Chapter 19
Asher smiled from his place on the sofa in the sitting room, watching his wife flit about the room, tapping her quill pen against her lips as she mouthed words silently.
He loved watching her work. He could practically see her mind spinning, placing clues together. His favorite part of her solving a mystery was when the answer came to her. Light filled her eyes as she lifted her pen into the air triumphantly.
It took far less time than it would for most people, that was for certain.
Last night had been a revelation.
Tonight, he would show her what it truly meant to come together as husband and wife.
He could hardly wait.
In fact, part of him wanted to pick her up and carry her to one of their bedrooms right now.
Yesterday after their lovemaking, he had eventually, very reluctantly, agreed she should cross through the dressing room connecting their bedrooms and get dressed before heading down to dinner.
She hadn’t come to his bedroom later that night, and he didn’t visit her either, giving her time to adjust to all that had changed between them.
They had all the time in the world to continue exploring one another.
At least, he assumed they did. They hadn’t exactly discussed their thoughts on how this marriage was to continue. Asher’s current focus was to take the physical joining but still keep his heart guarded, to not allow it to be hurt again.
Although he could admit that part of him simply wanted to hold her in his arms for the entire night, though she probably wouldn’t believe him if he told her so.
“Your grace?” the butler said from the doorway, having snuck up on him as he usually did.
“Yes, Lloyd?”
“There is a constable here to see you.”
“A constable?” Asher said, his stomach dropping. He had nearly allowed himself to forget all that had brought him and Evelyn together, to believe that nothing else would happen, that they could begin to focus on what their life together could look like rather than on all that threatened them.
He had been wrong.
So very wrong.
Evelyn’s attention was now worriedly focused on him, her puzzle forgotten.
“What is it?”
“Your grace?” came a voice from the doorway. “I am Constable Peters.”
Asher gritted his teeth together that the man would take it upon himself to walk through his house without invitation and greet him in his private parlor, where he sat with his wife.
“Peters. What is it?”
“Would you have a moment to speak in private?” the constable asked, glancing toward Evelyn and then back at Asher. He was a tall man with long sideburns and a close-shaven beard who seemed rather confident in whatever had brought him here.
Asher stood.
“We can speak in my study,” he said, before looking over at Evelyn, whose arms were crossed as she stared at him expectantly.
“My wife will join us if she chooses,” he continued.
“Your grace—”
Asher gave Peters a look to remind him that he had no need to listen to any arguments. He held out his arm, and Evelyn was at his side, the two of them leading the constable through the drawing room and breakfast room toward the study.
The fire was lit in the grate, the curtains drawn back to allow in the light from outside once they entered, for the staff had likely expected him first thing after breakfast, following his usual routine.
One he had diligently followed until Evelyn.
She took one seat in front of his desk, the constable the other. Asher was glad to see that she shifted her chair slightly away from the man toward him, making it clear they were a united front.
“Now,” Asher said, his tone still icy to make it clear that while he was accommodating Peters, he still didn’t appreciate the interruption. “What brings you to my home, Constable?”
“It has to do with the theft of the Paragon Diamond,” Constable Peters said. “We have uncovered new evidence.”
Asher didn’t know whether to sigh, curse, or laugh. Of course they had. And Asher had a feeling it was all going to lead back to him and Evelyn.
“Duchess, your father is known as a master problem solver, is he not?” The constable asked, causing Asher’s spine to straighten. While Evelyn’s expression remained passive, he could only imagine what she was feeling within as she gritted her teeth and stared the constable down.
“He is,” she agreed suspiciously, having every right to.
“He is one of the few people with the intelligence to pull something like this off. To know how to tamper with the lock just enough for the mechanism to open easily but without anyone noticing something is amiss.”
“What are you saying, Constable?” Evelyn asked, crossing her arms over her chest, and suddenly Asher was filled with a desperate need to make this right, to prevent any further disappointment for her.
“I am saying that based upon a letter we received implicating your father was involved, as well as the undeniable knowledge that he has the skills and the intelligence to have schemed such a crime, we have to take this as a legitimate possibility. However, with respect to you, your grace,” he directed this at Asher, “I thought it best to speak to you about this first.”
Asher drew to his full height as he rounded his desk and walked over to the constable.
He might not be able to prevent rumors or society gossip, but he could certainly keep anyone in his family from facing legal threats.
He was one of the most powerful men in England, a fact he had rued for some time now, but for once, he was pleased about it.
“That cannot be,” Evelyn was saying, disbelief covering her face. “My father would never do such a thing. Someone is only trying to throw suspicion on him, Constable. You must understand that.”
She was clearly at a loss, and Asher was more than happy to be the one to save her.
“Let me see the letter,” he said, holding his hand out. The constable hesitated, and Asher fixed his most regal stare on him. “Now.”
The constable nodded before handing it over. Asher scanned it quickly. There was no letterhead, no way to determine where it originated. It was black scrawl on a piece of rather generic paper.
“When did you receive this?” He demanded.
“This morning.”
“And your first instinct was to immediately rush here, without investigating its validity?”
“I thought it was best to speak with you first, before word got out.”
“If you must be so concerned about word getting out, that tells me that you are not doing your job correctly, Constable. You have spoken to me, and now I will tell you what we are going to do. Listen carefully, Constable Peters. My wife’s father has nothing to do with this.
Nor do I, nor does my wife. The only investigation you need to be doing is determining who has decided our families are to be blamed for this, do you understand me? ”
“But I—"
“Do you understand me, Constable Peters?”
The constable paused, looked around him as though remembering where he was, whose home he was in, and then finally gave a quick nod.
“I understand.”
“Good,” Asher said, and then took the letter, held it up between them, and very deliberately ripped it in half.
Peters blanched, but seemed to understand the message, and slowly backed out of the room.
When Asher turned to face Evelyn, she was staring at him wide-eyed.
“Are you certain that was a good idea?” she asked.
“A man cannot walk into a duke’s home and accuse his family of theft,” Asher said, holding his head high. “It is one advantage I will gladly take.”
“If that was so, then why did you go to all the trouble of marrying me?” she asked, throwing her hands up. “You could have used your authority much earlier, absolved your name, and been done with the entire thing.”
“I could have, yes,” he agreed, before staring at her, not wanting to tell her but knowing that she wouldn’t let this go until she understood his intentions.
“But then just where would that have left you? Your father is a viscount, but that doesn’t hold quite the same weight.
He might not have been prosecuted by the law, but he would have lost everything that mattered to him. You would have lost everything.”
Her expression changed, then softened, and Asher cursed inwardly. He never should have said that. For now, she would assume things about him, feel things for him that he just couldn’t return. Without knowing what to say and not wanting to wait and hear her response, he took the coward’s way out.
He turned around and walked away.
Evelyn usually enjoyed a salon evening, especially when the host actually featured someone of intelligence.
Lady Lancaster’s salons were almost always sure successes, and Evelyn had always been held in high esteem despite the fact that she was a woman.
Yet tonight, she would rather be anywhere else.
Since yesterday’s dismissal of Constable Peters, she had only seen Asher when also in the company of his mother and sister.
The dowager duchess had somewhat warmed to Evelyn since she had asked for her assistance, seeming to enjoy being back at the helm of various aspects of the household, a situation which suited Evelyn just fine, for it left her free for her other pursuits.
Evelyn had waited for Asher in her bedchamber last night, hoping he might visit and she could show him how much she wanted to thank him for his defence of her father, but he was obviously avoiding her.
She had yet to ascertain whether he was avoiding her because he didn’t want her affection as a consequence of his actions, or because he was embarrassed after admitting the truth of the origin of their marriage, but she could admit that it hurt all the same.
Evelyn would, one way or another, get to the bottom of it.
She had learned that becoming a duchess brought with it responsibility, power, and a great many invitations.
She declined most of them, but Verity was attending tonight, so she thought it would be a worthwhile event.
Not only that, but Lady Lancaster, a widow, had a particular fondness for intelligent young women and often invited Evelyn, along with other bluestockings, artists, and thinkers, in addition to titled society.
Unlike other invitations, which were for her title as duchess.
Asher hadn’t commented on her decision to attend, but he had agreed to accompany her.
Whether he would actually pay her any attention or not remained to be seen.