The Regency Season: Hidden Desires. Anne Herries
quite as it should be. Why could she not place it in her mind? If she knew the man he was probably a gentleman, and perhaps a friend of her uncle’s.
No, that was unlikely. Her uncle did not often mix in the circles Mark Ravenscar must have frequented. There were often slight similarities in people, things that made you think you knew someone when you did not.
She would have liked to give the cousins a clue that would lead to the discovery of Mark’s murderer, but she could not and it would be foolish to try to perhaps steer them in the wrong direction.
Adam and Hallam were more than capable of dealing with the mystery themselves and did not need help from her. She must find Lucy. Her friend was in need of comfort and a shoulder to cry on.
* * *
‘So close and yet so far,’ Hallam said as the door closed behind Jenny. ‘Had Miss Hastings come to us at once we might have caught him.’
‘She could not know how important it was,’ Adam said. ‘I feel as you do—but I shall speak to the servants and the grooms. They may have seen a man in riding clothes. Everyone else is wearing formal clothes. I think someone must have noticed him.’
‘It is all we can do,’ Hallam agreed. ‘I wish to God I’d put one of the footman on guard duty.’
‘Had you done so he would have found another way—waited until it was night or come in by the window.’
‘As it is he just walked in and out. How amused he must be at finding it so easy.’
‘Yet he did not get what he wanted,’ Adam said and frowned. ‘We have Mark’s notes and the necklace. You should speak to Staffs. He will recall the game and may know if anyone lost that necklace to Mark that night. We should need a witness. The mere fact that someone lost the necklace in a card game does not make him a thief. He could have been duped into buying it.’
‘In which case he would be unlikely to murder in order to retrieve it,’ Hallam said. ‘If he were not known in society, it would not matter to him—therefore he must be a gentleman. Someone with a reputation to lose.’
‘It all begins to add up—’ Adam said and broke off as Paul walked in dressed in a dark riding coat and pale breeches. ‘Paul, we found this mess—’
‘And you did not think to tell me.’ Paul glared at him. ‘If you imagine I would do something of this kind...’
‘No, of course not. Hallam was with me when Jenny told us of the intruder. We came straight here...’
‘So Miss Hastings knows more than I...’ Paul turned away. ‘I’ve had enough of all this. It is stifling me. I’m going for a ride.’
‘Don’t be an idiot,’ Adam said. ‘Hallam has discovered something important. That necklace was stolen—’
‘Are you suggesting my brother was a thief?’
‘No, of course not,’ Hallam said. ‘For goodness’ sake, man! No one is accusing Mark of theft or you of murder. Mark must have won it in a card game, as we thought—but the fact that it is stolen makes it more likely that someone might kill Mark to protect himself from discovery.’
‘Yes, I see what you mean.’ Paul gave them a brooding look. ‘I wish to God that I knew who it was. At this moment I should need no excuse to break his damned neck with my bare hands.’
‘Paul...please, do not be foolish,’ Adam said. ‘I know how you feel, but—’
‘How can you know?’ Paul demanded. ‘You don’t have people looking at you, wondering how you feel about becoming your father’s heir. Everything was Mark’s and I feel like a thief because I shall now inherit what ought to be his.’
‘Ridiculous,’ Hallam said. ‘Mark was the elder. Now you are—of course everything will come to you in due course.’
‘Even Lucy?’ Paul’s eyes were dark with grief. ‘I’ve seen the way she looks at me—resentful, as if she wishes it was me who died.’
‘I am sure she has no such thoughts,’ Hallam said. ‘You are being a fool, Paul. Lucy is grieving, as we all are.’
Paul shook his head, muttered something and walked away. Hallam looked at Adam and sighed.
‘He’s like a bear with a sore head.’
‘We can hardly blame him. People will wonder and speculate for a while.’
‘I dare say what is upsetting him is Lucy. You know how he feels about her.’
‘He would never have done anything about it. She was always Mark’s future wife.’
‘Yes, but Mark isn’t here now,’ Adam said. ‘Now there is nothing to stop him asking her to marry him—and yet he can’t. To speak now would be like dancing on his brother’s grave. It must be a terrible feeling to see what you desire most in the world within touching distance, but unable to reach out. He must feel she is still forbidden to him.’
‘Yes, I see what you mean.’ Hallam looked thoughtful. ‘Poor devil—though...’ He shook his head. ‘Lucy is Paul’s problem. We have more important things to worry about, Adam. If the murderer should turn out to be Fontleroy, we have to discover a way of making him reveal his identity.’
‘Exactly what I was thinking,’ Adam said. ‘That would be difficult, I imagine. With Mark dead there are no witnesses to what happened that day—though if we could prove Fontleroy lost that necklace to Mark in a card game we could threaten him with disclosure. If he thought he might be arrested for theft, he might try to get the evidence from us.’
‘It is a faint hope,’ Hallam said. ‘But first we have to find someone who saw him lose that necklace to Mark—if indeed it was he that lost it.’
‘Do you happen to know where Staffs is staying at the moment? Is he in London or his country home?’
‘It is a wonder he did not come today.’ Hallam frowned. ‘He was one of Mark’s oldest and best friends. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen a card from him—is that not strange?’
‘The announcement was in The Times and other papers—and a notice was sent to Mark’s club. I cannot think that he would not have seen it.’ Adam was thoughtful. ‘I believe you should set out for London this evening. If he was a witness...’
‘Then his own life may be in danger,’ Hallam said.
‘And we should also take more care. We have been careless, Hallam. I made the mistake of thinking that the murderer would be running scared—but he may be made of bolder stuff than we imagined. He is certainly ruthless and having murdered once would not hesitate to do so again.’
‘I shall speak to my uncle and leave almost at once. If I do not find Stafford in London, I shall go down to Hampshire, to his country seat—unless I discover he has gone to visit friends.’
‘This grows more dangerous by the minute,’ Adam said and clasped his shoulder. ‘Take care, Hal—I should not like to lose another of my cousins.’
‘I would say the same to you,’ Hallam replied grimly. ‘Be careful when you ride out alone—and keep a loaded pistol with you at all times.’
‘Yes, I intend to, though the search goes on locally,’ Adam replied. ‘I shall wait for your return and in the meantime I shall do my best to restrain Paul from giving way to a fit of despair.’
‘Where did you go to earlier?’ Lucy asked as they were leaving Ravenscar Court a little later. ‘I looked for you but you had disappeared.’
‘A footman spilled wine on my gown and I had to have it sponged—and then I remembered that I had left my reticule upstairs