Rupert followed the other man into the center of the room as the butler made his exit. “For you? Anything.” He fell into the seat, weary after a long day of travel. “I must admit, I was surprised at the suddenness of it all.”
Tolston sank into the seat across from him with a sigh. “You know that I’ve been looking into Lord Everley…”
Rupert nodded, his smile fading fast as his eyes narrowed. He had a history with Everley, and Tolston knew it. “You should have brought me in from the start.”
After all, this was what he did. Investigating the wrongdoings of the high and mighty had become his specialty.
Tolston gave a rueful scoff. “And put Everley on high alert? That was the last thing I wanted.”
Rupert wished he could argue. These days he went about his business with subtlety and tact. Sometimes even with subterfuge. But years ago, when Everley had callously stolen his friend from him…
Well, he hadn’t the wherewithal to lie low. He’d shouted his suspicions from the rooftops, making an enemy out of Everley, and destroying any chance he might have had to get close enough to destroy the man in kind.
Rupert leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Why now?” he asked. “What has changed?”
Tolston’s expression hardened and he looked every bit his age and his station—no hint of the boy he’d been when Rupert first met him during their school days. “He’s getting married.”
Rupert’s brows arched in surprise. From the way he’d said it, marriage sounded like a deadly affair. Understanding dawned. “Is his bride-to-be a friend of yours? Family, perhaps?”
Tolston shook his head. “Not quite. I’ve met the girl on multiple occasions, but she is a friend to my fiancée.” His brows drew down into a fierce glare. “Which makes her a friend to me.”
“I see,” Rupert said.
Quite honestly, he did not see. He’d never been engaged, and he wasn’t certain he wished to be if it led a man to be quite so earnest about anything.
Rupert leaned back in his seat. “So you wish to disrupt this wedding,” he surmised. “Have you thought about telling the girl’s family of your suspicions about Everley?”
Tolston winced. “No. Mainly because at this point, that is all they are. Suspicions. Despite my men and I looking for evidence, everything we’ve found that points to Everley’s cruelty is circumstantial, at best. He covers his tracks well.” Tolston’s lips curved up in a sneer. “Unfortunately the man’s soulless use of his wealth and power, lending money to those who are too weak and vulnerable to see the sort of trap he’s leading them into… It isn’t enough. Cruelty is no crime, and from what I know of Delilah’s father…”
“Delilah?” Rupert said.
“Miss Delilah Clemmons,” Tolston said. “Only child to the Baron of Linden.”
Rupert grimaced.
“I see you are familiar with him.”
“Only as a passing acquaintance,” Rupert said. But that was enough to know that the man was as greedy as they came. The only man who came close to Everley in terms of merciless ambition. “I’d thought the old man passed away years ago.”
Tolston gave a little grunt of acknowledgement. “It seems he’s been threatening to die for years now, but the old bugger won’t let go.” He narrowed his eyes in thought. “He won’t shuffle off this mortal coil until he’s certain that his family is well taken care of.”
Rufus furrowed his brow in concentration as he tried to reconcile the hard old man he remembered from his youth with this image of fatherly devotion. “He’s that committed to his family and their happiness, eh?”
Tolston snorted in amusement. “Good heavens, no. It’s his pride at work, I’d imagine.”
Rupert nodded. That was far easier to imagine. “And so he has handed over his only daughter to the devil himself to ensure that she is well taken care of.”
“That is my best guess,” Tolston said.
They sat in silence for a moment. Rupert couldn’t speak to Tolston’s thoughts, but for his part he was stewing in pity for this girl. “Young, is she?”
Tolston nodded. “Slightly younger than Addie, my bride-to-be, and Addie is nineteen.”
Rupert took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He had no sisters, but he had female cousins he was close to, and he couldn’t imagine allowing any of them near a gentleman like Everley. “Terrible,” he muttered. “I can see why you feel a sense of urgency to stop Everley before he weds.” He shook his head. “It’s horrible to think of a sweet, innocent young lass in the clutches of one such as he.”
Tolston’s burst of laughter had Rupert’s head snapping up, his eyes widening in surprise. “Did I say something amusing?”
Tolston clearly worked to sober himself as he gave his head a shake. “No, no. Of course not. It is just…” He let out another choked laugh. “It is just hard to imagine anyone describing Delilah as ‘sweet’ or ‘innocent.’”
Rupert’s brows hitched up farther in surprise.
“Not to say that she isn’t...an innocent, that is,” Tolston said quickly. “She is a proper young lady, of that there is no doubt.”
Rupert laughed as well as he realized what his old friend was trying to say in his roundabout way. “But she is not sweet.”
Tolston snickered. “Not as such, no.”
Rupert arched a brow. “A bit of a cold fish?”
“I wouldn’t say that…”
“A nag, then,” he guessed. Honestly, now he was just having fun putting his old, slightly stodgy friend on the spot.
“Oh quit it,” Tolston said with a huff. “I shall not speak ill of my wife’s schoolmate. Despite Delilah’s…haughty demeanor she has proven to be a loyal friend to Addie.”
“Haughty demeanor.” Rupert leapt on the phrase. That gave him a clear impression, indeed. Knowing what he knew of her father, Rupert could easily believe that the girl would be spoiled and arrogant.
And if she bore his resemblance in any way, she’d be remarkably plain, to boot. Which made him wonder… “Just what is Everley getting out of
