Part 19 (2/2)

”I'll be sure to consider it, thank you.” They continued to walk the horses toward the drive, and another thought hit Tanner. ”Unless the sapphires-you said they're a minor piece-were expressly left behind to prove Thomas a thief,” he said, trying out the idea out loud. ”Nothing of value taken from the body, but something added.”

”Ah, I like that, as well, perhaps even better than the first one, although I must once again point out that we'll probably never know precisely why the necklace was in his pocket. Back to the robbery, which was successful. One thief exposed-and very dead-and the other clearly in possession of the remainder of the jewels save the sapphires, and already miles away, and riding h.e.l.l for leather to the coast. Unknown, and impossible to find. Or do you plan to mount a search?”

”I'll hire some fellow from Bow Street,” Tanner told him, as he'd already come to that conclusion on his own. ”I'll question the servants, make some inquiries locally, of course. But that's all. I have Lydia to protect now. I can't go haring all over the country looking for some d.a.m.n stones that may very well be fakes, leaving her here alone.”

”Yes. You have Lydia.”

Tanner looked at his friend. ”This can't touch her, Justin.”

”She's more precious than any stones, you'll get no argument there. What are you thinking? What's your next step? And, whatever it is, consider me walking beside you.”

They dismounted and a groom ran up to take the reins, bowing to His Grace and welcoming him home.

At last, Tanner shared his worst fears with his friend. ”I'm thinking, Justin, that there was something else missing from the body. Thomas held the keys to every gate and door on this estate, and was never without them, as they were the outward sign of his authority. Malvern holds a d.a.m.n sight more than those b.l.o.o.d.y jewels, Justin. I'm thinking that maybe Thomas' murderer isn't all that far away, not when he now can walk in and out of Malvern whenever the spirit moves him until we complete the ma.s.sive job of replacing all the locks. Our coconspirator, and whoever may be in his employ.”

”d.a.m.n. You know, Tanner, this is what comes of cutting loose our brave soldiers into a land where they can barely afford food or shelter, denying them pensions or help of any kind. It is inevitable that some will turn their talents to fleecing the rich, those who have so much, when they have so little.”

”Now you sound like Rafe and Lucas, although I agree with you.”

Justin put a hand on Tanner's arm, holding him in place just at the bottom of the front steps. ”Events are taking a considerably ugly and confusing turn, aren't they? Before we join the ladies, let's see if we can eliminate anything, shall we? Are we still to look at what's happened today and see a conspiracy to have you wed to Jasmine, or is that over now?”

”That had all been only conjecture on our part anyway, that business about Jasmine and me. I think we can agree that plan died when Thomas was murdered. And, I think, we can also dismiss any idea that Thomas acted alone.”

”I concur. We'll stay with the jewels then, and some sort of partners.h.i.+p, at the very least. One to steal the stones, one to sell them, have the stones replaced. But, for some unknown reason, the thieves had a falling out, and your cousin was murdered. Leaving us to ask, who is this man, this possible gang of men? Ah, wait, I believe I have one suggestion. Perhaps one of your cousin's gambling chums, one he owed a considerable sum of money?”

Tanner had thought he was beyond being shocked. ”Gambling? My cousin gambled?”

”Didn't Jasmine tell you? Thomas was always sneaking off somewhere to gamble at cards, with the dice. Here on the estate, again in London. He was sometimes gone for days. To hear her tell it, your cousin was pockets-to-let, completely. Either you married her almost immediately and bailed him out of the River Tick, or he was ruined. In any event, that person or persons may have pretended to go along with him, but with an entirely different objective in mind. Invite in the devil, Tanner, and he can be counted on to show up, even with his demons in tow, and with a whole set of evil ideas you hadn't thought of on your own.”

But Tanner was still attempting to picture his tight-fisted uncle as a gambler. ”How blind can one man be, Justin? I had no idea Thomas played deep. But Jasmine told you this?”

”A tongue hinged at both ends, remember? Were I forced into her company for any time above a fortnight, I'd have no choice but to strangle her. But she's harmless, I suppose, unless you mind your ears bleeding from time to time.”

Tanner nodded, his mind working feverishly. ”What you said makes perfect sense. Why split the proceeds on the stones? Why only get them piecemeal, whenever Thomas needed funds? Why care about Thomas's plan at all? The thieves saw Malvern, and saw so much more that could be theirs. He d.a.m.n well did everything but invite them in for tea.”

”Yes, remove the coconspirators he so foolishly partnered with, and your cousin's plan might have worked, and there soon would have been no need for any more small thefts-or any more profit for those coconspirators. If it hadn't been for Lydia, that is. Truly an unexpected complication for him, you falling in love with her. After all, you'd been two years without a romantic attachment of any kind, and you'd taken Jasmine with you to London, so surely you were about to come up to snuff. Thomas must have felt he was closing in on his victory. He can't be faulted for that. Half of London believed the same thing.”

Tanner wasn't really listening. He was still attempting to work everything out in his mind. And the more he thought, the more he realized that he had put Lydia in danger by bringing her to Malvern. He could allow Justin to come to that conclusion himself, in his own good time, while he concentrated on other things.

Justin sighed. ”I'm to continue this conversation with myself? Very well. So we agree there's someone else involved in this larger plan, perhaps more than one person, perhaps an entire gang of low thieves. Whoever-whomevers-slit your cousin's throat when he became an impediment in some way. Perhaps he was foolish enough to tell them he wasn't going to steal any more, that his daughter was soon to be the d.u.c.h.ess, and he no longer needed them.”

”Quiet, please, Justin. I'm thinking.”

”You do that. I, however, prefer to think out loud. Now, where was I? Oh, yes. Perhaps Thomas belatedly realized his mistake, and objected to having his daughter become d.u.c.h.ess of a house that echoed in its emptiness? But, really, does the why of his murder matter? We're standing out here, my friend, with Lydia and Jasmine inside, and all four of us very much in the way of those who now hold the keys to every gate and door of your home. I doubt your being in residence will bother them overmuch if they decide to come calling one night soon. You wouldn't expect the thieves to return, not now that they have the jewels. Why, we'd be lambs to the slaughter, wouldn't we, murdered in our beds?

”You certainly can't be faulted for holding a boring house party, I'll say that for you. Tanner? Yoohoo. Excuse me, but I don't believe I was speaking rhetorically. Surely you have something to add, something along the lines of: My G.o.d, man, we could be under siege at any moment and must send the women back to London, posthaste!”

But Tanner didn't answer. He'd already pa.s.sed beyond his friend's musings, and was remembering the way Lydia, on their way to Malvern, had rolled her eyes whenever Jasmine went on about whatever she seemed to prattle on about. Lydia had thought Jasmine sweet, amusing, if a little silly. In London, she had thought that. But no more, that was obvious now that he thought about the thing.

He was remembering how Jasmine had glared at Lydia when she'd walked into their private dining room at the inn on Captain Flynn's arm. Had she been glaring at Lydia-or at the man beside her?

He was remembering how Lydia had stepped in to explain that Jasmine had sustained an injury. How she'd whispered in the girl's ear in the coach, and the shocked expression that had come over Jasmine's face.

Jasmine's bruised face, poor thing.

Had Jasmine confided in Lydia, woman to woman? And, if so, what had she told her?

”Captain Flynn,” he said quietly as a cold certainty gathered in his gut. He didn't have all the pieces yet, but he'd begun to see at least the outline of the puzzle. He'd been suspicious that Thomas may have sent the man to stir up trouble. Now he felt certain he'd been right.

”Captain Flynn?” Justin repeated. ”Your Captain Flynn?”

”He's not my-all right, yes, my Captain Flynn. G.o.d knows I'm the idiot who invited him for supper. He knew about Fitz, about Quatre Bras, all of it. I'd already thought Thomas might have put him up to it, that business about Fitz and the ladies...”

”All right. So they were in it together, your cousin and this Flynn person. I can see how you might make that connection, Flynn as coconspirator. The man might have wanted a look at you, to size you up in some way, and used Fitz to get himself in the door. So comforting to be able to put a face to evil. But why did Flynn kill your cousin? Which one of my many very good theories most appeals to you?”

”I don't know.”

”Oh, good. I was worried there for a moment that I might have gone stupid in my advancing years. Still we should probably put all this heavy thinking and theorizing to one side until you've informed Jasmine of her father's demise. You go on, and I'll round up a small party to retrieve the body. Then we'll speak again of removing the ladies to someplace safe.”

Tanner looked at the closed doors to his home. Doors he'd wanted to see opened as he and Lydia approached them together, so he could watch her reaction when those doors were flung back and she saw her new home for the first time.

Thank G.o.d they'd had those moments together at the inn, on the hill above Malvern. They might be the last quiet moments they'd have together for a long time...

CHAPTER NINETEEN.

LYDIA THANKED THE BUTLER as he set a lovely silver tea service on the table in the main saloon before bowing to her and to Jasmine, turning smartly on his heel, and leaving the room. Very proper, Tanner's butler, but with kind eyes. Lydia had taken to him on sight. Although he did seem to be worried about something; she wouldn't have noticed, except that a small tic had been working in the man's cheek. And the household seemed unnaturally quiet, with none of the hustle and bustle she would have expected with the master on his way home.

”He doesn't like me, you know,” Jasmine said as she reached for one of the scones arranged on a small dish. ”Roswell, I mean. He thinks I'm the poor relation putting on airs. Which is silly, because I'm here because Papa is the estate manager, and because Tanner wants me here. That's because Tanner is kind, and caring. It's a pity I can't love him. Oooh, these are quite good, aren't they? I think I'll have some jellied strawberry on the next one.”

”Hmm?” Lydia said, her mind concentrated on listening for Tanner's arrival. There was a dead body out there. She had even caught a quick glimpse of it as she urged Daisy along the path. She'd never seen a dead body before, had never hoped to. One of the estate workers, Tanner had said. Had a tree fallen on him? Or perhaps he'd been tossed from his horse, which had then bolted and run away. She searched her mind for some reasonable explanation, but couldn't stop thinking that Tanner had looked not just serious, but rather shaken.

”I said, how lucky I am that Tanner doesn't love me.”

Lydia shook off her thoughts and smiled at the girl, although not without effort. ”Yes, how fortunate. Because he'd be doomed to disappointment, wouldn't he? Because of your Bruce Beattie.”

”My-oh, I keep forgetting I told you his name. I shouldn't have done that. It was...it was our secret. You'll keep our secret, won't you? Tanner could use his influence to have him turned off, you know.”

”Perhaps he should. An honorable man would have applied to your father if he wished to court you.”

Jasmine's expression turned sulky. ”And what good would that have done? Papa is convinced Tanner will come up to snuff, sooner or later. He has to, or Papa will soon bankrupt us with his gambling. I am under strict orders, you know, to be all that is pleasing to Tanner this week. I'm so glad the baron is here with us. You don't mind that Tanner has paired him with you, do you? I suppose you'll be the first to hear the announcement, when it comes. And, who knows, perhaps you two will have one of your own?”

Lydia tipped the silver pot in its holder and poured herself a cup of tea, surprised that her hands were steady. ”Is that how you see the thing, Jasmine? That Justin and I have been invited here for each other?”

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