Chapter 29 #2
Lord Gage also returned to the ball after a change of garments, now hailed as a hero, never mind that Anderley was just as responsible for saving Matilda’s life.
And none of us would have been there to stop Milngavie’s nefarious plans if it hadn’t been for Gage’s and my deductive work and Jemmy sharing such crucial information.
Regardless, we let Lord Gage have the accolades.
Gage and I had no need of them, and we would be sure Anderley was aware of our gratitude.
Lord Milngavie eventually regained consciousness, but he was through talking to us. Instead, he insisted upon being transported to London, where he would plead his case to his peers.
“He’s well versed in the privileges afforded to noblemen,” Lord Gage told us the next morning as we stood before the window in his study, watching Milngavie be loaded into a carriage under guard.
“In fact, I daresay he was counting on them. After all, he’ll be tried in the House of Lords where every detail of what he knows about Birnam’s business dealings will be aired during the trial. ”
“Do you think he’ll be acquitted?” I asked in shock. For all that Milngavie had reason to despise Birnam, he’d still savagely killed a young woman who, no matter how misguided, had almost certainly just been trying to protect her family.
Lord Gage frowned, clasping his hands behind his back.
“I doubt he’ll walk free, but there is a definite reluctance to hang noblemen.
It might set a dangerous precedent. It’s more likely he’ll be punished some other way.
The severity will depend on whether he can convince them that death was not actually intended when he planned to attack Birnam and threw acid on Miss Whitlock instead.
He’ll also need to explain the timing and if he intended to see Miss Whitlock or you…
” he turned to look at me “…accused when you ultimately stumbled upon Birnam.”
“But if Birnam had survived the attack…”
“If, Kiera, if. Then I suppose he hoped your and Miss Whitlock’s arrivals would at least muddy any evidence against him.”
I contemplated the cruelty and dastardliness of these intentions, if in fact that’s what he’d planned. For two young ladies to be the first to find Birnam’s burned and scarred figure and for us to face suspicion.
“And the note he slipped into Thorndike’s coat pocket?” I queried.
“No doubt a feint. An attempt to divert suspicion to someone else,” Lord Gage explained. “He must have learned we’d questioned him.”
It had been a relief to discover we hadn’t been wrong in believing Thorndike wasn’t responsible for the note, though that hadn’t been enough to save him from being released from his position with Lord Gage. Even now, he was likely traveling by mail coach back to London.
The carriage door outside was slammed shut, and then the exterior guard climbed up beside the coachman, a rifle draped across his lap.
“Whatever the result,” Lord Gage continued, “Milngavie will attain what he sought.”
“Birnam’s reputation exposed and ruined,” Gage supplied.
It was no more than he deserved, particularly since it was unlikely he would face any jail time.
Not when all the mills and factories utilized the same equipment and practices.
The most that could be hoped for was that he would be fined and that the scandal might spur the passage of the revisions to the Factory Act and future changes in the laws.
But while I was glad that Birnam would at least face some sort of punishment, I also couldn’t help but think of all the innocent people who would be hurt, including his own children.
“His denunciation isn’t all bad,” my father-in-law pronounced cryptically as he turned away from the window.
Gage and I glanced at each other before following his father over to the sideboard where he poured himself a brandy. It was clear he had more to say but intended to draw the moment out.
“What does that mean?” Gage finally prodded him as he lowered his glass.
“Well, now that he’s facing ruin, there are few noblemen who will wish to align themselves with him.
And those who will are naught but fortune hunters and scoundrels or worse.
Or so I reminded him.” He rounded his desk, sinking down contentedly into his chair.
“At this point, he should count his lucky stars if Mr. St. Mawr still wishes to wed his daughter.”
I stared down at my father-in-law in astonishment before impulsively skirting his desk to embrace him.
“Oof! Careful. Girl, this is good brandy.” He held his glass aloft lest I spill it, but I could tell, despite his scolding tone of voice, that he was pleased both to have astounded me and by my affectionate display of gratitude.
I pulled back. “Does Trevor know?”
“As of about an hour ago when I told him to be certain of himself, yes.”
I pressed a kiss to his cheek before dashing off to find my brother. My husband’s grin and Lord Gage’s chuckle followed me out the door.
After a quick search of the house, I spied Trevor and Matilda through the French doors of the red saloon out in the garden. But before I could step a foot outside on the terrace, Alana stopped me.
“Wait, dear. I think they wanted a moment alone.”
Heeding her advice, we stood side by side, watching from a distance as our brother bent down on one knee and asked the woman he loved to be his wife.
It was evident from both of their reactions that she’d said yes.
And just as evident when they began climbing the steps to the terrace to find us waiting for them, happy tears in our eyes, that we knew precisely what had occurred.
We embraced them each in turn, congratulating them and welcoming Matilda to our family.
“We aren’t going to rush the engagement,” she explained in answer to Alana’s question about when they hoped to wed.
Trevor smiled warmly at her, content with her answering for them.
“My mother’s health has been in decline, and the shock of these latest events certainly hasn’t helped.
Jemmy and I think a trip to warmer climes might be good for her. ”
It would also allow them to escape the worst of the scandal that was about to erupt over their father’s past and his business practices.
“I can tell you’re surprised,” she continued. “Particularly considering my mother’s behavior over the past week. But I know that she loves me.” She turned adoring eyes toward my brother. “And she’ll be both relieved and delighted to hear I’ve become betrothed to Trevor.”
After everything Mrs. Birnam had revealed to us of the matter and her own marriage, I could be convinced this was true.
“And what can I say…” Matilda shrugged. “She’s my mother. She needs me. It’s my turn to tend to her.” She held out her hand as if just remembering something. “Oh, and don’t worry. I haven’t forgotten his lordship’s garden.” She grinned. “I have several ideas for it.”
I was tremendously proud of Matilda for showing such grace and maturity, and I knew in that moment, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that she would make both a marvelous wife and a wonderful sister-in-law. If Trevor could wait until the next year to call her his bride, then who were we to argue.
Gage and I would have plenty to keep us busy in the meantime.
Including an unexpected summons from our roguish friend, Lord Marsdale.
Even though he had been anticipating his old and infirm father’s death for some time, when it finally occurred, he feared the cause was far from natural, and that it related to a recent discovery he’d made in his scholarly pursuits.
Gage and I soon found ourselves with not only the riddle of a murder to solve, but also an almost two-hundred-year-old royal mystery to decipher.
A puzzle that someone was determined remain unresolved.
And they were willing to go to dire lengths to ensure it.