The girl blushed slightly and turned her head away. “Mr. Cartwright was quite charming. I was immediately taken with him.”
Nicole and Regina exchanged a glance.
“Had you met Mr. Cartwright before?” Nicole asked Miss Lester.
“Just once. At another party. He was ever so nice to me. He treated me so kindly.”
“You didn’t know the others?” Nicole prodded.
“I’d never met Lord Anthony before,” Miss Lester said. “I’d met Lord Hillenbrand a time or two. He proposed to Arabelle earlier in the Season, you know?”
“Yes, I’d heard.” Nicole thought for a moment. “He didn’t seem to harbor ill will over the fact that she turned him down?”
“No…” The young woman glanced toward her mother. “At least I didn’t think so.”
Nicole furrowed her brow. “What do you mean?”
Miss Lester took a tentative sip of tea. “I mean he seemed fine until…”
“Until when?” Nicole prodded, leaning forward, her heart beating faster.
“Until the night of the dinner party.” Miss Lester leaned forward and lowered her voice. “That night I saw him do something quite peculiar.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
“Grimaldi, there you are, good to see you.” Lord Tottenham’s voice boomed through the corridor outside the duke’s study. “How’s the investigation coming?”
Mark opened the door to usher the man inside. “I’ve just come from speaking to Lady Arabelle and intend to speak to Mr. Cartwright next. How was your journey here?”
“As good as can be expected,” the older man thundered. “With my gout, no long ride in a coach is ever pleasant.” He laughed heartily at his own words.
“I suppose not.” Mark gestured for him to take a seat. “Care for a drink?”
“I always care for a drink,” Tottenham replied with another loud laugh.
Mark crossed to the sideboard near the windows and poured two glasses of brandy. When he returned to hand a snifter to Tottenham, the large man had fit his girthinto one of the oversized dark leather club chairs arranged in front of the duke’s desk.
“The memorial is in the morning?” Tottenham asked, taking a swig from his glass.
“It is.” Mark nodded. He eyed the older man carefully. Was his promotion riding on whether he uncovered the culprit quickly? He could only assume it was.
“Do you hope to have your suspect by then?”
“Oakleaf is speaking to Lord Anthony now. We don’t suspect him, but he could have some information that may point us in the correct direction.”
“Sounds good.” Tottenham took a large swig of brandy.
Mark seated himself in the matching chair and cleared his throat. “How exactly are you related to the Colchester family?” He’d never heard that Lord Tottenham was related, but then most of the aristocracy was related somehow. Inbred group of people that they were.
“Oh, I’m only a distant cousin. Quite distant, by marriage. More distant than Mr. Cartwright even.” Tottenham laughed even louder and took another swig of brandy.
Mark studied the man’s face. He’d been worried that Lord Tottenham may have already learned that he was the duke’s nephew, but watching him now he was certain that wasn’t the case. Regardless, the longer this conversation lasted, the sooner Mark would be forced to admit to his relationship to the duke. He needed to turn their conversation back to the investigation.
“Speaking of Mr. Cartwright, Oakleaf and I havedecided to ask the duke to tell Mr. Cartwright privately that he’s not the heir.”
Tottenham’s bushy gray eyebrows shot up. “I didn’t know he wasn’t.”
“Yes, well, the duke told us that much… in order to help with the investigation.” Mark cleared his throat again. Damn. This was hardly moving away from the awkward bit.
