“I did as well,” Drake said with a nod.“My understanding is he felt they should all be grouped together by rank.”And if Drake accepted that understanding, Matthew knew it had been thoroughly investigated.It was also hardly an unusual state of affairs.“It was poor luck they were on the side where the explosion and fire hit hardest.”
Although his tone was neutral, it was also tight, and Matthew shot him a sympathetic look.Drake, along with Zachary and Sebastian, truly grieved his father as they had been rather close.Whereas Matthew’s feelings were much more complicated.It was true he’d respected his father, but in many ways, the death of his pater had given him more relief than anything else.He was somewhere between them and Nathanial—who likely would have done a jig on his father’s grave if not for the deaths of the other dukes—in his feelings.
“Poor luck and an extremely unhappy accident.”Cornwall took another large swig of his drink and shook his head.“I cannot help but think… if I had not invited Hereford… his is the death that can be attributed to me.”
“Nathanial did say his father owed you a great deal of money,” Drake said delicately, leaning forward onto his elbows as he folded his arms on the table in front of him.
“He did.”Cornwall shook his head.“But no sum is worth a man’s life.”
“Were you hoping he might bring the funds with him when you invited him?”Matthew asked.
Cornwall nodded.
“Though I did not have much hope of it.Either way, I would not be gambling with him, but I thought perhaps I could collect… and if anyone chose to include him in a game after that, well, that was at their own peril.”He looked away, pensive.“It seemed like a good idea at the time, though I had been drinking when it was suggested to me.”
“It was suggested to you?”Drake asked, drolly casual, as if he had not a care in the world.
If Cornwall realized he was being interrogated, he did not show it.If anything, he seemed almost relieved to talk, as though he’d been carrying around a great weight inside him that he could finally put down.
Drake asked most of the questions, getting Cornwall to tell them everything, though there was not much to tell.He’d been out with friends, playing and drinking, and at some point during the evening, the discussion had gone round to the hunting lodge.One of them told him that Hereford had recently come into some winnings and suggested that Cornwall invite him to the lodge, so as to have a place to collect the debt.
“I played with him—Hereford—the very next night, and he confirmed that he was recently flush, but he did not have the money on him at the moment.So, I invited him to join us at the hunting lodge and pay me back then.”Cornwall snorted.“I doubt he did, though.”
By the time they finished, Cornwall was completely foxed, yet seemed happier than he had been earlier.His load was lightened after telling them everything, at least some of his guilt absolved.Perhaps because they had not condemned him.Drake was more frustrated than anything because he did not have the knowledge they sought.
He could not even remember who had suggested that he invite Hereford to the lodge.Possibly Carmathan.Possibly the Earl of Hatchett.Possibly the Earl of Conyngham.Possibly the former Duke of Grafton or his brother, the Marquess of Selter.Or possibly someone else whom he could not remember being present that night.
It did at least give them a list to start with, though Matthew was not certain that suggesting Hereford be invited to a gathering was an indication of anything nefarious.On the other hand, it was not as if they had anything else to investigate.At the very least, if they fully investigated, they could mark off the possibility.
Helping Cornwall stumble back to his carriage, practically carrying him between them, they got him tucked away and watched it roll down the street before looking at each other.Drake took a deep breath, then tilted his head back to look up at the sky.The sun was much lower now.
“We should gather the others to discuss,” he said, his head dropping back down.“Let’s go to my house.I will send them notes to come and meet us.”
“My home is closer,” Matthew pointed out.“So is Hereford House.”
“But full of people, including your new wife.”Drake glanced at him.“And after Kalina was eavesdropping on Nathanial, I do not believe conversations there will be very secure either.The ladies are getting far too involved in the investigations.Only Hatchett is married among the men Cornwall spoke of, and he and his wife are hardly close; therefore, we do not need the ladies to questiontheirwives.I would rather keep them out of it.”
“Fair enough,” Matthew agreed, seeing his point.“I do not think we need to be concerned Johanna will try to listen to us, as I have not told her about our investigation, but there are others in the house.”Including Charlotte, who seemed to appear wherever she willed, even if she was not supposed to be there, or Bridget, who he could absolutely imagine listening at keyholes.
So, Drake made a good point.
“She might know anyway,” Drake said dryly.“The ladies have already befriended her.As she is your wife, they may feel it is their duty to inform her, in case you do not.”
Matthew shrugged.
“The coin said not to tell her today.Not that I particularly want to, anyway.It is not exactly a cheerful subject, especially so soon after our wedding.We should be joyful this week, should we not?”He thought about it for a moment, then shrugged again.“Yes, I think it is better that I wait to tell her.That is probably why my coin keeps putting it off.”
Especially because Drake was correct; there was no need to involve the ladies in this part of their investigation.If Nathanial and Gregory chose to inform their wives of the discussion later, that would be up to them.Matthew certainly did not feel the need to tell his wife at the moment; his coin would let him know when the right time was.
They returned to Drake’s house and quickly sent out the notes, discussing their impressions between the two of them.They both agreed Cornwall was telling the truth and that he’d not been part of the plot to kill Nathanial’s father—he’d still been trying to get the money owed him.His guilt was all to do with feeling as though he might have been able to do something if he’d been there, but none of that had basis in reality.
None of the men who had been on the other side of the Lodge had been able to reach any of the dukes—the fire had been too fierce.Neither Matthew nor Drake blamed any of them, as long as they had not been involved in the actual setting of the fire.Which, at the moment, there was no proof of.
To their surprise, Nathanial arrived rather quickly and joined them in Drake’s library, though they decided not to update him till the rest of their group came.Better to do it all at once.Instead, Matthew teased his friend about being unavailable that morning for the investigation, and Nathanial teased him back aboutbeingavailable now that he had a wife.
Thankfully, the other dukes trickled in not long after, and Drake quickly gave them a rundown of the little information Cornwall had divulged.
“I think Conyngham could very well be involved,” Zachary said immediately, frowning and reaching up to stroke Monkey Sinclair’s back.The little monkey chittered at him and jumped up onto the back of the wingback armchair he was sitting in.“I’ve never trusted him.”
