He glanced up from his chair, a newspaper in hand, and shot me a frown. “What are you doing here?”
I fought back the urge to roll my eyes and moved farther into the room. “Good afternoon. I came to see Delia.”
He tossed the paper on the table in exasperation. “Well, she’s asleep. I came here to speak to her as well and have been waiting for over a quarter hour.” Jack considered it a personal insult if he was made to wait any longer than five minutes, so this was a grievous offense on Delia’s part. “What’s the matter with her anyway? Mother said she’s taken to sleeping every afternoon.”
“She did just suffer a loss,” I pointed out as I took the seat across from him.
“Come off it,” he scoffed. “It isn’t as though they were married.”
I raised an eyebrow, and he seemed to realize that he sounded like an absolute ass. “Sorry,” he grumbled and pulled a hand down his face. For a moment, he looked far older than his forty-one years. I tried to keep in mind that even though his pompousness was incredibly frustrating, he did have a great number of responsibilities. And this murder certainly wasn’t helping. “It’s just that I’ve heard from my solicitor.”
My heartbeat quickened. “What did he say? Is Delia still a suspect?”
He let out a sigh. “Yes, at the moment. But he believes it is only a matter of time before they focus on someone else. Apparently, they found the murder weapon in the bushes outside the building, and it is unlikely that a woman of Delia’s size could have wielded it with the force needed to cause the blows that killed Charles Pearson.”
“Goodness. What on earth was used?”
“Some kind of marble orb,” Jack said with a grimace. “They think Charles Pearson was using it as a doorstop.”
I couldn’t help imagining the scene: Charles coming back from our evening out, entirely unaware that his murderer was lying in wait for him. After all I had learned about him, I was hardly a fan of the man, but I hoped, for his sake, that death had come quickly.
“Well,” I began, clearing my throat, “that’s good news, isn’t it?”
Jack gave a halfhearted shrug. “The longer this case drags on, the harder it will be to keep Delia’s name out of the papers. And yours, for that matter.”
I ignored his look of disapproval. “A bit of scandal is much preferable to being wrongly hanged for murder,” I said pointedly.
But Jack shook his head and mumbled something about headstrong sisters under his breath. Then he glanced at the clock on the mantel. “I can’t wait any longer. Some of us have work to do in the afternoons,” he added unnecessarily.
“I will speak to Delia,” I said.
“Just make sure she continues to keep close to home,” he said as he stood. Then he shot me a look. “You as well.”
My jaw tightened, and I narrowed my eyes. Even after all this time, no one could get under my skin as quickly and easily as my brother. “I’m fine, thank you.”
Jack didn’t bother to respond to this. But just as he reached the door, he looked back. “You should know I saw the viscount yesterday.”
I instinctively gripped the arms of my chair. “And?”
He had the nerve to look disappointed. “I didn’t tell him anything about you, Minnie.”
I let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”
But Jack frowned. “That doesn’t mean he won’t hear aboutit from someone else, though. If I were you, I would contact him first. If only for a show of good faith. That would go a long way towards repairing things between you.”
“Heis the one who damaged things when he tried to take Tommy from me,” I said hotly.
“He only wanted Thomas to attend Eton, like Oliver. And the rest of the Harper men.”
How dare he invoke Oliver in an attempt to guilt me. I shot up from my chair as that old anger blazed through me. “Are you truly taking his side in this?”
“No,” Jack said quickly. “And I don’t approve of how he went about it.” I let out a snort, but he continued. “I just mean that the boy is growing up. And you can’t keep him beside you forever.”
“Yes, thank you very much for that invaluable piece of information,” I snapped. “I never could have come to that conclusion without the input of my male relatives.”
Jack raked a hand through his hair, mussing the perfect strands. “Christ, Minnie. I’m only trying to help.”
I lifted my chin. “Well, you’ve done quite enough.”
