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“I see no problem with that. After all, we were working together.”

“You are too generous. It should have fallen to my lot to rescue Miss Bennet and Mrs. Wickham, not to mention capturing Lord Addison and disposing of his henchmen. Instead, it was your life on the line.”

“You exaggerate the danger. Besides, you cannot be held accountable simply because you were on the way to report your findings to the general at the same time Wickham convinced his wife to follow Miss Elizabeth.”

“I hope you do not expect me to argue with you,” Richard said, smiling. “Now, more importantly, were you able to collect enough evidence to fit his lordship with a hangman’s noose?”

“Yes. We found correspondence between Lord Addison and Wickham in both of their possessions, as well as in Drago’s. Drago’s correspondence with Lord Addison began before the murder of Lord Morgan and later addressed the matter of persuading Miss Elizabeth to drop her enquiry into his death. That all occurred before Lord Addison decided to toss all decency aside and kidnap Miss Elizabeth for his own immoral purposes.”

“Then there is no way his lordship can avoid being hanged?”

“No, although I imagine Drago will miss hanging by turning on Addison. Though he deserves to die, too, deportation will likely be his reward.”

“I suspect so, too. Even though we know he killed Lord Morgan and Mr. Humphrey, General Lassiter had rather convict a lord than a low life like Drago. It makes a greater impact on those committing crime.”

Unexpectedly, Mr. Wilburn stepped out of a nearby building to wave Richard and William in his direction. As they walked towards the constable, Richard recalled what William had no way of knowing.

“I wrote to you a few days ago to inform you that Lady Morgan had given birth to her child, but I imagine you were already in route and did not receive my letter.”

William stopped and turned abruptly to face the colonel. “Are she and the child well?”

“They are, and as it turned out, the babe is a boy.”

“A boy,” William murmured. Richard could almost see his cousin’s shoulders sink with relief. “I prayed it would be, since Mr. Graves felt certain the court would rule that a boy would be his father’s legal heir.”

“Oh, that reminds me. I saw Graves a few days back. He had stopped by Darcy House and, finding you were out of town, went to Lady Morgan’s townhouse. I happened to be arriving at the same time, and because he was in a hurry, he entrusted me to pass along his message.”

“Which is?”

“The judge in charge of her case has recovered from his illness and will resume hearing cases shortly. Graves said that he had received a letter saying the case was scheduled for a hearing next week unless other cases became more involved and require rescheduling Lady Morgan’s case to a later date.”

William’s expression darkened as he silently studied his boots, prompting Richard to ask, “Is anything wrong?”

“No. It is just ... everything is happening so fast. The child was not expected for another month, so I thought I would have more time to work on changing Lady Morgan’s mind about our engagement.”

“Do you think that will be a problem?”

“I have no way of knowing; however, I have made up my mind that after the court case settles, I will inform Lady Morgan that I no longer wish to be engaged.”

Richard slapped his cousin on the back. “Good for you! I am thrilled that you have come to that decision already. Mother and I have been praying that you would stand up for yourself. You married once for duty, the next time you should marry for love.”

“You discussed my affairs with your mother?”

“My mother has known your affairs since you started wearing breeches! Besides, she can be an impressive ally, or foe, and I like to have her on my side. That is why I asked for her help in getting you to acknowledge that you should not marry Lady Morgan just because you got yourself in a pickle by being so kind.”

“You have no idea what kind of pickle I am in at present.”

“What do you mean?”

“While we were in Lambton, I learned that Elizabeth loves me just as dearly as I love her.”

“That is excellent news, is it not?”

“It would be if she did not feel obligated to allow Jane Morgan to claim me for her next husband.”

“Why would she think that a reasonable resolution?”

“Elizabeth feels guilty that Jane is in love with me ... or thinks she is. Elizabeth declared that she cannot be the one to break her sister’s heart again by taking me away.”