still. “I’ve been thinking about the information you gave me since last night,” she said. “And the only think that I can think for us to do is to confront Killian O’Flannagan directly.”

Tobias frowned. “I’ve thought on that too, daughter,” he said. “I think it makes much more sense for us to send him a letter.”

Well, they were off to an inauspicious start. “Why would that be better?” Astrid asked her father.

“The main advantage is that it allows us to preserve our anonymity,” Tobias said.

“But how is that helpful?” Astrid demanded. “We can’t remain anonymous if we’re going to demand something in return for not going to the police with what we know.”

“I believe we can, actually,” Tobias said.

“I don’t see how.”

“We simply tell O’Flannagan in the letter that he must come forward with the true identity of Lord Hayward’s killer,” Tobias said. “We let him know that if he doesn’t comply within a set amount of time—a week, perhaps—then we’ll take the information we have about his business dealings to the police.”

Astrid shook her head. “Father. You can’t be serious. You must see why that isn’t going to work.”

“I see no problem with the plan,” her father said stubbornly.

“Well, I do,” Astrid said. “It’s going to be obvious that we were the ones behind it. Who would benefit from Conor going free? Me. Nobody else in town is likely to care very much about his well-being. O’Flannagan isn’t a stupid man, he knows I’ve got the biggest stake in it.”

“I fail to see how he could think you were involved,” Tobias said. “You’re just a girl.”

“Butyou’renot. And everyone knows how much you care for me, how much you would do to make me happy. Don’t you see how neatly it all fits together? My husband is arrested, and hardly a few days later, information surfaces about a financial crime that Killian O’Flannagan has committed. Who else could be involved in uncovering that information but my father, the solicitor?”

Tobias paled slightly. “I see what you mean,” he admitted. “Perhaps we should take some time and think about this before we act.”

“I don’t think we need to,” Astrid said. “I’ve got another plan.”

“Yes,” Tobias said. “You mentioned that you thought it would be a good idea to confront him directly. But I have to say, I don’t think that’s a very good idea at all, Astrid.”

“He’s going to know it’s us if we take any action at all, Father.”

“Maybe not.”

“He is. And I refuse to sit by and do nothing while my husband is in jail for a crime he didn’t commit.”

Tobias leaned forward in his chair. “Astrid,” he said. “Perhaps you don’t understand what a dangerous proposition this really is. You’re talking about confronting a volatile and dangerous man. Not just confronting him but threatening him.”

“Yes, I am,” Astrid said firmly. “I have to let him know what will happen if he doesn’t cooperate. We’re planning on asking him to give information against someone else, likely a close friend or associate of his. There’s no way he’ll tell us what we want to know unless we make it clear that his livelihood is at stake if he doesn’t.”

“You’re not thinking,” Tobias insisted. “He won’t give you what you want. When a man like O’Flannagan feels cornered, he doesn’t make rational decisions. He lashes out.”

“What makes you say that, Father?” Astrid said coldly. “Is it because that’s whatyoudid when you felt cornered? You lashed out by stealing from Conor, and then by promising him my hand in marriage?”

“That’s exactly right,” Tobias said. “That’s exactly what I did. In many ways, Astrid, I am no better than this Killian O’Flannagan. I’ll protect my own people and my own business at almost any cost. And because that’s the way I am, I can well predict what he will do when he’s confronted with this information.”

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