Chapter Four #2
His shoes came off first, followed by his cravat and jacket.
He flung them over the back of a nearby chair before proceeding to his dressing area where he came out of all his clothes except his smalls, put on a robe to cover him, and walked back to the sitting room to pour a brandy.
Grabbing the book off a table, he soon made himself comfortable.
Opening the book, he immediately got lost in the story.
His mind, however, didn’t stay focused on the words in front of him.
He found himself thinking about Lady Daphne, wondering if she always acted as she had when he visited or if it was a front.
Perhaps she was really a quiet, demure young woman and not the spoiled girl with the obnoxious parrot he’d met.
That version of her was more palatable but he seriously doubted she was anything but what he saw.
And why was she even crossing his mind? She was not the sort of young lady he wished to have on his arm, but damn he found he was attracted to her.
His imagination went where it had no business going, bedding her.
He shut the book and took a sip of brandy.
He sat back, opened the book one more time, hoping he could concentrate without distraction.
The words ran together, so Arthur closed the book one more time.
There was to be no reading tonight. He cursed his body for misbehaving.
*
Arthur was awakened by a slobbery tongue licking his face.
Roddy. His valet, Ian Thomas, would bring the setter with him in the mornings if the dog hadn’t spent the night with his master.
If Arthur weren’t awake when Thomas arrived, the valet would open the door to the duke’s chambers, knowing the setter would eagerly wake his master.
He pushed the dog aside so that he might sit up.
He had to attend to correspondence after breakfast before anything else was done.
He and Graham were to ride later this morning.
Sometimes being out of the house was better to discuss delicate matters.
They had some decisions to make regarding the man they suspected of killing Arthur and Roxanne’s parents.
Graham had mentioned he’d received a letter from the detective they’d hired to track the man.
An hour later, Arthur was sitting down at the table in the breakfast room. Roddy had followed and was lying at his side, waiting for any scraps Arthur might throw his way. Arthur took a couple of bites of egg and sausage before picking up one of the newspapers neatly folded in a pile to his left.
Turning the page, an article caught his eye.
The man they knew to have had his parents killed was now being held by Metropolitan Police in connection to three other murders.
His parents’ deaths weren’t among those the man was being charged with.
Instead, they were listed as deaths of interest. The list held five potential targets thought to be killed by the same person.
Immediately he knew he needed to go to London and tell police what he and Graham suspected.
Crenshaw was unknowingly making it easier for police.
He was wearing Arthur’s father’s ring, and once it was taken off his finger, Arthur would be able to prove the man had something to do with his parents’ murder.
He needed to let Graham know, if he hadn’t read the newspapers from London. Picking up the newspaper, he rose from his chair. He glanced at the footman standing next to the buffet.
“Have a tray brought to my study.”
“Yes, Your Grace,” the young man replied, still standing erect.
He strode to his study, sitting down at his desk. As he pulled a fresh sheet of paper out of the drawer, in walked Graham, followed by Roddy. “Have you read the papers?” Graham asked breathlessly. He obviously rode his horse; his hair was windblown, and he was out of breath.
“Yes. I was about to write you in case you hadn’t seen it.”
“I think we need to act on this while he’s locked up.”
“Agreed. Should we contact our man or simply go to London ourselves? We could meet up with him there and the three of us pay a visit to Metropolitan Police,” Arthur said.
“We ought to go to London ourselves.”
Arthur nodded. “I’ll write a short note to our man and let him know we’re on our way.”
Graham stared at the newspaper sitting on Arthur’s desk. “How many people has this man killed? More importantly, how has he gotten away with it all these years?”
Before Arthur could answer, the butler appeared. “I apologize for the interruption, Your Grace, but I was asked to tell you that the gray mare is back.”
Arching a brow, he quickly addressed the situation. “Do you know if she’s been caught?”
“She has, Your Grace. She’s at the stables.”
“Instruct them to leave her there. Inform Thomas to pack for London. We leave today. I’ll return the mare myself as we leave for London.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
After the man left the room, Graham turned to his friend, a smirk on his face. “Did I understand you correctly that you’re returning the mare on our way to London?”
“You didn’t mishear. And yes, you can meet the lady and her obnoxious bird. I need someone to be witness to what I tell her,” Arthur replied, adding, “And wipe that smirk off your face.”
“You know what I think?”
“No, but I’m sure you’re going to tell me.”
“I think the lady deliberately let the mare loose. Maybe even led her onto your property herself.”
“That’s a possibility. I don’t know how the gray got onto the estate. I was assured everything had been fixed. There shouldn’t have been any openings for her.”
“A quandary at best.”
A few minutes later, Graham was on his way back home and Arthur was shouting orders to have his coach readied and that food be packed for them in case they got hungry during the ride.
After picking up Graham, Arthur instructed his driver to make a stop at the viscount’s estate. As usual, the gate was shut, but Arthur had watched how it was opened the last time he’d been here. With Graham walking beside him, and Arthur leading the gray mare, the pair made their way to the manor.
Someone must have seen them because when the pair reached the front of the house, they were greeted by the butler.
A boy came to take the horse from Arthur, but Arthur kept a tight hold on the rope, insisting to see Lady Daphne before he gave up the mare.
For a while it seemed like they were going to be in the middle of a big standoff.
Finally, Lady Daphne walked through the door and stood at the top of the stairs.
“What are you doing with my mare, Your Grace?” She was smiling, indicating to Arthur that she was aware of the situation.
“Funny, but she showed up in my meadow again in spite of my men fixing the fence and wall.”
“Sounds like they missed an opening,” she said. She eyed Graham carefully. “Who’s he?”
“There were no openings, of that I can assure you.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
Arthur bit back a laugh. “My conclusion is that someone made a new opening and let the gray through. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you, Lady Daphne?”
“You still haven’t answered my question,” she ground out. “Who is he?” She pointed at Graham.
“Oh, this is my brother-in-law, the Earl of Otley. He lives nearby as well.”
Graham bowed his head slightly. “An honor to meet you, Lady Daphne.”
“Hmmm…is he always so demanding?” she asked Graham.
“He’s a duke. The same rules we go by don’t always apply to a duke.”
“Duke or not, he doesn’t scare me.”
Precisely at that moment, a voice from just inside the open door could be heard. “Mama, mama, mama!”
“What the?” Graham bit out.
“Sam, the parrot I told you about,” Arthur replied.
Lady Daphne had turned and stepped inside for a moment. As she returned, a large red macaw graced her forearm. “Bloody hell! Stranger!” the bird said.
“That’s not nice, Sam,” she scolded.
“Sam not nice.”
“Who taught him to talk?” Graham inquired.
“No one. I guess you could say he taught himself,” Lady Daphne replied.
“Amazing. I’ve never seen a parrot like him up close.”
“My father brought him back from one of his trips to the Caribbean or South America.”
Arthur was getting impatient for two reasons. Lady Daphne was not going to have a serious conversation about their ongoing problem of her mare on the loose. Next, he was more than ready to get on the road to London. He was going to have to make a move to get Graham away from here.
“Graham, we should be going.”
His friend nodded. “You’re right.”
“Where are you off to?” Lady Daphne asked, as she stroked Sam’s feathers.
“London,” Arthur said. “We’ll finish this conversation when I return.”
“There’s nothing to discuss, Your Grace.” She turned to Graham. “It was nice to meet you, milord. I’m looking forward to your house party.”
“Until then,” Graham replied.
The pair watched as the door closed behind Lady Daphne and Sam. They began the walk to the carriage without saying a word. Once they had settled in and the carriage began to roll, Graham, looking out the window, spoke.
“That parrot is phenomenal. I’ve never heard a bird talk before.”
“Sam is something, I will admit,” Arthur said, settling himself into the corner of the seat.
“And I think you’ve met your match with Lady Daphne.”
Arthur shook his head slightly. “Like I said, she’s arrogant, condescending, and has a mouth on her.”
“Whatever you say. Methinks there’s an attraction between the two of you.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’ll grant you she’s beautiful, but once she opens her mouth, that’s all she wrote.”
“Perhaps that’s why her family lets her stay behind.”
Graham bent over and pulled out the basket Arthur’s cook had made. He pulled out a chunk of cheese, offering some to Arthur. Arthur broke off a piece and found a bottle of wine and two glasses. Arthur poured two glasses as Graham found the loaf of bread, still slightly warm.
“I hope my father’s ring will be enough to charge him,” Arthur said before taking a sip of wine.
“I’m speculating they must have other proof. Might not be from your parents’ murders, but it sounds like the police have this wrapped up in a neat little bow.”
Arthur nodded as he thoughtfully bit into a piece of cheese. “What I don’t understand is how someone can murder people and then just walk through society as though nothing was wrong.”
“He’s not like you or me. The man has no conscience.”
“It’ll be interesting. Perhaps his tongue will loosen up after a few days in custody,” Graham said as he ran his hand over his beard. He set his glass back in the basket and closed his eyes. Long carriage rides made him sleepy. A few minutes later, he heard Arthur’s baritone rasp.
“Rather than us open both our residences, I suggest we stay at mine since I already let staff know we were coming.”
Graham cracked an eye. “That’s fine with me because I completely forgot about getting word to anyone.”
“I also thought that rather than put my cook in distress by my lack of information, we could dine at White’s and have a couple of steaks.”
“That sounds good. It shouldn’t be too crowded either since there are still a lot of people out of town for the summer.”
“Quite true,” Arthur said. “When we arrive, I’ll get a message off and see where our man wants to meet in the morning.”
“It would probably be best to meet at your house. It would give us more privacy, and afterward we could move on to Metropolitan Police.”
“Yes, that would be the best way to be able to speak privately.”
“On another matter, Roxanne has sent me a list of things she needs or things she’s ordered that need to be picked up while we’re here,” Graham said with a smirk.
Arthur arched a brow and stretched out his legs. “Things for the house party?”
“I’m afraid so.”
He bit out a laugh at his friend’s answer. “I was actually surprised she didn’t insist on coming along.”
“She tried, but I convinced her I was perfectly capable of following her instructions,” Graham said.
“You’ve got your hands full with her.”
“I know, but I’m hoping she’ll settle into her roles as wife, mother, and countess. I overlook some of what she says or does because I know what a hard, impossible life she had with Casper.”
Arthur picked up a book he’d brought along with him and opened it to the spot he’d read through. “At least you realize that. A lot of husbands wouldn’t and wouldn’t be so understanding.”
His words met dead silence. Arthur glanced over at his friend and found him asleep.
He was envious of Graham being able to sleep in a carriage.
Carriage rides were too jarring for sleep, though he had found himself taking naps on long-distance journeys.
Now, trains were beginning to become a more efficient means of transportation.
No more swapping out teams. Simply board a train and let it take you to your destination.
At least there was something good coming from all these new-fangled inventions.