Page 63 of The Curious Life of the Unfortunate Duchess
“What is this?” the young man demanded, his eyes falling to the page. His face paled in shock and then relief.
“Sheisalive!”
“Indeed,” Leonard confirmed, grateful that David had not reacted as his father had.
The boy may have better sense than Lord Gordon.
“It matters not!” Percival said again. “We haven’t the funds for her release.”
“But he must!” David cried, pointing toward Leonard. “You do, do you not?”
Leonard pursed his lips together, considering how he would accumulate such a sum in a pressing time frame.
“Well? Do you or do you not?”
“David, that is quite enough! It is not the Duke’s duty to pay this atrocious amount. Perhaps there is a way I can meet and explain to them that I haven’t the money…”
“Why is it not his duty, too?” David demanded. “The letter is addressed to you both! Anyone with eyes can see how he feels about Liza. Perhaps that was why she was targeted at all!”
Leonard reached for the page again and turned it over. As David had said, it was, indeed, addressed to both him and the Viscount. The realization made his blood run cold for he had not seen it before but suddenly it was very clear.
Whoever has Elizabeth knows of my affection for her. Why else would the ransom letter come here unless Elizabeth herself told them where to send it? Why would it be addressed to me, as well as her father?
Leonard could not reconcile that Elizabeth would volunteer personal information about herself to her captors. She was much too shrewd.
This was no random kidnapping by highwaymen. She was taken by someone who knows this household and knows it well.
A chill coursed through him as he thought about the list of suspects. The house staffed three hundred servants, many of whom were in contact with himself or Elizabeth daily.
“Beatrice!” he yelled as heat surged through him. At once she appeared.
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“Bring my sister to me immediately.”
“At once, Your Grace.”
When she disappeared from the study, David did not miss one beat and he spun back to confront Leonard.
“You have not answered the question,” David said pointedly. “Have you the funds for her release?”
“I do,” Leonard conceded. “And I will have them readied at once.”
David’s face melted into the expression of gratitude Leonard expected to see but he only nodded without speaking.
“Duke, you need not make such a grand gesture,” Percival called. “She is my daughter and I will find a way—”
“Gesture? It is not a token of his adoration for Elizabeth, Father! This money ensures her life!”
“We cannot know that for certain. I will find a way—” Percival tried to say again but David had turned his wrath onto the Viscount.
“How, Father?” David demanded. “How will you find a way? Will you beg them? Strike a business deal, perhaps? They have set their demands and Liza’s life is at stake! There is no other way! For God’s sake, why are you fighting him?”
Percival looked helplessly from his son to the Duke.
“I will repay you every cent,” he vowed.
“Nonsense,” Leonard barked. “It is not a loan. It is insurance.”
