Laura made no move to rise from the window embrasure, nor did Magpie. He watched Henrietta’s approach with a sapient eye.

“Laura.” Her voice was frosty. “Your aunt says you’ve been ill.”

“Indeed,” Laura replied in equally cool tones. “I nearly drowned two days ago, in case you’ve forgotten.”

“As if I could!” Henrietta crossed the room, her skirts brushing against the heavy furniture. “It was your own fault, you know. If you hadn’t insisted on swimming away from the bathing machines, none of this would have happened.”

Laura didn’t dispute the fact. She knew only too well who was to blame for the situation she found herself in. And it wasn’t Alex Archer.

“Why couldn’t you have stayed with the rest of us in the shallows?” Henrietta asked. “Why must you always make yourself the center of attention?”

“Is that what you think I was doing?”

“It doesn’t matter what I think. I haven’t come to quarrel with you.” Henrietta walked to the mantel. There was an old carriage clock there, and a red-and-white porcelain spaniel with a chip in its ear. “George came to dine at the Park last night. He told me some very interesting things about Mr. Archer after Papa retired.”

“Mr. Archer?”

“I won’t be familiar with a man of his reputation,” Henrietta said primly. “I regret that I ever was.”

Laura sighed. “Go on then, what did George have to say?”

Henrietta touched the porcelain figurine with one gloved finger. “He told me that he owes Mr. Archer money. Ten thousand pounds in gaming debts, to be precise.”

“Ten thousand pounds!” Laura sat up straighter. “How on earth…?”

“Mr. Archer is a notorious gambler, apparently. One of the most dangerous on the continent. George was well in his clutches before he realized the sort of villain he’d become involved with.” Henrietta picked up the figurine. “He has no way to pay his debts. Not even if he were to seek employment. He could never hope to earn such a sum. It’s a dastardly situation Mr. Archer has put him in.”

Laura doubted very much that George would ever stoop to seeking employment, no matter how much money he owed. “I should think the vastness of the sum speaks more to George’s weakness than Alex’s villainy.”

“You didn’t see George as I did last night. He wept when he confessed the whole of it. You see, it was me Mr. Archer wanted. In exchange for George introducing us, and helping to assure a match, Mr. Archer promised to forgive all of his debts.”

Laura had wondered what hold Alex had over George. What it was that had made George seem so afraid of him. The truth behind their relationship was diabolical, though not wholly surprising. “He didn’t want you,” she said. “He wanted Edgington Park.”