Leo thought he knew what he would be up against as he traveled to Walker and Son’s.
They would more than likely be against showing any information to a man that appeared and asked for it, whether he was a duke or not. He could bribe them, and he considered that option even though it was not something that a man of honor did, but he did not think that it would work. He decided to keep it as a last resort.
What Leo had not accounted for, however, was the fact that they were not as easy to locate as he had expected. Businessmen of any kind were supposed to be easy to find, so that they could conduct said business, but Walker and Son’s was not where Leo had expected them to be. He was not privy to the comings and goings of each and every place of work in London, but he did know where most of them were from his own work.
Regardless, he did not find the solicitors where he expected them to be, and he urgently needed to speak with them. At the least, he needed to know everything that they did even if it was not much. In truth, he did not need to see much, only whether or not the late earl had indeed had an account with them, and whether or not there was any proof of any debts, as well as a copy of his will if they happened to have it. This was much harder than expected as they weren’t there at all, and so his task would take much longer than he had originally thought.
“Excuse me,” he asked a man who was passing, “might you be able to tell me where I can find Walker and Son’s?”
The man blinked at him as if in disbelief.
“Walker and Son’s? They closed down. It was a few months ago now. It was just there, but now it is someone else entirely.”
Leo could have groaned aloud. Why, he wondered, was it always so complicated?
“Might you know where I could find any of the workers?”
“Sadly, no. The owners, Mister Walker and his two sons, that is, left town. It was quite a scandal. I’m surprised you have not heard anything of it.”
“I tend to keep to myself.” He sighed. “In any case, I thank you for your assistance.”
The man nodded before continuing on his way. Leo took a moment to think. The solicitors that he was searching for were likely long gone, especially if there was some sort of scandal pushing them out. It was not ideal, but it was not necessarily another dead end. Thankfully, if it were a scandal, at least people would have discussed the matter and might be able to provide him with some insight.
That would begin with the new business that had opened in its place.
“Hello?” he called as he entered, and he was greeted by a short man of middling age.
“Is that you, Your Grace?” he asked, eyes narrowing through his spectacles. “My apologies. My vision is not what it once was. It must be all of the papers I have had to read of late.”
“Mister Johnson!” Leo greeted, at last recognizing him. “Yes, it is indeed. This makes everything a little easier, it would seem.”
“Why might that be?” Mister Johnson asked.
“I am here to enquire about a few things. It is nothing gravely serious, only a few questions about the business that was here before yours.”
“Several people have asked me about them.” He sighed. “It was terrible what happened to them, truly. I’ve been asked if I fear the same fate befalling me, but you and I both know that I am a little too hard-headed to run away as easily as Walker did.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I am surprised that you made it to this street without hearing about it. They received a letter a few months ago. It had been something about illegal activity that they had done here and that if they did not leave immediately, then there would be consequences of a far more grave nature.”
“Illegal?” Leo echoed. “I had never heard about this when I was searching for them.”
“Well, not everybody knows the truth. Besides, you know how gossip can be in this city. There are plenty of rumors, including one that states that one of Mister Walker’s sons had an illegitimate child, and they all ran from London to escape responsibility.”
“That certainly would not be something to run all three of them out of London. The potential father, perhaps.”
“Which was precisely my point, but that is hardly interesting to hear, is it?”
“I suppose not. In that case, however, how can you be so certain that you know the truth?”
“Because Walker told me himself. I did not purchase this place from him. I was a clerk, and he left it to me when he ran. It is not supposed to be forever, only long enough for him to prove his innocence so that he can return.”
“Proving someone’s innocence is precisely why I am here,” Leo replied. “Not Mister Walker, although I do hope his name is cleared in time. I was hoping you might be able to aid me in finding some information about one of his clients.”
“I just might! You have a name, I presume?”
“Yes, a Lord David Cottrel. He was the Earl of Bedford, and he passed away two years ago.”
“Ah, yes, the earl with the daughter if I am not mistaken?”
“That would be him.”
“A more doting father I am yet to meet.” He smiled. “I hope she is well, if her father has passed. She must have been devastated.”
“She was, and still is, which is precisely why I am hoping to find some of his documents. I am hoping that it might bring her some closure of sorts.”
“I couldn’t agree more. Now, I do not have any of his papers anymore, as they were collected by a family member, but I can tell you that there was a gentleman who held a copy of his will, at least, for he brought him as a witness.”
“Might the family member who collected his papers have been his brother?”
Leo wanted the man to say no, and that it was some other distant cousin, but he knew how unlikely that was. Evie’s uncle would be holding on to them, or he had destroyed them. Leo was sure of it.
“I believe it was, yes.” Mister Johnson sighed. “I had not approved of it at the time, as there was something very wrong with how he seemed to be when it came to the late earl, but he had a right to them. Mister Walker did not have much choice in the matter.”
“I see,” he replied gravely. “In any case, might you remember the name of the gentleman that might be holding on to the copies?”
“We still have it on file if I remember correctly,” Mister Johnson explained. “It is as I told you. Everything is exactly as it was before. Give me one moment, Your Grace.”
Mister Johnson disappeared, and Leo gave himself a moment to think at last. If Evie’s uncle had taken her father’s papers, it had to be because he had a reason to. Was it so that he could prove to Evie that her father did, indeed, have debts? Was it so that there was no record of his family’s shame being kept out of his reach?
Leo could not believe such a thing. There had been no evidence of it, not anywhere that he had looked at least. It was becoming more and more evident to him that the truth was far more sinister, though he had to admit that his motive was the very same. He had to hide something.
“Here you are, Your Grace,” Mister Johnson said brightly, handing him a document. “Here you can see that the gentleman accompanying the late earl was a Mister Eldridge. I do not have an address, unfortunately, but at least you now have a name.”
“Eldridge,” he repeated quietly, “I know of that name.”
“I suppose you know most people.”
“It is a part of my role, yes, but something about this name in particular is familiar.”
“Then that shall aid in your search. I wish you the best of luck with it, for I can only hope that Mister Walker’s will be as successful.”
Leo thanked Mister Johnson and left, making a note to return once he had finished with his business to help them, too. If Mister Walker and his sons were indeed good men, then they deserved to have their names cleared just as much as the late earl.
He had not spoken to Dylan since their argument. Neither one of them had taken time to speak to the other, and while it was peaceful, Leo had to admit that he missed his brother. Not only that, but given Dylan’s penchant for trouble it was worrying to Leo that something might have happened once again.
Dylan, however, had not left the household. It was confirmed to him by his staff, as they explained that he had been coming to eat in Leo’s absence and then once more going upstairs to his bedchambers. He had promised Leo that he would change, and even though Leo had not believed him, he certainly did not expect his brother to become an out-and-out recluse.
Dylan had always been the jovial brother, the one who had always made others laugh, and it was strange that the volume he was adapted to was no longer there. It was too quiet, and in spite of the fact that he had been wanting it for so long, now that he had it, he hated it.
“Can I come in?” he asked, knocking on Dylan’s door.
“I do not want another lecture,” he replied from the other side.
“That is not my intention.”
“Very well, then.”
Leo entered to see his brother sitting at his desk, reading. Dylan motioned to an armchair, and Leo sat down.
“Why haven’t you been out?” Leo asked gently.
“Where would I go? It is as I told you, I have no intentions to go to the gentlemen’s clubs anymore, and that I shall be changing completely. You might not believe it, but it is the truth.”
“I believe you now, but now I worry that you will not go anywhere at all.”
“What else is there for me to do?”
“You could promenade, or paint, or go out on the lake in a boat. You have many options.”
“I am reading right now, and in all honesty, I enjoy it a good deal. I have missed it.”
“That is a start, I suppose, but you cannot lock yourself away forever.”
“It is what I deserve!” Dylan snapped. “After what I did, putting Lady Evie in danger like that, I deserve to remain in here.”
“Lady Evie does not blame you. She is the one who wanted me not to be angry with you at all. She did not put herself in danger just to hold it over you, after all. She did it to help you. We both wish to help you, she is simply better at it than I ever was.”
“She certainly is.” Dylan laughed. “But I appreciate it. I wish I was half the man you are.”
“You have been swayed the past little while, but that is nothing that cannot be helped. We can both change. Dylan, it was one night when you made bad decisions, and now you have the rest of your life to change that. You can make good decisions now, we both can, and we can start now.”
“I certainly want to. I want to make it up to Lady Evie, somehow, whether she wants me to or not, but I do not know where to start.”
“I might,” Leo explained. “You see, I need to find a gentleman that has copies of her father’s will, but I only have a name to go on.”
“You know more gentlemen than I do.”
“That is untrue.”
“Perhaps, but the ones you do know hold you in higher regard than they do me.”
“That might be true, but when it comes to this gentleman in particular, I am at a loss. I recognize the name, but I couldn’t tell you why if I tried.”
“Ah. That is not ideal.”
“It certainly is not. Might you know an Eldridge?”
Dylan’s face grew dark.
“That wasn’t the gentleman that you had that scuffle with, was it?” Leo asked.
“No, no, of course not. I do know him, however, and I dare not speak with him.”
“What do you mean? You have never been afraid to speak with someone that you dislike.”
“It is not that I dislike him. Leo, he is the father of one of those friends of mine. Not that we are friends anymore, of course, but my point stands. I am trying to keep away from that sort now, and that includes their families.”
“Is Eldridge unsavory himself? I cannot see the late earl choosing to have such a man be a witness for his will.”
“Eldridge is fine, but his son…He is certainly to be avoided. For me, at least.”
“Then we shall avoid him, but I must speak with him. You have told me that you wish to repay Lady Evie for what she did for you, and this is an opportunity to do so.”
Dylan looked at him in thought for a moment.
“Very well.” He nodded. “I shall write to him and explain that it is urgent. Will you be telling Lady Evie of this?”
“Not as yet. I am unsure of whether or not to tell her.”
“Where is the harm in it? It is to do with her father, after all.”
“I do not wish to disappoint her again. Each time I think I am close to finding the truth, I reach another dead end. I fear that I will never solve this, and I do not want to be the reason she gains hope again only to lose it.”
“She deserves to know, be it for a reason or not. She already has hope because of you, and you cannot back away now simply because you do not think you will succeed. It is, as you said, it is time for the both of us to change, and that starts here.”
“What do you propose that we do, then?”
“It is simple. I shall write to Eldridge, and you will tell Lady Evie what we plan to do. If she wishes to know and accompany us, then that is what we shall do. If not, then we will do it in her honor and give her the news she is hoping for.”
“You sound sure of yourself.”
“What can I say?” Dylan smirked, “I am a changed man.