Which was exactly what he would have done had she told him.

“It wasn’t Lord Bryant who bought Richardson Rail,” she said, her voice calm but quiet.

“Who then?”

She stood. “I did.”

Nate’s shoulders dropped, and he stared at her. “You bought it?”

What she had done made sense. Perfect sense. “Anyone else would have taken advantage of Charlotte.”

“I thought that was why we agreed you would help her.”

“And I was helping her, but even the small amount of work she needed to do—signing papers—was too much for her. Then Mr. Broadcreek kept asking her to sell. She was so overwhelmed by it all she nearly sold it to him for a ridiculously low amount.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Why didn’t you tell Mama and me how unhappy you were when you were building this company?”

“I wasn’t. At least, I hadn’t known I was. And I wasn’t completely alone. I had Mr. Richardson.”

“And I have Mrs. Oliver and now—Lord Bryant.”

Lord Bryant shot a surprised glance Diana’s way, but she ignored it. He had accepted her pin, and that made him part of her team. He wore it on his lapel even now. Fortunately, Nate hadn’t noticed. Nate rubbed his face with his hand. “I’m here now, so you can send Lord Bryant home.”

Lord Bryant dropped a hand to the floor. “I don’t think I have ever been sent home in my life.”

“Well, there is a first time for everything.” Nate stomped over to the door and opened it. The usually cheery sound of the bell clanged too fast to sound anything like a welcome. “Get out.”

“Nate, you have already injured him. You cannot also remove him from our office. Despite what you think, he has been an enormous help to me.”

“And what has he gotten in return?”

The air left Diana’s lungs in a rush. She turned to Lord Bryant only to find him still on the floor, looking fastidiously at his nails. What had he gotten in return? A moment ago he had received a blow to the face. And in the weeks preceding that . . .

“Nothing.” The word escaped her mouth like a puff of smoke rising into the wind. A pit opened in her stomach; she was missing something. “Lord Bryant has never asked me for anything.”

“Then what in heaven’s name is he doing here?” Nate was practically shaking, but he couldn’t have been as torn as she was right now. Why had Lord Bryant helped her? And why hadn’t she been asking this question all along?

“I like it here,” Lord Bryant piped up after no one else seemed to want to answer. “There is no more relaxing place for me in all of London.”

Diana blinked. This is what he always did—he never answered questions properly and then deflected until she had forgotten exactly why she had asked the question in the first place. “That is because you refuse to help me with the paperwork.” Diana tried to keep the conversation as light as she could, but her mind was frantically trying to put the pieces together.