At Your Request (Apart from the Crowd 0.5)(23)
Edgar reached out and took Wilhelmina’s hand in his. “That right there is why I sought out Mr. Sinclair today in order to get his perspective on your situation.”
“You sought him out because of me?”
Edgar smiled at her, the warmth of that smile sending little flutters through her stomach. “I just had this feeling that in order for you and me to be able to move on successfully together, we’d be more capable of reaching that success if you had a bit of closure regarding the nasty business surrounding the loss of your father’s fortune. And . . .” he continued before she could pose a single argument to that, “I also thought, if there was a small chance of regaining some of that fortune, it would allow you to feel more secure in any relationship you and I may decide to pursue.”
His smile widened. “I wouldn’t want you to worry that I’d come to question why you’d want to embrace the idea of a future with me after you’d rejected me all of those years ago.”
Her flutters immediately took to increasing, probably due to the idea that Edgar truly did still understand her—had always understood her—and had taken that knowledge and used it to try and create a feeling of equality between them. Although . . .
With her brows knitting together, Wilhelmina tilted her head. “I’m not certain about this, but I truly don’t believe there’s a way to create an equality between us in regard to finances, unless, of course, you’re about to tell me that Mr. Sinclair just happened to have found the fleet of ships that we were told sunk.”
“That’s exactly what Mr. Wanamaker is trying to tell you,” Mr. Sinclair said, his words having Wilhelmina’s knees going so weak that she had no choice but to take a seat directly on the hard ice.
“I don’t understand,” she whispered.
Joining her on the ice—although that seemed to be more because his feet slipped out from underneath him again rather than his deliberately deciding to take a seat next to her—Edgar pulled her hand into his. “I was curious, you see, about what you’d disclosed to me about this Mr. Melville. He sounded like a somewhat suspicious sort, especially after you told me he completely disappeared after your father suffered his apoplexy.”
Edgar lifted her hand and pressed a kiss to her gloved fingers. “I was very concerned that Mr. Melville might have taken advantage of your father’s descent into poor health, and . . . I was right.”
“You were right . . . how?”
Edgar turned his gaze on Mr. Sinclair. “Perhaps it would be best for you to explain the situation, Mr. Sinclair, since you’re the one who was able to discover the facts so quickly.”
Nodding, Mr. Sinclair crouched beside Wilhelmina. “My family, Miss Radcliff, has been in shipping in one form or another for generations. I’ve grown up around docks all over the world, and because of that upbringing, I’m very familiar with how rampant rumors are around a shipyard. Having said that, when my friend, Asher Rutherford, came to my office today—in the company of your Mr. Wanamaker, of course—and inquired about the missing fleet your father invested in, I couldn’t recall a single rumor regarding such a happenstance in recent history.”
He shook his head. “In order to make certain I hadn’t missed hearing about the fleet, we proceeded to the docks to track down a few of my friends and associates, and not a single one of them could recall news about an entire fleet being lost at sea.”
“Some of Mr. Sinclair’s friends did remember a fleet being blown off course, and that the fleet was originally believed to be lost at sea for a good month or so,” Edgar added.
Wilhelmina’s heart accelerated to an almost painful rate. “Are you saying . . . ?”
Edgar kissed her hand again even as he nodded. “I am. The fleet that your father invested the majority of his money in did go missing. And to give Mr. Melville the benefit of the doubt, I believe that when he went to speak to your father, it was still missing and was presumed at that time to be lost at sea.”
“But it eventually showed up?” Wilhelmina pressed.
“It did,” Mr. Sinclair said. “Although, I do feel it necessary to tell you that some of the goods didn’t pull into the harbor with the fleet, having been damaged or lost overboard when the storm hit. However, having said that, there was a tidy profit made—a tidy profit, I’m sorry to report, that Mr. Melville decided to keep for himself.”
Wilhelmina’s mouth dropped open. “He stole my father’s portion of the profits?”
“He did, and moved off to Georgia with them.”
“How do you know that?”
“I have many associates involved in the shipping industry, Miss Radcliff, and those associates have a network of other associates, a wonderful system if one is looking for certain information. I simply put out the word today that I was looking for a Mr. Melville, and a captain from a ship currently stuck in the harbor due to the weather, knew exactly where to find the man. You’ll be happy to learn that a telegram has already been sent off to the proper authorities, and . . . I’m certain Mr. Melville will soon be apprehended.”
Wilhelmina blinked rapidly in order to hold at bay the tears that had suddenly sprung to her eyes. “This seems so . . . well . . . astonishing.”
Mr. Sinclair smiled, pushed himself to his feet, and caught her gaze as he looked down at her. “Mr. Wanamaker has proclaimed more than once that he finds you to be quite remarkable. Because of that, I do believe he was rather determined to do whatever it took to make matters right for your family.” He sent her a wink. “Make certain to remember that when he goes about the business of extending to you a proper proposal. Although . . . I wasn’t supposed to say anything about that.” Sending her another wink, Mr. Sinclair set off across the lake, vanishing into the crowd a second later.