“Ah, then you like her,” Havers quipped.
Julius chuckled. “She will deem Mr. Barrow beneath her notice and never deign to speak to him. So, it must be me who does the interrogating.”
“All right, but try to be subtle about it. I do not need her sensing she is a suspect. At least, not just yet.” He pursed his lips in contemplation, appearing to want to say more.
When he remained silent, Julius prodded him. “You are still frowning. What else troubles you?”
“It is becoming clear to me that Lady Gregoria is very much central to this crime.” He held up his hand when Julius began to protest. “Hear me out, my lord. I do not mean to suggest she is the perpetrator. Quite the opposite, I believe she may still be in great danger. How secure is this townhouse? Perhaps she ought to be moved to a safer location.”
Removed from the Thorne residence and out of Julius’s protection?
Not a chance.
“No. She stays right here. There is nowhere safer and…”
“And what?” Havers asked.
“I am not going to leave her side.”
“Day and night?” That raised the inspector’s eyebrows. “Allendale might take issue with that.”
“Do you think I care?”
“I’m sure you don’t,” he remarked, now frowning. “But Lady Gregoria might have a thing or two to say about it. Lord Thorne, be careful.”
“I always am.”
“You mistake my meaning. In your zeal to protect her, you might put her in an untenable situation.”
“And ruin her reputation? You know I am ready to do the honorable thing and marry her, so where’s the harm?”
“The harm will occur if she is charged with the murder, as you well know. Despite your family’s power and influence, nothing will protect her better than marrying Allendale.”
“Or finding the real killer. This also assumes Allendale is not the killer.”
Havers held up a hand again. “We can talk in circles over this. There is nothing to be done about it right now. I will admit, Lady Gregoria has fallen to the bottom of my list of suspects.”
“I am pleased to hear it. What made you change your mind?”
Havers shook his head. “It was not a change of mind. I questioned her without any preconceived notions of her character. This is what any good investigator must do. All suspects must be approached with a clean and clear slate. No presumptions of guilt or innocence. If she is innocent, then–”
“She is innocent,” Julius insisted.
“If she is innocent,” Havers repeated, “then she may be in extreme danger. I suggest you engage Mr. Barrow’s services to keep watch around the clock on your residence. I do not wish to find you and Lady Gregoria dead come morning.”
Julius cast him a wry smile. “Well, that would prove us innocent. Would it not?”
Havers cast him a wry grin and winced. “That is not my preferred manner of ruling out suspects.”
CHAPTER 5
GORY HAD BEEN drifting in and out of sleep all afternoon and into the evening. It was now approaching nine o’clock in the evening, for she heard the distant bonging of the clock in the hallway.
Or was it morning?
She could not tell because the drapes were tightly drawn to allow not even a ray of light into the room. Several candles were lit and there was a fire burning in the hearth. It felt like nightfall, for she sensed an evening quiet in the air rather than the bustle of morning activity. However, she was a bit disoriented and it took her a moment to realize she was not in her own bed or even in her own home.
Her breath caught.
