“There are certainly reasons for some of the dukes to have been targeted.”
“Nathanial’s father was a reprobate in an entirely different way from Gregory’s,” Kalina offered up.“The amount of money he owed to various menandgambling establishments.And after a certain point, they must have known they were not going to get it back, no matter how long he lived.”
“Then why would they keep allowing him to gamble with them?”asked Rose.
Tiffany shot her an amused look.“It is no easy thing to say no to a duke.”
The expression on Rose’s face turned mulish.If anyone could say no to a duke, Johanna would wager it was Rose.For herself, on the other hand, she was not certain she would be able to.
Already, she had proven to be very poor at saying anything but yes to her husband.Not that she hadwantedto say no.But she pitied the mere mortals who felt as though they had no choice but to acquiesce to a duke’s desire to join their game, even if he already owed them a princely sum of money.
“What about Matthew’s father?”Rose asked, glancing at Johanna and giving her hand a squeeze back.Clearly, she was concerned about what must be going through Johanna’s head right now, and she was not even privy to all the possibilities.
Tiffany and Kalina both looked at Lady Astrid, who shrugged.
“He was the kind of gentleman who very few people had anything to say about.From what I know, he was very strict with Matthew.Old fashioned.Believed in leading with a firm hand.”
It was all Johanna could do to bite her tongue against telling them what kind of father the old duke had been to Matthew, but she did not think it was her place to say.He had spoken to her in confidence, and she was not willing to break it.
Although… did that not give her husband good reason to have murdered his father as well?
She could not imagine…
But what if his coin had told him to?
Dizziness assailed her.Good lord, was it possible that both her motherandher husband had something to do with the dead dukes?
“Drake’s father was a good man.A very good man,” Lady Astrid said sadly.“I have trouble imagining why someone would have wanted him dead, unless they had nefarious designs on something they thought he would notice.Drake is much the same.At least, I thought he was.”She rolled her eyes.“Clearly, grief and the knowledge that he is about to be married has broiled what there was of his brain.”
“What about Chris… I mean, what about Montagu’s father?”Rose asked.Johanna was grateful her cousin was able to take the lead on the questions.She could barely think, but she did want to know more.
“His reputation was that of an upstanding man and duke,” Lady Astrid said with a shrug.“But so was Gregory’s father.I only met him a few times, and I did not find him out of the ordinary in any way.I do know he was very disappointed in Christian’s levity about life.He was a very serious sort himself.”
“That leaves, who?”Rose looked around at them.“Grafton?”
“Grafton, Northumberland, and my father.”Tiffany smiled wanly.“What reason for any of them, we do not know.Like the Duke of Montagu, they were just ordinary sorts.If Sebastian has suspicions or has come across anyone who hated our father enough to want to kill him, he has not shared that with me.”
“Unsurprising,” Lady Astrid said, rolling her eyes.“The men are telling us as little as possible.”
“They were up to something yesterday,” Kalina said.“Nathanial received a message from Drake and ended up joining them for dinner, but all he would tell me is that he does not think their investigation is going anywhere.”
Johanna did not know whether to feel relieved.
She did not want to worry that her mother might hang for her part in whatever had happened.Like the steward, she had not known what she was getting into.She had also told Johanna that she had not asked.
Would ignorance be enough to save her?Or would the dukes be looking for a scapegoat?
While Johanna did not believe Matthew wouldwanther mother to be blamed or to hang, he was also one of only seven dukes who would have a say.Possibly eight, if Northumberland’s heir weighed in on the death of his uncle in the fire.Matthew might not be able to control what happened.
And would he look at Johanna the same if he knew that her mother had a hand in his father’s death?
There did not seem to be much love between Matthew and his father, but that did not mean that he would have no feeling about his murder.
Worse—would her mother’s fate hang on the flip of Matthew’s coin?Pure luck and chance.Considering how Matthew made so many of his decisions, how much of her life had already been twisted up by the mere flip of his coin, Johanna could not reject that possibility.It was all too likely.
She had not saved her mother from starvation only to see her die on the noose.
But at the same time, she could not help but look at Tiffany and see the real grief at the loss of her father.Justice demanded they solve the mystery and find the culprits.Thetrueculprits.
