by Amelia Grey
He would just have to take her word for it that Gretchen was not present.
“Where is he?” Isabella asked, wanting to get this over with.
“He’s in the book room. I told him you had your Reading Society here, but he said it was urgent and he must speak to you.”
“I’m sure he did.”
“Did I do the wrong thing?”
“No,” Isabella assured her. “You did the right thing. I’ll go speak to him. Come with me. I’ll leave the door ajar, and I want you to wait outside.”
“Yes, miss.”
Isabella and her maid walked to the book room at the back of the house. Isabella stopped outside the door and took a deep breath. There were still times she had to fight the shyness of her youth, and this was one of them.
She needed to heed her own words and remember there was no reason to be intimidated by Lord Colebrooke just because he made her knees weak, her lungs breathless, and her body taut with the ache to be held once again in his strong arms.
She walked inside. He stood by the unlit fireplace looking so handsome dressed all in black except for his white shirt and neckcloth. It was no wonder every young lady in London wanted to marry him.
“Daniel,” she said, and he turned to face her as she walked into the room to join him where he stood.
“Isabella,” he said. “Thank you for seeing me on short notice.”
“I don’t have much time. As you know, I have guests in the house, but Gretchen is not one of them.”
“I know.”
She hesitated. “You know?”
“Yes. I came to see you about another matter. That’s why I asked your maid to be discreet about my presence. Should your aunt find out I’m here, you can tell her I was hoping to find Gretchen.”
“What is so urgent that you had to interrupt my reading group?”
“If you have to ask that, it means you haven’t heard.” He paused. “Boswell Throckmorten was found floating in the Thames this morning.”
Isabella gasped. “Dead? Are you certain?” she asked, not wanting to believe it was so.
“Very.”
“Sweet blessed mercies,” she whispered under her breath. “I was hoping this wasn’t real.”
“I knew it was not a ruse or a fake.”
A little dazed at Daniel’s confirmation about the man, she asked, “What are we going to do?”
“We? Isabella, we are not going to do anything but stay quiet.”
“But we must. We have to make sure Gretchen is not implicated or even associated with this matter.”
“Exactly.” He moved closer to her. “That’s why I came to see you right away. I had to make sure that, now that Throckmorten’s body has been discovered, you hold to your promise not to reveal your and Gretchen’s involvement in this matter.”
“My involvement?” Her voice rose and she immediately remembered her maid was right outside the door, so she lowered her voice and moved closer to him. “I have no involvement in this, sir. It’s your sister that I have tried to protect from this at every turn.”
“You are the only one who has seen her with Throckmorten. I want to make sure you don’t breathe a word about this to anyone.”
“If I implicated Gretchen, I would also implicate myself, considering she was first with him in my garden. I am not a simpleton, Daniel. I know that Gretchen had nothing to do with Mr. Throckmorten’s demise, even though we found her standing over his body.”
“We can forget an implication to you. I think it’s clear he was not dead when in your garden.”
“All right then, when she was with him in Lord Gleningwold’s garden. We can assume we are the only ones who saw her, but we can’t know that for sure. There was a crush of people at that party. And no doubt the real killer saw her.”
His eyes searched her face. “Don’t think I haven’t thought about that.”
“Daniel, we must find out who killed him, before someone discovers something that leads them to your sister.”
“You are unbelievable.”
“I believe you’ve told me that before.”
“That’s because it’s true.”
“Thank you.”
He smiled a little. “Not everything I say to you is a compliment, Isabella.”
“I’m aware of that.” She would not let him change the subject. This was too important. “But back to our discussion. More than likely the killer is someone who was at Lord Gleningwold’s party and someone who had recent dealings with Mr. Throckmorten.”
“That is a fair assumption, but just how would we know who he has had recent dealings with?”
Isabella glanced toward the door before stepping closer to Daniel. “Well, I…” She paused.
“What have you done?” he demanded softly with no anger in his voice.
“It just so happens that while you were talking to Mr. Throckmorten’s butler, I managed to read the calling cards that had been left on his table.”
Surprise lit his eyes. “You snooped through his private correspondence in his home?”
“It wasn’t as if it were his personal letters or invitations. It was calling cards. Besides, how private can something be if it is left lying out in the open for anyone to see?”
“Damn private. Especially if it’s in his home,” Daniel whispered loudly.
“I knew if Mr. Throckmorten’s body was ever found, Gretchen could be at risk.”
“This is more of your mischief. I should have known you had a specific reason for wanting to go to his house with me.”
“And it’s a good thing I did because we now have some clues.”
He lowered his face dangerously close to hers. “Clues? We don’t have anything, Isabella, because we’re not going to get involved in this.”
She held her ground and didn’t back away. “We are already involved. I can’t believe you are thinking of just letting this drop.”
“Gretchen had nothing to do with the man’s death. And as long as you remain quiet about what you know, there will not be any repercussions from this to damage her reputation.”
“You know that I will remain quiet. I’ve promised it. Gretchen is a part of my group, and all the ladies are important to me. I will not see her harmed by this in any way. But we must have a contingency plan in case we are caught unawares by unknown facts.”
“Once again I have the feeling you are not telling me all you know about this strange turn of events.”
“I am not withholding anything of importance other than the names of Mr. Throckmorten’s most recent visitors. Do you want to know who they were?”
“No,” he said a bit gruffly.
She started to say all right and drop it but realized he said no too quickly, and there was almost a catch in his throat. As she looked in his golden brown eyes, something told her he wanted to know, and was only trying to do the right thing by saying no.
She remained quiet, giving him time to ponder.
After a moment he squared his shoulders and said, “All right, yes. I want to know.”
She gave him an engaging smile. “Good. One of them was Sir William Peabody.”
“I’ve met him, but can’t say I know him. The Peabodys are a highly respected family. I can’t see him as the kind of man to stab another even in anger.”
“Mr. Franklin Jackson.”
“There’s no way it would be him. He and Throckmorten have been friends since they wore short pants. He can’t possibly be a suspect.”
“Mr. Bradford Turnbury.”
Daniel’s eyes perked up. “Really? My cousin? It’s no big surprise that he called on Throckmorten. They’ve been drinking and gambling friends for years.” He stopped and rubbed his forehead in frustration. “Isabella, this is really getting us nowhere. I can’t see any of these men harming Throckmorten for any reason.”
“Not even over a gambling debt?”
“Especially not over a gambling debt. They’ve owed each other money for years. That’s nothing new. I
wouldn’t be surprised to find out that Throckmorten owed half a dozen men.”
“All right, that’s a good point. Do you want to hear the last name that I saw?”
“I might as well.”
“Mr. Chilton Cummerford. I believe I’ve heard the man is your best friend.”
Eleven
Shock snapped in Daniel’s eyes and burned across his face. “Chilton? Are you sure?”
“Quite.”
“Did you see the entire card? Perhaps it was a name similar to his.”
She huffed with indignation. “I saw the entire card, my lord. And lest you have any other concerns, my reading capabilities are very good.”
“I don’t doubt that, Isabella.” A deep frown wrinkled his brow. “It’s just that I’ve never known Chilton to have anything much to do with Throckmorten.” More thoughtfully he added, “I wonder what Chilton could have been doing at his house.”
“Perhaps he is one of his gambling and drinking friends.”
“No. Chilton has never been a part of Throckmorten’s gaming friends. He didn’t like the fellow any more than I did.”
Isabella thought she saw uncertainty replace shock in his eyes, and she said, “Well, if Mr. Cummerford didn’t like Mr. Throckmorten, then your friend is definitely a man we want to consider as a suspect.”
“A suspect?”
“Yes.”
He grimaced. “In Throckmorten’s murder? That’s impossible.”
“Why? You have been gone more than a year, Daniel; perhaps there are things about Mr. Cummerford that you don’t know.”
He drew in a long uneven breath. Chilton had been different since Daniel returned, but he wasn’t ready to believe his friend’s reserve had anything to do with Throckmorten.
“I’m sure there are plenty of things I don’t know about him, but there is one thing I do know and that is Chilton didn’t have anything to do with Throckmorten’s death any more than Gretchen did.”
His last statement hung in the air too long. The truth was they didn’t know how many people might be connected to the man’s death.
Finally Isabella broke the silence by saying, “We are sure Gretchen didn’t have anything to do with this, aren’t we, my lord?”
“Yes, Isabella, we are,” he answered without hesitation.
They stood so close that Isabella could sense the warmth of his body, feel the light fanning of his breath, and see the sparks of outrage about this entire affair in his eyes. Rare afternoon sunshine filtered through the windowpane and glimmered off his dark brown hair and shadowed half his face.
“Well, since you are convinced of his innocence, we’ll forget about him for now, but I think the next thing we should do is talk to Gretchen again. We need to find out exactly what was going on between her and Mr. Throckmorten.”
“Yes, I plan to do that as soon as I get home, and I don’t need your help to question my sister.”
“Perhaps not to question Gretchen, but you’ll need my help when you search Mr. Throckmorten’s home.”
Surprise leaped into his eyes. “Search his home? Damnation, Isabella, what are you talking about?”
“Shhh, don’t be so loud. Remember my maid is right outside the door.”
Isabella placed two fingers against his lips. Her touch was so light his lips felt like gossamer against her fingers. Her heart started beating a little faster. Her skin tingled, her body prickled with desire. She felt his lips part beneath her gentle pressure, and she slowly removed her hand, but she didn’t step away.
She felt him take a shallow breath. He had been caught unaware by her touch, too. She wished she knew the meaning behind these strange feelings she had for this man. He didn’t seem to like her any more now than he had their first meeting, but it was clear something was drawing the two of them together.
Isabella glanced toward the door. It didn’t appear that her maid had heard them. She softly cleared her throat and offered, “I think it’s time for us to admit the possibility that Gretchen had a secret liaison with Mr. Throckmorten in my garden. She must have been planning to meet him in Lord Gleningwold’s garden, too.”
“Yes.” His expression immediately softened as it usually did when he talked about his sister. “She has told me that much concerning her meeting him in your garden, but I believe there is more that she hasn’t said. I know she’s young and I’ve tried to be gentle with her. I no longer can.”
“Daniel, we also need to find out if her name or anything about her is written anywhere in his private papers. If it is, we need to expunge it.”
He eyed her warily and leaned in closer to her. “Just where have you learned all these tricks, Isabella?”
“Tricks? I don’t know what you’re talking about, my lord.”
“Reading calling cards, searching desks and private papers. You were not taught that at home. Where did you learn such stratagem?”
“From books.”
“Books?”
“One can learn all sorts of things from reading, whether it be books on poetry, horrid novels, or the London Times.”
He studied her closely. “I’m not sure I believe you, but if I did, it wouldn’t matter. The authorities, his family, or someone will have already been through Throckmorten’s personal papers.”
It was difficult to concentrate on their conversation when he stood so close to her she could touch him again by merely lifting her hand. And she wanted to touch him.
“But they would not have been looking for anything with Gretchen’s name on it, and it’s quite possible they might have missed something. I think you should go home and question Gretchen, and then we’ll make plans to meet tomorrow and go to his house again.”
He shook his head with disbelief. “You never cease to amaze me, Isabella. What do you suppose we will do once we get there? I can’t see the butler letting strangers rummage through his dead master’s private papers.”
She smiled easily. “Of course he won’t. I will dress in the wig and the old cloak again. When we get inside, I’ll pretend to faint and need a cup of tea.”
“Did you read this in a book?”
“Well, not exactly. It was something similar. Anyway back to my point; while the butler is getting the tea, you can find the man’s desk and search it.”
“Me? Search his desk?” he whispered loudly. “Bloody hell, Isabella, I can’t do anything like that. I’m an earl.”
She put her fingers to his lips again to soften his voice, and once again they were both stunned by the sensations that passed between them.
Isabella forced herself to remain on subject. “You are a brother who must go to great lengths to protect his sister,” she insisted.
His eyes narrowed as they searched hers, and for a moment she felt as if he were trying to look into her soul.
“You know I will do what I must to protect Gretchen, but why are you so willing to risk your reputation to help her?”
“I’m quite fond of your sister. I believe she has been someone’s pawn in this terrible matter.” She paused for a moment, wondering if she could make him understand if she told him all that she felt in her heart. “But mostly I think it’s that I’ve been a part of this since I found Gretchen in my garden standing over his body. I have read about such adventures but never dreamed I would participate in a real intrigue. I know it’s hard to understand, but it’s too exciting. I can’t let go of this mystery until it’s solved, and I want to be a part of unraveling it and finding the answer.”
“You would really go to Throckmorten’s house and pretend to faint if I agreed, wouldn’t you?”
She looked at him without blinking. “Yes, I thought it was settled that we would do it tomorrow.”
His gaze held on her face. “I should have known that you were enjoying all this conspiracy.”
“I do find it exhilarating, but I also want to see that neither Gretchen nor I are harmed by any of this.”
Daniel’s lips relaxed into a smile. “You are so beautiful wh
en you are planning mischief, Isabella.”
Isabella’s chest tightened and she smiled at him. “Thank you.”
With a slight unobtrusive movement of his hand, he reached up and rubbed the backs of his fingers down her cheek and across her lips before letting his hand fall away. Isabella’s blood heated and she made no move to resist him even though she knew they were playing a dangerous game with their unexpected touching.
“Your father should have censored what you read. He obviously allowed you to read books that were not meant for young ladies’ consumption.”
Isabella expected the usual stiffness and that sudden feeling of emptiness in her stomach whenever her father was mentioned, but it didn’t happen. Perhaps she had finally gotten over her father abandoning her.
With more ease than she expected she said, “My father didn’t know what I read. As long as I was quiet and didn’t disturb my mother or the household, he didn’t know I was around.”
Daniel grimaced. “That doesn’t sound as if you had a very happy childhood.”
She gave him a half smile. “I was happy. Maybe a bit lonely at times. That is why I so enjoy the ladies coming here for our readings. I like having people around who aren’t afraid to laugh and talk. I love the noise of the streets of London and its parties. I don’t want to go back to the quiet life of the country.”
His gaze swept up and down her face like butterfly wings in slow motion. “Sometimes you appear a green girl, and other times, like now, you are a fresh miss who flaunts convention.”
“Daniel, I never stepped over the bounds of Society’s rules until I met you,” she admitted without any guile.
He grinned engagingly, but his gaze didn’t leave hers. “Oh, so it’s my fault that you have turned from an innocent miss to a lady who enjoys a mischievous game.”
“Do you really think me that way?”
In a hushed whisper he answered, “You must be. Everything you say and do points to it.”
“I am only trying to help you and your sister.”
“I want to believe that, but there are so many things about you that make me wary of your intentions.”