“Not as interesting as one that hops packets to France. Tell me about your journey.”
Rosamund had come for other conversation. She did not want to be rude, so she described some of what she had seen.
“Did Kevin behave himself?” Minerva asked.
Rosamund felt her face getting hot. “What do you mean?”
“Did he avoid being rude to this Forestier man you mentioned? To you? To the hotel servants and packet crew?”
“He wasn’t rude, that I saw. I can’t swear what happened while I was shopping and he was about on his own.”
Minerva glanced over, then looked more directly. Her head angled back and her lids lowered. Rosamund fussed with her teacup.
Another cup clattered when it was set down. “The rogue.”
Rosamund’s mouth dried. “Why would you say that? I explained he was not rude.”
“He seduced you. I can see it in your eyes. He seduced you to make you pliable to his demands about that invention.” Her eyes flared with hot lights. “Chase knows. He had dinner with Kevin last night and was very odd when he returned and I asked about the journey’s success. Very vague. He didn’t tell me about you two because he knows that I will—”
“Please. I was not—I hardly resisted much. Not at all, to be honest. However, it has made me wonder about some things. We are thinking of getting married, you see, and now I need to know more about him.”
“Married?Kevin?” Minerva sank back on the cushion, astonished. “What happened to that man you had me investigate? That Charles fellow?”
“I met with him. It was not the same.”
Minerva’s expression grew serious. “It is not wise to turn immediately to another when one person disappoints you. Least of all to Kevin Radnor.”
“I am still deciding. However, for me such a match is fairly wise, I think. Nothing else will change who I am quite so thoroughly.”
“Ah. Yes, of course. How unkind of me to imply you have not considered this fully. You are being far wiser than I am, it appears. And more practical.” She lifted the teapot to pour again. “What do you want to learn about him? I daresay you may know him better than I do now.”
“I want to know about the late duke’s death.”
“I told you that it was determined to be an accident.”
“You also said the family did not agree with that. Is an accident what you and Chase decided?”
Minerva hesitated. “No. We are convinced it was not.”
“And Kevin?”
“I never spoke with him about it, but Chase did. Kevin was there, at the estate. He says it was the day before the duke died, and that he had left by the time it happened. He admitted that the two of them had a row. It did not help that he claimed to be in France then. Only he had returned for a few days.”
“Hopped a packet.”
“Yes. We learned about it on our own, but another member of the family also saw him in Town.”
“Felicity.”
Minerva’s gaze hardened. “She couldn’t wait to tell you, it seems.”
“Yet despite all that, it was determined to be an accident. Was that to protect him?”
“Not at all. Chase presented what he knew to the authorities. There were other possible culprits. I was one. He included all of us. They called it an accident anyway.”
“Wouldn’t Kevin’s father know if he had been in Town the actual day the duke died?”
Minerva hesitated. “I only tell you all this because you are considering such an important step. He was not at his family’s house in Town while he was back. There is no proof he was not at the estate that day.”
