Chapter 5
“Devil take me,” Adrian muttered, rubbing his tired eyes.
After a few hours of aggressive tossing and turning in his bed, Adrian sat up and ripped the sheets from his sweat-slicked body. A cool, pre-dawn breeze drifted through his open windows, making his muscles twitch as it eased the heat rolling off of him.
For the first time in a year, Adrian’s thoughts had turned to something—or rather someone—other than Evander’s murder. Bridget. The wife of the man who probably killed his brother.
He still could not believe that he had itched to touch her the way he had.
It was as if he had lost control of his limbs, as if some lost, primal instinct had taken over.
He had told himself that it was just sympathy that had him yearning to hold her, but if that were true, then why did he spend most of the night in a heated state of desire as he wondered what those plump lips would taste like?
What her bare flesh would feel like against his own?
What the sultry sound of her cries of ecstasy would unravel in him?
His taste for women had died that day Evander had been taken from them, and for the last year, he had been content with that.
It was far more important to find out what had happened to his brother than to dally in some woman’s bed who had no answers.
Yet within a minute of meeting Bridget, those urges he had thought he had lost forever had returned with a vengeance.
As Adrian splashed cold water over himself and got ready for the day, he wondered what kind of man would ignore a woman like Bridget.
Even if he found out that Winslow was not responsible for Evander’s death, Adrian reached the conclusion that the man must indeed be insane to ignore a wife such as her.
If she was telling him the truth.
Adrian’s thoughts were still circling around Bridget as he walked into the breakfast room, but they stopped short, as did his footsteps, when he saw the sleep-deprived look on his younger sister’s face. He cocked an amused brow and smirked.
“Trouble sleeping, Elara?” he asked, taking a seat across from her.
Eighteen-year-old Elara lifted her weary blue eyes to Adrian and gave him an annoyed look.
“You do not look much better, brother,” she answered testily.
“Touché,” Adrian chuckled as his cup of coffee and breakfast plate were brought to him. He was sure he looked horrid and fathomed that he had the same bags under his eyes as Elara did.
“It is unfair that only married women are allowed to have breakfast in bed,” she said, resting her head on her fist. “You know well that Evander ignored that rule and allowed me to break my fast in such a way. Why must you be such a tyrant?”
Adrian forced a smirk, even though his heart pulsed with misery at the mention of their older brother. The knowledge that he could never live up to Evander’s standards had him in a constant state of lack, and such knowledge was doing nothing to help his concentration.
“Because I rarely get to see you, except when we break our fast together,” Adrian explained matter-of-factly.
Elara rolled her eyes, but her cheeks flushed pink—something Adrian knew happened when she suddenly felt guilty.
“Besides, if I were a tyrant, would you truly believe that I would let you sneak out at night?” Adrian went on, looking over at her from the mouth of his cup.
He swallowed his first deep sip of coffee as Elara’s eyes grew wide and her cheeks turned a deeper shade of red. The energy from the strong brew perked him up a little bit, and he managed a fiendish grin.
“You really did not believe that I would leave you and Mother alone without guards, did you?” he asked with a mocking tone. “What sort of man would that make me?”
“Do not tell Mama,” Elara demanded.
“As long as you do not give me a reason to, I will not,” he answered with a shrug, then took another deep sip of his coffee. “Which means you follow my rules and stop comparing them to Evander’s.”
Elara let out a sound of frustration as she flicked her long black curls behind her shoulder.
“I detest society’s rules, you know,” she said icily. “Young men are encouraged to go out and be adventurous and bold, yet young ladies are not allowed to do anything! All we are permitted to do is sit inside with our books and our embroidery and look pretty.”
“Well, I cannot speak for your education or your talent for thread, but you do look quite lovely, sister,” Adrian teased.
Elara gave him a look that pleaded with him to take her seriously, but then she cracked a smile and relaxed.
“You truly are not going to tell Mama?” she asked.
“As long as you are not foolish,” he replied. “And from what I have been told, the disguises you wear to sneak out of the house are quite creative. Which is why you are going to confess what it is you believe you and Caroline are accomplishing by sneaking out so late.”
Elara’s small smile dropped, and her cheeks turned pink yet again as she began to tear her piece of toast into tiny pieces.
“I have been looking for clues,” she said, barely loud enough for Adrian to hear.
“Clues to what?” Adrian asked. “Have you and Caroline started playing a new game?”
“No,” Elara said, shaking her head as she kept her eyes on her plate. “I have been looking for Evander’s killer.”
Adrian’s forkful of fish froze an inch from his open mouth, and his eyes darted back to his little sister.
“You are doing what?” he demanded, his fork clattering as he forcefully brought it back down to his plate.
“It seems your men have not been telling you everything. But it needs to be done,” Elara stated, throwing him a hard look. “It has been a year, and we are no closer to finding out who killed him than the day he died!”
Elara’s voice rose to a pain-filled shout, and Adrian forced his temper to cool.
“Elara, this is not what I want you thinking about,” he said with calm sternness.
“What else am I to think about?” she quickly retorted.
“Mama has taken to bed since Evander’s passing, and you are busy with your new responsibilities as Duke of Redgrave.
I was intended to debut in society this year, but neither of you has time to escort me to balls.
I am withering in this frozen state. I must do something, and you are so secretive! ”
Guilt poured through Adrian as he heard the emotion in his sister’s voice. It was not just his life that had changed since Evander’s passing. All of them had transformed into something else. Something they all hoped they would never be.
“Elara, forgive me,” he offered, reaching out for her hand. “You are right, of course. I will try to remedy our situation.”
Elara’s shoulders drooped, and she gave him an apologetic look.
“I do not mean to sound so vain,” she said softly.
“If I must wait another year to be debuted, I understand, but it bothers me that our brother’s killer is still out there.
Evander was such… such a remarkable man.
I do not know why anyone would ever wish to hurt him, let alone take him away from us forever. ”
It was a question that kept Adrian up at night, too.
There were many men among the ton with flaws.
Gamblers. Cheats. Adulterers. Men who were overly pompous and men who cowered away from their responsibility.
Evander was none of those. Yet he had his fair share of enemies for seeking to adhere to justice.
“I do not want you investigating this any further, Elara,” he said in a gentle but firm tone. “I want you to leave that to me. As it so happens, Damien and I found a lead last night, and we have our first serious suspect.”
Elara’s blue eyes widened in surprise as she leaned forward.
“Tell me everything,” she demanded.
Pride swelled in Adrian’s chest at his younger sister’s insistence. Women were not supposed to be as strong-willed as she, yet if Elara had been born a man, her fierceness would have been greatly admired and nurtured.
Even so, he could not let her know the full extent of his investigation. The last thing he needed was her braving an interrogation alone and finding herself in danger. Adrian would not lose another sibling because of his ignorance again. He would not survive it.
“Just leave the investigative measures to me,” Adrian commanded as he finished his breakfast. “And if you need something to do, you should spend more time with our mother. As you said, she has not left her rooms in a year.”
“I hate that you always leave me in the dark about the things that matter.” After he said nothing, Elara shifted uncomfortably in her chair. “And about Mother… she has recently changed her habits,” she confessed.
“Oh?” Adrian asked, raising a brow.
“She has been leaving her rooms daily now, though often just for a short amount of time,” Elara explained.
“Well, that is fantastic news,” Adrian answered. Though as he took in his sister’s expression, he wondered if perhaps he was mistaken.
“Elara,” he prompted. “What are you not telling me?”
“Well, she is speaking again and eating,” Elara told him, “However… it is strange.”
“How so? What do you mean?” Adrian asked.
As he said that, the Dowager Duchess of Redgrave herself breezed into the dining room. She was elegantly dressed as if she were going to a ball at the palace, and her smile was wide and bright—a bit too bright.
“Good morning, my doves!” Nora Mason greeted cheerily as she approached the table. “What a lovely day, is it not?”
Adrian caught the worried glance Elara threw him before they both stood and smiled at their mother.
“Indeed, it is, Mother,” Adrian agreed cordially. “How did you sleep?”
Nora opened her arms toward him, and Adrian had to bend far at the waist to hug his much smaller mother. She kissed his cheek lovingly, then patted it, her blue eyes sparkling.
“I had the loveliest dream,” she answered as she moved to hug Elara. “Your brother came to visit me.”
Adrian and Elara both stiffened as Nora moved away from them to take her seat.
“How… how lovely a dream that sounds,” Elara replied. Then she leaned toward Adrian and whispered, “Now watch her plate.”
As Adrian returned to his seat, he watched his mother hum happily as the servants brought her breakfast. His concern grew as he watched her rake copious amounts of food onto her plate, tuck her napkin into the collar of her dress, and begin to eat with gusto.
“That is… that is quite a plateful you have there, Mother,” Adrian noted, trying to sound calm. “I am happy to see that your appetite has returned.”
“Oh, well,” Nora said around a mouthful of food. That shocked Adrian as well. Their mother had raised them to appreciate manners, and talking with a full mouth was something she had once absolutely abhorred. “You know. Enough for me. Enough for Evander.”
Adrian and Elara shared another worried glance.
“Evander, Mama?” Elara asked gently.
Nora simply nodded as she stabbed more eggs onto her fork.
Adrian bit his tongue, not sure what to say.
He was a tall man, standing at nearly six feet four inches.
However, Evander was slightly over six feet five.
Their mother stood at a mere five feet and one inch tall, and, at sixty, had a thin frame.
If she was trying to eat not just for herself but for Evander as well, Adrian could not fathom what such an amount of food would do to her health.
“How long has she been eating like this?” Adrian whispered to Elara.
“In truth, I do not know,” Elara whispered back. “I am not sure if it started before she began venturing out of her rooms again or only after. I only noticed her new habits yesterday.”
“This is not healthy for her, Elara,” Adrian said under his breath. “You need to stop meddling with Evander’s case or sneaking out. I will soon make progress with it. For now, you really must keep an eye on our mother.”
Elara nodded, glancing back at Nora.
“I believe you are right. Apologies, brother. I should have noticed sooner.”
“No need to apologize,” he assured her. “We just need to be sure this does not get out of hand.”
“What are you two twittering about over there?” Nora asked, speaking once more with her mouth full.
“I was just telling Adrian about the beautiful birds I spotted in the garden this morning from my window,” Elara said at her usual volume.
She stood up and smiled as she walked to their mother’s side.
“Would you care to take a walk with me? Perhaps we could get a better view up close,” Elara said as she offered Nora her hand.
A confused look came over Nora’s face as she looked from Elara to Adrian.
“I do not know,” she said after swallowing her latest enormous bite. “What of Evander’s food?”
Adrian forced a smile, even though his nerves were fraught with worry.
“I will have the servants save it for him,” he replied. “He can have it later.”
A small smile of relief spread across Nora’s face, and she reached for Elara’s offered hand.
“Such a good brother you are,” Nora gushed, then looked from him to Elara with another overly wide, broad smile. “Oh, how I love my children so very much.”
“We love you too, Mama,” Elara replied.
Nora patted Adrian’s cheek as she and Elara walked by, and Adrian kept his smile in place.
The moment they were gone from the room, though, Adrian’s smile dissolved, and he rubbed his hands over his face.
He made a mental note to keep a closer watch over his mother as he stood, but for now, he would trust Elara with her and focus on finding the Earl of Winslow.
And he knew where he had to go next.