A tricky dilemma (Despicable Missy Part 1)

The butler brought the morning post with the breakfast tray.
I spotted straight away the nondescript brown envelope. I opened it and dread washed over me. The little note said:
'Pay up or the old man gets these.'
'These' being pictures of a younger me in various, most indelicate situations.
Having married an elderly Earl, I'm now a pillar of respectability.
He raised his eyes from his newspaper, concerned at my palor.
Maybe I should just throw myself at his feet, sobbing I was young and naive and needed the money?
Or I could just think of something really Machiavellian.