“Don’t take another step,” Edward ordered. His aim was steady; even now, he wasn’t panicking.
To Alaric’s right, Constance scrambled to her feet. “Don’t be a fool.”
Edward swung the pistol her way. “Stay back!” Immediately, he retrained the barrel on Alaric.
“What are you going to do?” Constance’s tone dripped contempt. “You can’t kill both of us with a one-shot pistol.”
Alaric inwardly groaned; he wished she’d refrained from pointing that out.
Edward’s gaze flicked to her, then returned to Alaric. “I’ve discovered I’m rather good at improvising.”
Alaric knew Percy had been behind him on the path, yet Edward hadn’t even glanced toward the path’s opening. Without shifting his gaze, using only his peripheral sight, Alaric scanned the edges of the clearing—and saw a bush to the left quiver. A few seconds later, branches farther around the clearing shifted, then stilled.
He hoped it was Percy creeping around to come up behind Edward and not just a curious deer. Alaric wasn’t sure what his old friend might be planning, but it would obviously be wise to keep Edward’s attention fixed on him.
Locking his gaze more definitely with Edward’s, Alaric took one deliberate step closer.
Edward’s eyes darkened. His grip on the pistol tightened. “Not one more step,” he rapped out. He was starting to sound a tad tense.
Given Constance had already mentioned it… Alaric arched his brows. “So which of us are you going to shoot?”
The answer was obvious. Edward’s eyes shifted from Alaric to Constance, then back again. Despite his masklike expression, Edward was clearly starting to work out a plan.
Not wanting him to get too far with that, Alaric manufactured a sigh. “Regardless, tell me why. Why did you strangle Glynis? That’s hardly the sane thing to do if your intention was to keep the family escutcheon unblemished.”
The mention of Edward’s abiding obsession served to remind Alaric—and he hoped Constance and Percy as well—that Edward would do damned near anything to protect the family name.
For a moment, Edward plainly struggled—either against the urge to explain or simply to find the most acceptable words with which to justify his actions; he was so rarely off balance that in any other circumstances, the sight would have been priceless.
Regardless, Edward couldn’t resist Alaric’s invitation. “The stupid chit!” Edward’s lip curled. “That night, I heard Percy go down the west-wing stairs—naturally I followed, and I saw him meet her in the gazebo. From what happened, it was plain she had her claws sunk into him, so I waited until they parted and stepped into her path—literally and figuratively. I told her she would never be permitted to marry Percy—and the twit pulled out the ring Percy had given her and brandished it in my face! It was the viscountess’s ring the idiot had given her—the Lord only knows what he was thinking. Or if he thought at all. He couldn’t have married her—a flighty girl from a no-account family. Obviously, I had to save him from himself. I demanded she give me the ring, but she refused. I grabbed it, but the silly bint started screeching. I had to shut her up—” Edward broke off.
A silent second passed; Alaric wanted to look at Constance, but didn’t dare shift his gaze from Edward’s.
Then Edward shrugged. “And then she was dead.”
Alaric didn’t hide his contempt. “So you left her there for anyone to find.”
“It was better that way. Anyone could have killed her. Because I left her where she fell, her death was no threat to anyone.”
“But it was you, Edward, who killed her—a perfectly innocent, blameless young lady.”
“What gave you the right?” Constance’s voice grated with suppressed fury.
Edward sneered. “It’s perfectly obvious. The Mandevilles are an old family with a revered name. She couldn’t be allowed to reach so high—she shouldn’t have even thought of it. You and your family should have managed her better—kept her under better control. A chit like her couldn’t expect to marry into a family like the Mandevilles.”
Constance’s eyes had narrowed to shards. “So it’sherfamily’sfault that you murdered her?”
Alaric almost smiled; in terms of dishing out excoriating scorn, Edward was well and truly outclassed. But Alaric could now see Percy; he was creeping out of the wood directly behind Edward, but Percy was still too far away to make any difference.
Alaric focused on Edward. “What about Rosa? She recognized you, so you killed her, too?”
“I would have let her live if she hadn’t realized who she’d seen leaving the shrubbery. But in the corridor outside the billiard room, she saw something that told her the mystery man was me.” Edward paused, then amended, “At least, I think she realized, although she didn’t say anything then. But I couldn’t take the risk that she would speak to Sir Godfrey in the morning. He might not have believed her, but others might have. So she had to die, too—in the scale of such things, her life didn’t weigh against the honor of the Mandevilles.”
Constance choked.“Honor?”
“Yes, honor.” Edward’s expression grew even more supercilious. “It’s not something you or Miss Johnson would know anything about.”
Percy had reached the side of the ruined cottage; Alaric saw him bend and carefully—silently—lift a stout log from the debris.
