For a moment, Lady Stenfax blinked, staring around the room. Then she got up. “Very well. I’ll see you there shortly.”
She left the room, face pale and expression worried. Once she had departed, Dane walked over and shut the door. He faced the group with a dark expression.
“What happened?” Celia asked, sliding toward him like she was moving on an injured animal. She took his hand cautiously. “Please tell me.”
“Your grandfatherhadbought Felicity’s secrets, along with his own,” he said.
Rosalinde had been standing with Gray, and now she jolted forward, her eyes wide. “Just as we feared.”
“He wanted to hurt you,” Asher said when it was clear Dane was struggling to continue. “To hurt this family to get to you.”
Celia bent her head. “That bastard. But…but how did you manage to retrieve the pages missing from the book from him? I cannot imagine he would give them up willingly.”
Dane swallowed hard. “I-I killed him.”
Rosalinde gasped and Celia’s hand jerked away from her husband to cover her lips. “Oh no.”
“You did not kill him!” Felicity gasped. “He was holding a gun to my head, and when you confronted him with the consequences of his actions, he killedhimself.”
Dane shook his head. “I was trained. I should have been more careful.”
Felicity lifted her chin and Asher saw her strength, her kindness, all that she was and all he had ever loved.
“You are not responsible,” she insisted. “Just as I wasn’t when it came to Barbridge.”
Asher caught his breath at that admission and the peace that came over her face when she said it.
Celia slid an arm around Dane, and Asher saw him buckle a little in relief that she would still touch him. That vulnerability was unexpected and yet it was…beautiful. Celia stared into his eyes, kindness and love and forgiveness all over her face.
“Of course you had no choice inanythingyou did, my love,” Celia said softly.
“Of course he didn’t,” Rosalinde agreed as Gray stepped up to take her hand. “He was a runaway carriage, always on the path to destruction.” She turned toward Felicity. “But what wereyoudoing there, Felicity?”
“I went there hoping I could reason with him,” Felicity said. “And of course I couldn’t. I’m sorry, Celia, Rosalinde. Perhaps if I had no involved myself he would still be alive.”
“No,” Celia said with a sigh. “As Rosalinde said, he has been on a path to destruction for years now. His anger, his hate, his sense of being betrayed and entitled have only grown with the years.”
“And he…” Dane shifted. “He was committing war crimes. I found out a week ago, but wanted to be certain before I told you. Even if he hadn’t killed himself, he would have been arrested. Perhaps even hanged.”
Celia turned toward Rosalinde, and for a moment the sisters’ grief was palpable. And even though it wasn’t his place, Asher felt a strong urge to gather them both close, to comfort them as family.
“Well, at least this way the news can be controlled so it doesn’t hurt our family,” Rosalinde said. “What does Stalwood say?”
Dane set his jaw. “That it appears the gentleman had a tragic accident. So yes, it is taken care of.”
Celia drew a shaky breath. “Were you able to recover the pages from the diary that were about…about my grandfather’s secrets?”
Dane nodded. “Yes. I got everything he had. And if you want to come with me, both of you, we could look over them now and I’ll try to break the code.”
Celia gripped Dane’s hands. “Do you think we’ll discover our father’s identity?”
Dane smiled, the first time he had done so since the confrontation at Gregory Fitzgilbert’s. “I hope so, my love.”
Gray took Rosalinde’s arm. “Let’s go then.”
The two sisters and their husbands left the room, leaving only Stenfax, Elise, Asher and Felicity behind. Stenfax stepped forward and bent his head to look into his sister’s eyes.
“It was a foolish thing to do,” he said softly, sternly.
