“Robert came to see me the night before the duel. He was to act as your father’s second. He was worried but said your father assured him that it was just for show, that they would shoot into the air like gentlemen and consider the matter done. Your father was confident that his friend didn’t really want to hurt him but that it was just a matter of honor.” She let out a shaky breath.
“I didn’t hear from Robert the next day, and I began to worry. Then, the following morning, my father came into my room. He had heard through one of his sources that the duke and his son had been found dead in a hack down on the Strand. Both had gunshot wounds in the chest. The magistrate was saying it had been a robbery gone wrong. I knew that couldn’t be true. Something must have gone terribly wrong at the duel. My father agreed that it sounded like the truth was being covered up.”
Hart stood and strode over to the window. His head reeled at the information she shared. He had never accepted that it had been a robbery. There were too many unanswered questions. Why had they been down there at night in a hired hack? And where had the coachman been? Many rumors abounded in the weeks after the news of their deaths had spread. Rumors that said his father had been discreetly extracting his brother from a brothel in that part of town. Some said that they had been involved in unsavory business dealings. Hart had dismissed all of the ridiculous assertions.
Lucy came to stand next to him. “Are you alright?”
He stared blankly out the window onto the quiet street. Was he alright? A certain sense of relief came with the truth. But it didn’t diminish the anger he felt. Nothing would assuage that until he knew who to punish. He still had questions.
He turned back to Miss Harper. “Why was Robert killed? He was just the second.”
“I don’t know the answer to that,” she replied. “My whole future died that day with your brother. I thought I would never recover from the loss. But then I discovered I was pregnant, and it gave me something to live for, a piece of Robert to cherish.” Her voice broke. He watched her draw in a deep breath. “I didn’t know what had led to his death. But I knew it had to have been something to do with this duel. I needed to keep my baby safe, so I kept the identity of the father to myself. My father was the only one who knew of my relationship with Robert.”
“I have one more question. Who was my father dueling with?”
Miss Harper looked up at him with wide, solemn eyes. “The Viscount Griffen.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Lucy sat downabruptly on the settee; they finally had an answer. The Viscount Griffen. She glanced over at Hart. “It must have been he who commented bitterly about me living his daughter’s life.”
Hart stood still as a statue with his jaw clenched. Then he nodded. “Right. When I met with him, my instincts told me he was hiding something.” He ran a hand over his face. “He sat calmly across the table and lectured me about focusing on the future when every word out of his mouth was a lie.”
“Covering his tracks from the very beginning. And he had help based on the conversation we overheard yesterday.”
“What conversation yesterday?” Miss Harper asked.
She glanced at Hart.Should we trust her?She asked him silently.
Hart moved to retake his spot next to her. “Miss Harper, thank you for sharing your heartbreak. You don’t know how much it means to me to know the truth. I wish I had known sooner; I would have taken care of you.”
Miss Harper tilted her head, another wry half smile on her face. “Would you have? Would you have even believed me if I had come to you?”
“I like to think I would have. I believe you now. And I would like to help you with my nephew’s care.”
Miss Harper stiffened, her back going ramrod straight. “We are doing just fine on our own. We don’t need your money.”
“But surely—”
Lucy gripped Hart’s arm before he could make it worse.
She tried to turn the conversation back on topic. “Miss Harper, we aren’t just looking for answers to the how of their deaths but also to who helped cover it up. Someone has attempted to kill Hart before he finds the truth.”
“Is that what happened to you?” Miss Harper asked.
Hart nodded. “Last year, Lord Galey sent me a message asking me to meet him. He said the guilt of knowing what had happened to my father was eating at him. I joined him in his carriage to speak privately, but before he could say much, a small handheld bomb was thrown into the carriage.” Hart paused, his brow furrowed.
“What is it?” Lucy murmured.
“Galey said they were very powerful, they had ears everywhere, they had found us. Not him, they.”
“It has to be the club. The Knot of Isis. Don’t you think?”
“The club?” Miss Harper asked.
“Yes, Hart’s father used to be part of a club in his school days, and they used the Knot of Isis as a symbol for their group. It means—”
“To protect against one’s enemies.” Miss Harper nodded.
