The Duke's Legacy (16 page)

Sebastian reached for his glass. This enigma was proving to be more baffling than he had at first imagined would be the case. It was also just the sort of pithy conundrum he most enjoyed and he was damned if he would permit the solution to evade him for long.

“How’s your man faring, Denver?” Lord Bevan asked.

“He appears to be almost entirely recovered, I thank you.”

“How fortunate!” Evans placed his glass aside and spoke for the first time since the ladies had left the room.

“How right you are, Evans,” Sebastian replied affably. “He was in a great deal of distress but Mrs. Burton’s herbal remedies have done the trick.”

“Glad to hear it, Denver,” Lord Bevan said. “Only too pleased to help.”

“Shame about the weather closing the road down like this,” Charles said. “I dare say you’re anxious to be on your way, Denver, and not miss any more of the sport.” He grinned. “Know I would be if I was in your shoes. Saw that chestnut hunter of yours out with the Belvoir last season and was mightily impressed.”

“Thank you.” In spite of his suspicions in respect of Charlie, Sebastian was starting to like the man. “You must try him out when you join our hunt the next time. But as for the weather, it seems I must trespass upon your hospitality for a little longer, Bevan, at least until the roads are passable again.”

The derisive snort from Evans’s direction appeared to go undetected by all, except Sebastian.

“How fares His Royal Highness?” Sebastian asked Lord Wilsden. “Does he plan to remove to that monstrosity of his in Brighton in the spring?”

Wilsden stiffened, as though Sebastian had committed verbal treason. “He doesn’t confide all of his plans to me.”

“I hear he gave a gastronomic banquet at the pavilion recently,” Lord Bevan said. “His French chef is rumoured to have surpassed himself. It must have been quite a spectacle.”

“Over a hundred courses,” Wilsden replied, unable to keep the pride from his voice. “Naturally, I was there and it was a triumph for His Royal Highness. Never before has such opulence and good taste been demonstrated on such a lavish scale. Our overseas guests were quite overcome by it all.”

“More likely to be overcome with indigestion,” Charles said in an aside to Sebastian.

“How could one be sure to partake of a particular dish, what with so many to select from?” Tobias asked, jolted out of his introspection by a subject so dear to his heart.

“His Royal Highness’s staff is proficient in the execution of its duties.”

Sebastian and Charles exchanged another loaded glance. Wilsden’s affronted expression demonstrated his complete lack of humour in all matters relating to the prince.

“Shall we rejoin the ladies?” Lord Bevan asked, presumably sensing the tension.

The card tables were placed and Sebastian found himself just about as far away from Abbey as it was possible to be situated. Lady Bevan had put Abbey at a table with Laura Graves, Sir Michael and, predictably, Evans. Sebastian was in company with Charles, Mary and Elizabeth, a circumstance which was most convenient since he was anxious to study at least two of his card-playing companions at unguarded moments, as well as keeping a discreet eye on Abbey. From his current position he was likely to achieve both objectives without drawing attention to the fact that his mind was engaged with anything more taxing than partnering Elizabeth Wilsden in a winning rubber.

By the end of the evening he and Elizabeth had achieved their objective and relieved Mary and Charles of a modest sum, which Charlie grumbled good-naturedly about. Since Abbey had also come through unscathed, Sebastian counted the evening as a success.

Retiring only after discretely hovering to ensure Abbey reached her own chamber without mishap, Sebastian entered his room and found Hodges awaiting him.

“Well, Hodges, you’ll be pleased to hear your remarkable recovery is a cause for great joy in the drawing-room.”

“It’s a cause for great joy for me, an’ all, I can tell yer. That Mrs. Burton is a sly one, all right. She didn’t trust me to take her potions in me own time, which would have meant I could have chucked ’em out the window without her being any the wiser, but insisted upon standing by me and watching me down the lot.” He pulled a hard-done-by face. “It tasted vile enough to make me ill for real, I can tell yer.”

Sebastian’s laugh was less than sympathetic. “Doubtless there were other comforts to be derived from your enforced bed rest?”

Hodges responded with a smug grin. “Yeah, that Sally is quite a gal, I’ll give you that. The quiet ones are always full of surprises. Demure on the outside but tigers when you—” He shrugged his massive shoulders. “Well, I don’t need to spell it out to you. Anyway, let’s hope the weather keeps us here for a bit longer.”

“It most likely will.” Sebastian shrugged out of his coat and handed it to Hodges. “Were you able to take time out from your amorous conquests to make the enquiries I asked of you?”

Hodges looked offended. “Have I ever let you down, m’lord?” Without waiting for a response he commenced regaling Sebastian with gossip from the senior servants’ hall. “Lord Bevan’s well thought of as a fair and tolerant master. Lady Abigail is universally liked but also pitied because of all the responsibility resting on her shoulders. They all think she should have a bit more freedom, the chance to enjoy being young before she’s obliged to settle down, so they’re glad she’s to have a season.” Hodges rubbed his stubbly chin. “I find it difficult to believe any of the servants in her household could be bribed into helping with her murder ’cause they all love her. Apparently she addresses them all by name, remembers the names of their children and ain’t too high and mighty to concern herself with their affairs.”

“Hmm.” Sebastian mulled over what he’d just learned.

“But what I did find out from Mr. Charles Wilsden’s man is that he’s fiercely enamoured with a certain lady in Cornwall.” Hodges sniffed. “His man don’t seem to know how to respect his master’s confidences.”

“Is that supposed to be news?” Sebastian’s brows locked together in annoyance. “Are you sure you didn’t spend all of your time dallying with Lady Abigail’s maid and are making this up to cover your neglect?”

“If you’d just allow me to finish, I was about to tell you the object of Mr. Wilsden’s passion is not Lady Abigail.”

Sebastian’s head shot up. Hodges had his full attention now. “Then who, in the name of the Devil, is she?”

“I was getting to that.” But Hodges continued to brush Sebastian’s discarded coat and took his time about it. “She’s Lady Isabel Lawrence.”

“Earl Cowper’s daughter? I know her.”

“That don’t surprise me.”

Hodges, no respecter of the disparity in their respective ranks, rolled his eyes. Sebastian reminded himself that Hodges was first and foremost a hard-bitten soldier, more at home on a battlefield than in a comfortable house. Even so, Hodges fulfilled whatever role Sebastian asked of him with competence and discretion. That he tended to forget his position was, in the circumstances, easily overlooked.

“Has he offered for Lady Isabel?”

“The word is he wishes to but his father won’t give him leave.”

“Which would explain everything. A man in the throes of passion will go to any extremes to get his way. Wilsden won’t give his consent because he wants Charlie to marry Abbey, but if Abbey were out of the way there would be no reason for his father to continue withholding his consent.”

“Aye, you could be right.”

“I understand Wilsden still holds the purse strings until Charlie reaches five-and-twenty, so he wouldn’t have the blunt to marry without his father’s approbation.” Sebastian grimaced, disinclined to think ill of the charismatic Charlie in spite of all the evidence stacked against him. “I knew Charlie was involved somewhere. Pity that because I rather like the man, but there’s nothing that says rogues have to be dislikeable, I suppose.”

“Are you sure it’s ’im? What about Lord Wilsden and all that money he’s borrowed from the duchy?”

“I haven’t forgotten about that any more than I’ve discounted the possibility of a lady’s involvement. If Charlie is to blame then he must have had help, since he hasn’t been present at all of the incidents. No one person has.” Sebastian shrugged. “Well, no one whom I consider suspicious, anyway.”

“What do you make of the females above stairs then, m’lord?”

“Lady Bevan and her daughter are blameless, as is Laura Graves. Cassandra Bevan is a saucy baggage, not averse to forgetting her wedding vows if the opportunity presents, if I read the signals she was sending me at dinner a’right.”

Hodges chuckled. “I doubt you would have got ’em wrong. Heaven knows, you’ve had enough experience of ’em.”

Sebastian ignored his henchman’s irreverence and continued with his cogitations. “Elizabeth Wilsden is rather vacant, completely self-obsessed and, I venture to suggest, not involved in the attempts on Lady Abigail’s life. Which leaves Mary Bevan. Now, she has attracted my attention for very different reasons than the norm.”

Sebastian paused to marshal his thoughts, drawing on the mental image he had filed away of Mary Bevan. She appeared to be everyone’s friend and a non-threat to the rest of the ladies, given her unexceptional appearance and apparent satisfaction with her lot. But Sebastian was well aware of just how deceiving appearances could be, especially in a creature as easily overlooked as Mary. No one would ever suspect her of being even remotely duplicitous.

“What’s so special about her then?” Hodges asked.

“She married well above her station and gives every impression of being satisfied with her situation.”

“The perfect clergyman’s wife in every respect?”

“Ostensibly, but I think they underestimate her. She’d cleverer than they give her credit for being and there’s a lot going on inside that head of hers that no one else has even guessed at.”

“Well, you ain’t usually wrong about these things.” Hodges continued to brush Sebastian’s coat. His large, coarse hands ought to have been clumsy but he managed the task with delicate precision.

“I was talking to her about Italy, a perfectly suitable topic of conversation, you would have thought. But her reaction was beyond anything I’d have expected such an innocuous subject to inspire.” Sebastian paused, trying to identify what it was that had alerted him. “I can’t precisely say, but there was genuine longing in her voice when she expressed her desire to see that country that seemed…well, extreme.”

“Women.” Hodges shrugged his massive shoulders, as though the one word explained everything.

“When she thought no one was watching her I saw a look of pure loathing briefly flash through her eyes as she observed Abbey’s gown. She herself wears sober colours, as befits a clergyman’s wife, but I believe she secretly yearns to change that state of affairs.”

Sebastian knew he was right. Reading the tell-tale nuances in peoples’ expressions and acting spontaneously upon what he detected there had saved his life on more than one occasion during his occupation as Wellington’s spy. There was more to meek Mary Bevan than met the eye. Sebastian was becoming increasingly convinced that behind those plain feature laid not only a vindictive personality but also a calculating brain occupied with felonious schemes she would have few qualms about ruthlessly executing.

She had secrets she didn’t choose to share with her family, too. He’d been sure of it before he sat down to play cards against her and was absolutely convinced he was right by the time the card party broke up. But did those secrets have anything to do with the plot against Abbey? And was she really in league with Charlie? If so, she was extremely efficient at concealing her involvement. Not by so much as a flicker of an eyelid did she give herself away while partnering him at whist. If anything she appeared annoyed with him for playing recklessly, causing them to lose. And as for Charlie, he regarded her with nothing more than affable indifference.

Sebastian snapped out of his reflective mood and let rip with a long string of curses. “I must have taken leave of my senses!” he growled, scowling at nothing in particular. “I’ve grown soft, Hodges, and am losing my edge.”

Hodges put aside Sebastian’s coat. “What is it, m’lord?”

“Lady Abigail has just retired, am I not right? Indeed, I observed her enter her chamber with my own eyes.”

“So you say.”

“Please tell me you have an assignation with Sally, when she’s seen her mistress safely to bed.”

“Well, yes, as it happens, but what—”

“Excellent, Hodges. Station yourself outside Lady Abigail’s chamber immediately but remain in the shadows and make sure you’re not seen. When Sally emerges send her straight back in again.”

“Hey, hang on a minute! I was going to—”

“I know what you were going to do, Hodges, but the fact remains that I’ve been an idiot.”

Hodges shrugged. “Can’t argue with that.”

“I’ve been too concerned about who might wish Lady Abigail harm to ensure she’s properly protected, thus giving her would-be assassin every opportunity to strike at leisure. She mustn’t be left alone at night until we’ve got to the bottom of the matter, so Sally must sleep in her room. Tell Sally when you send her back in to inform her mistress she’s acting upon my orders.”

“If you suspect Charlie Wilsden, he wouldn’t be stupid enough to try and murder the young lady in her bed. Even if he waited until the small hours, he still couldn’t be certain of avoiding detection. He can’t be sure Lady Abigail will be soundly asleep, or that she won’t manage to scream before he can silence her.” Hodges shook his head. “There’re too many possibilities for failure for him to take the chance. You said yourself that he ain’t stupid so I doubt he’d try anything so bold.”

“It’s not Wilsden I am concerned about, Hodges, it’s Mary Bevan. If she chose to visit Abbey for some innocuous reason or other, Abbey wouldn’t suspect her and would grant her admittance without hesitation.” Sebastian, who’d been pacing out his agitation in front of his fire, waved Hodges to the door. “My presence here, coupled with my reputation as an investigator, can’t have been lost on the perpetrators of these outrages. They were desperate enough before. If they consider I have knowledge of their intentions they are likely to step up their efforts.”