His presence also warmed her and gave her comfort.
“Gory, why did you say that you did not know whether you had killed your uncle? If you were hit over the head when you walked into his study, then there was obviously another person with him who did not wish to be seen. No doubt, he wanted to remain hidden because he meant to kill your uncle…or had just killed him, and was desperate to escape before being noticed.”
“Or his visitor could have been gone by the time I came downstairs, and I was the one who fought with my uncle. It is all so cloudy in my mind.”
“But not in mine,” Julius said, casting her an affectionate smile. “For all your spit and vinegar, you are quite soft on the inside. You may be fascinated by dead things, but you do not actually kill them.”
She laughed softly and then winced, for a jolt of pain immediately shot through her temples. “We must speak to Jergins. He is our head butler. If my uncle had a caller, someone on the staff would know.”
“Assuming the man had been announced. Did he show up after midnight? Was he expected?”
Gory tried to remember the details surrounding that moment, but all was still shrouded in a thick haze. It was such an odd and frustrating feeling, for her mind was usually razor-sharp and she had an excellent memory.
A chunk of that memory was lost for the moment, the blow to her head having stolen it away.
“I suppose the most important question to ask is whether your uncle was alive when you walked into his study or was he already dead on the floor?”
She pursed her lips as she tried to bring the scene to mind, then sighed in dismay. “Oh, Julius. It all happened so fast. I cannot recall.”
He placed a warm hand over both of her own that were clasped before her as she began to shiver. “Gory, you are still in shock. Your hands are so cold, love. Do not fret. You will start to remember once your wound is treated and you’ve had time to calm down.”
“But it is too important to delay,” she insisted. “How are we to solve his murder if I have no clues to provide? As soon as Dr. Farthingale stitches me up, we have to return to the scene of the crime. I’m certain it will help spark my memory.”
His lovely gray eyes turned dark as thunder. “You are not getting out of my bed.”
“But–”
“You came to me for a reason, so let me take care of you. This also means summoning the magistrate before someone else reports the murder and you are then made a suspect. I am also going to bring in Homer Barrow. He’s the best Bow Street runner in London, and I’ll get him straight onto the investigation. He and his men will be able to move around without being noticed.”
“Why don’t you call in The Tattler’s top reporter while you are at it?” she muttered, irritated by the number of people he wished to involve. “That gossip rag will delight in the story. Everybody already considers me bloodthirsty and strange because of my fascination with the workings of the human body. Can you imagine what they’ll write? Earl murdered by ghoulish niece!”
“I will not allow them to write anything disparaging about you.” Julius was now puffed up like a big, protective ape and scowling fiercely.
“Oh, Julius. You cannot stop them. Even you find me strange and barely tolerate me. Admit it. You are only being polite because I am dear friends with Adela and Syd. Now that they have married your brothers, you are required to put up with me.”
“That isn’t true. You know I have always been fond of you.”
She ignored the comment, for he did not mean it. How could he when he spent his evenings in the arms of other women? Of course, he was discreet about it. In truth, there had been very few whispers about him lately.
She assumed this meant he had learned to hide his affairs very well.
He couldn’t have stopped his rakish ways, could he?
Why would he stop when he was still unattached and free to gad about as he wished?
“You have always tolerated me. There’s a difference between liking and tolerating. I am not even certain Allendale likes me,” she admitted. “I have yet to figure out why he asked me to marry him. Perhaps he wished for a connection to my uncle. The Easton earldom is nothing to scoff at, although one would never know it by the miserly way my uncle has treated me. I expect Allendale will show his true colors now that my uncle is no longer around. I would not be surprised if he ended the betrothal. After all, why bother with me if my usefulness is at an end? Perhaps he needs my dowry. I’m not sure why he would. It isn’t all that large.”
Julius raked a hand through the waves of his dark hair. “If you believe his only interest is in your dowry, then why marry him? Do you love him, Gory?”
She felt her tears welling and stubbornly tamped them down. “I wanted to. I hoped I would.”
“That is not an answer.”
“Yes, it is.” How dare Julius question her when he was the one who broke her heart by never stepping forward to court her? After Adela had married his brother, Ambrose, Duke of Huntsford, and then Syd had married his other brother, Octavian, who was now an admiral in the Royal Navy, she had allowed herself to hope she could be a match for the third brother. Him. Julius.
But he had gone on his merry way, escorting a dazzling array of ton diamonds to the various balls, routs, and musicales, although he was most often reported to be cavorting with ladies of questionable reputation in the later hours.
Not that she had ever seen him cavorting, but gossip about him was rampant…well, had been rampant. Nothing to connect him to anyone in particular lately. Still, he was noticed by everyone because he was wealthy and impossibly handsome. Rugged and a little dangerous with that steel glint in his eyes and the appealing cut of his gloriously firm jaw.
