Chapter Four #3
“Thank you. It was quite the shock.” The younger woman tugged a dainty handkerchief from her bodice and then dabbed at the corners of her eyes. “Excuse my father. He has always been overly protective.”
Why she thought to apologize again for the duke, Mary couldn’t know, but she understood the sentiment. She glanced at Bright, who nodded for her to continue. “Does that extend to the whole family or merely his children and wife?”
Lady Amelia dropped her gaze. “Of course he loves his family.” It wasn’t exactly an answer as it was an evasion of the question.
“Mmm.” With a frown, she jotted down a note. “How was your relationship with your husband? Did you enjoy an easy marriage or were there problems?”
“Our union was nothing except lovely.” Another round of tears welled in the woman’s eyes.
She looked at Mary with earnestness. “Oh, he was so excited to meet our babe. I’m heartbroken my child won’t know his father.
” A half-stifled sob escaped her. “Papa wants me to remarry as soon as my mourning is complete, but I still love my husband, and I don’t know if I want another man to step into the role of father to my baby. ”
Bright cleared his throat so that her attention landed on him. “That is understandable, so give yourself time to mourn and to heal. Concentrate on your babe.” He flicked his gaze between them. “Did Mr. Corbett have issues with any of his friends?”
“If he did, he never told me.” She shook her head. “If I’m honest, the only close friend he had was your son, Inspector. He has always been inspired by Henry, and he adored hearing the stories of your cases that Henry would tell.”
A frown tugged at the corners of Bright’s mouth. “Henry talked about that?”
“Oh, yes.” When she nodded, a soft smile curved her lips.
“Henry is quite proud of you, Inspector, and I think that transferred over to Anthony.” Then that little bit of mirth faded from her expression.
With a furtive glance to the empty doorway, she lowered her voice.
“In recent months, my husband and Henry have gotten close again.”
“Why was that?” Mary wanted to know.
Again, the young lady glanced at the door.
Just because her father wasn’t obviously lurking, it didn’t mean he wasn’t in the corridor beyond.
“After I stopped being so sick from the pregnancy, Anthony wanted to ensure that the babe and I would be taken care of, which was why he revived his friendship with Henry.”
“Was he generally planning for the future, or had something happened to make him feel that way?” Bright asked as he scribbled a few things into his notebook.
Lady Amelia’s gaze dropped to her clenched hands in her lap. “He’d been acting strange over the past several weeks.”
“Strange how?” Bright’s gaze was intense.
She shrugged. “Looking over his shoulder all the time. He’d lost his appetite. His sleep was broken, and he would continuously ask me if I loved him, if I’d married him out of love instead of something else.”
One of Mary’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Did you?”
“Of course not!” Lady Amelia met her gaze. Indignation reflected in her gray eyes. “I genuinely love him, only wished to spend my life with him regardless of whether Papa approved of him or not.” She shook her head. “Papa wanted me to wed a man with a title because I’m the daughter of a duke.”
Mary reached over and patted the lady’s hand.
“The heart doesn’t always receive that message, though, and there is nothing wrong with that.
” Allowing a few seconds to compose her thoughts, she asked, “Do you think Mr. Corbett was frightened of someone, and that was what prompted him to direct Henry to draw up paperwork?”
“It’s possible, but I don’t know who it might be.” When she glanced to the left then dropped her gaze, Mary wondered if she’d told the full truth. “Um, if you don’t mind, I’m quite fatigued as you can imagine. Could we continue this interview at a later date?”
“Yes, of course,” Bright said with a nod, and there was speculation in his expression.
Clearly, he didn’t believe her either. “We shall call on you again here, I suppose?” When she nodded, he continued.
“One last thing for now. Was there a particular family member that Mr. Corbett was closest to besides you?”
“Uh, perhaps my second oldest brother? They got on well, and were friends with a few acquaintances each of them knew, and I think they bonded…”
“Why?” Mary’s pencil paused over the page.
“Because Papa treated them both as less than other members of the family.” Then she burst into tears again. “Please excuse me. This is all too much right now.” Seconds later, she pushed to her feet and fled the room.
“Well, that was interesting.” Mary put her notebook and pencil into her reticule as Bright tucked his into a pocket of his greatcoat.
“Yes, but not helpful. We have more questions than answers.”
She nodded. “We do, but we’ll ferret out the truth sooner or later. It can’t hide, no matter how tightly knit a family is or how much pressure and manipulation they are under.” For she was convinced at least part of this murder rested on the duke’s shoulders.