Chapter 23 #2
“Fair enough,” Matthew agreed, seeing his point.
“I do not think we need to be concerned Johanna will try to listen to us, as I have not told her about our investigation, but there are others in the house.” Including Charlotte, who seemed to appear wherever she willed, even if she was not supposed to be there, or Bridget, who he could absolutely imagine listening at keyholes.
So, Drake made a good point.
“She might know anyway,” Drake said dryly. “The ladies have already befriended her. As she is your wife, they may feel it is their duty to inform her, in case you do not.”
Matthew shrugged.
“The coin said not to tell her today. Not that I particularly want to, anyway. It is not exactly a cheerful subject, especially so soon after our wedding. We should be joyful this week, should we not?” He thought about it for a moment, then shrugged again.
“Yes, I think it is better that I wait to tell her. That is probably why my coin keeps putting it off.”
Especially because Drake was correct; there was no need to involve the ladies in this part of their investigation.
If Nathanial and Gregory chose to inform their wives of the discussion later, that would be up to them.
Matthew certainly did not feel the need to tell his wife at the moment; his coin would let him know when the right time was.
They returned to Drake’s house and quickly sent out the notes, discussing their impressions between the two of them.
They both agreed Cornwall was telling the truth and that he’d not been part of the plot to kill Nathanial’s father—he’d still been trying to get the money owed him.
His guilt was all to do with feeling as though he might have been able to do something if he’d been there, but none of that had basis in reality.
None of the men who had been on the other side of the Lodge had been able to reach any of the dukes—the fire had been too fierce. Neither Matthew nor Drake blamed any of them, as long as they had not been involved in the actual setting of the fire. Which, at the moment, there was no proof of.
To their surprise, Nathanial arrived rather quickly and joined them in Drake’s library, though they decided not to update him till the rest of their group came.
Better to do it all at once. Instead, Matthew teased his friend about being unavailable that morning for the investigation, and Nathanial teased him back about being available now that he had a wife.
Thankfully, the other dukes trickled in not long after, and Drake quickly gave them a rundown of the little information Cornwall had divulged.
“I think Conyngham could very well be involved,” Zachary said immediately, frowning and reaching up to stroke Monkey Sinclair’s back. The little monkey chittered at him and jumped up onto the back of the wingback armchair he was sitting in. “I’ve never trusted him.”
“Just because he has taken your place in Delilah’s bed does not mean he was involved in murdering your father,” Drake said, sounding exasperated and shooting Zachary a look. “Your uncle was also among those Cornwall named.”
“Yes, but what reason would he have for killing his own brother?” Zachary shook his head. “I have always felt Conyngham was a shady type of character.”
“You have not,” Gregory replied, obviously amused.
He shook his head and took a sip of his brandy, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned against the mantle beside Sebastian.
“You do not even believe what you are saying. I agree, we should look into him, but what would his motive even be? It’s not as though he knew you would give Delilah her congé so you could marry someone else, and he could become her new lover. ”
“And it is not as if he’s in love with her,” Christian added from his place beside Zachary in another wingback chair. “Conyngham is a rake through and through. I think he’s bedded more ladies of the ton than I have. Not that I’ve been keeping score.”
“Of course not.” Sebastian shot him a bemused look. “I agree we should try to speak with all of them, if only because they might remember who encouraged Cornwall to issue the invitation.”
“Which may or may not mean anything, but at least it’s something we can do right now,” Christian said, echoing Matthew’s earlier thoughts. He shot Zachary a look as the other man began to open his mouth. “I will take Conyngham. Certainly, you should not.”
“Very well,” Zachary said irritably, appearing very put out that no one was willing to jump on board his theory.
Monkey Sinclair climbed from the back of the chair on top of his head and patted his forehead with a tiny paw.
Sighing, Zachary reached up to encourage the monkey onto his hand instead.
“Tiny menace. At least he’s not throwing food or my drinks now.
He ran off with the scone from my breakfast this morning. I am starving.”
Drake glanced at the clock.
“You should all stay for supper, and we can discuss who will speak with whom.”
The others quickly agreed, so Matthew did as well, after a quick flip of his coin.
He would have liked to have gone home to see his wife…
but this was important. Besides, she had plenty of other company for dinner between his grandmother, her siblings, and her cousin.
He would join her in bed later this evening.