Preston frowned, lowering the champagne bottle. “I thought you would be happy, since the man who hurt your wife is now rotting in a cell. Speaking of, where is Her Grace?”
Gabriel swallowed. “She is staying with her sister in the countryside for a while, so I could investigate.”
It was far enough from the truth that he was uncomfortable saying it, but he was not about to admit to his pretentious cousin that Sibyl had walked away from him.
“Ah, a smart move. Well then, do write to her with the good news and tell her to come home. In fact, I will once again extend an invitation to celebrate?—”
“No.”
“No?”
“No, Preston.”
“Gabriel, what is going on with you? I have never seen you look so… lost.”
Gabriel despised that Preston could see that on his face, but he didn’t have the energy to mask it.
Eventually, he sighed, standing up from his desk. “There was something about the man’s confession. I have not read his official statement, but when I questioned him, something seemedoffabout him. He claimed to have been friends with Edmund, and that was why he went after Sibyl, but he called Edmund aviscountand a good man. Surely a friend would get a title right.”
Preston’s expression shifted at once. He went from smiling broadly in the hope of a celebration to frowning with concern.
Gabriel did not like how quickly his cousin could do that; it felt too insincere. All he wanted was to be left alone.
“Gabriel.” Preston’s voice lowered with sympathy. “Then we can speak with him again, yes? I am sure it was just a slip of the tongue, too many drinks confusing his mind. Perhaps you should forget about him and focus on something else. I recall how you liked investigating Le?—”
“Do not say her name,” Gabriel snapped. “You were not very present during her life, except at balls. You do not get to act like we are close, Preston, because we are not.”
“All right.” Preston nodded slowly. “I will leave the champagne with you, though, and let you wallow alone. It really is a pity that your wife is not at your side. I would have liked to say helloagain.”
Gabriel only grunted in acknowledgement, and moments later, his cousin left.
More time passed, much more than Gabriel wanted to admit. It seemed that Sibyl was content to stay away from him.
A week after Lord Samuel had been apprehended and imprisoned, more news emerged in the papers. Gabriel read it over a cup of coffee in his study. He could not bear to go into the breakfast room anymore, not when Sibyl’s empty chair taunted him every day, making him wonder if he would ever see her again.
It had been almost two weeks, and he considered writing to her, telling her that he had been stupid, that he was sick with self-hatred, but he refrained. Leaving meant she did not want to see or hear from him, and no matter how much it hurt, he needed to respect that.
He had begun reading the morning paper again to distract his thoughts from Sibyl, for she was always there. But as his eyes landed on the headline, he froze.
Lord Samuel Found Dead in Prison.
Gabriel leaned forward, his fingers curling into the paper. He frowned before reading the rest, making sure not to miss a single detail.
The writer speculated that it had been the work of another prisoner, one who respected the Duchess and disliked that she had been put in harm’s way, but not before questioning whether Lord Samuel had done it to himself, wracked with guilt.
Gabriel did not believe any of it.
Doubt niggled at him, urging him tomove,to act, as he had always done. To get back to his hunt, for as much as Preston irritated him, he had been right. The only thing that had filled Gabriel’s life after his investigation into Edmund was Sibyl’s presence.
But now that she was gone, and his investigation had been concluded—even if he had not been satisfied with it, to begin with—Gabriel had not been able to distract himself with anything else.
Now he had something.
He followed that doubt right out the door and straight to the Bow Street Runners, needing answers. He couldn’t keep questioning himself. He needed facts, and he needed to put this to bed once and for all.
“I am here to see the reports on Lord Samuel’s arrest and the accident involving the Duchess of Stonehelm,” he told the lead officer, who nodded at him, knowing exactly who he was.
He was led into a private room away from prying eyes and given sheaves of documents. He immediately began examining them. Silently, the officer placed a cup of coffee on the table before leaving him to his work, and Gabriel drained it in one gulp.
