Chapter Sixteen
Two hours later
Mary had barely stepped out of her townhouse when she met the driver, who was a relatively new hire for their household, as he rushed up the short walkway through the rain. Bright was directly behind her.
“Orion, is all well?”
The short man whipped off his hat then worried the brim with his gloved fingers as he stared morosely at her.
His mop of sandy-blond hair grew damp the longer they stood there.
“I don’t know, Mrs. Bright, but with the rain, I wanted to help assist you into the vehicle.
The inspector will have my head if you slip on my watch. ”
“That’s quite all right, my good man,” Bright said as he escorted her to the waiting carriage. “I’m on the case.”
“Quite literally,” she couldn’t help but murmur.
The driver raced ahead in order to swing open the door as he jammed his hat back on his head. “Where are we off to now, Inspector?”
“Boddingford House, if you please, Orion.” After Bright handed her in, he entered the carriage and sat on the bench beside her.
“We will be underway soon,” the driver said as he put up the steps then closed the door.
Mary half-turned toward her husband. “I’m unaccountably nervous about this,” she whispered. Seconds later, the vehicle dipped slightly as Orion climbed into the box. “I only hope that things don’t go terribly wrong.”
“They won’t. Fear not.” Bright rested a gloved hand on her thigh. “Unless I miss my guess, they are all guilty, and I’m not quite sure what to do about that.
“You are going to have the devil of a time making them face the consequences of their actions.” With a frown, she brushed lint from her blue velvet skirt. “I’ve never encountered anything like this case before.”
“Neither have I.”
Silence reigned between them, which left Mary to her thoughts.
When Bright had come home with the children, they were all too eager to go upstairs with their governess for tea and perhaps some quiet time.
Adventures were one thing, but being amidst one’s own possessions is quite another.
After she and her husband had indulged in a quick spot of tea as well, she’d dressed for visiting, and now they were on their way to hopefully close out this case.
“Do you think they’ve followed your instructions and have assembled at the house?” The family had only loosely done as he’d asked throughout this last week, and some hadn’t even answered his questions during the interview process.
“I couldn’t begin to speculate on that, but if they don’t, I will have Bow Street track them down.
” He blew out a breath. “In fact, I sent over a note telling the chief inspector what I’d planned.
Major Kourier will be standing outside the house in the event things don’t go well for us during accusations. ”
“That’s comforting. Did you bring your pistol?”
“I did not, for I’d like to think that we can resolve this in a peaceful manner.” He frowned at her. “Perhaps we should go back for it.”
She shook her head. “No, we are already underway. If we are in trouble, we’ll have help.” Though worry brewed at the back of her mind.
“All will be well.” Bright took her hand then twined their gloved fingers together. “After this case, I fully believe the next phase of our lives will begin.”
“Everything is constantly changing.” At least there was that. Exciting but a bit fearful, yet there was always something to look forward to.
“We will meet whatever comes together, as we always have.” His eyes were kind in the gloomy interior of the carriage. “I’m proud of what we’re building together.”
“I am too. It’s become a beautiful life.” Never would she have imagined this even three years ago before meeting Gabriel. Whenever she thought about it, she was amazed at everything that had changed and the connections they’d made.
“It is, and there is nothing I wouldn’t do to protect that.” The hard note in his voice gave her pause, but then, that was just how he was.
And she couldn’t blame him, for she felt the same.
Boddingford House
St. James Place
Mayfair, London
The hairs on Mary’s nape quivered from the moment she and Bright stepped into the drawing room. Surprisingly, nearly all members of the duke’s family were scattered about the space with varying degrees of annoyance, boredom, or curiosity in their expressions.
Lady Amelia, the new widow, sat next to her mother on one of the low sofas.
The Earl of Edgington and his wife occupied another.
Lord Ardsley and his fiancée sat in delicate chairs near the fireplace where a cheerful fire danced behind an ornate metal grate.
The pair didn’t look as if they wanted to be there.
Viscount Tifton had drifted near one of the windows with the groom nearby, while Lady Rebecca stood, with a put-upon expression, behind one of the sofas with a man Mary assumed was her fiancé, for they hadn’t met him yet.
Off to the other side was the duke’s former valet.
“Thank you all for gathering here,” Bright began as he strode into the middle of the room.
Since they’d given their outer things to the footman upon arriving, he was all too handsome in a jacket of navy superfine with a silver satin waistcoat and gray breeches.
“Mrs. Bright and I wanted you here because we have solved the case of who killed His Grace.”
A low murmur went through the assembled family members as everyone glanced at everyone else.
However, before Bright could warm to his topic, the dual doors to the room burst open to admit Mrs. Benson as well as Cravitts, and more than that, the butler held a pistol in one hand, trained it on her.
“Forgive me, Inspector, but none of us are interested in what you have to say, for we already know who killed the duke.” Slowly, the butler moved closer, which made Mary scuttle backward toward her husband. “And our lives are quite a bit improved now.”
Another ripple of sound went through the room.
“What is this, then?” Annoyance went through her husband’s voice. “You think to threaten me? My wife?”
Lord Arsdale protested. “Surely that isn’t necessary, Cravitts.”
“Oh, I believe it is, my lord.” He kept the nose of the pistol trained on Mary.
Mrs. Benson shook her head. “We didn’t want to, of course, but you refused to drop the case, even after my husband tried to warn you off it.”
Well, there was one of the answers they still sought. “Who is your husband?”
Only some of the family seemed surprised by that fact.
The butler offered a grin, but it was quite the macabre affair. “I am. We kept that a secret because no one needed to know, and our status didn’t affect our abilities to attend to our positions.”
“Ah, we suspected as much,” Bright murmured, but one of his hands curled into a fist and relaxed at his side. He glanced at her. “Another question answered.”
“Indeed.” Yet she couldn’t look away from the butler and his pistol.
“Perhaps you should tell us why you are doing this and what you intend to do next.” The only thing she could think about at the back of her mind was her children.
What would happen to them if she and Bright were killed this afternoon?
“Yes, Cravitts, this whole scene is completely ridiculous,” the earl said with aggravation clear in his voice. “We all have things to do, and we do need to move forward with Papa’s funeral preparations.”
Bright surprised her by speaking, instead.
“While I am interested in seeing if my theory is correct, I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss him, Your Lordship, for you all have something to hide, which is, no doubt, why we have arrived at this pass—you simply don’t wish for me or Mrs. Bright to spill all your secrets. ”
The butler shrugged. “There is far too much at stake, Inspector, and I can’t trust that you’ll promise to keep your mouth shut.”
With narrowed eyes, Mary glanced about the company. “Which of you killed Mr. Corbett?” Her patience with this family had evaporated. Not only had they led her and Bright a merry chase all week, but two people were now dead because of those decisions.
For the space of a few heartbeats, silence lingered in the room. Finally, it was the duchess who answered the question.
“It was Cravitts, upon my husband’s order,” she was with a blank expression, as if it didn’t matter or that the widow of the dead man wasn’t sitting beside her. “Anthony was the weakest link in the family chain; he needed to go, and he wouldn’t take the easy way out.”
Lady Amelia’s face reflected horror mixed with sadness. “You knew what Papa did, Mama? And you didn’t say anything?”
Dear God. Mary stared at the two. Another question answered, but what sort of family was this? How would they go forward, and how would Lady Amelia navigate the muddied waters when her child was born?
“Yes, dearest, but now you’re free to marry higher within the beau monde, and to a man who can care for you as you should be.” The duchess patted her daughter’s hand. “As it should have been all along for a duke’s daughter.”
Tears welled in the young woman’s eyes. “I loved Anthony. I wanted a life with him, and now, I won’t see him as a father, won’t have him with me…”
“Again, you are a duke’s daughter, Amelia.
You were never supposed to marry for love, so that is your mistake.
” A tone of dismissal rang in the duchess’ voice, and she did exactly that, for she ignored her daughter to focus on Mary.
“I’m afraid the man just wasn’t suited for keeping secrets, and some things were never meant for public consumption. ”
Shock slammed into Mary’s chest. “Yet that doesn’t mean he needed to die!” She shook her head. “If you didn’t want your secrets to leak, you shouldn’t have done something underhanded to begin with.”
“Of course you would say that; you aren’t truly one of us. One of the beau monde.”
“Not so. I’m married to a viscount’s son.”
“Rather grasping, isn’t it, dear?” Her Grace glanced at her firstborn son. “You may go and attend to business.”