Page 99 of The Pleasures of Passion
“With counterfeit notes.”
Fulkham frowned. “We can’t prove that. Sir Oswald is the only one passing them along so far, so only he can be charged with a crime.”
Niall had expected this. “I know in my bones that Payne is guilty. What if I can guarantee that there’s proof in Sir Oswald’s house of Payne’s involvement? Would that be enough to search it?”
Fulkham eyed him suspiciously. “Can you?”
“Not half an hour ago, Payne coerced Bree into jilting me. After he thought I was gone, he carried her off to her father’s house. He wants her there forsomereason. And given that he’s been framing her father for the counterfeiting, it’s conceivable that he needs her help for that.”
“How?” Fulkham scoffed.
“I don’t know, but why else make her go with him? For that matter, why make her jilt me at all?”
“Unless he didn’t make her. Perhaps she just jilted you all on her own, because she’s had it with our machinations. Perhaps the fact that her uncle was visiting had nothing at all to do with why she jilted you. For all we know, her deep love for her uncle made her rethink her willingness to help get her father arrested.”
“Oh?” Niall crossed his arms over his chest. “Then why did she give my incessant gambling as her reason for jilting me, instead of our more personal issues? Payne was coaching her on what to say—that much Iamsure of.”
Niall hardened his tone. “And now he has her in his power, for no apparent reason other than something criminal. So if youdon’tgo in there now with constables and officers to search the place,I’mgoing to go there myself, if only to make certain she’s all right. Which will probably ruin your investigation and make it impossible to charge the real culprit. Is that what you want?”
Fulkham leaned back to assess him. “If you do that, I can have you jailed for interfering with a criminal investigation.”
“I don’t care. If I lose her because her uncle does something to hurt her or her father, I might as well be in gaol.” His heart twisting in his chest, he gazed out the window. “As it turns out, you were right—the course of true love never does run smooth. But it’s the only course worth running. So if I lose the race before I even finish the course, nothing you can do to me will compare to the hell my life will be from now on without her.”
That seemed to take Fulkham aback. “She means that much to you.”
“And more.” He released a shaky breath. “I lost her once. I can’t lose her again.”
“You do realize that if we go in there with all the power of the magistrate’s office and we find nothing, we’ve squandered our chance to capture the bastard.”
Niall fixed him with a fierce look. “Have I ever let you down before? Sent you on any wild-goose chases? Given you bad information?”
Fulkham rubbed his temples, then let out a vile oath. “No, but you can be a bloody pain in the arse sometimes.”
“I learned that from a master,” Niall quipped.
“Fine,” Fulkham grumbled. “But it will take me an hour or two to get my men together. Are you comfortable with that?”
Now that he’d convinced Fulkham, he was comfortable with anything. “Don’t worry. I have a trick up my sleeve, in the form of a very annoying female. Payne won’t be going anywhere for a while—even if he wants to.”
Twenty-Two
Brilliana and her uncle sat in the upstairs parlor at Papa’s house, which no one seemed to use anymore, judging from the thick layer of dust on the mantel and the lack of coal in the grate.
Now that she’d had a chance to examine more closely the paper Uncle Toby wanted her to copy, she thought it was a French bill of exchange. She couldn’t be sure, but it certainly looked like the English ones she’d dealt with in running Camden Hall.
How stupid did he think she was, assuming that she’d believed his absurd story about the document’s exonerating Papa? That was downright insulting. Clearly, he wanted the name and some numbers changed so he could turn a legitimate bill of exchange belonging to someone else into onehecould gain cash with.
“Niece, this is taking an inordinate amount of time,” he complained as he peered over her shoulder.
“Do you want it to look right or not?”
She needed to get him away from her. If she could alter her copy in a spot thatdidn’ttypically change, then if she was accused of anything later, she could point to her deliberate error to prove that she hadn’t had any fraudulent intent. It had to be subtle enough to escape his detection, but clear enough that a bank would notice it.
Perhaps a change to the fancy artwork at the top—would he notice that?
“Would you please stop looking over my shoulder?” she complained. “I can’t work with you making me so dreadfully nervous.”
“Fine,” he muttered, and rose to go look out the window.
