Chapter 20
Twenty
All the beauty of the gloriously hot summer day couldn’t rectify Jade’s dour mood.
She’d received the report from Matherson that morning: another person close to The Claim had died of no apparent cause, and Grand General Devereaux had sent someone other than Jade to investigate.
Even without being there, Jade had no doubts it was the work of the same killer, another death by rienevoir.
The victim this time was a close supporter of Robert Marchand, Earl of Southbury, the contender who had married into the royal family only four months before.
Could this murder have been what Jade overheard Grannam setting up?
Had he been supplying his assassin with the rienevoir necessary to kill this person?
If the grand general had had any tip or lead that the killer was about to strike again, she hadn’t shared it with Matherson and Jade.
Irritation prickled within her as Jade couldn’t help but think that if she had been informed, she would have had another chance at stopping the killer.
She might have even caught him this time, or trailed him back to his base of operations, or gathered some physical evidence that tied him to the crime.
Whenever Jade returned to Nicolas next, she planned to ask about this murder. Had he known? Surely he had. He always seemed to. Yet she had received no lead from him.
Perhaps he meant what he’d said that he would only give her information if she provided him with what he sought. Despite the heat, Jade shivered.
At least Marguerite had called Featherly the day prior and invited Elena to tea in the garden with her and Alanna.
It gave Jade something to do, something to direct her energies toward.
Matherson had given her the go ahead to bring up the murders with the royal ladies to see if they had any insight.
Word of the latest one had already spread, so it was reasonable enough to assume someone like Elena Tavigne would have heard about it.
Matherson wanted answers as badly as Jade did.
Though Theo accompanied her again, driving her carriage to Evenshold Palace, Jade had barely spoken to him.
She’d been so certain he was going to say more about how he felt for her in the garden, about what had truly driven him to want to be stationed with her.
The fact that he hadn’t left her hollow.
Maybe she was casting her own desires on him and the longing was one-sided.
If that was the case, she didn’t want to be the one to say anything and mess up their friendship.
Theo wordlessly dropped Jade off at the front entrance, but Jade didn’t go inside. Instead, Marguerite met Jade in the drive to walk with her to the garden.
“I’m absolutely delighted you accepted my invitation,” Marguerite squealed, taking Jade’s hands and squeezing.
“So much of your attention was taken by others at dinner the other night that you and I didn’t have a chance to chat properly.
” She grinned as they crossed into the garden.
“I hope you like tomato sandwiches, because we have loads of them. And cakes.”
Jade beamed. More delectable food to make this assignment one of the best things she’d done in the military. “I will happily eat whatever you feed me.” She leaned her head close to Marguerite conspiratorially. “But yes, tomato sandwiches sound perfect today. And I will never say no to cake.”
Marguerite guided Jade through the manicured garden, with low shrubs cut and shaped into designs and flowers organized into patterns by color. While magnificent, the gardens at Evenshold Palace were nothing like the small, intimate, more natural garden on base, which Jade preferred.
Trees lined the exterior of the garden, though none punctuated the designs within, and Jade spotted a white metal table with three chairs under the shade of one of the trees. Alanna was already seated, and a footman attended her with a cart full of delicacies and beverages.
Alanna stood at their approach and waved, and Jade waved back.
Before they arrived at the table, Jade glanced back over her shoulder as if admiring the garden from a different angle, when in fact she was gauging Theo’s potential line of sight from the stables.
He should be able to keep an eye on her in case there was any trouble, but Jade didn’t expect any issues having tea with Marguerite and Alanna.
After his vulnerability in the base garden, she wanted Theo to have a way to see her more for his own peace of mind.
“It’s such a lovely day, isn’t it?” Alanna said when Jade and Marguerite reached her. She held out her hands to Jade and took them both, then leaned in to kiss the air beside her cheek. “It’s the perfect weather for tea outside.”
Jade smiled and sat as the other ladies did, then the footman offered them their choice of delicacies. “It was so thoughtful of you to invite me.”
“You’re delightful, Elena.” Marguerite shrugged, piling sandwiches on her plate. “And we only have you for a short time before you return to Ellyris.”
“I do appreciate your company. I’m afraid I’d grow rather bored if I never did anything away from my aunt while I was here.
” Jade took a sandwich and a cup of lemonade, preparing to dive in to her line of questions.
That was enough for pleasantries; she wanted to cut right to the chase.
“I’m surprised you’re still going about your regular activities considering what’s happened. ”
Marguerite paused with a sandwich nearly to her lips, her eyebrows drawing together. “Whatever do you mean?”
Jade leaned close to the table and lowered her voice, her eyes round.
“I overheard the staff at my aunt’s estate speaking about a man who just died that was connected to one of the members of the royal family.
Apparently he’s the fourth or fifth person associated with the royal family who’s died suddenly in the last few months. ”
“Oh, that.” Marguerite’s expression relaxed, and she took a bite of her sandwich. As she chewed, she shook her head. “That’s nothing to do with us.”
Jade sat back with her hand over her heart, giving the appearance of relief and hiding her surprise at how nonchalant Marguerite was.
Even if she didn’t personally know any of the people who had died, she acted as though Jade had simply told them she was concerned it might rain later.
Actually, that might have affected her more.
“Arabella’s lost two supporters.” Alanna’s brow furrowed as she spoke, her voice laden with concern.
At least she appeared to have a shred of decency.
“It’s intentional—it has to be. All part of this blazing conflict they have going on trying to claim the throne.
” She bit out her last words, then released a heavy sigh before turning to her plate.
“But none of us appear to be the targets,” Marguerite added casually. She could have been discussing the outcome of a tennis match. “Whatever’s happening seems to be aimed at those providing some kind of support to those in the conflict, not those of us in the royal family ourselves.”
A small smile curved Jade’s lips as she mimicked Marguerite’s indifferent air, following their cues to mold her character to their liking. “Well, that’s reassuring.”
She took a bite of her tomato sandwich as she considered the difference between Marguerite’s and Alanna’s reactions.
Alanna disapproved of the conflict, and Jade itched to know why.
Perhaps she hated how it divided her family, or the death following in its wake unsettled her, or she felt glossed over by both her father and her sister.
As much as Jade wanted to pursue that line of questions, she had other things to learn first.
“Has it hurt Arabella much?” Keeping her voice light, Jade directed the question at Alanna, whose eyes flew up to meet Jade’s. “To lose these people who have been helping her?”
Alanna nodded soberly. Jade saw in her eyes that she was preparing her words carefully. She knew more than she let on. “Yes. They had become her friends, you know. And they were a great deal of help to her.”
“This last one was one of Marchand’s people.
” Marguerite cut in as if spreading gossip, eliminating any possibility for Alanna to continue or Jade to reply.
A passing thought tickled Jade’s mind that Marguerite might have done so on purpose, though she continued to behave as if nothing was out of the ordinary, even rolling her eyes before she spoke again.
“I can’t understand how Marchand remotely believes he has a claim.
He married Elodie just to use her to pursue the throne, you know. ”
Jade gasped. Though she feigned shock, her disgust was not an act.
Robert Marchand had never explicitly said as much, but the circumstances surrounding his quick marriage to the twenty-three-year-old royal and his immediate pursual of the crown spoke volumes.
An earl who was twice her age, Marchand had had no apparent interest in marriage until the king fell ill and the conflict began.
He used Elodie’s status as the granddaughter of the firstborn daughter of previous monarchs to stake his claim.
After that generation, the law of succession was changed to grant either male or female firstborns the succession.
Marchand argued that Elodie’s grandmother’s line therefore should be the true line of succession.