Page 65 of Marriage Most Scandalous
“Thank you. So what have you found out?”
“Unfortunately, not much. No one I talked to thought any of the accidents were out of the ordinary.”
“Not even the number of them?”
“No. They were spread across too many months to draw notice. Not that any have been forgotten. I heard a number of different accidents described and with the usual remarks you might expect, that he was helped in, or limped in, or limped to his room under his own steam, or limped for a few days then was right as rain, or—”
“Why was he limping so frequently? Are you sure they were talking about my father and not Denton?”
“Yes,” John said, then shrugged. “I didn’t think much of it. People get hurt, they tend to limp around, even if there’s nothing wrong with their legs. I remember the time I cracked a rib. I limped in order to pamper that side. So did you when—”
“I get the point,” Sebastian said, then sighed. “You’ll notice I’m grasping at straws here. I need something, anything really, that I can allude to that will make my father think I know more than I do.”
John frowned thoughtfully, then perked up. “Damn me, I did forget one thing.”
“Thank God.”
John winced at that. “Well, it has nothing to do with the accidents, and it was from long ago, before your brother even married, but you will find it most interesting—”
“Not until you spit it out I won’t,” Sebastian interrupted impatiently.
John coughed, continuing, “The account is from one of the gardeners, chap named Peter. He was working off to the side of the front road when he noticed your brother coming down it, on his way home from Edgeford. Nothing unusual in that. Your brother was a frequent customer in the Edgeford tavern and everyone knew it.”
“So?”
“Peter then spotted another horse galloping toward your brother, tearing across the lawn on the other side from the direction of the Wemyss estate. Peter remembered he was annoyed, thinking he’d have to repair the lawn over there, so he was glaring at the rider until he recognized it was a lady. She shouted at Lord Denton to stop. He did, but only until she reached him, then he continued along the road as if he didn’t want to talk to her, forcing her to ride along with him. It was obvious they were having some sort of argument. Peter admitted it was Lady Juliette, though he didn’t know that at the time.”
“Fighting even before they married?” Sebastian said. “I’m not sure that’s relevant, nor does it even surprise me at this point that—”
“I wasn’t finished,” John cut in this time. “When they passed Peter, he heard Juliette say, and I quote, ‘I got rid of my brother for you. I got rid of your brother for you. You’ll damn well—’ ”
“What?”
“That was it. Unfortunately, he missed the rest of what was said when a bee got too close to him and he had to fight it off.”
“Bloody hell. Did he at least tell my father what he’d heard?”
“I did think to ask that, but you know how servants are. They don’t want to stir up any fuss that they might end up taking the blame for. He admitted he did give it some thought, that it preyed on his mind for a while. But then Juliette became a member of the family and that settled it in Peter’s mind to forget about it.”
Sebastian stopped, frowning. “So much for her ‘punishing Giles’ excuse.”
“You’d already guessed that was a lie.”
“Yes, but it’s nice to have it confirmed. Not that I care anymore what her bloody motive was. I just want to get this wrapped up and be gone.”
“You don’t think her remarks implicate your brother?”
“Yes, they appear to, but I’m going with my gut instinct on this one, and that’s that Denton isn’t involved. I do think he’s guilty about something, and I wouldn’t mind finding out what, but not if it means staying here any longer.”
“Then I should begin packing?”
Sebastian paused only a moment. “Yes.”
Chapter 39
SEBASTIAN WASN’T EXPECTING MUCH COOPERATIONon this second meeting with his father. He’d had the upper hand on the first go-round, the element of surprise, since Douglas hadn’t known he’d returned to England. His father’s condition, being barely recovered, had also made it easier to avoid any discussion of the past. Neither element was going to be present today.
He knocked. The maid didn’t let him in, Douglas’s call did. A quick glance about the room showed that his father was alone. And no longer in bed.
