“Everyone was worried about you. My brother, too, of course. But they like you better.”
Julius chuckled. “Shut up, Octavian. Have you heard anything more from Havers?”
“He’s here and has news, but he refused to tell us anything before you returned.”
Ambrose overheard the remark as he stepped down. “I’ll have Greeves set out tea for all of us while we listen to what he has to say.”
Gory wanted to hold onto Julius’s arm as they strolled in, but she did not know which arm to take since both were injured. Julius addressed the matter by taking hold of her hand with the one not in a sling and entwining his fingers with hers as they walked in.
He kept hold of her hand even as they settled on the settee in the parlor to hear what Havers had to say. They both looked a mess, but no one dared point it out since they were all eager to hear what the magistrate’s top man would reveal.
“As Lord Thorne is aware,” Havers said, nodding toward the door as Mr. Barrow hurriedly walked in to join them, “I spent the night at the Wallingford Arms to keep watch on Lady Easton and her maid. We have enough to arrest them both.”
This was met with murmurs of relief from all of them.
“I think her maid will now give us the confession we need because her sister is dead, her brother-in-law is in custody, and there have been too many attempts on Lady Gregoria’s life to pretend she was the one who devised the plot to kill Lord Easton.”
“Thank goodness,” Lady Dayne muttered.
Havers turned to Gory. “My constable was not trying to kill the sister, but one’s aim cannot always be counted on to be accurate under these circumstances. The woman ought to have known better than to draw her weapon, and she got what she deserved. It was pure evil intent on her part since she knew we were moments behind her and she could not escape capture.”
“Then it was Flossie’s sister who shot Julius?” Gory asked.
Havers nodded. “Yes. Unfortunately, she managed to elude us last night. I still have no idea where she hid out. Hopefully, the man we have in custody will be able to tell us. It is now confirmed he is her husband. With each bit of information, the net tightens around Lady Easton.”
“If you did not know where Flossie’s sister was hiding out, then how were you able to follow her?” Syd asked. “When did you pick up her trail?”
“Never did pick up her trail,” Havers admitted. “However, we knew that if she had somehow managed to learn Lady Gregoria and Lord Thorne were to marry this morning, she would go to the church to stop them.”
Julius frowned. “How could she know we were to marry?”
“She may have been watching this townhouse, or heard the news from a servant who heard it from another servant…and so on. Who knows? All that matters is we knew this is where she had to go to stop your marriage from taking place.”
“Yet, you were not at the church to grab her the moment she arrived. What happened?” Ambrose asked.
Havers cast him a pained look. “Alas, Your Grace. To my great dismay, I was called into the magistrate’s office as we were about to leave, and this delayed us a precious few moments. The magistrate wanted to tell me that the husband we still have in custody offered to give us his full confession. I will get to that man next. I’m sure he will not play coy with us once he learns his wife is dead. There’ll be no loyalty among thieves now.”
“What is to happen at tomorrow’s funeral?” Gory asked. “Should Julius and I go? This is what we had planned on doing. I would still like to attend, but let me hear your reasons if you think we should not.”
Havers shrugged. “I think there is little danger now. We have just one more loose end to tie up and then I believe we are done.”
“And what is that loose end?” Julius asked.
Mr. Barrow now stepped forward. “It is the matter of the Easton solicitor, Reginald Mayfield.”
“I knew he was involved,” Gory muttered. “Such a wretchedly oily man.”
“He and Lady Easton have been carrying on an affair for well over a year now,” Mr. Barrow said.
“Ew!” Marigold blurted, her eyes wide as she stared aghast at her husband. “You suspected as much. I thought you were being too cynical.”
Leo sighed. “I’m sorry I was proved right.”
Gory’s thoughts were becoming a jumble. “Julius saw Mayfield’s calling card on the salver in Lord Allendale’s entry hall. Wasn’t Mr. Mayfield helping him?”
“No,” Havers said.
“Then what was he doing with Allendale?” Syd asked.
