I was not surprised. Similarly vicious stories had circulated about Stoker during his divorce proceedings. As he was not present to defend himself, the tales had done their work and even now many people believed the worst of him.
“How dreadful,” I murmured.
“Yes, well. The dangers of an unfettered press,” Tiberius returned. “In any event, the result is that Malcolm and Mertensia withdrew entirely. Neither of them has been off this island since, and they do not issue invitations. That is why I suspected something was afoot when I received his letter asking me to come.”
“Why did he ask you particularly? You said you had not seen him in some years?”
He did not answer for a long moment, and when he did, I smelt evasion in his reply. “Our paths have not crossed for a while, but we have been friends from boyhood, close as brothers. Closer, in my case,” he added with a thin smile. “You will have observed that Stoker and I are not especially devoted.”
“I think you are more attached to one another than either of you would care to acknowledge,” I told him. I canted my head, studying his long, elegant form. “I find it hard to imagine you as a child with boyhood friends. What were you like?”
“Incorrigible,” he replied with some relish. “Although not as savage as Stoker. I was always refined in my tastes, even as a lad.”
“Was Malcolm? Is that what drew you together?”
“Heavens no!” He seemed genuinely amused at the idea. “We were as different as chalk and cheese. Malcolm was a better oarsman, I was a more skilled rider. He liked maths, I preferred poetry, preferably the erotic sort. I was an enthusiastic adherent of Ovid,” he added with a vague attempt at a leer. “And my temperament was more in hand than his. Malcolm had a temper, rather a ferocious one.”
“Indeed? He seems rather mild,” I replied. Apart from the scene with Caspian, I amended silently.
Tiberius’ eyes widened. “His temper is the reason he was sent down from school,” he told me with obvious relish. “He choked a boy, bigger and older than either of us. It did not diminish my regard for him,” he hastened to add. “If anything, it rather increased it.”
“He choked a boy? Are you entirely serious?”
“As the grave, my dear Veronica.”
“Did he have good cause?”
“Is there ever good cause to choke a fellow human being?” he asked, blinking slowly.
“I can think of at least a dozen,” I replied.
He laughed. “Remind me never to fall afoul of you, although I cannot say the proximity of your person, even if homicidal, would be unwelcome.”
I might have pressed the issue of why Malcolm Romilly had invited him, but I knew Tiberius well enough to know when a pursuit was futile. I changed tack instead. “Why did you accept Malcolm Romilly’s invitation to come here?”
Again he did not meet my gaze, preferring instead to stare up at the canopy. “I told you. Malcolm and I have been friends for a long time. A few years’ absence doesn’t wipe all that away. He asked for my help and I am giving it.”
“I don’t entirely believe you.”
“Very well. I was bored in London and I suspected Malcolm’s little problem might present an interesting diversion.”
“Try again.”
His expression was mocking. “You doubt my veracity. I am wounded. I should demand a forfeit,” he said, thrusting himself onto both elbows, his body stretched in languid invitation.
“Do be serious,” I urged.
“I find seriousness to be the least seductive of all the virtues.”
“I didn’t know any virtue tempted you,” I replied. “And you have quite neatly evaded my question.Why did you come?”
“Save your breath to cool your porridge, as my old nanny used to say,” he told me with a malicious gleam in his eye. “You’ll get nothing out of me. I am closed as an oyster.”
No matter how hard I pried, Tiberius would tell me nothing more. The storm had risen, hard rain beating against the windows as wind shrieked and howled as it swirled around the tower. He rose from his recumbent position.
“It is time for you to go to bed, Veronica.”
I did not move. “You had a purpose in bringing me here. I don’t believe it was simply to do me a good turn and send some glasswings my way. You still have not told me my role in all of this.”
