Thornbrook Park (23 page)

“Yes, of course. So was I, at first. But as I was telling your… um, Mrs. Kendal, we bought this house with our profits from the mine. A lowly solicitor can't afford such splendor, as you can imagine.” She gestured around her. “No offense to Monsieur Bolange.”

Eve's gaze followed Leona's waving arms around the room and noticed the bookshelf across the way. It was only a quarter of the way filled, which was no surprise. But at the end of one shelf, holding up a few volumes of law manuals, was a lone gilded bookend. A monkey. Eve knew then that they could tie Leona Lawson to the murder of Edgar Strump.

She breathed deeply to calm her nerves as her heartbeat sped to double time. She nudged Marcus and tried to gesture, but he was engaging Leona in conversation about yields and ratios, and how much he could possibly invest at once without a report being filed to draw attention.

Eve got up to stretch. “Oh, that wine is making me sleepy. Forgive me, darling, I think I need to take a turn about the room.”

“Go on.” Leona waved her off. “Your comte and I will talk business while you walk.”

Eve strolled over and casually lifted the gilded monkey off the shelf, taking care that the books didn't topple behind it. Yes, it had considerable weight.

“What a strange bookend,” Eve said, interrupting the conversation to show the others. “Have you a pair? Louis collects curiosities, do you not,
mon
ange
? He would be interested in purchasing them, perhaps.”

She brought the bookend over to show him, and Leona bristled uncomfortably in her chair.

“What do you think, Monsieur Bolange?” Marcus handed Detective Davis the monkey bookend. “Should we offer a fair price?”

They never even had to complete the mine transaction. In a flash, Detective Davis drew a pistol and dropped his bag.

Leona's eyes went wide. Oh yes, she knew. Eve had found proof that the murder weapon had come from the Strumps' house. Leona's reaction confirmed all suspicion. She bolted from the room toward the back of the house, but Tom Reilly brought her back into the room not a minute later, holding her arms pinned behind her back. He must have been lying in wait after getting a look around the place. Davis shackled her and sat her back down in the overstuffed white chair trimmed in gold braid.

“I didn't kill anyone, especially not my husband,” she blurted out.

“Because your husband is still alive. Isn't that right, Mrs. Lawson?” Tom asked.

“I–I don't know what you mean.” Her face registered alarm as she realized that he called her Mrs. Lawson instead of Mrs. Strump.

“Your marriage to Edgar Strump was never legal,” Davis observed. “We have fraud charges stemming from that, at the very least, but a little more investigation into this diamond-mine fiasco should net more charges. And then we have murder…”

“I got lucky sneaking in the back way,” Tom added. “I found what must have been Mr. Strump's study. The murder certainly occurred there. There's a pool of dried blood on a carpet hidden under another rug. In the desk, I found papers to connect the Lawsons and Mr. Strump to a con operation involving the mine, plus lists of investors. Oh, we have a solid case, Mrs. Lawson. A very solid case, I assure you.”

Mrs. Lawson's eyes widened with the sudden realization that she was facing prison. “But I didn't kill him. It was Oliver. All of it was Oliver's idea. Once that woman came asking questions, she made Edgar suspicious. When Edgar confronted Oliver… And now Oliver's left me here to take the blame, just like he did ten years ago.”

“And where is Mr. Lawson now?” Marcus asked.

“I don't know. I swear! He left ages ago, after killing Edgar, to take care of her.” She pointed at Eve. “With all those questions she asked, he feared she would go to the authorities and ruin our lives with another investigation. But clearly, she's still alive and he never came back. Maybe you should ask her what she has done with my Oliver. Did you kill him, Mrs. Kendal? Before he could get you? Is that it?”

“I have no idea where your husband went after he tried to attack me,” Eve said, smiling at Marcus. “Lucky for me, I had someone to look out for me.”

“It was my pleasure, my little cauliflower.” Marcus wrapped a protective arm around her waist and Eve didn't mind it at all.

“Ah,
petite
chou-fleur
. I was wondering what that particular term of endearment meant. I couldn't come up with the translation.”

“It's the only French endearment I could remember on the spot.”

“You're not even French!” Leona gasped, insult added to injury.

After that, it didn't take much to get the whole story out of Leona Lawson. How Edgar Strump had kept watch for potential investors. How Oliver Lawson would explain the operation and show off a real working mine in India, claiming ownership, and then display the diamonds they supposedly mined out, actually purchased at a deep discount from a past associate, a London fence.

“Oliver masterminded the whole idea of the mine and everything from using Edgar Strump to lure potential investors to insisting I marry Edgar to keep him complacent. But it wasn't enough. When Edgar found out that we really didn't own the mine, after Mrs. Kendal came around, he threatened to put an end to the scam and tell all the investors. That's when Oliver did it.”

“Did what? Where, exactly? How did it happen?”

“In Edgar's study. Edgar demanded a list of all the investors so he could tell them the truth. Then he realized that he had a list—of the people he had referred to rent from Oliver. That's when Oliver came up behind him and whacked him on the back of the head.”

“With the monkey bookend,” Detective Davis confirmed.

Leona nodded.

“Then he ordered me to clean up while he took the body to the river. I didn't realize the bloody oaf had taken the one bookend but not the other.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Lawson. You've been very helpful,” Tom said.

“You're not French either, are you?” She flashed what must have been her come-hither stare in Tom's direction. “But you're adorable. I shouldn't be in jail very long, and once they hang Oliver for murder, I'll be single. Look me up in two to four years.”

“I'll see you at the trial, where I will testify against you from the witness stand,” Tom said. “That's as close as we're going to get.”

“Congratulations, you've done it.” Marcus leaned to kiss Eve on the cheek gently, as if fearing a rebuff. “Your plan worked. We have Mrs. Lawson, and she and her husband will be locked away where they belong as soon as we find him.”

“We did it.” She smiled at him as they stood outside the Strump house and watched Leona being carted away by Scotland Yard. “I couldn't have done it without you.”

“And your fabulous French accent. I couldn't have mastered it in time.” Reilly shook his head. “No, you two are great together. And in better news, we've recovered a listing of all their accounts and frozen them, the ones in England anyway. The ones in other countries will take some time to shut down. The money will be used to repay their victims. Like the next of kin for one Captain Benjamin Kendal, who entrusted the Lawsons with eight thousand pounds, according to their records, which are now in our hands.”

“Thanks to you, snooping around in Strump's study. Well done, Tom.” Marcus clapped Tom on the back.

“Eight thousand pounds?” Eve couldn't hide her astonishment. “It's more than I dreamed we had. I'm going to get back all eight thousand pounds?”

“It might take some time to clear through the courts and whatnot,” Tom said. “But yes, by this time next year, you should be very comfortable. Probably much sooner.”

“It's wonderful.” Eve couldn't believe her good fortune. She would get her money back after all. She had everything she would need. “I have enough to live on fairly well until I get my money. I don't need to rely on the charity of friends any longer.”

She felt free, freer than she'd felt in years. She hugged Tom and then hugged Marcus. She wanted to hug the world and shout at the top of her lungs.
Free!
But she managed to contain herself.

“The person I want most to share this with is here by my side.” She turned to Marcus.

“You mean me?”

“Of course I do, my Comte Lestrange. You've been so supportive and kind. And…” She couldn't really say much more with Tom standing right next to them. “And wonderful. Thank you.”

“I'm really glad you feel that way.” He pulled her closer to him, an arm around her waist.

“Well, that's all wrapped up,” Tom said, staring off as the car containing Leona Strump drove toward Scotland Yard. “We should go celebrate.”

“I hate to say it, but the only place I want to be is Thornbrook Park,” Eve said, peeking up through her lashes, a little afraid to see Marcus's reaction. “I feel that I can meet my friends on more equal terms now, no longer a charity case. I need to tell the Dovedales that I no longer wish to work for them.”

“You don't want to be a governess?” Marcus had the consideration to mock surprise, at least.

“No, I want to be a writer, and now I have the means to find a place of my own, take my time, and finish my novel.”

“It's going to be splendid,” Marcus said.

“I hope so. I'll never know until I finish.” She leaned her head against his shoulder, savoring the feel of his solidity beside her. It didn't escape her notice that they were more equal now, too. She was no longer an impoverished widow. She was a woman who had the means to choose any life she wanted.

At some point, she would have to screw up her courage and confess that she wanted him. But first, they had relationships to repair. “I need to patch things up with Sophia. As soon as possible. I hate the way things are between us, and I need to go back and try to work things out with her one more time.”

“I understand.” Marcus nodded. “But don't think I'll let you ride the train alone again with that lunatic Lawson still out there unaccounted for.”

“You heard Detective Davis. I'm probably safe now. But you would come back to Thornbrook Park with me? I would be so happy if you and Gabriel could reach accord.”

“We will, eventually. I'm not sure I'm ready to see him again just now. But I will go to Tilly Meadow Farm and check on Brandon. At the end of the week, I want to bring him back to visit with his mother and show her that he's truly thriving.”

“Speaking of Prudence, I'm headed over to the Coopers' place now,” Tom said. “They'll be up for a celebration if you two insist on leaving me right away.”

“We do,” Marcus affirmed. “We're going straight to Thornbrook Park. Give my regards to Prudence and the family. Tell them I'll visit again soon.”

The ride on the train was a much more pleasant one than their previous ride, though Eve was full of nerves. “I'm more nervous to face my own dear friend again than I was to face Leona Lawson.”

“Take a deep breath.” Marcus rubbed her shoulders. “You will find the words.”

“But what if she still refuses to forgive me? And the Dovedales? They will be so disappointed to have to continue their search for a governess.”

“They will manage. You have a novel to write. You'll be far too busy to be looking after someone else's children.”

“I was looking forward to being with children, though.” She hazarded a look at him as she approached the topic. It might make all the difference in the world to him, if he planned on resuming their romance. She thought it only fair she let him know. “I'm not sure I can have my own. Six years with Ben, and no pregnancies. Our doctor never found anything wrong with me, but I suspect I could be barren.”

She feared he might push her away at the news, but he only hugged her closer. “Without a proper diagnosis, I'm not sure you can come to that conclusion. Perhaps the time was never right. Perhaps it had something to do with Ben. Perhaps all kinds of things. But I'm sure it's something that a man who loves you could accept without hesitation.”

“You think so?” She turned to him, hopeful. This was turning out to be a much better day than the previous days of her week. “I'm glad to hear another opinion on it.”

They rode in silence for the rest of the journey back, but this time it was a comfortable, companionable silence instead of a cold and lonely one.

***

Marcus had insisted on seeing her all the way to Thornbrook Park before taking the cab back to Tilly Meadow Farm.

“Stay safe. Don't go out alone. Stay in after dark,” he warned, opening her door and helping her out.

She laughed. “I believe we have nothing to worry about now.”

“Good luck, Eve. I hope everything goes well for you with Sophia.” He bowed his head to hers solemnly. “I have so much more I want to say to you, but it's going to have to wait. You need to straighten things out here first. And then maybe there will be time for us. We'll do things more properly this time. In London? I'm headed back there in a few days with Brandon. We could meet at Averford House. I'll be looking for my own place soon, but Averford House is still home for now. As long as I'm there, you will be my honored guest, no matter what happens with Sophia.”

“Averford House,” Eve agreed. “I will meet you there.”

It seemed odd to be standing with him there on the driveway outside Thornbrook Park. So much had changed between them, but still so much was the same. They would have a chance to do things right, perhaps. A second chance. Her heart soared with hope for their future. He enfolded her in his embrace and held her tightly for more than a minute. But he did not kiss her. Without another word, he turned and got back in the car.

“Give my love to Brandon,” she said. “I hope you find him well.”

Mr. Finch opened the door. “Welcome back, Mrs. Kendal. A pleasure to have you with us again.”

“Thank you, Mr. Finch.” He took her coat.

“Lady Averford is in the drawing room with Mrs. Dovedale and Lady Alice.”

“Oh.” She needed to get Sophia alone to say what she had to say. “I'm going to head up to her sitting room. If you could discreetly manage to alert her and send her to me there? I have something I need to say to her. Privately.”

“Of course. You can count on me.” He winked conspiratorially, an unexpected touch from the normally staid butler. “She will be with you shortly.”

Eve paced as she waited, trying to form the words. She would start with another apology, mention what Sophia has meant to her all through the years, perhaps refer to their girlhood and hope that nostalgia might tug at Sophia's heartstrings, and end with a promise to be loyal and devoted and honest with her friend for the rest of their lives. It could work. She hoped so. How she missed her friend, especially after all that had happened! The one thing she wouldn't do was promise to give up Marcus. It wouldn't be fair to either of them. He had no future with Alice.

A minute later, the door flew open and Sophia swept in. “Eve!”

“Sophia?”

“Eve.” Sophia hugged her. “I'm so glad you've come back. You left me bereft. I could hardly pass a moment without thinking about how horribly I've behaved and wishing you back so I could apologize.”

“So you could apologize? But I'm the one who is so very sorry.”

“No. No, no.” Sophia shook her head vehemently. “It is I. To think that you had to keep your love a secret because you feared what I would think. It should never have come to that. Never. You're my best friend.”

“And you're mine.”

“Still? You'll forgive me?”

Eve felt tears welling. Sophia's tears were already running. “Of course I forgive you. If you can forgive me.”

“I do. I'm happy for you, Eve. You should have love in your life. To love again! It doesn't come easily, does it? And here you had it, and I wouldn't let you enjoy it. Marcus is a good man. Though, you won't hear me say it around Gabriel just now.” She placed a finger to her lips. “But of course you're good together.”

“We're not together, exactly. Not now. Perhaps one day. I'm certainly not giving up.”

“I'm glad. He loves you, Eve. I know he does.”

“How do you know?”

“Once Gabriel and I finally got to talking about what happened between him and Marcus, it was oh so clear that the man loves you. He was defending your honor and refusing to give you up.”

“Oh? Was that it?” What had Gabriel said about her that Marcus had to defend her honor, she wondered, but wouldn't ask. They were friends. Better that she didn't know. “Refusing to give me up?”

“Even under threat of losing his inheritance. That's love.”

“We certainly care for one another, but—so much has happened. I want to tell you all about it.”

“And I want to hear. Should we go down? Is it a story you can share with the others?”

“I suppose I had better, since I no longer care to be the Dovedales' governess.”

“Thank goodness.” Sophia laughed. “I was hoping you would give up such a scheme. Even when I was angry with you, I wanted to stop you. I wouldn't wish working for Lizzy on my worst enemy.”

“She's not so bad,” Eve said.

“In small doses,” Sophia allowed. “I'm enjoying her visit but I can't imagine living with her all the time. Let alone taking orders from her. Come along. Let's share the good news.”

Downstairs, Eve told them all about her solicitor's murder—taking part in the deception that trapped Leona Lewis, getting her to confess, recovering Eve's fortune, and even Marcus's fantastic French accent.

“He loves you,” Alice said, obviously pleased with the turn of events. “I knew it. I could tell. What man would go to such trouble and care for a woman he didn't love? And you were so intent to pair me with Captain Thorne, Sophia. It would never have worked. The last man I would marry is one who looks so much like your husband.”

He loves me?
Eve thought, trying it on.
He loves me.
She liked the sound of it. She hoped it were true.

“What's wrong with my husband?”

“Nothing, but he's a brother to me. So his brother feels like my brother. And besides all that, he's yours.”

“That he is,” Sophia smiled, a tad uneasily. “All mine.”

“But it's wonderful that you will have your fortune back,” Lizzy Dovedale said. “I couldn't be happier for you. We'll find another governess.”

“I hope you will. Thank you.” Eve was so happy to be back at Thornbrook Park. How sad she would have been without Sophia's friendship. “Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go in search of Lord Averford.”

“Gabriel? What do you want with him?” Sophia seemed surprised.

“A word about his brother. Someone has to convince them to work out their differences. I thought I would give it a try.”

“Well, good luck,” Sophia said. “It will be a miracle if you can manage where I have failed, but all things are possible, as you've proven by recovering your fortune. The men got back from birding a short while ago. He's most likely to be in his study.”

***

Eve knocked and waited. Maybe he wasn't there.

“Come in,” he said a second later in his authoritative tones. She almost changed her mind, but she thought of Marcus.

“Good day, Lord Averford.” She entered and walked up to his desk. “I would like a word with you.”

He cocked a brow, so like his brother. “Have a seat. I see you're back. Did you come alone?”

“I had an escort. Your brother is a gentleman and insisted on escorting me here, though he wouldn't come in.”

“Of course not.” Gabriel smirked and pointed to his eye. “Too bad. He will miss the chance to get a look at his handiwork before it fades.”

“I'm afraid you have the wrong idea about me, Lord Averford, after all that has happened with Captain Thorne.”

He shook his head. “No. You're lovely, Mrs. Kendal. No one could fault you for falling under the spell of a lothario. It happens sometimes.”

“A lothario? Marcus?” She laughed. “What an unfair characterization. It couldn't be further from the truth. No wonder he hit you.”