Page 96 of Honor Unbound

That last sentence hadn’t been agreed upon, but was appreciated. The magistrate was turning out to be a fine sort of fellow, but I decided to toy with him a bit more. “Not Bow Street?” I looked at the paper.The Public Hue and Cry. I’d expected an acknowledgment to be in theTimes, but I guess that would have been pressing my luck.

Sir Kelsey dipped his chin. “Let’s not get carried away.”

I scanned the article about the recent capture of Platt and Randall, finally spying my name. The magistrate had given me especial thanks for my assistance. I grinned. “How about another slice of cake, Sir Kelsey?”

He sat and readily agreed.

“And I have something for you, as well, Sir Kelsey.” I toed off my slipper and stroked Southey’s back.

A bite of cake hovered before his mouth. “You’ll let me and my mates use your club for meetings?”

“Most definitely not.” I didn’t even know if I’d allow those golf clubs to remain under my roof. Stupid, infuriating game. “But I am offering your wife membership to The Minerva Club. Complimentary, of course.”

His face fell. He was too well-mannered to decline it. “Thank you, I’m sure.”

Burton pushed today’sTimestoward me, tapping the headline about the trial. “Do you think Randall will be acquitted?”

“No chance.” The magistrate wiped his mouth. “Not with Platt’s confession. Randall can tell the jury that when he admitted his crimes to you he’d only done so as a jest, but no one is believing him. And Mrs. Trent has identified the gold pen that Randall had as her husband’s.”

My gaze went to Marie’s neck. It had taken several weeks for the bruise to completely disappear.

“The gatekeeper admitted that he allowed them admittance to the public baths that night, though he claims not to have seen any blood,” Kelsey continued. “The next shift said he did think the men’s pool had a pink tint to it that morning.”

Marie went to the sideboard for the teapot, and I held up my empty cup. “I can well believe the gatekeeper thought they’d only come for a cool-off,” I said. “Who would believe that two men of one’s acquaintance would be brutal murderers?”

“I wish I still had your faith in mankind,” Kelsey said glumly. “I know everyone around me could be a killer.”

Burton, Marie, and I shared a look.

“But even I don’t think a jury would be foolish enough to acquit. Randall and Platt will face judgment. Randall can claim that his poverty has made him a target of society but he can’t negate the fact that we found the file used to murder Trent inRandall’s bedroom. He didn’t even bother to clean it. It was still covered in blood.” Sir Kelsey stared out the window. “They will hang.”

“Good.” Burton took Marie’s hand, his eyes dark. Probably remembering, as I was, that Marie was only alive because of a forgotten bonnet. “There were never two men so deserving.”

“They were gruesome.” Marie shivered. “I can’t believe they went for a bite to eat after leaving the baths.”

Platt’s servants had never had opportunity to notice his wet clothes it turned out. After cleaning the blood from themselves at the baths, he and Randall had gone to a public house for a light breakfast. The clothes had dried by the time they returned home.

Sir Kelsey brushed some crumbs off his jacket, and Southey hopped up to investigate. “I’d best be off. When the verdict comes in, I’ll send you word so you don’t have to wait for the papers.”

“Thank you.” I inclined my head. “Burton, can you see him out?”

The men left. I examined Marie. She had been avoiding me the past few days, not an easy feat for a woman who was supposed to be my companion, and I thought I knew why. “Is there something you wish to tell me, my dear?”

Jane shifted on the settee, mumbling in her sleep.

“Me?” Marie looked at the empty doorway. “Why would you ask that?”

Not a denial. “You are acting the same as you did after you made the impulsive decision to marry a man after a kiss or two.”

“It wasn’t impulsive,” she objected.

I looked at her over my spectacles.

She gave me an impish smile. “It was a very good kiss.”

It had been so long since I’d had a kiss, good or otherwise, I’d almost forgotten what they could impel a woman to do.“I’ve noticed quite a few missives from Burton to the town of Wombourne. Near Birmingham, isn’t it?”

Marie put all her attention into pouring a saucer of cream and putting it in front of Southey. She again answered my question with one of her own. A most irritating habit. “Have you noticed that?”