“It is a most despicable reason and it’s what made me realize that he was capable of doing anything, including arranging the death of Uncle John. He wanted Domnika back. He kept assuring us his intentions were good and he would marry her the moment Sicily died, but he never intended to marry her. He just wanted to ruin her and bend her to his will sufficiently that she would remain his mistress when his debts forced him to take a well-dowered bride. He needed Sicily alive, so he did not have to do the honorable thing by Domnika.”
Her hands clenched in fierce anger. “After Antonio discovered the second deed had been filed the day before Nicolas gave us the earlier deed, Mrs. Halloway told Nicolas he was no longer welcomed in this house and she would see him in hell before he ever laid his hands on Domnika again. He threatened to marry me off to any man willing to pay for the pleasure if they didn’t return Domnika, but he soon realized that Mrs. Halloway can volley threats back with a lethal aim. When Dodson tossed him from the house, he knew he had lost Domnika for good, thus Sicily was no longer needed. She was now an impediment to his search for a new wife. He must have gone home and accepted the Rothburg Ball invitation. The deadline to reply was that same day. Then he must have posted a note to Mrs. Cole to get rid of his unwanted wife, which was received three days ago.”
Yardrow sighed. “I believe you have solved this murder. Unfortunately, I doubt if I will find sufficient evidence to ever convict Nicolas Dupree. However, Mrs. Cole and the doctor are an entirely different matter.”
“Mrs. Cole may have the evidence you need to convict Nicolas, but she will not give it up unless she is found innocent. She will probably offer you some poor maid that actually fed Sicily a soup laden with poison as your criminal.”
“She will be sorely disappointed. I do not bargain with murderers.”
“It is possible you may find the evidence on your own. If you don’t find it under the third board, then tear her room apart. It will be somewhere there: either in the walls, floors, or ceiling.”
“Unfortunately, the police are not allowed to destroy rooms to find evidence.”
“Then he will probably go free,” she sighed and then paused. “Is Nicolas aware you think his wife was murdered?”
“He is, and he graciously assured his complete cooperation with the investigation.”
“Then can you not use that as permission to tear up the room? He won’t be there to tell you to stop.”
“No, since he could later say he had not given permission.”
“Then you had better return to Nicolas and tell him either he needs to accompany you to Soundberry or sign a letter, so his servants will know you have permission to question them and thoroughly search the infrastructure of the servant’s quarters.”
“Only a fool would sign that.”
“Still, you should take the time to write a letter and stop by for his signature. He seems to act solely on selfish motivations. He won’t want to accompany you because the Rothburg ball is on Saturday and he, no doubt, has a fitting for his new suit tomorrow. I think he’ll sign it without even reading it.”
Suddenly the door burst open and a grand dame stormed inside. “Inspector Yardrow, you did not have permission to interview Amy. Interrogating a young lady in a closed room for over an hour without a chaperone present, I will have nothing less than your job for this, unless you hand over those notes now and remove yourself from this case entirely.”
“I did not entrap and interrogate Miss Winston, I merely took notes as she first proved Antonio could not be a suspect and then proceeded to tell who, what, why, and how the murders occurred. And I will not give you my notes, for I need them to do my job, which when completed, may even be to your satisfaction.”
Taking advantage of Mrs. Halloway’s momentary state of surprise, he left the house and ordered the carriage back to the Metropolitan Police Station.
Chapter 50
Amy remained quiet and subdued as Mrs. Halloway and Antonio took turns lecturing her on not talking to the police. “They are trained interrogators and can pull information without a person realizing they have done so,” Antonio scolded as he paced the library.
She refrained from ‘huffing’ at the comment about trained interrogators. Yardrow’s skill at interrogating Edson had not impressed her in the least.
“Amy, do you understand how seriously wrong this could have gone?” Mrs. Halloway demanded.
“Yes, but it didn’t go wrong. Antonio is now cleared as a suspect and the inspector knows exactly who to arrest. I don’t understand why the two of you cannot look on the bright side of this matter. Yes, I know if it had been another inspector it might have gone terribly awry, but it wasn’t another inspector, it was Yardrow. Antonio had already told me that he found the man most reasonable. That was all I needed: a reasonable person. And only when he proved that reasonableness by helping me figure out how to prove the suit had not been dusty from travel when Antonio came home that night, only then did I offer to solve his case in exchange for a favor.”
They both froze and stared at her in shock.
“Amy, what favor do you require from an Inspector of the Metropolitan Police?”
“I asked him to review past cases for criminals with an acute sense of smell claiming they were in the thrall of others when the crime was committed.”
Antonio pulled her into his arms and held her tight.
She spoke against his chest. “Does this mean I’m forgiven?”
He sighed. “Do you acknowledge your actions were dangerous and ill conceived?”
“No, but I do want you both to forgive me. This hug feels very nice.”
“Yes, it does.”
“If you wish to interrogate me upstairs, I might tell you what I read in the new book you found on sexual compulsions.”
He lifted her into his arms and faced Ann. “I think we’ve exhausted the topic right now.”
Ann shook her head and waved them off.
Amy thought she had successfully distracted Antonio, but when he laid her upon the bed, she could see his worry remained.
“The person I report to was very unhappy that I had gotten myself involved with the whole mess concerning Sicily. If you think your reprimand was hard, it was nothing compared to mine.”
“I’m sorry I got you involved in that.”
“I could have refused to help him, but I wanted that deed for you,” Anthony admitted.
Amy sighed heavily. “Not that it did any good. With his deed filed first, it took precedent. Unlike a Will where the last one takes precedent a deed can only be filed once. The second deed, the one he so sincerely gave me, became invalid because Nicolas no longer owns the property any more—I own it. But until I turned twenty-one, Nicolas gets to run it as my guardian. To prevent me from ever taking it, all he has to do is declare me incompetent and take control of the business.”
“Where did you learn that?” Anthony asked.
“Domnika went into town last week and interrogated a solicitor.” She frowned. “The only way Nicolas will correct the deeding is if we give Domnika to him.”
“So, you eavesdropped on that conversation as well.” Antonio lay back and sighed heavily.
Amy pushed herself up and glared at him. “I’m not a child to be protected. I can help you if you’ll let me know what is happening.”
“I think you proved that today. It was a tremendous help to get Yardrow to drop me as a suspect and Ann is no doubt delivering the good news to our very unhappy boss.”
“Then you forgive me?”
“Don’t I need to be angry first?”
“You certainly sounded angry when you were yelling at me downstairs.”
“I was terrified at what could have happened. What you heard was an expression of fear. But if you truly meant it when you said you only talked to the inspector because it was Yardrow, then my fear is diminished considerably. If you truly understand that the typical inspector of the Metropolitan Police is nothing like Yardrow, then I can put this worry to rest.”<
br />
“I do understand. And if any other inspector ever tries to interrogate me, I will burst into tears like a silly young lady and have Lady Halloway complain to his supervisor and demand Yardrow be put in his place.”
He smiled. “Now that promise might even calm Ann.”
Chapter 51
On Friday, her two suitors arrived, and they took tea on the verandah, so they could watch the progress of the soldiers’ education. The older soldiers learned the skill of excavation and the younger, the planting of camouflage.
Catherine oversaw their efforts, while Domnika joined the tea party and seemed quite happy with her day off from command.
Amy could not help but notice she seemed pleased with Darby as well. The four of them played bridge. She and Chavier pitted against Domnika and Darby. Domnika entered the game having little hope of winning a hand, however Darby surprised them with his strategic playing. The longer Domnika and Darby partnered, the more they seemed to read each other’s thoughts.
Chavier looked relieved when Mrs. Halloway suggested they end the game and inspect the troop’s progress. Amy took Chavier’s arm, hoping Darby would have the sense to take Domnika’s. Thankfully, he did.
Amy teased Chavier about a new-found character flaw. “You sir, do not like to lose.”
He looked amused as he replied, “I wasn’t aware anyone enjoyed losing.”
“Ah, but not all will rig the results just to win.”
His head pulled back and his eyebrows rose an inch. “And how did I rig the results?”
“You had Mrs. Halloway stop the games at the last point where we could still safely be assured of winning. You endured our lead of ten dwindling down to one but then you had it stopped. Another win on their part would have put us at a tie.”
“And how did I get Ann to do such a thing?”
“That is the puzzle, for I cannot imagine you expected the game to be so close.”
“I certainly did not.”
The haughtiness in his voice caused her to smile. He had expected to win easily. She wondered if he would give Darby and Domnika their due. “I did not see one obvious error made in any hand.”
“Nor I. With standard fare, we would have taken every round.”
“If you acknowledged we all played at our best, why did you not let it end in a tie? Would that not have been a more equitable reward to all concerned?”
“Ah, so you have deftly trapped me into admitting a flaw. You are correct, Amy; I do not like to lose. I resist it even when good manners and fair play suggest a tie would be better. I always want to win, every time.”
“Which must be a good thing in your work, or parts of it, but I’m guessing you are rarely invited to play cards.”
He laughed. “A fine guess. When my wife died, they used it as an excuse to stop inviting me. It might have been a reasonable excuse if my wife had actually played cards, but she never did.”
Amy’s hand squeezed his arm. “I’m sorry, that was very hurtful of them. I believe you said she died six years ago.”
“Yes.”
“May I ask how?”
“I will tell you sometime when we are in private conversation.”
As they came upon the dirt-covered soldiers, she heard Domnika observe the housekeeper, Mrs. Jones, would quit for certain when the dirty soldiers returned to the house.
She turned to Domnika. “We might want to send Antonio out for tents. I don’t believe Mrs. Jones will let them in the house at all.”
Chavier watched the muddy soldiers, all girls except for Davy and Fred, throwing shovels of dirt over their heads. Not daring to get closer, Amy called out and asked the gardener what he could possibly be planting that required holes four feet deep.
Davy requested to answer the colonel and then explained a bush was best planted twice its width and twice its depth. “We’ll be filling in the holes with cow manure and compost. But not until after the Battle of Tuesday.”
Amy laughed and turned to Chavier so her words wouldn’t be heard by the others. “These children are getting such a strange education that I fear they will be fit for no one but you.”
“I wish more of them were boys.”
She sighed with disappointment at his words. “Yes, if we were only all boys, how much more could be done.”
He stared at her in surprise.
“What?” she demanded.
“I fear Domnika’s impertinence is rubbing off on you,” he whispered in her ear. The heat of his breath, stirred her loins, but Antonio had her so well-satiated now that she was in no means ready to swoon. Still, it was most pleasurable.
Fearing that Darby would quit visiting if she didn’t provide him some attention, she suggested Darby escort her through the garden while Domnika and Chavier continue to admire the soldiering and join heads with Catherine on how to clean the children.
“I’d recommend throwing them in the pond,” Darby muttered.
Domnika declared it a wonderful suggestion and called Colonel Cat over.
Amy noticed that Catherine seemed reluctant to join their party, or to be more exact, join her. Thus, she grabbed Darby’s hand and briskly headed for the maze, ignoring his teasing.
“If you walk any faster, I will be forced to run to keep at your side.”
When she finally settled on a bench within the maze, she allowed her tears to flow. It was impossible to share with anyone in the household how Catherine’s unfair treatment hurt her, but she found it very easy to relieve her burden to Darby. When she honestly admitted her reaction to the count’s presence, his face darkened with anger, yet his words to her remained tender and sympathetic. When she finished the whole of the story, he pulled her into his arms and held her.
“I want you to know I have cut Geoffrey as a friend. When I read the paper the next morning and saw the mention of a tense moment with Count Valesky I asked around until I found someone who had seen what happened. The person I spoke with was certain Geoffrey had purposely delivered you into the count’s hands. I went over to his parent’s estate and gave him several good blows before his servants could contain me.”
Amy had noticed the cuts on his right hand and wondered how he had received them. She reached out and took his right hand in hers. “I’ve an ointment that will cure the infection. We can’t have the Lord of Evonshire looking like a street bruiser.”
“I’m only glad Antonio and Chavier were there to rescue you.”
“Did Geoffrey tell you why he helped the count?”
“He said he didn’t know why he did it. When the count asked, it had seemed a reasonable request. That only made me hit him again.”
“Does Geoffrey have a fine sense of smell?”
Darby stared at her in confusion. “How would you know that?”
She then explained the remainder of her story, including her theory on smell and why Catherine was mad at her.
“Well, it does make Catherine’s position look bad,” Darby admitted.
Amy scolded him soundly.
He complained and held out his hand. “I liked it much better when you were holding my hand, worrying about my cuts.”
Frowning at one cut across his knuckle, she stood up and led him to the archway of the hedge room, turned left and ran into Gunter.
“You!” Darby exclaimed. “What the bloody blazes are you doing here?”
Gunter’s eyes narrowed. “I’m trimming the hedges.”
“With what? You haven’t even shears this time! And why are you here and not at the Stantons?” Darby’s forehead wrinkled as he stared longer at Gunter. “Were you in the house as well?”
“Gunter is one of my protectors,” Amy explained and kissed Gunter on the cheek. She pulled Darby out of the maze as she explained the King’s best had protected her all her life.
“So, I will be courting you with four of the King’s Best men waiting to slit my throat at the first wrong move?”
She laughed. “You said you were courageous, and so far, I’ve been very
impressed. I agree it’s odd that I should be the one with the protectors, since Domnika is the Russian princess. It seems more appropriate for her.”
“Domnika is a princess?” he asked in amazement.
Amy spoke about Domnika as they walked to the house and continued speaking of Domnika as she took some honey from the cabinet and scooped a bit into a clean cloth. She sat down beside Darby and dabbed it on the cuts while she removed the infection. She then wrapped a bandage around his knuckles and declared him all better.
He opened and closed his hand. “It certainly feels better.”
“Well, let’s go back to the garden and make certain Chavier hasn’t run off with Domnika, having discovered she is far more suited to be a proper gentleman’s wife than me.”
“He wouldn’t do that, would he? I mean Domnika wouldn’t because you two are such good friends.”
“We agreed going into this season that it was very likely the same gentlemen might like us both, so we made a blood pact that our friendship will stand no matter what happens. If we like a gentleman who prefers the other, we will think only the better of him, since we both think each other is the finest catch. However, I am right this time. Domnika is everything I am plus she is a princess. In a game of poker, she would be a royal flush and I would be four aces.”
When they returned to find Chavier and Domnika laughing as the children attempted to hold their position as a water cannon drawing from the pond blasted them clean. Amy was pleased to see Darby put himself between Chavier and Domnika and edged her away from him.
Amy smiled up at Chavier. “Did you miss me?”
She was rather sorry she asked, since the intensity of his eyes set her body on fire.
“In fact, you were missed. Two sprained wrists await your attention over there.” He pointed to a table where two servants watched the play. Chavier walked her over and she rubbed each of their wrists and declared them fine. When she finished, he took her hands into his.
“You must be cautious when to use this gift, Amy. Those sprained wrists would have healed without your intervention.”
She laughed. “You say that because it was not your sprained wrist.” She slipped her hand around his waist and pressed her hand upon the small of his back.
Love's Betrayals (The Extraordinary Life of Amy Winston Book 2) Page 29