Chapter Twenty-One #3
As was typical for His Lordship, Duncan ignored their bickering.
“I am assuming you were also the man in opera attire that Lord Orson chased through Covent Garden and also the man Lord Marksman shot outside of London and who fell in the river. Naturally, if anyone asked, you could easily have claimed you were looking at the rising water and accidentally fell in. No one would question a man who is considered a religious scholar. However, when we met in the village, I noticed a slight limp, which did not initially make sense, but… Could they not remove the bullet or is it a wound that easily festers? As to the paint or whatever you wore on your face on that particular day, it could have been easily washed away. Were you afraid that Theodora would recognize a friend of her father? Was that the purpose of all the paint? Or did you not tell Almano of our previous connection? Was Almano becoming too curious for your safety? Afraid he would blackmail you? Just so you know, after encountering you in the village outside my son’s estate, I asked questions and found out you delivered a series of lectures in the area of the abandoned house where Almano took Theodora and where the man later died. ”
“I would not have harmed Lady Theodora,” the man said with a shrug of uncomfortableness. “She looks very much like her mother.”
“My wife,” Duncan announced with a lift of his chin in an apparent challenge. “In case you thought otherwise, I did not know you had approached Elsbeth’s father regarding a possible marriage until after our nuptials.”
“Would you have refused to marry her?” MacAlasdair asked as he removed his mask. “Did our friendship mean nothing to you?”
“I can say with all honesty, my admiration for Lady Elsbeth was set with a single glance, and it robbed me of any reason or responsibility. I courted her and wed her in less than six weeks. I only had Elsbeth on my mind those forty days. You were away at the time, and I did not think to consult my long-time friend on my choices. Though, even if I had known, I doubt I would have executed more than offering you an apology. I would not have changed my mind. I did not know of your interest. Elsbeth’s father spoke of it in hindsight, but I was told he had never begun negotiations with you.
He also said he would have denied your request because he wanted a higher position in society for his daughter. ”
Aaran glanced to where Lady Freya looked on in wide-eyed wonder, and he realized she, too, admired Duncan’s total commitment to Lady Elsbeth and wished for the same for herself. In that moment, Aaran silently swore he would spend his days adoring Freya Cunningham.
Duncan did not wait for MacAlasdair to continue his complaints.
Instead, His Lordship turned to the one they all knew to be Lady Rayland.
“Eímear Boyde, you play a smaller role in this madness than does the man you have loved for more years than many would understand, especially as it ruined your marriage to both the elder Lord Graham and to Lord Roland. I imagine it was difficult for you to be away from Society for several days when MacAlasdair required your participation in his schemes. I have proof you were the one who followed my daughter on the day of Lord Orson’s wedding, and I suspect it was you who knocked Lady Thompson’s bag from her hands, though I do not believe you could run those long needles into Mrs. Taylor’s eyes after the lady was killed.
“In many ways, it was a shame that your parents did not permit you to marry MacAlasdair. They considered him too poor for their daughter, and, of course, he had no title, so they bargained your beauty away. Unfortunately for all involved, you were in love with him. Are still in love with him, if I am not mistaken. Meanwhile, he was happy to encourage you to marry two different Scottish lords and, finally, Lord Rayland. Did you realize, my lady, how much of each of those lords’ fortunes he was carrying off as his own?
Have you yet to realize how easily he chooses to leave your name in the mud and how society shuns you?
In my opinion, even his reported fondness for my late wife is an excuse for him not to make an effort to do more than keep on keeping on.
It is much easier to blame others for his misfortune than to take responsibility for his true nature. ”
“And what will you attribute to me, my lord?” the shortest of the three demanded.
Aaran’s attention, as well as that of both Duncan and Lady Freya could be described as total surprise, for the man had a very feminine voice.
“You are the true conundrum of this adventure,” Duncan pronounced. “You are both brave and daring.”
“However, you still do not know me,” the masked man taunted them, but both Aaran and Duncan tilted their heads to listen for a clue.
Duncan replied first. “Initially, I thought you were the one who shot me, but we now know it was MacAlasdair. However, he would not know how to handle the type of gun he carried that night without the expertise of another. I believe you were that person.”
Aaran noted the man adjusted his stance.
Duncan’s praise had found a place. “Though you recognized my brilliance, it will grieve me when I must kill you, my lord. I have dreamed of doing so for years.”
The click of the gun had Aaran diving in front of Duncan. The heat of the bullet as it made a path across his already injured trailing leg burned with the fires of hell, as he landed hard on his side.