Chapter Nineteen
“Mother, stop.” Harriethad hated watching her mother rush around the house for the last hour, trying to determine what they could sell to raise the money Henderson wanted.
Now they stood in her mother’s bedroom as she opened the drawers of her jewelry box to pull out anything of value.
“If we look harder, we might be able to find enough to sell and raise the money.” Her mother’s frantic movements made Harriet nauseous.
No. That wasn’t true. Henderson’s thinly veiled threat had done that. Her own panic had calmed, but her mother’s had increased.
“Mother, this isn’t the answer.” She walked toward her slowly, her mother’s fright tearing at her.
“I think we might have enough. There are the pearls your father gave me on our wedding day.” Her breath hitched with the words. “I’m certain those are worth a significant amount.”
Harriet reached to stop her mother before she picked up the pearls. “No. We’re not selling those or anything else. Not for Henderson.”
“But you heard him. He’ll keep asking questions until Arnold’s friends realize they have questions as well.”
“If we give him money now, he’ll only ask for more later.” Harriet was certain of it.
“He’s a reverend. Surely not.” Yet the concern seemed to take hold for worry deepened the lines around her eyes and mouth.
“He is attempting to blackmail us. I don’t think we can trust him not to want more.”
“Oh, dear.” Tears ran down her mother’s cheeks. “What are we going to do?”
“Shh.” Harriet held her tight. “The servants might hear.”
She worried about what the staff had thought while her mother frantically looked through several rooms.
“You’re right,” her mother agreed. “But what can we do?”
Harriet drew back to look into her eyes. “He doesn’t know anything. Nor can he prove anything. We aren’t paying him a shilling.”
They didn’t have money to spare. Not that amount. But that wasn’t the point. Henderson wouldn’t stop if they gave in to his threat. Harriet knew it, though she couldn’t say why.
“How could a reverend do something like this?”
Harriet had the same question. “I don’t know, but we will carry on as before. If he returns with more questions, we’ll refuse to see him.”