“You absolutely will not go alone. Wait for me in the corridor. Put on your house slippers and a dressing gown. It will be cold.”
Meredith hastily returned to her bedchamber to fetch her dressing gown and slippers. It was a relief to have a reason to forget what had just happened in Darius’s bedchamber.
He joined her a few minutes later, wearing trousers, a shirt, and boots.
“Let’s move quickly. We may have already wasted too much time as it is.”
She flinched. That moment of exquisite passion in his arms…in his bed… had been a waste of time? But then he grasped her hand, lacing his fingers through hers, and the pain in her chest eased.
He led the way, his long legs taking the distance so quickly that she had to run to keep up with him. They exited the house and moved quietly toward the back garden wall. They stopped by the heart-shaped hole in the wall.
“I can’t see anything from here…” Darius’s voice was barely audible as he pulled her close to him. “I need to look over the wall.”
They climbed up onto the bench, with Darius grasping Meredith’s waist and helping her up. Darius peered over the top of the wall. Meredith held her breath, waiting for him to speak. He was still for a long time. He lowered himself back down so that they were face-to-face.
“As far as I can tell, it’s not Crell. I believe it is Dobbs, his butler. He’s either just dug something up or finished burying something.”
Meredith leaned closer to Darius, placing a hand on his arm as he stood up again and peered over the wall. “Is he still there?”
“No, he walked off just now. Wait here.” Darius leapt off the bench and headed for the distant garden shed. When he returned, he held a shovel. He climbed back up onto the bench and gave her the shovel.
“Hold this.”
She took hold of the shovel’s shaft and Darius half jumped, levering his body over the wall and then dropped down to the ground on the other side.
“Pass me the shovel!” His whisper came over the wall. Meredith stood up on her tiptoes and handed the shovel down to him as best she could.
“Got it.” Darius replied, and she let go of the shovel on her side.
While she waited, she searched Darius’s garden shed and found a wooden crate. She put it on top of the bench before she climbed up onto it. It put her at a height to see over the stone wall herself. It was so dark that she could just make out Darius’s form beneath the light of the silver sliver of the moon above. He dug, turning over the dirt. Then he knelt by the soil, digging with his hands before he froze. Meredith’s heart hammered so hard that her blood was roaring in her ears. He’d found something.
He very slowly stood up again and began putting the soil back on the spot where he been digging. She wanted to speak, but the night was so quiet she didn’t dare risk being heard by anyone that might be nearby.
“Take this.” Darius said when he came close to the wall and spotted her. He held up the shovel’s handle for her.
She grasped it and lifted it back over. “How will you get back over the wall? There’s no bench and the window in the bricks isn’t big enough for you to pass through.”
Darius studied the wall, then backed up quite a few feet. Then suddenly he sprinted toward the wall and leapt up, his hands scrabbling on the stone. Meredith acted on instinct, leaning over to grasp his nearest arm and she braced her body, pulling hard as she helped him climb upward. He reached the top of the wall and hauled himself over it. He then dropped onto the bench, breathing hard. Darius covered his stomach with his hand as he hissed out a painful breath.
“Are you all right?” Meredith urged him to lean on her shoulder.
“It’s that bloody knife wound. My flesh is scarred there. The doctor warned me it would have a terrible time healing. The flesh underneath is hard and can tear if I move a certain way.”
“Tear?” Meredith’s voice pitched in alarm.
“He said it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, just that scar tissue would be stretched out and it would feel awful when it happens. Give me a moment and I shall be well.”
Meredith stroked his arm, hoping to soothe his pain even for a little while. He closed his eyes, breathing deeply for a few seconds.
“What did you see over there?” she dared to ask.
Darius’s eyes open again. “A bloody sheet, rolled up, and inside it was a leather pouch containing a small handful of jewels, a few rings, and some necklaces.”
Meredith let out a breath, her body tensing. “You’re sure?”
“Unfortunately, I’m quite sure. Blood, when it is still fresh has a terrible smell. I am unfortunately quite familiar with that scent.” He covered her hand on his arm with his own palm as he met her worried gaze. “Tell me again what you saw in the mews that night and what you heard. Every detail.”
It was a few hours past midnight when they returned to the house. Darius’s body was on edge as he grappled with the truth. Crell had possibly killed someone that night, and Meredith had witnessed it from his coach.
