“Yes, ma’am. I’d set an alarm because your uncle called and said he was going to be later than normal. I fell asleep in the car and the alarm woke me at 1:00 a.m., and there he was standing outside the car, grinning and happy.”
“Thank you, Dan.”
“Is that all, ma’am?”
“That’s all, goodbye.” Georgiana hung up. She gazed at me and whispered, “Maybe an explanation exists.” But tears were welling in her eyes. I pulled her into my arms and held her as my own misery raged inside me. Uncle was most likely a killer who’d not only killed Clara Ashcombe, but our parents.
“Why would he do that? What would make him kill his own family?” Georgiana asked. “He couldn’t have expected to be king. He didn’t know you’d put it off.”
“I don’t know,” I said, the devastation turning to a deep determination as I beheld the little fireworks around my engagement sign continue to pop in the air. “But I’m going to find out.”
Chapter 11
Uncleflewintotheairport at 11:00 a.m.
Lizzy and I waited for him there. Rosalie sent me several messages last night asking for a reason as to why I left with Lizzy in the carriage. After that, she wanted to learn the reason I wasn’t replying to her texts. Once I took a moment to compose a suitable reply, I told her that I was trying to solve Moonrot with Lizzy, and that I needed her company until then. I wished for Lizzy’s company long past that, but of course I didn’t include that information in my text message.
After stowing his luggage in the rear of the limo, we all got in. I’d driven to the airport, but I allowed Dan, who’d arrived with Uncle, to drive. I raised the wall between Dan and us, waiting until it was secured and layered with magic to ensure no sound reached him.
“It was kind of you to pick me up. Dan could have driven me on his own,” Uncle said.
“It’s no problem,” I responded as I searched the lines of my uncle’s aged face. This was the face of a killer. But why? Thisman had held everything together when mine and Georgiana’s world was falling apart. Even now, he just seemed like my uncle. He displayed no signs of guilt. A part of me still hoped he had an explanation.
As the limo pulled away from the curb, Uncle scrutinized Lizzy. “And who might you be, my dear?”
“A friend of Darcy’s.”
“Oh, just a friend. He usually doesn’t bring pretty young ladies to meet me. Although”—he gazed questioningly at me—“I understand that you asked Rosalie to marry you last night. Is that true?”
I glanced at Lizzy but nodded. “It is.”
“I must say, I was hoping things would move quickly, but I wasn’t expecting things to movethatquickly.”
Neither had I. But I’d done what was needed, and the last thing I wanted to do was dwell on a promise I had no way of backing out of. “Uncle, this is Lizzy Bennet. She’s my friend, and that’s all.”
A slow smile came across Lizzy’s lips, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Yes, nothing more.”
I watched her, a kind of sickness inside me, wondering if she still hadn’t gotten over my going back on what I’d told her. Did she think me untrustworthy? I loathed the thought of potentially losing her trust concerning this.
Uncle glanced between us. “I see,” he drawled.
Lizzy turned to the small minibar. “Would you like a drink, Your Majesty?”
“You’re a guest. I should be the one offering you a drink. Or Darcy.” He lifted an expectant eyebrow at me.
I grabbed the sherry out of the safety rack, expecting the request. My uncle’s favorite. “We can all have a drink.”
“No, I’d like the port today.”
I froze. “Trying something new?”
“You might say so.”
I cast a worried glance at Lizzy. My uncle’s inclinations were easy to foresee in most respects, so I hadn’t contemplated that he’d pick a different option when Lizzy and I placed the truth serum in the sherry bottle. What were we going to do now?
I leaned forward and let the bottle of port fall to the floor, spilling out onto the rug of the limo.
Lizzy gasped, and Uncle shouted.
