“Girls, not women. If he is here when we bring Dobson around then that swift rise in politics he has been enjoying will meet a swift death. I wonder if this is how Mother got so much power.”
“She knows who comes here. She knows and she uses it to get what she wants.”
“That should help me and Andras get her claws out of my sister. This is not, unfortunately, the proof needed to bring her down. She has made her place in the very highest echelons of society and just because she knows a man who goes to a place like this is not enough to destroy her. In truth, she will probably use it to an advantage, claiming ignorance of his evil behavior, all the while delicately dabbing at the corners of her very dry eyes with a delicate scrap of lace.”
“Aye, the poor-foolish-woman-that-I-am-look-who-I-trusted-and-who-abused-that-trust performance, most often done before the largest crowd of gossips ever assembled.” Olympia smiled when she felt his soft laughter against the back of her neck. “And look there, it is Minden.”
“Yes, the swine. And the man who entered before him would be one of the ones who now slams the door in Minden’s face.”
“With a grand show of self-righteous outrage, I suspect.”
“Of the loudest kind.”
“Do you believe we have seen enough now?”
“We have. Let us go and talk to Dobson.”
“You are looking most fine, m’lady,” said Dobson and grinned at Brant’s scowl. “What brings you two to my office at this time of night?” He waved his two guests toward the chairs facing his desk.
“I did not know you worked the night through, Dobson,” said Olympia as she sat down, crossing her legs and ignoring the fierce look Brant gave her as well as the sly laughter she could see in Dobson’s eyes.
“Night is when most of the bad things happen, m’lady. I will admit, however, that I am not often here at this time of night. Just had a fair piece of work to do.”
“We have just come from Dobbin House and believe the owners there have my half-siblings inside,” said Brant, pleased to see all the teasing light abruptly fade from Dobson’s eyes.
“Tell me you did not go inside that place, m’lady, or touch anything,” said Dobson.
“Had to promise the earl the same thing and I kept my promise. All I touched was the hand of a small, desperate boy. I did not like having to leave him there.”
“If you are sure that the house holds your three half-siblings, m’lord, then we can soothe m’lady’s distress about having to leave a wee lad in that hellhole.”
“The boy she spoke to,” Brant said, “recognized my brothers when I described them. He actually saw them arrive. The boy is also no street urchin, but his mother sold him into the life. So with the reward I have posted and the one the boy might bring, it could be a profitable job for you and your men.”
“Which will suit them well. Me? I would knock that place into a pit and bury it without asking a ha’penny. Just do not have me going in there based on a guess or a lie. I could catch a few very important people bare-arsed in there and I like my work.”
“We are certain,” Olympia assured him. “You would be as well if you could have spoken to young Henry.”
“Then I must ask what you mean to do about your mother this time, m’lord?” Dobson crossed his arms on top of his desk and leaned toward Brant. “You now have a lad who could point a finger at her and might soon have a few men who could do so as well.”
“I mean to make her pay for her crimes, Dobson. It will not be easy but I will see it done. The boy is but a piece of it. Alone, his word against hers will carry no weight at all, nor will the testimony of any of the other boys or the ones running that place. As for the ones of better blood that may be caught out tonight, they will be very busy trying to save themselves and I do not believe the fact that my mother may have blackmailed them into getting her something she wanted is anything that will help them. I cherish a hope or two that someone will be willing to drag her down with them, but my mother is cunning and I suspect she has covered her tracks or protected her back very well.”
“Even the cunning ones trip over their own feet now and then.”
“As I hope she will. Howbeit, I believe my part in all of this must be kept very quiet.” He explained about Agatha. “I have to make certain that does not happen. I need to retrieve the power she has stolen from me before I strip all of hers away. I can do the latter much easier if she remains ignorant concerning how much I am doing and how much I know.”
“Not sure that is going to work for you for very long.”
Brant shrugged. “I will take what time I can gain. If I must, I will storm the town house and take my sister out of there. That will then put my mother in the position of being on the defensive.”