Larken spat on the floor. “I don’t know.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Dane asked.
“Just what I said. It was all done anonymously through messages. I’ve never met the man that paid me to blackmail your brother. You bruisers can beat me as much as you like, but I don’t have a name to cough up.”
Warburton studied his face. “I think he’s telling the truth.”
“I don’t even know what Rydell did that was so bad. I was only told that he did something criminal and that was all I needed to know. And this one”—he jerked his head in Dane’s direction—“doesn’t have anything more to worry about. I haven’t been paid in weeks now, have I.”
“That’s why you haven’t threatened me again.”
“Not going to do the dirty work if I don’t get paid.”
“If the man who hired you contacts you again, you’re to let me know, do you hear me?” Dane asked.
“What’s in it for me?”
“You keep breathing another day,” Osborne said. “My brother compiled a lengthy list of your petty crimes, and if you so much as look at Lord Dane again, we’ll have you arrested and you’ll be staring at the walls of Newgate if you aren’t hanging by a noose.”
“All right, all right, your lordships. I know when to keep my head down. Let me out of these ropes and I’ll be on my merry way.”
“One more question,” Dane said. “Was it the man who hired you that fixed the prizefight?”
“That weren’t him. It was a mate of mine. Like I said, we haven’t been paid so that was something of my own initiative. Quite lucrative, what? Your friends were happy.”
Osborne untied him and pulled him to his feet, none too gently. “Be on your way, Larken, before I change my mind and have you arrested.”
Larken slunk from the room, accompanied by Osborne’s manservant.
“One threat has been removed,” Warburton said. “But we still don’t know who was behind it and what he knew about your brother.”
“I think my brother was stealing from the charities he purported to help. My investigating with Miss Oliver turned up a fictitious charity, and we have at least two reports of legitimate charitable concerns that were promised funds and received only a pittance or nothing.”
“The person with the incriminating information on your brother could be affiliated with one of the charities that never received the funds,” Osborne said. “Someone who found out what he was up to and decided to squeeze him for cash. Give Patrick that list of charities before you go.”
“It’s all in a pamphlet that will be distributed at the charity ball. I’ll have one delivered to you today.”
“It’s possible that the person who hired theblackmailers realizes that there’s no more profit to be made and has given up. Maybe they got wind of my involvement,” Osborne said. “I don’t mean to brag, but I’m a strong deterrent.”
Warburton shrugged. “Possible but unlikely.”
“Thank you, Osborne.” Dane collected his hat and gloves. “It’s good to know that I don’t need to worry about a knife held to my throat anymore.”
“My pleasure. We’ll find the person behind this, don’t worry.”
“I think it’s someone who hated my brother enough to ruin him if it came down to it. And he probably hates me as well.”
“It’s me she hates not you,” Ruby said later that afternoon when Sandrine visited her to tell her about her mother’s visit. “She shouldn’t have tried to force you to make a choice between us.”
“She only loves me if I follow her rules.”
“I don’t think that’s true.” Ruby placed a canvas over the painting she’d been working on and rose from her stool. “She loves you dearly. Give her time.”
“I’m beginning to think that sometimes loving someone isn’t enough.” Sandrine walked along the gallery until she came to the portrait of Dane. “I love this man, but he’s unwilling to admit the same. He thinks that love displays weakness. That if he gives me his heart he’s handing me the power to hurt him. He only announced our engagement to save me from Mr. Pilkington’s scorn.”
“Lord Dane doesn’t do anything he doesn’twant to do. I think deep down he loves you, but he’s afraid to admit it. He might surprise you yet. And if you’ve been intimate, he’ll do the honorable thing. Have you been... intimate?”
“I still have my virtue, if that’s what you’re asking.”