“Might as well, love.”
Her tongue darted between her lips before she began to tell my piece of this sordid tale. “Later, in Yorkshire, I met a girl. She was unwell and…”
“I believe the word you’re searching for ismad.” She shot me a look for the interruption.
“William came and got her and took her away. And I knew she was the girl Gabriel meant when he said he didn’t seduce innocentsany longer. We had quite the quarrel about it.”
They fought about it? She was upset about what he had done to Adriane?
“After we came out on the other side of that, things were good. Wonderful, really. In retrospect, something was off the day before he was killed. But at the time I didn’t notice anything in particular. I tried to convince him to practice fencing with me. He managed to talk me back into bed instead.” She muttered that last part, staring at the floor.
“He was your husband, love. Nothing wrong with that.” It was the truth, though it felt like a lie on my lips. I was proud of how steady my voice was, barely reflecting the way I wanted to lay claim to her.
“We went to the races that day. We didn’t go often, at least not together. But it was his mother’s ball that night. Wetook Xander and Davina to keep them out of the house. He disappeared for a bit, and I saw him talking to someone, who turned out to be Will.
“When I asked Gabriel about it, he told me he thought Adriane had passed and that he and Will would meet later in the week to sort out funeral arrangements. We went to his mother’s ball that evening. He disappeared for a while with some of the gentlemen, but that wasn’t uncommon. That night when we went to sleep, everything was well—wonderful, even. The next morning I woke up in hell.” Her voice had gotten thicker with each passing word.
I moved to stop her, to offer what little comfort I could, but she shook her head.
“I woke to a shout. By the time I made it downstairs, there was already a trail of blood to the dining room. He was stabbed in the back. On our front steps. He— I— We didn’t have much time. He told me he loved me. He told me he knew I loved him when I couldn’t get words out. And I kissed him. And he was gone.”
My heart lay cracked open before her. For the way she wrapped her arms about herself. For the small, hollow, wooden quality of her voice. For the sobs I could hear in her words that she was bravely keeping at bay.
I didn’t notice my own tears, not until the first one made its track down my cheek. Never in a million years had I thought I would shed tears for Gabriel Hasket.
I suppose I wasn’t. Not really. I was shedding them for her. For the unendurable pain that was clear in her shuttered eyes.
Without warning, she bridged the gap between us and wrapped her arms around my waist, burying her face in my shoulder. Nothing could have stopped me from banding my arms about her shoulder blades. Her tears were silent, but the dampness spreading through my shirt was evident.
Between kisses pressed to her hair, I caught sight of Kit handing me his handkerchief with an uncomfortable shrug.
Eventually she pulled away, drying her tears on the aforementioned handkerchief. “Apologies,” she whispered.
“We do some work with wills and such. It’s not an uncommon occurrence.” Kit’s lie was a kind one. While it wasn’t unheard of for someone to shed tears in our office, it certainly wasn’t a regularity.
“A few months after Gabriel passed, His Grace demanded that Xander take over Rycliffe Place. I took some of Gabriel’s documents with me, the ones I didn’t think he would have wanted his father or brother to see. That’s everything. All I know.”
“I think Will is right. I think the break-in was tied to Gabriel’s murder. I’d say it’s most likely due to the nonsense with the horses. There is a great deal of money to be made in his scheme. And the timing of his death… I’d say the temptation to wager on one of his horses was too great. That he hadn’t been gambling as regularly probably made the choice more noticeable,” Kit said.
“We’ll need to take a look at the General Stud Book. See if we can trace some of them.”
“Dance something…” Celine interjected.
“What, love?”
“The horse that lost that day… It haddancein the name.”
“That’s helpful. Anything else?” Kit asked.
“Not at the moment. Maybe if I have some time to think.”
“All right, I’ll go hunt down the book. Will, do you want to stay with me tonight? Or I’m sure Kate could put you up in Grayson House.”
“Beg pardon?”
“You can’t stay here, Will. It’s not as though they don’t know where you live. It’ll be the next place they check for the documents.”
“He’ll stay with me,” Celine said.
