Page 81 of Marriage Most Scandalous
Sebastian snorted. “To tell me that if I want answers, I might find them with Juliette’s brother. Why the deuce doesn’t Denton just give me the answers?”
“Perhaps he doesn’t know what they are,” John offered.
That thought gave Sebastian pause. He reread the letter:
Seb,
I didn’t think you’d leave this quickly. I needed time to readjust my thinking. Juliette had me convinced for the longest time that you were the culprit. It quite removed the halo I’d placed over your head.
I should have told you this sooner, that yes, Juliette has been responsible for father’s accidents. Although he suspects nothing and swears they were just accidents, and she hasn’t stated clearly that she’s caused them, she’s implied it, and has promised worse will happen if I divorce her. But before that, there were other things she held over my head.
God, even now I don’t have the guts to tell you. But her brother, Pierre Poussin, might know. She had him tossed in prison on some charge she fabricated, because he was going to stop her. At least, she throws it in my face that she got rid of him for me. Maybe he doesn’t even exist. Maybe everything she says is just lies. God, I just don’t know.
“Actually, he says as much,” Sebastian remarked, handing the letter to John. “That he doesn’t know. Although it sounds like Juliette has him convinced that she is causing my father’s accidents, which I’m not sure is the case a’tall. She’s using them as a means to control Denton, though.”
John looked up from the letter. “Ah, Juliette’s brother in prison ... her remark the gardener overheard at Edgewood makes more sense now.”
“That she got rid of her brother for him, and got rid of me for him? For him? Hmm, I just may have to beat my brother senseless and rearrange his guts for him, since he seems to have lost them.”
John chuckled, but only for a moment. “It does sound like Lord Denton is or was involved in more than we imagined. Though it also sounds like he wants it out in the open, or he wouldn’t be suggesting that you find Juliette’s brother in order to get some answers. Does he say which prison?”
Sebastian shook his head. “He probably doesn’t know that either.”
“Well, this all began in Paris where they met Juliette, so we can perhaps assume it is one near there. You are going to pay him a visit?”
Sebastian frowned. “You know, if you think about it, Juliette’s name comes up too often in relation to strange events—the duel, Maggie’s sister’s abrupt departure from White Oaks, my father’s accidents. This is one hell of a convoluted scheme, whatever it is, much bigger than we could have guessed.”
“Cause and effect?” John suggested thoughtfully. “What might have started as a single plot could have spiraled into many more.”
“Could it be that simple?”
John chuckled. “Probably not, but—”
The caretaker opened the door to announce in high annoyance, “A visitor, monsieur. I tell him to come tomorrow at a better hour, but no, he will not go away. He says he knows you, but he will not give his name.”
“Where is he?” Sebastian asked.
Maurice thumbed his hand behind him. “Out front. It is amazing how many people will honor those outer steps as if a door still stood there blocking their way. Is that stew I smell?”
“Help yourself to a bowl, Maurice. I’ll see to our visitor.”
“Want me to go?” John asked. “Half of them say they know you just to gain access to you.”
“Which will make it easier for me to send him on his way. Is there light out there, Maurice, or should I take some with me?”
“My lantern. I leave it on the steps.”
Sebastian nodded and left the kitchen. He hadn’t needed to be concerned with light. It was a clear night. Moonlight bathed the debris in the ruined old great hall he had to pass through. And the glow of Maurice’s lantern was a beacon that outlined the broken stone arch that was all that was left of what used to be the entrance to the keep.
The chap stood on the steps there, his back to the arch, staring out at the moonlit countryside as he waited. He wore a tiered greatcoat for warmth, a thick scarf about his neck, and a hat pulled down low.
And then, apparently hearing Sebastian’s footsteps behind him, he turned. And Sebastian did recognize him. He just didn’t believe what he was seeing.
“I’m real,” he assured Sebastian. “Flesh and bone.”
“And blood? Let’s just make sure you aren’t vapor, shall we?” Sebastian said as he slammed his fist into Giles’s face.
Chapter 49
