Page 60 of An Affair at Stonecliffe

“I’m sorry, Mother.” Adeline smiled tightly.

“Grandmother, it’s your favorite chair,” Annabeth reminded her, helping the old woman ease down into the seat.

“I know it’s my favorite chair. Only one that’s comfortable.” She cast a disapproving look around at the rest of the furniture.

“And the chair is more comfortable with your feet on the footstool,” Annabeth went on.

“Of course it is,” Lady Lockwood agreed. “Chair’s too high—made for Thomas, no doubt. I always held that he was too tall.” She glanced around. “What have you done with the dog? Petunia? Ah, there she is.”

Petunia’s nails clicked on the wood floor as she trotted into the room. Catching sight of Carlisle, the animal bounded forward. With a sigh, Carlisle removed the dog from his ankle and placed her in Lady Lockwood’s lap.

“There’s my girl.” Lady Lockwood patted the pug and put her feet up on the stool, settling back in the chair. “Now...” She pinned Nathan with her gaze. “What was ages ago? Who’s going to send Annabeth into a swoon?”

“Um, well...” Nathan cast an apologetic look at Annabeth. “It was really nothing.”

“He was talking about Sloane Rutherford, Grandmother,” Annabeth told her.

“Good heavens!” Lady Lockwood scowled at Nathan. “Why did you bring up that rogue?”

“I didn’t—I mean—”

Noelle took pity on Nathan and said, “Mr. Thorne and I were the ones who brought up the subject. We went to see Mr. Rutherford three days ago.”

“I told you, Mother,” Adeline put in. “They went because someone shot at Gilbert.”

“Yes, yes, I know. I’m not in my dotage yet.” She focused her eagle eye on Carlisle. “Well, what did you find out?”

“Sloane told us he was in Scotland when it happened and that Noelle should be wary of Nathan and me because of a tontine our fathers set up.”

“That idiotic tontine!” Lady Lockwood shook her head in irritation, and everyone else in the room fell silent, gaping at her.

“You know about it, ma’am?” Carlisle sat forward in his chair.

“’Course I do. Adeline’s brother was part of it, too.”

“Sterling?” Adeline said in astonished tones.

“Yes, Sterling. How many brothers do you have? Annabeth’s father, as well. Well, the whole silly lot of them.”

“The whole lot of whom, ma’am?” Noelle asked patiently.

“The group of men who hung about at that club—you remember, Adeline, Thomas and Horace were the ones who made it fashionable, and then of course everyone came, so after a time they quit the place.”

“Frobisher’s?”

“Yes, exactly. Frobisher’s.”

“Lady Lockwood, do you remember the names of the men in the tontine?” Carlisle asked eagerly. “How many there were?”

“Oh. Well... I’m not sure about that.” She paused, thinking. “Drewsbury, Thorne, and Dunbridge—” Lady Lockwood nodded at Nathan. “I’m referring to your father, of course, not you. Those three were the core of that group. Marcus went to Frobisher’s sometimes, but the gaming was too tame for him. Sterling, of course, and Annabeth’s father, too—you know how Hunter was, he would always do whatever Sterling did. Probably Freddie Penrose. Let me see, I believe Lord Haverstock was around a good bit. There were probably ten or twelve young men who were part of that set, but I don’t know that they all participated in this scheme. Sterling called it a trust, but it was clearly a tontine. And so I told him.”

“Trust or tontine, there must have been a document laying out the terms,” Carlisle said grimly. “Why have Nathan and I never seen it? Or heard of it? It wasn’t to be found in Lord Drewsbury’s estate papers. I’m certain; I went through them all again when we were in London.”

The old lady shrugged. “They kept it very sub rosa. It’s the sort of thing that it’s best the recipients don’t know about.”

“So they won’t try to murder each other to get the prize,” Carlisle said sardonically.

“Yes. They trusted each other, but one never knows how one’s children might turn out.” She shrugged. “So they agreed not to tell anyone.”