"Did you find your coachman?" Johnny asked, smiling, as the two men stepped out of the dirty room. "You talked for quite a long time. What did you talk about?"
"That's none of your business," Edgar replied.
"Actually, it is my business, since I overheard everything," Johnny grinned.
Edgar's father wanted to punch him and break a few of his teeth, but his son stopped him.
"I'll take care of it," Edgar said. "How much do you want to keep quiet about everything you overheard?"
"Since we're talking about important information, I'd ask for a sum... well, equally important..."
"Tell me how much you want," Edgar said, pulling money out of his pocket and starting to count it.
"I think this will be enough," Johnny smiled, taking everything Edgar had in his hand, down to the last coin.
"You're a greedy man," Edgar said.
"He's not even a man," Thomas added. "He's still just a boy."
"I don't care, man or boy... The important thing is being a rich boy, and now I am."
"One day, your wickedness will come back to you."
"Good day, gentlemen," Johnny said, cheerfully walking away. "I've already forgotten your secret."
In reality, Johnny hadn't forgotten a thing, and at the first opportunity, drunk, he told everything to his drinking buddy Philip, who in turn went home and spilled everything to his wife. Poor woman, smelling the alcohol on him, didn't believe him, but the next morning he repeated the same story, and at that point, she became convinced that it was the truth: young Mr. Scott was truly an illegitimate son and not noble at all.
"He's one of us," Philip said, pleased. "Just like me. I'm also the son of a coachman."
"But he's educated, and you're not," his wife replied.
"He? Educated? He only knows the rules of etiquette, that's all!"
"And you don't even know those."
"He hasn't been to university in months."
"Since his mother died..."
"Yeah, a sharp woman, it seems," Philip chuckled, referring to the affair with the coachman. "I wonder how much other servitude she has..."
"Seduced?"
"Exactly!"
"But what if it wasn't seduction, but love? What if he was the only one for her?"
"Love," Philip said, "belongs to the poor. The rich marry for convenience. Remember that."
"Do you think young Scott will marry for convenience too?"
"Certainly, but at this point, who would want to marry a fake nobleman?"
"I'd marry him," Csaba said.
"You?... You're mine!" Philip exclaimed, pulling her close.
"So, will you tell others about this?" the woman asked, worried.
"I won't be the one spreading these things around," Philip explained. "But you certainly will."
"Hey, I'm not a gossip!"
"You are, my dear, you are!"
And indeed, that's exactly what happened. She told her friend Victoria, and from Victoria's lips, the news spread to the seamstress, who in turn blabbed it to her clientele. Thus, the news spread throughout London and, in no time, even appeared in a newspaper.