Chapter 12 #2
“No, he hasn’t been home for many years. There probably are not that many good memories for him. But he used his chance at education well. Last I heard, he’d graduated from Cambridge, and was quite the successful investor and businessman in Manchester.”
“Did he and the duke remain close?”
“I can’t say for certain, since even the duke and I don’t see each other enough anymore. My father has been ill, so I don’t get up to London as often as I used to. But from what Cecil has led me to believe, he still sees his brother several times a year.”
“That’s surprising. I didn’t think the duke liked being out of London—except for Thanet Court, of course.”
“Richard occasionally comes to London on business. When the two of them are in the same city, I imagine the sightings begin again.” Miss Barome smiled, her eyes full of fond memories.
“The sightings?” Meriel asked in confusion.
“That’s what we used to call it when someone would mistake one brother for the other.”
Meriel simply blinked at her hostess, while inside her panic and fear bounced off each other. “So they looked alike?” Her voice squeaked, and she had to clear her throat.
Miss Barome laughed. “We noticed it most when Richard would come home from school for holidays. By then, Cecil was getting old enough that the brothers were more alike in height. Cecil used to enjoy teasing his mother, but I know Richard didn’t care for the masquerade, because of the duchess’s furious reaction.
Richard had a hard time saying no to Cecil.
During those years, wherever one would go, he would often be mistaken for the other.
Cecil used to tell us, ‘I had another sighting today,’ and make us laugh with how he would lead the poor person on as a joke.
When it happened to Richard, he was always very careful to correct the person immediately.
He never wanted to be accused of taking the place of a future duke. ”
“But he had to know that the dukedom could have been his, but for the circumstances of birth.”
Miss Barome sighed and sat back, looking out over her garden. “He never talked about it. In fact, I thought he rather disapproved of the way his father and Cecil behaved as peers.”
So would Richard scheme to prove that he could do it better? Meriel would have enjoyed discussing it with Miss Barome, who probably could have provided more answers. But she didn’t want to entangle the woman in what could be a dangerous plot.
On the ride back to Thanet Court, Meriel considered every motive that Richard O’Neill could have for assuming the dukedom.
Had he hidden his lust for power all these years, plotted and planned until he could make it happen?
Maybe he had even come up with the scheme as a young man, when everyone was constantly mistaking him for the duke.
Or perhaps his investments had gone bad, forcing him to find another way to support himself.
But killing his brother? It just didn’t seem like the serious, studious boy Miss Barome described. Nor could she imagine that this man, who seemed to enjoy spending time with Stephen, could kill the boy’s father.
The duke was rumored to have been seriously ill. Could he have died, and Mr. O’Neill simply have taken over his life?
Or perhaps the real duke was only being held somewhere while Mr. O’Neill got something he wanted. But what? He seemed in no hurry. He spent his days as Cecil did, although he socialized less. Meriel had even overheard that the tenants had never seen so much of the duke before.
Perhaps he really was righting wrongs, being the duke and the father that his brother should have been. But then did he plan on leaving the country when Cecil came back? Or even going to jail as a martyr to a cause?
Meriel didn’t know what to think, or especially what to do. There was no physical proof for her suspicions. Perhaps she should tell Mrs. Theobald, and let her decide.
Meriel knew she was letting her own feelings intrude, and she could not trust herself to make the right decision. She’d been lied to by her own parents, and hadn’t realized it until it was too late. She’d trusted with her heart and her emotions, not her intellect.
Now with the Imposter Duke, she’d once again submerged the little suspicions she’d had along the way. She’d let her improper feelings for him sway her.
A small part of her considered just putting this behind her, getting out before the imposter was aware of her dangerous knowledge. She knew she could stay temporarily with her married sister.
But Meriel couldn’t be that cowardly. Stephen was going to be crushed when he discovered the truth. And if his father was dead—
She couldn’t imagine how the boy would recover from such a thing. He needed her now—he needed her to find a way to the truth. If she tried to bring in the police, no one would believe her, and she’d be removed from the household, leaving Stephen vulnerable.
She would have to discover Mr. O’Neill’s motives, and what he hoped to accomplish. She needed proof, so that she’d be taken seriously. It would help to have accomplices, and she’d gradually see if Mrs. Theobald or even Miss Barome might believe her.
But until then, she would have to work on her own.
And she could never leave Stephen alone with his father again.
For after all, Mr. O’Neill had been showing too much interest in his nephew, the future duke.
What reason could he have for that? Her first thought was that he needed to win the boy over, in case Stephen might have suspicions about his real identity.
But maybe Stephen himself was somehow part of Mr. O’Neill’s purpose. The boy could be in terrible danger.