‘Thank you, Jake, and you, Daniel,’ Riley replied. ‘It helps to see things more clearly when I discuss them with those not directly involved.’
‘Those with a modicum of intelligence is what you meant to say, I think,’ Daniel said good-naturedly.
Riley laughed. ‘Very likely.’
‘Come along, gentlemen,’ Jack said, returning his attention to the rest of the men, still seated at the table and making steady inroads into the port. ‘Shall we rejoin the ladies?’
Riley trailed behind the rest of the men and was the last to enter the drawing room.
‘Come along, Uncle Riley.’ Cabbage danced forward. ‘We are going to play whist and you must partner me.’
‘Must I indeed.’
‘Oh, I think you should. Uncle Daniel is to partner Carolyn and she is a much better player than I am so you are needed to make the game more even.’
Riley felt the travails of his working day falling from his shoulders in the company of his enchanting niece. She was a far better player than she had led Riley to believe, had a good memory but found so much else to occupy her attention that she frequently forgot to concentrate. As a consequence she and Riley were narrowly beaten.
‘Oh dear,’ she said, smiling angelically. ‘Well done, Caro. I shall just have to practise some more so that I don’t let people down.’
Riley patted her shoulder, stood up and strolled towards the window, watching the two tables still at play, one of which included Amelia. His gaze was frequently drawn towards her, his ears exclusively tuned to the sound of her musical laughter.
‘She really is very lovely.’
Olivia’s voice startled Riley. He hadn’t heard her approaching. ‘Matchmaking, Olivia?’ he asked in a tone of mild rebuke.
‘Absolutely not. I shall have quite enough of that on my hands once Caro comes out. I was simply making an observation.’
Riley smiled. ‘Of course you were.’
‘Even so, you could do worse.’
‘I expected a little more subtlety from you.’
‘And you would have been assured of it, had you not made your interest in Amelia quite so obvious.’
‘Obvious?’ Riley arched a brow, irritated to have unwittingly given Olivia a reason to broach the subject. ‘Amelia and I are friends.’
Olivia flashed a knowing smile. ‘Is that what they are calling it nowadays?’
‘She has made it abundantly clear that friendship is all she wants from me.’
‘Ah, I suppose she would have.’
Olivia’s statement assured her of Riley’s full attention. ‘Whatever do you mean?’
‘You know, I suppose, that her marriage was a complete disaster. A very unhappy period in her life that has left her scarred and wary of the men generally.’
Riley nodded. ‘I assumed that must be the case but I have never asked her about it. If she wants me to know, I imagine she will volunteer the information.’
‘She and I have compared notes at considerable length. We are both survivors of brutal and loveless first marriages.’ Olivia frowned as she absently played with the tassel that edged the thick velvet curtain immediately behind her, forcing herself to dwell upon a period of her life that, Riley suspected, had gradually faded from memory in lieu of years of happiness with Jake. ‘I have tried to convince Amelia that not all men should be viewed in the same light, but she is understandably cautious.’
‘Perhaps she is content with her life the way that it is now. She has her freedom and financial independence, enabling her to do more or less as she pleases. There is a lot to be said for that.’
Olivia chuckled. ‘I had managed to convince myself that I felt the same way. I had not only been married to a brute but also accused of murdering him. That is not the sort of situation one recovers from overnight.’ She paused. ‘At least Amelia has been spared the indignity of being publicly branded as a murderess.’
‘No one who knew you at the time could possibly have thought that way.’
Olivia offered him a wry smile. ‘Could they not?’
‘Ah, I think I understand you. Women were quick to condemn you because they were jealous of your beauty. Men were equally censorious because you hurt their collective pride by refuting their advances.’
Olivia lifted a shoulder. ‘Perhaps. All I can tell you is that Jake chipped away at my defences and eventually managed to convince me that there were still a few enlightened gentlemen in this world who were worth taking a risk on. He has never given me reason to regret that decision.’
‘And made you doubly unpopular with the rest of your sex because you snapped up one of the most eligible aristocrats on the marriage mart,’ Riley suggested with a smile. ‘Be that as it may, I can’t fault my friend’s choice. You are Jake were destined to be together. I recall thinking so when I first made your acquaintance. I was young at the time and such matters bored me rigid. Even so, it seemed obvious.’
A teasing smile flirted with Olivia’s lips. ‘I would say the same about you and Amelia, but for the fact that you would accuse me of matchmaking.’
Riley laughed. ‘I get quite enough of that from my mother. It’s bad enough that I am married to a career which most of my family disapprove of and which occupies the majority of my time. Much as I regret disappointing them, I am perfectly content with my solitary existence.’
‘Far be it from me to side with your family but—‘
‘But you are about to anyway,’ Riley said, forcing a smile. Olivia was one of the few people with whom he would tolerate having this conversation. ‘Go ahead then. Do your worst.’
‘I gather from my recent discourse with Martha that your nephew really is sickly,’ she said in a serious tone. ‘I think she had resisted telling you just how ill he actually is for fear of adding to the pressure you live with. Even so, facts must be faced. Like it or not, in all probability it will be left to you to sire the next marquess.’
Riley nodded. ‘I don’t especially like it but I do accept that I cannot avoid my responsibilities indefinitely. It’s just that the more pressure my family bring to bear, the harder I fight against it. It’s in my nature.’ Riley smiled and spread his hands. ‘I can’t seem to help myself. And, if you want to know the truth, the prospect of being tied to one woman for the rest of my life scares me rigid.’
Olivia dealt him a sympathetic look. ‘Even Amelia?’
‘I have already told you,’ he replied, more acerbically than he had intended, ‘Amelia has made her feelings on the subject plainly apparent.’
‘That is what Jake thought about me.’
Riley was saved from making further excuses when the lady herself joined them.
‘Your husband is too good for me, Olivia,’ she said with a careless little shrug that drew Riley’s attention to her slender bare shoulder and the creamy skin of her décolletage. ‘In all the years that I have known you, I don’t think I have ever come out on the winning side when playing cards against him. I declare, I shall be bankrupt if I keep sitting down at the same table as him.’
‘He likes to win at everything he does,’ Olivia replied. ‘As do all men, in my experience.’
‘I feel duty bound to defend my sex,’ Riley said with a smile. ‘I did not win this evening. I hope that makes you feel a little more kindly disposed towards us mere men.’
‘Now you have left me with something of a quandary on my hands,’ Amelia said playfully. ‘If I say that you have never felt the need to prove your masculinity, it implies that Jake has, since it was his proficiency as a card player that promoted my complaint. But, of course, Jake has nothing to prove either.’ Amelia placed one hand on a delicate hip and pouted at Riley. ‘We shall just have to conclude that you two are the exception to the rule.’
Olivia smiled. ‘Aren’t they just,’ she said, fixing Riley with a significant look.
Riley wiped imaginary perspiration from his brow. ‘A narrow escape.’
&
nbsp; ‘Excuse me,’ Olivia said, glancing across the room and noticing one of her other guests attempting to attract her attention.
‘I have not had an opportunity to ask you how the investigation is going,’ Amelia said into the ensuing silence.
Riley noticed the changes in her at once. When Olivia had been with them, her tone had been light, flirtatious almost. But now that they were alone, she seemed remote. Riley didn’t know how to interpret her signals and was discomposed by the frankness of Olivia’s discourse. Clearly she had noticed his interest in Amelia and wanted to encourage it. Did she do so with that lady’s knowledge and consent?
‘Hang the investigation!’ he said passionately. ‘I would much rather talk about you. How have you been?’
‘You only saw me the other day.’ Amelia looked surprised by his uncharacteristic outburst. But not nearly as surprised as Riley himself was by having allowed his emotions temporary freedom.
‘Even so. How have you been occupying your time?’
‘Your niece is a constant visitor.’
‘I hope she isn’t making a nuisance of herself.’
‘How could she possibly do that? She’s a delight—and, I might add, a very diligent pupil. She is a natural harpist, and if she perseveres she will be more proficient than I am.’
‘Praise indeed.’ Riley raised a brow. ‘And she will persevere. She always does if something interests her.’
‘I am glad she has found a friend in Carolyn. Olivia’s daughter is solitary by nature but Cabbage seems to have brought her out of herself.’
‘It ought to be the other way around,’ Riley replied, watching the two girls with their heads together, laughing about something on the opposite side of the room. ‘Caro is the elder by two years and is on the verge of making her debut. But it doesn’t surprise me that Cabbage appears to be the livelier of the two. I can only hope that the pressure of presentation doesn’t rob her of her spontaneity when her turn comes.’
‘In other words, you don’t want her to grow up.’
‘There isn’t a man in England who’s worthy of her,’ Riley replied abruptly.
‘Oh dear!’ Amelia raised a gloved hand to her lips, as though attempting to hold in a smile that escaped anyway. ‘Poor Cabbage. I can see that any man who takes the slightest interest in her will find himself incarcerated for some fictitious crime or other until his fancy turns elsewhere.’
‘I make no apology for wanting to protect her. She’s far too trusting. Besides, her damned father takes no interest in her whatsoever. He’s gone back to Chichester and I don’t think he spent more than ten minutes in his daughter’s company all the time he was in London. Instead he moped over a doxy who doesn’t want to know him and is in danger of making an almighty fool of himself.’
‘With your mother and Martha permanently in London to keep watch over Sophia, and with such a protective uncle on the side lines, no one will dare to dally with Sophia’s affections.’
‘They had better not!’
‘Now stop scowling and tell me about the case. You might not want to speak about it but I want to hear. I might even be able to help you.’
‘We should, both of us, feel free to speak to one another about matters we find it easier not to discuss,’ Riley said cautiously, thinking of Olivia’s advice and impulsively acting upon it. ‘I am not your enemy. I hope by now that you realise I only ever have your best interests at heart. Cabbage’s potential admirers are not the only ones who will have cause to fear my wrath if they step out of line.’
‘Why, Lord Riley,’ she said, flashing him a wary look. ‘If I did not know better I might think you were flirting with me.’
‘Not flirting precisely,’ he said, his expression serious. ‘Merely making my position clear.’
‘Clear to you perhaps,’ she muttered. ‘You and Olivia were conversing for some time,’ she added in a more normal tone. ‘May I ask what about?’
‘She was offering me the benefit of her advice.’ With Amelia’s hand resting on his arm they sauntered around the edge of the room. ‘Anyway,’ he said with a protracted sigh, accepting that now was neither the time nor the place to delve into Amelia’s past and persuade her to open up to him, ‘you were asking about the case.’ He outlined his suspicions with regard to Celeste. ‘Money is always a prime motivator. I didn’t look upon her as a suspect until I knew that she would benefit financially from Adelaide’s demise.’
‘If she knew she stood to inherit.’
Riley nodded. ‘If she knew.’
‘You cannot prove that she did, I imagine, unless she falls for your ruse about the fictitious diaries you just mentioned. But if she had known Adelaide since their childhood days, she would probably be aware that she was too cautious to commit anything to paper.’
‘You’re right.’ Riley shrugged. ‘You have a way of making me see things more clearly.’
‘Glad to be of service, although I haven’t done much. You are no nearer to knowing who committed the crime.’
‘Unfortunately not. I have a fistful of suspects and no way of proving which of them is the guilty party.’
‘If you fail to solve the case, Danforth will lose his job and you will be criticised for not trying hard enough. I know you too well, Riley, and can easily imagine what you must be thinking. You assume people will say you haven’t troubled yourself over the death of a courtesan in the same way that you did over Emily Ferguson’s demise.’ She squeezed his forearm. ‘Poor, Riley. You are damned if you do and damned if you don’t.’
‘Precisely.’
Riley thought it odd that he and Amelia could speak without reservation about his investigation, but the moment they strayed into personal territory, Amelia became evasive. Olivia had clearly got it wrong, he decided, surprised by just how much that realisation pained him. She wanted only friendship from him, whereas Riley was becoming increasingly convinced that he wanted a great deal more than that from Amelia.
‘Thompson has implied that if Danforth goes, I shall be in line for promotion.’
‘Well deserved,’ Amelia said, smiling her approval.
‘Perhaps, but it wouldn’t feel right to take advantage of Danforth’s downfall.’
‘If you do not, someone else will. It doesn’t surprise me that your principles prevent you from profiting from Danforth’s stupidity, but really, Riley, he has brought this on himself and you don’t owe him any loyalty. He has tried to undermine your position at every turn and made your life very difficult.’
‘That’s undeniable.’ Riley briefly covered her hand with his own. ‘But if he keeps his position he will be in my debt and my life will be easier as a consequence.’
‘Can he keep it?’
‘It depends on whether his regular attendance at a cathouse and the predilections catered for in that establishment become common knowledge,’ Riley sighed. ‘I would imagine the details will emerge in the fullness of time. I’m surprised word hasn’t leaked out already, despite my best efforts to keep his involvement under wraps. He will be laughed at and it will be hard for him to retain any sort of respect. Not that the men had much respect for him in the first place, but still. He has a large family to feed and needs his employment, so if he retains his position he will have to weather the storm.’
‘Do I get the impression that you are not anxious for promotion?’
Riley smiled. ‘I never could deceive you.’ He sighed. ‘The fact of the matter is that I struggle to juggle my career and social obligations as it is. Besides,’ he added, treating Amelia to a probing look, ‘perhaps it’s time I made my mother happy and thought about taking a wife.’
‘Oh.’ She looked momentarily discomposed. ‘Do you have a particular lady in mind?’
‘Alas, the only one who could make me content seems determined not to marry.’
‘If she is worth pursuing, perhaps you should attempt to change her mind.’
‘I wouldn’t have her marry me
because she felt sorry for me.’
Amelia’s laugher echoed around the room, drawing curious glances from several people. ‘You are not the type of man to invoke pity, Riley. Envy perhaps from other men, and you set female hearts fluttering everywhere you go. But pity.’ She shook her head. ‘Never that.’
Talking to Amelia in an abstract manner about his personal ambitions was, it seemed, acceptable to her. But surely she was aware that the woman he referred to was her. Olivia had noticed his interest but Amelia was either blind to his attentions or was trying to let him down gently by pretending not to realise. Dear God, give him a straightforward murder to solve any day. It was a deal easier than trying to decide what went on inside an intelligent woman’s head.
‘Uncle Riley, we need your advice.’ Cabbage skipped up to him, with Carolyn walking more sedately at her side.
‘Since when did you ever listen to any advice I gave you, Lady Cabbage?’ Riley asked, tugging at one of her curls.
‘Oh, I always listen to you because you speak sensibly.’ Riley thought his niece would revise that opinion if she’d heard him clumsily skirting around his desire for Amelia, petrified of rejection. Why the devil he couldn’t simply tell her what he felt and be done with it was a mystery. He did have to marry and the only woman he wanted to marry was Amelia, but so long as he didn’t actually declare himself he couldn’t be disappointed. ‘Anyway, Caro and I find ourselves in something of a quandary.’
‘What quandary would that be?’ Riley asked.
‘Well, Papa is being most unreasonable.’ Sophia pouted. ‘He came to see me a day or two before he returned to Chichester.’
‘Nothing surprising about that, Cabbage. You are his daughter.’
Death of a Courtesan: Riley Rochester Investigates Page 24