Epilogue
“Hatred, in the course of time, kills the unhappy wretch who delights in nursing it in his bosom.”
Giacomo Casanova
The gentlemen assembled in Lord Stirling’s study, awaiting the duke’s arrival. The afternoon was warm, and the French windows and doors had been left open to admit a draught, though it did little to relieve the oppressive tension in the room.
Julius checked his timepiece, his jaw tightening with impatience.
He longed to return to Audrey upstairs, but this final matter had to be concluded.
The duke was expected presently, following his visit to the Home Office, where he had conferred with the Home Secretary upon the implications of the evidence now pointing toward the baron’s murderer.
With a sigh, Julius moved to lean against the frame of an open window, catching what breeze he could.
A knock at the door turned every head—only to reveal not the duke, but a footman. The servant entered swiftly and spoke in hushed tones to Lord Stirling before exiting. Moments later, he returned, accompanied by a man familiar to several of those present.
“Mr. Briggs,” the footman announced with a bow before taking his leave.
Brendan and Saunton stood at once. “Briggs!”
The newcomer cut a lean, wiry figure in a threadbare overcoat, a battered hat tucked beneath one arm, and scuffed leather shoes that bore the hallmarks of long service. A jagged scar over one beetling brow lent his angular face a grim cast.
Briggs had been the first investigator called to the baron’s residence on the morning Brendan discovered the body.
He had declared Brendan innocent early on and, following that exoneration, had been privately retained to continue the investigation.
Julius had not seen him since, as the runner’s work had taken him across the country.
“Milords,” Briggs said, inclining his head. “Lady Filminster told me I should find you here and that I ought not delay.”
“Have you news?” Brendan asked, tension sharp in his voice.
Briggs nodded and gave a brief glance around the room, stroking his mustache.
Brendan turned to the earl. “Lord Stirling, this is the runner who has been overseeing the investigation.”
Lord Stirling waved a hand. “No need for ceremony, Mr. Briggs. Let us hear what you have discovered.”
Briggs consulted a worn leather notebook.
“Once word reached us that Simon Scott was likely our man, we concentrated on the parishes surrounding the Blackwood estate. There we located a marriage record for a Peter Scott and a Miss Bianca Romano, wed in 1794. We believe she was of Florentine origin, likely connected to Peter Scott’s time abroad. ”
Brendan sank slowly into a chair, the color draining from his face. “Then it is true? Simon Scott murdered my … my father?”
Julius noted the brief glance Brendan cast toward Lord Stirling at the word father. The man had remembered that the earl remained unaware of the particulars surrounding his parentage.
Briggs gave a noncommittal shrug. “So it appears.”
Saunton, still on his feet, asked, “Is there any explanation for why the family had no knowledge of a legitimate heir?”
Briggs tucked his notebook away. “From what we gathered, Peter Scott and his father quarreled bitterly when the son refused a commission in the army. Afterward, Peter appears to have vanished, possibly abroad. It is unclear whether the late Lord Blackwood ever knew of his son’s marriage.
What is evident is that Peter severed all ties, and no one informed the family he had wed. ”
Julius gave a low whistle, astonished that after all their efforts, they had at last narrowed their suspicions to a single man. A man who had walked among them with arrogant ease while others suffered.
Lady Filminster had been brutalized. Three men had been coerced into marriage. And all the while, Simon Scott had carried on, careless and untroubled. The sheer audacity of it made Julius’s blood burn.
“I propose we confront the scoundrel with his crimes,” he said sharply. The room quieted as all faces turned toward him. “Once the truth is revealed, there will be no secret left to shield him, and no further threat to our families.”
Meet Simon Scott and his talented neighbor, Madeline Bigsby, in the next chapter of Reluctant Reckonings, Miss Bigsby & the Aristocrat Next Door. She has loved him for years. In his darkest hour, she is determined to find out who is framing him for murder.