“He is. It must have served him well when he worked for the War Department full time.” She shook her head. “It still boggles the mind to think of a man of his position doing such a thing.”
“A rare thing, yes.” He kissed her cheek. “But the world needs rare things.”
The duke and duchess returned together and retook their seats. Willowby leaned forward, elbows draped over his knees and his attention focused intently on Esme. “Thank you for bearing my having a moment to think about everything you’ve revealed. You’ve been very honest, and I don’t want you to think that it hasn’t been appreciated. I know how hard it can be to tear oneself open and bleed for a stranger. You are remarkable.”
Esme shook her head. “All these compliments will have my head spinning, Your Grace. I only hope that what I’ve told you can be of some use to you.”
“I very much think it can,” Willowby said. “Diana and I discussed it, and I think it’s only fair that I give you some information in return for your honesty.”
Esme caught Finn’s hand and held it tightly. “Please.”
“While I’m no longer a full-fledged spy, Diana and I still engage in fieldwork from time to time,” he began. “And I’ve heard of your cousin before. Obviously some of these schemeshe’s been involved in before your father died. It’s been hard to fully connect him to the banking, and those fraudulent behaviors are, sadly, harder to pursue. The victims often don’t want to admit they were taken in. But the smuggling is more dire. And as for the murder…” He trailed off and held Esme’s stare.
“You don’t believe me?” she whispered, and hated how her voice cracked.
“I understand you have felt that way, that no one believed it or cared. But it’s more that I hesitate to say what I must say next because it will sting. I already felt that your cousin might have been involved in your father’s death.”
The world began to spin and she felt Finn’s hand grip hers tighter, grounding her. “You did?”
“As Delacourt determined in his conversation with Chilton…let us call him Francis, so we aren’t confused.”
“Yes, please,” Esme replied. “I hate hearing him called by my father’s title.”
“Your father was warning people about Francis, threatening his schemes. Your cousin wanted that to stop. He’d made comments to several people about it. And there’s evidence that he?—”
He broke off and Esme got up. “What did he do?”
“He purchased a large quantity of arsenic,” Diana explained, also rising and crossing to her. “It’s a deadly poison.”
Esme’s knees wobbled and Diana reached for her even as Finn jumped up to steady her. She wanted to pull away from them both, run from all of this, even if it was what she’d believed all along.
“How would you know if he’d been poisoned?” she gasped.
Diana shook her head. “Esme?—”
“Tell me!” she exclaimed. “Please.”
Diana glanced back and Willowby and said, “He would have experienced intense stomach and chest pain.”
Esme nodded. “He did.”
“And sickness to follow.”
“He vomited over and over, until it was just blood,” she whispered, and tried not to picture it.
“Difficulty catching his breath.”
“Yes.”
“And darkening of the skin, as well as perhaps a faint scent of garlic,” Diana said.
“All of those things. Everything.” Esme tried not to burst into tears. “I saw it, his servants saw it. He became ill, but recovered after a few days. Then it returned, worse than before, and he died writhing.”
“I’m so sorry,” Diana said. “But these are the things that make us think he was poisoned. We did interview two servants who were released from your cousin’s employ after he inherited. They told us just as you did.”
“If you know this, if you believe it, why haven’t you arrested him?” she asked. “If he bought a large quantity of a poison and all this followed, how could that not be enough?”
Now Willowby rose. “It might be,” he said. “It likely would be. But Chilton cannot be at the heart of this larger conspiracy. He killed to continue his role, but I fear he’s a cog in a wheel.”
