Two days later, on Friday evening, Ephraim descended the stairs of the townhouse and paused in the entrance hall. From the music room, he could hear his wife playing the harp. The melodic sound drifted down the hall, each pulled string wrenching at his heart.

You should go now, without delay, he told himself. And yet, he could not. If he left without saying goodbye, there was no way of knowing when he might return. Lord Rowntree had undoubtedly set a trap, and he was due to walk right into it.

Steeling himself, he crossed the entrance hall and looked into the music room. Margaret glanced up, the music coming to a fading standstill. She smiled, her eyes glittering in the soft light. He had never seen her look more beautiful, not even on their wedding day. Now, at the prospect of losing her, he realized how many years had been wasted on what might have been. Deep down, he had always loved her.

“Was I playing too loud?” she asked.

“Not at all, my darling. I just wanted to come in and hear it more clearly.”

“Shall I go on?”

He smiled back. “I am already late for a rather important meeting, but I shall keep that tune in my heart as I go,” he said, forcing down the sadness that threatened to spill over. “We have been happy, you and I, have we not?”

She tilted her head to one side. “I should say that we have, my dear. Tell me, is something the matter?” A note of panic shivered in her voice.

“No, my dear. I am feeling somewhat nostalgic, that is all,” he lied. “And you sitting there, playing that song… it reminded me of our first years together. You would retreat for the evening and I would hear that sweet music drifting down the corridors of Kiveton Hall.”

“Those were happy times, indeed.”

He paused. “Were they? For you, I mean?”

“Of course, my dear,” she replied. “You and I were getting to know one another. They were the merriest of times. Our walks in the woods, our talks late into the night, our dinners together. Do you not remember it that way?”

“I have always found you difficult to read, my love. In those days, I found it even harder,” he confessed. “You were so frightened in our first weeks of marriage that I did not even know how to approach you. I did not understand women very well then… nor I do now.”

She frowned. “Where is this sadness coming from, my dear? I have never heard you speak this way.”

“I worry that I have not been as attentive a husband as I might have been,” he replied. “I ought to have told you that I loved you. I ought to have said so every morning and night, from our first day to our last. Fear prevented me. We were not brought together by love and I always wondered if you might have preferred another in my stead.”

“I have loved you for a long time now, Ephraim. Perhaps, in those first weeks, I did not. I would be a liar if I said otherwise. But you have given me the gift of the most wonderful daughter, and you have been kind and generous all these years,” she said, tears glinting in her eyes. “I have told you every night that I love you, though I say it so you do not hear. I have done so because my fears are the same as yours.”

He laughed tightly. “We have been fools.”

“We have.”

“Might I hold you, my darling?” He walked towards her as she rose from her seat. Her arms slid around his neck as his encircled her, holding her tightly. Never had anywhere, or anyone, felt so like home.

“Do you promise me that everything is fine?” she whispered. “Only, you do not seem to be yourself.”

He buried his face in her shoulder, inhaling the sweet scent of her perfume. “All will be well, my love.”

“Will be?”

“It is already, my dear. As I say, I found myself hit with a bout of nostalgia and regret that I could not shake,” he said softly. “I hate to think that we have wasted so much time, hiding the truth from one another. For I have loved you always. You have been more than a wife to me—you have been a friend, a companion, a business partner. You are everything to me.”

“Tell me everything is well, Ephraim?” She pulled away, holding his face in her hands.

He nodded slowly. “It will be, my love.”

Without another word, he kissed her and left the room. No matter what happened that night, his wife would know that she was loved. He had longed to tell Adelaide, too, but her maid had informed him that she was sleeping away a headache. Still, she would surely know how grateful he was to have had them both in his life.

Exiting the townhouse, two horses awaited. Jasper sat astride one of them—a silver mare—whilst a dark chestnut gelding stood proud beside. Ephraim mounted the horse and turned it towards Westminster Abbey, its hooves thundering along the cobbles as he headed for his fate.

They arrived as darkness fell. It would be many hours before the peers left parliament, but they had anticipated that. Leaving the horses tied to a post, close to the old court entrance, they stole through a side-gate and hurried across the empty expanse. In the near-distance, the bells of Westminster Abbey chimed six o’clock. It would be a long night for everyone.

They made their way through the labyrinth of halls and corridors, until they came to one of the storage rooms in the northernmost wing of the Houses of Parliament. Ephraim had placed several documents in here, once upon a time, and knew it would be the ideal place to hide until midnight arrived. They ducked in unseen and moved to the back of the dim room. Nobody would find them here.

As they sat in the darkness, Ephraim glanced at Jasper. “You seem rather distracted,” he said. The young man had been sullen all the way from the townhouse, his manner fidgety and awkward.

“Do I?” he asked, half frightened out of his skin.

“Yes, you do. Are you having second thoughts?”

“About this? No.”

“But about something?”

Jasper sighed heavily. “It is not I who is having second thoughts, My Lord. It is Lady Adelaide. She came to me two days ago and told me of her confusion,” he replied. “I should not be telling you this, as it was spoken in confidence, but I feel I must speak up. She is no longer certain of the Duke. Her resolve is waning.”

Ephraim gasped. “How could you keep this from me?”

“It was not my place to say anything.”

“I wish you had not said a word,” he muttered. “The plan was to have Adelaide marry the Duke, in the event that things went awry tonight. What am I to do now, if such a disaster should occur? I cannot have her marry the Duke if she does not wish it. That has never been my intention. I went along with it because I thought she was content.”

“She thinks she is protecting you, My Lord. She wishes to secure her family’s future.” Jasper dropped his gaze. “As you know, it is her cousin Charles who shall inherit if something were to happen to you. She wants to ensure that her mother is well taken care of, as well as herself.”

“Could you not dissuade her?”

“I tried,” Jasper replied fervently. “Goodness, I tried. She is doing what she thinks is best. You know Lady Adelaide—she is stubborn as a mule when she wants to be.”

“Then what is to be the plan?”

Jasper shrugged. “I shall take her and her mother away, as we have agreed. After that… we must consider another course of action, unless she insists on going ahead with the union.”

“Why did you not make her an offer of marriage?” Ephraim asked sharply. “You adore one another, it is plain for all to see. True, it might not be a romantic sort of love, but that can blossom over time. Especially with foundations such as yours.”

Jasper stared at him. “I did not think it my place to ask her.”

“Who else could have such a place but you?”

“Men of better breeding, of greater wealth, of higher position.”

“Nonsense! You would have been a welcome choice.”

He smiled wryly. “She would never have accepted me. It is true that I adore her, and I once thought about a romantic attachment. However, she has made her feelings quite clear. We are friends, and that is all there is to it.”

“Have you asked her?”

“Asked her what?”

Ephraim grimaced. “If she has ever held romantic feelings towards you?”

“Of course not. I value my pride too greatly to receive such a mocking rejection.”

“And you are certain she would have rejected you?”

He paused in thought. “I imagine so.”

“Then you are both fools, for you might have been happiest with one another. Have either of you ever discovered a person who cheered you in the same way? Have either of you ever found someone you wanted to share your secrets with, as you do with one another?”

Jasper gaped. “No.”

“Then, you see, you are both fools. You have been right beside each other, all this time, and you have been too stupid to see it.”

Jasper was about to defend himself when a knock at the door split the silent air. They whirled around to face the sound. A moment later, the door flew open and a figure entered. Dressed in a dark cloak, their face shrouded from sight, Ephraim feared the Bow Street Runners had come to take them away.

“My Lord, Lord Gillet, are you in here?” a voice asked. A stranger’s voice.

They crouched lower, for fear of being seen.

“I do not wish you any harm,” the voice continued. “I have a message from Lord Rowntree that cannot wait. Please, if you are in here, show yourselves. I have followed you from your homes. I know you came into this room.”

The two men looked at one another in the shadows. They had been caught in the trap before they had even begun. They had been followed, and now they would be discovered.

“I must insist that you come out,” the deep voice repeated, resounding with urgency.

How can we escape this? Ephraim asked himself. For now, there was nowhere to hide.