He was about to move when he heard someone enter the library. “Father?”
He chanced a peek and saw a stunning-looking young woman enter the room. He conceded that for once Dash hadn’t exaggerated a woman’s loveliness. He could see why Avery was smitten, as were Roo’s cousin and young Jason, from what Dash had reported. Dash and Jimmy had grown up near the center of power in the Kingdom, and many beautiful women had paid attention to the grandsons of the Duke of Rillanon as soon as they were old enough to appreciate it. They had enjoyed the benefits of such attention, and had an education regarding women and their pleasures far beyond their years, but they also had something of an askance view of them as well. Jimmy, like his brother before him, marked Sylvia Estherbrook as a very dangerous creature, one able to find powerful allies.
She said, “What was all that bellowing about? Was Tim being a bully again?”
“Trying to,” answered his father. “It seems young Avery not only has managed to survive Jacoby’s attempts to bury him, but is turning the tables, as they say. I had to loan Jacoby the gold to keep him from being ruined.”
“Then Timothy will try to kill Rupert?”
“Almost certainly.”
“Will you let him?” asked Sylvia.
Jacob rose and came around the desk toward his daughter.
“I think I shall absent myself from the conflict. I think it opportune for us to visit our country home for a few weeks. By the time we return, the matter will be settled.”
“Well, if you must have someone killed, please do it soon, Father. Being out of the city is such a bore.”
Jimmy had met some calculating women in the eastern courts, but Sylvia Estherbrook was easily the most cold-blooded he had encountered. As much as he wished to hear more of this conversation, he knew he couldn’t afford to let Jacoby get too far ahead of him. He started back toward the wall, wondering if it would do Avery any good to warn him. Then he considered how beautiful Sylvia Estherbrook was, and how unlikely it was that Avery was used to the attention of such a woman, and discarded the idea as worthless.
In the dark he could hear Tim Jacoby’s horse moving down the road as the gate closed. Jimmy dropped to the ground while the servant returned to the house, and when he heard the door to the house shut, he rose, ran to the wall, and quickly climbed over.
A few minutes later he was upon his horse, heading back toward Krondor. He fervently hoped Dash was already at the inn, because there was no possibility he could overtake Jacoby and resume his posture of being the drunk at the next table.
Inside the house, Jacob Estherbrook closed the door to his library behind him, and said, “Old Frederick’s health isn’t what it used to be, and I suspect that soon Timothy will be totally out of control. It would be better for us if either he or Rupert were to be removed from the landscape quickly. Either a very dangerous young man, who might rise to a dangerous level of power someday, or an unstable ally—potentially more dangerous than the opponent—will be removed. Either way, we profit.”
“If Roo kills Tim, how does that profit you? He’s not one of your partners, and given he’s going to see your hand in much of what has been going on around the city the last few months, do you think he will be inclined to do business with you?”
“If Tim kills him, that question is academic. If he kills Tim, he will be a young man of great influence, and I will groom him to help our cause. I count on your charms to make him wish to do business with me.”
“Do you want me to marry him?”
“No, he’s already married.”
She laughed, a sound both lovely and chilling. “The little rogue. He never mentioned a wife. Well then, I shall just have to seduce the ugly twit and become his mistress.”
“But only if Tim doesn’t kill him, daughter.”
“Yes, Father. Now, would you care for supper?”
Roo sat motionless as Tim Jacoby stalked forward and threw papers down upon the table. Masterson was the one to pick them up, and he said, “You have the grain, then?”
“Yes,” said Jacoby, his fury turned to dark, cold anger. “A broker came into town this morning and I secured what I needed to meet the contract.”
Roo forced himself not to smile. He had had Luis pretend to be the broker, and had sold grain to Jacoby for more money than Jacoby was being paid for it now. He had conspired not only to sell the grain twice, but to make a profit both times.