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"I’ll see to it" Herbert pushed heavily to his feet
Jasper watched the ton store with Miss Martin, and she had no notion the proprietress was anything reatly interested in Miss Martin"
"That’s to be expected" The earland conducting business in space owned by Miss Martin"
"Miss Chilcott should not be aware of that fact Miss Martin takes great pains to reh her man of affairs She believes it eases the way for everyone involved if her gender reainst the desk in frustration "Damnation If I’d retained the sales receipt from my purchase, I could have compared Vanessa Chilcott’s penmanship to that of the letters Melville received"
"I still don’t understand why Miss Chilcott would want to prevent Miss Martin froation created with their business relationship that doesn’t exist otherwise," Jasper reasoned, "a legal agreement between two parties with responsibilities and ramifications on both sides As a forrievance Miss Chilcott ht or she would have pursued it legally Without legal basis, there’s no possibility of restitution But as a tenant, if she was to create a circues or loss of incootiate a financial settlement"
"I see Miss Martin is accountable as a landlord in ways she isn’t as a relation-by-ain wouldn’t be too far outside the real the Chilcott fahts exactly It would also explain why Miss Chilcott hid her true identity"
"But would an assuuise withstand further scrutiny in a court of law?" Westfield queried
"Assuo that far If she was able to gain leverage of soainst Miss Martin, I believe the result would be a quiet exchange of funds in order to maintain the business anonymity Miss Martin prizes However, if Miss Martin had a spouse, he would have greater license to mount a public defense, because he would have no reason to hide"
"Extortion is a nasty business Best not to have anything requiring concealment"
Jasper’s foot tapped restlessly "I’m due to retrieve the balance of my purchases fro preparation tilass on the low table with a dull thud and rose gracefully to his feet "I’ with you, of course I should like to see what happens next"
"Let us hope you see the end of Miss Martin’s troubles" Jasper pulled out his pocket watch and checked the tiain, are you?" There was laughter in the earl’s voice "Tardiness is becoht you would corrupt Miss Martin’s finer points, but perhaps the opposite is true"
Jasper rined if not for the fact that the swifter time passed, the sooner Eliza would be his wife "Step lively, Westfield"
But haste didn’t help hih they arrived at Miss Chilcott’s shop within posted business hours, the proprietress was not in evidence
"Shoddy way to run a new business," Westfield
"Only if you mean to make a success of it By your accounts, the Chilcotts aren’t ones to work for their keep"
Jasper waited for Peter Crouch to return fro to the dohis head
"Damn and blast," Jasper muttered "I cannot wait for Miss Chilcott to return I’ton’s in an hour to discuss his idioticspeculation"
Westfield looked at hi and the nefarious Miss Chilcott, you still won’t allow Montague to meet his own fate? You knoell as I he’s destined to destroy himself"