What was going on here?
This was turning what he’d been told about the old man upside down.
Was it possible his grandfather actually had a heart?
No, he was mostly depraved, as well as ruthless in controlling his family.
“Why did you not tell me this morning?”Tulip asked Mrs.Granger, bringing his own attention back to the present.
Mrs.Granger appeared distressed.“I wanted to.I don’t know why I did not say anything then.But please know, I did feel I could trust you.However, I feared this was too much to reveal all in one sitting.Who would ever believe me?The old duke had such a debauched reputation and it was deserved.There were women all around the place, shamelessly offering their bodies not only to the duke but to his offspring.”
“My father, uncle, and cousins,” Alex said with much disgust.
“Not your father,” Mrs.Granger insisted.“I know you won’t believe this, but your father adored your mother and it broke his heart when you and she left.Just as I think your grandfather’s heart was broken when Elspeth disappeared.I believe my aunt and the old duke were having a true courtship, one that was intended to lead to their marriage.”
“He told you this?”Alex asked.
“Yes, he confessed that he was her secret beau and not some mysterious naval officer.He told me that his intentions were serious.And why not?He was in his forties, still hale and virile, and Elspeth probably loved him sincerely.I think it would have been a love match.”
Her eyes began to tear.“I never believed what my mother and grandparents told me about Elspeth.Even if she had run off with someone, my grandparents loved her too much ever to disown her.They missed her very much.Elspeth was also a warm, loving girl.She would have written to them.Visited them.They had to know she was not alive.”
“Do you think the inheritance they supposedly received was actually a bribe on my grandfather’s part to keep them silent?”Alex asked.
“No, Your Grace.Not a bribe.Never that.But yes, I think he quietly helped them move away because living in Burnham was too painful for them.He took care of them because he loved Elspeth and this was how he chose to honor her.”
Alex struggled with this.“But if he loved her, then why not move heaven and earth to find her when she disappeared?He had to know she would never willingly leave him if they did love each other.And yet, there is no hint he ever insisted on an investigation or ever participated in one.”
To Alex, this meant his grandfather had to know she was dead.
But who would he protect with his silence?
One of his heirs?
Three heirs had ascended to the dukedom and all of them had died, no doubt by Ernfield’s hand.
“Yes, all you say is true,” Mrs.Granger muttered.“But I am now convinced the truth lies with Ernfield.I think he knows what happened that night of her disappearance, and his nightly visits to your grandfather were not about two old friends chatting, but served as a warning to your grandfather to keep quiet about Elspeth.”
“Except, he didn’t,” Tulip remarked.“He began to confide in you.”
“Yes, and this is why I am convinced your grandfather did not harm Elspeth.But she died, somehow.Perhaps it was by accident.I think he would have told me if he knew she had been murdered.He would have given me a name.But he accused no one.”
Alex raked a hand through his hair.
Did this mean Elspeth killed herself?
Why would she do this if she believed she was going to marry a duke?
He shook back to the present, for more was needed to resolve the confusion surrounding Elspeth’s death.
There was enough evidence to imprison Ernfield for attempting to kill Mrs.Granger, but still not enough to link him to any other deaths.One might build a circumstantial case around poisoning Martha, and now young Edward Wilcox could be added to his list of victims.But Elspeth?Or his three predecessors?
Well, perhaps he would have to settle for this one crime, and even that was Mrs.Granger’s word against Ernfield’s.Would it be enough to have him imprisoned for the rest of his life?Or hanged?“Too bad no one got a better look at him coming after you on the marshes.”
Tulip pursed her lips.“Why?Wouldn’t Mrs.Granger’s testimony be enough for a conviction?”
He shrugged.“Possibly, but it depends on whether Ernfield, a long time resident of Burnham whose family is well-liked and trusted, or Mrs.Granger, a stranger to these parts whose family left suddenly and under mysterious circumstances, is to be believed.Having additional evidence to bolster her claim could be the difference between Ernfield being found guilty or not guilty.”
“I can testify,” Tulip said.
