Chapter 22
Cormac felt like he was in a dream world. He stood in the street, looking around him at the striking scene and bustle that was London.
It had been years since he’d last been in London.
So many years that it felt like everything had changed.
Six years ago, he’d sworn never to go back south and be among Society again.
But now he didn’t have a choice. Ellingham had brought Rosalind and Theo with him to London, and Cormac wasn’t about to abandon them.
He couldn’t. Julian’s threat meant that Rosalind and her son were still in danger, and Cormac knew something was going to happen. He couldn’t leave them to the wolf that was Julian Ellingham. He had to do this, anything to protect the woman he loved and the child he’d come to adore.
He wasn’t about to allow them to be harmed by a scheming man who was not above murder.
And Cormac was certain now that Julian had had something to do with William’s accident. The carriage couldn’t have crashed as it was. Something had been done to it to make sure it did crash, Cormac knew it. Especially with the way Ellingham behaved.
And he had a motive. He profited by the death of the viscount, and he planned to profit further. Which meant dealing with Theo.
Cormac didn’t want to believe that a grown man could want to physically harm a child, but after their ride out in the moors and having to rescue Theo, he couldn’t put it past him.
“This is the address.” Hamish looked at the scrawled note in his hand. “Shall we go in?”
“Definitely.” Cormac turned to his driver, who looked like he was going to fall asleep in his seat. “Take our belongings to our lodgings and come back here. We’ll meet you in this spot.”
“Yes, my lord.”
As the carriage pulled away, Cormac led the way into the building before him and Hamish.
He’d done a bit of research, searching through documents for the deeds to Corrieden, and found the name of William’s solicitor.
He had done the legal side of it all, and there was a good chance that he had more news for them. Maybe there was a copy of the letter?
It was worth a try. Anything to help Rosalind.
Mr. Oliver Hale’s office was on the ground floor at the back, a huge window overlooking a lush-looking garden with a circular stone path, neatly-cut grass, and a bird bath in the center. There were benches scattered about, and steps at the far end went into another part of the garden.
Cormac hadn’t anticipated that.
Hale was waiting for them by the window. He was a tall, lean man of forty with a full head of fair hair and a trimmed beard. Cormac could feel his strength in their handshake.
“Thank you for seeing us so suddenly, Mr. Hale,” Cormac said after the introductions were made.
“It’s fine. When you sent me your letter telling me what happened, I knew I couldn’t let this slide.” Hale frowned. “I don’t know what happened to the letter. I can’t understand why it would go missing.”
“Ellingham likely intercepted it somehow. He had to know it was coming.”
“And you think the letter is likely destroyed?”
Cormac nodded. Hamish wandered over to the window and peered out. Hale smiled as he turned.
“We were lucky when five solicitors, including myself, rented out this building fifteen years ago. We were able to have a large garden where we could go for self-reflection and rest without going to the busy park farther down the street. It’s one of my favorite places.”
“I can imagine.” Hamish looked approving. “It looks like a paradise in itself. Not something I expected.”
Cormac could agree, but he had more important things to worry about. He waited impatiently as Hale gestured for them to sit and then took a seat behind the desk. The older man adjusted the papers on his desk before sitting forward and folding his hands.
“You want to know if there’s anything that can prove William Ellingham was worried about his brother wanting what he had? Well, I do know that he’s been more and more concerned since he had Theo, but it was like Ellingham backed off for a while…”
“Can we just call them by their first names?” Cormac asked. “It’s just going to get confusing.”
“Of course.” Hale’s mouth twitched. “William came to me when he became viscount to sort out finances. He confided in me that he knew about his brother wanting the title, and he was worried his brother would succeed. He wanted to be sure everything was secure.”
“And was it?”
“He changed his will to make sure their cousin Daniel inherited should anything happen to him. But then Theo was born, and William changed it again to make his son the heir. He left a generous sum of money for Julian so he couldn’t contest the will, but he made it very clear that Julian was not to have the title. ”
Hamish frowned. “Was he able to do that? It’s a bit of a strange thing to do, isn’t it?”
“He can choose who can be the next heir. If it’s not explicitly stated, then it automatically goes to the next closest male heir.” Hale shrugged. “Of course, once Theo was born he was next in line, but William wanted to be certain.”
“And did he express concerns about his brother?” Cormac asked. “From the little he told me, I could tell that he was scared of Julian.”
Hale nodded. “I got the same impression when we first met. Then, not long before he died, William confided in me about what had been going on. Apparently, Julian had been trying to get him seriously hurt for years.”
Cormac blinked. “For how long?”
“He didn’t specify, but he was certain it had been going on since they were children.
And his parents thought it was just brothers being rough with each other, so they didn’t take it seriously.
William was, for want of a better word, scared.
” The solicitor shuddered. “From the way he talked about it, and the few details, I got a chill down my spine. Julian is… well, he’s something else. ”
Hamish looked as bewildered as Cormac felt. “He’s been doing this since he was a child? How is that possible?”
“Sometimes, people are born differently, and it comes out in different ways. In Julian’s case…”
“It’s made him something of a greedy madman,” Cormac muttered.
“Just so.” Hale rubbed his hands over his face. “There were also other papers with the letter I sent to you, Lord Ravensmuir. William had written everything he could remember about Julian doing to him. He wanted it on record.”
That made Cormac sit up. “He made a record of it as well.”
“And if the letter’s gone missing…”
“Then the records he made will have likely been destroyed as well.” Cormac groaned. “I can’t see Julian keeping hold of anything that can incriminate him.”
“There’s also something else.” Hale looked from Hamish to Cormac. “The coachman who was driving the carriage the night of the accident? He disappeared.”
That got Cormac’s attention. “What? He disappeared?”
“Nobody knows where he went. He just vanished a few days after the accident. Everyone was worried as he’d been injured himself, but he didn’t turn up.”
Cormac frowned. This was something he hadn’t been aware of. Maybe Rosalind hadn’t known about it, either? She had been severely injured, so it would’ve been focused on her recovery.
“What do you think happened to him?”
“I don’t know,” Hale replied. “He could’ve run away because he felt guilty for what happened, or he could’ve died and been buried in a pauper’s grave. It could be anything. There’s not much we can do about it as nobody knows what happened.”
“Is it possible to find him now, even after all this time?” Hamish asked. He looked thoughtful, tapping his fingers on his knee.
Hale arched an eyebrow. “It’s possible, but I don’t know where we would start.”
“Do you have any contacts who might know? That’s a place to start.”
“I can ask around. It’s not part of my job description, though, so I wouldn’t know what to do.
” The solicitor sat back with a frown. “However, this is a serious situation. Theo is between Julian and the viscountcy, and I shudder to think what he could do to a little boy if he had something to do with his brother’s death.
I can talk to my other colleagues. They have more contacts than I do, and we all owe each other a favor. ”
“Could you do that?” Cormac sounded hopeful. “If you can find out anything at all, maybe we can protect Theo and Rosalind properly.”
“With your concerns, and William’s talks with me, I agree with you. Even when Julian was here to talk about the will, he gave me the chills.” Hale stood up. “I’ll ask around, see what I can find. But it’s going to take time, so I can’t promise anything so quickly.”
That was as much as Cormac could hope for.
Even though he wanted it to move faster than that.
As far as he was concerned, there wasn’t much time for either Rosalind or Theo.
Ellingham was definitely going to strike soon, and he was already making moves to isolate mother and child from everyone else.
It wouldn’t be long before it put distance between the pair themselves.
That would break Rosalind’s heart. Even Cormac knew that much.
“What are we going to do now?” Hamish asked as they stepped out into the afternoon sun. “Do we wait?”
“We’re going to have to for now. But maybe we can make our own inquiries.”
“Where do we start, then?”
Before Cormac could answer, trying to get his thoughts in order, he heard someone calling his name. Surprised, he looked around. What was going on? Nobody knew he was in London, and he’d been in obscurity for so long it would be a surprise if anyone recognized him.
Then he saw a familiar shape running toward him, a thin, gray-haired maid running after him. It was Theo, and he was beaming at the sight of him. Cormac felt his spirits lift and he crouched, allowing the little boy to throw himself into his arms.
“Cormac!” Theo hugged him tightly, looking happy as he pulled back. “You didn’t say you were going to be in London as well!”
“It was a spur of the moment thing.”