Page 31 of Snowbound with the Scoundrel
He did not sound like an attractive candidate to be either a bishop or Clarissa’s future husband.
But she bit her tart tongue for once in her life and said, “I had not realized it was so difficult for men of good family to find a decent living these days.”
The duchess shook her head.“It didn’t used to be this way.But in the past few years, there has been this furor that appointments should be made based onmerit”—she said this last word in the same tone one might use for the worddepravity—“and family connections are no longer worth so much as a farthing.”
Clarissa very much doubted that was the case, but again, she made sympathetic sounds.“I do believe I read something about the movement you’re describing.Did it not originate in political circles?”
“It did,” the duchess confirmed.“It all started with Lord Liverpool, if you can countenance it.But several young whippersnappers in the House of Commons have turned it into an initiative, and now only three of my sons have any sort of living at all—and one of those ‘livings’ is a rectory with an income of just five hundred a year—notenough to live on in anything resembling a decent style.It will be even worse in five years when the last three are out of school.”The duchess shook her head woefully.“It is quite a drain on the ducal estate to have to support them all.”
Clarissa leaned in, dropping her voice low.“I might be misremembering, but isn’t one of those young whippersnappers to whom you referred a guest at this very house party?”
She watched the duchess carefully, looking for any sign that the question made her uncomfortable.
Her expression was one of wounded dignity, but she did not hesitate to reply.“He is.Mr.Oliver Baxter.He is perhaps the most dreadful one of all.I would be quite put out with Lady Helmsley for having invited him, except I know he is married to her niece, and obviously, I cannot expect her to do without Rosalind at Christmastime.”She retrieved her handkerchief and dabbed theatrically at her forehead.“Oh, but I can scarcely bear the sight of that dreadful man!Do you know what I did?”
“What?”Clarissa asked eagerly, although surely the duchess was not about to disclose that she tried to kill him by pushing a stone off the roof.
“I heard him mention that mincemeat pies were his absolute favorite.I happened to be seated near him yesterday at teatime, and the servants came around to our table last.There were three mince pies on the platter.I asked the footman if there were any more, and he said this was the last of them.”The duchess lifted her chin, eyes gleaming.“I looked him square in the face as I took all three!That showed him, don’t you think?”
“It certainly did!”Clarissa cried.
The duchess prattled on for the rest of the afternoon, sharing her opinions, asked for or not, on topics ranging from the latest fashions to parliamentary reform.
Clarissa didn’tthinkshe seemed like a murderess.If she had designs on Oliver Baxter’s life, wouldn’t she have taken more pains to conceal her disdain for the man?
Unless she was lying.Clarissa didn’t think she was, but it was so hard to be sure!She was still so new at this.How she wished Lady Winnifred was here, or the additional agent Sir Henry had promised was en route.She could use an experienced agent to confer with.
She had been turning the matter over in her mind, trying to determine if her fellow agent might already be in residence.It seemed likely that Sir Henry would have told them to look for Lady Winnifred, rather than herself.That would explain why no one had approached her.
The only possibility she had been able to come up with was almost too absurd to contemplate.But it seemed a bit odd that Rupert Dupree had insisted on accompanying her onto the roof when she went in search of the assassin.She could not help but observe that, while he was usually everything that was accommodating, in that instance, he had been mulishly determined to go with her.
It was a ridiculous notion.Really, Rupert Dupree!
And yet, Sir Henry had said that the man he would send had been on a lengthy assignment on the Continent.And Rupert Dupree had just returned from Switzerland.Sir Henry had also said that he would have this agent on the first carriage north.Had Rupert not told her that he had come straight through from London?
Sir Henry’s words from their solitary face-to-face meeting echoed in her head.The ideal spy is the last person anyone would ever suspect.
Clarissa had to own that by this standard, Rupert might be the best spy in the world.
In a strange way, it fit.Still, she was unsure, and it seemed too risky to come straight out and ask him.For now, Clarissa would just have to wonder.
After another hour, the gathering concluded, and Clarissa headed up to her room, head aswirl with contradictory thoughts, feeling no closer to solving this case than she had on the day she’d begun.
Chapter14
The following morning, after selecting two pieces of toast and a soft-boiled egg, Clarissa found a seat at the breakfast table, opened theLeeds Intelligencer, and was startled to see her own name on the front page.
RUPERT DUPREE THREATENS LEGAL ACTION, read the headline.The subheading continued,CLAIMS HE IS NOT AUTHOR OF LETTER ABOUT CLARISSA WEATHERBY.
Her breakfast forgotten, Clarissa lifted the paper with trembling fingers.
The Leeds Intelligencer received a letter from Mr.Rupert Dupree via his solicitor, Mr.Lawrence de Roos, claiming that he was not the author of the letter published in this paper two years ago, outlining his reasons for rejecting a proposed union between himself and Miss Clarissa Weatherby.Mr.Dupree stated that he was entirely unaware of this letter’s existence until a few days ago, as he has been traveling on the Continent.He has demanded to know how this letter came to be published in the Intelligencer and other prominent newspapers under his name and has threatened to sue for defamation.
The Intelligencer is cooperating with Mr.Dupree’s request for information and is reviewing the circumstances under which the letter came to be published.
“The most disturbing aspect,” Mr.de Roos writes on Mr.Dupree’s behalf, “is the damage done to Miss Weatherby’s reputation as a result of the Intelligencer’s despicable dearth of journalistic standards.Mr.Dupree holds Clarissa Weatherby and all of her sisters in the highest regard, and he is disgusted that such slanderous remarks have been attributed to his name.He will not rest until those responsible have been brought to justice.”
It is our understanding that a similar letter has been sent to every paper that printed the letter attributed to Mr.Dupree.This is an ongoing case, and the Intelligencer will continue to provide updates as our investigation unfolds.
