Adrian waited until midnight.
Then he brought Eliza into his father's old study.
A servant entering that room alone with the master of Wintermere would have created enough gossip to occupy the household for a month.
Eliza reminded him of that.
"We'll leave the door open," Adrian said.
"That will merely improve the audience."
For the first time, he laughed.
It surprised both of them.
Then he placed the ledger beneath the lamp.
The warmth disappeared.
"My father borrowed heavily during the winter of '69," Adrian said. "At least that's what I was told."
"From the Ashfords."
"Yes."
Eliza pointed at her father's entries.
"But these payments came first."
Adrian had spent the afternoon retrieving old financial summaries. According to the official books, none of Thomas Hart's payments existed.
More troubling was the amount.
If the hidden ledger was accurate, Thomas Hart had provided enough capital to keep Wintermere solvent during its worst year.
"Why would my father do that?" Eliza asked.
"I don't know."
"He wasn't wealthy."
"No."
"Then where did the money come from?"
Adrian turned several pages.
A folded scrap dropped onto the desk.
Eliza picked it up.
Only half remained.
The surviving handwriting read:
...in exchange for thirty percent interest in timber rights and northern acreage...
Adrian stared.
"Your father wasn't lending money."
"He was buying into Wintermere."
"And somebody erased it."
Footsteps sounded in the corridor.
Adrian closed the ledger.
Lady Margaret entered.
Her eyes went first to Eliza.
Then to Adrian.
Then to the hidden book beneath his hand.
"What are you doing?"
Adrian did not answer.
Lady Margaret stepped closer.
Her face drained of color.
"Where did you get that?"
Eliza felt cold.
"You know it."
Lady Margaret's composure returned too quickly.
"It's an old accounting book."
"Hidden inside a wall?" Adrian asked.
"Your father kept records everywhere."
"Thomas Hart appears in it."
Lady Margaret became completely still.
That was answer enough.
Adrian rose.
"What happened?"
"You are marrying Cecily in six weeks."
"That isn't an answer."
"It is the only matter that concerns this family now."
Eliza moved toward the door.
Lady Margaret stopped her.
"Miss Hart."
Eliza turned.
"If you value your position here, you will forget whatever you believe you saw."
Adrian's voice hardened.
"Don't threaten her."
Lady Margaret stared at her nephew.
"You have no idea what you're protecting."
"No. Because nobody will tell me."
Lady Margaret looked again at Eliza.
There was no hatred in her face.
Something worse.
Fear.
She left.
Adrian crossed to the door and closed it after her.
This time Eliza didn't object.
"What does she know?" Eliza whispered.
"Enough to be afraid of the book."
"And Cecily?"
Adrian looked toward the corridor.
"I don't know yet."
The next morning Eliza entered her small room above the kitchens.
Her mattress had been overturned.
Her trunk stood open.
Her clothes were scattered across the floor.
The ledger was gone.
On her pillow lay a single sheet of expensive cream stationery.
Three words had been written across it.
LEAVE WINTERMERE ALONE.