“Had she lived, your actions would still have led to disaster. You weren’t careful enough, Chesterly. Someone saw you together.” It was hard to comprehendhow stupid the earl had been. “I’m thinking the only reason it’s been kept quiet is because the witness has no wish to ruin Lady Eleanor’s reputation in death.”
Chesterly’s spine straightened, his gaze hardening with razor sharpness. “And yet, they still let it slip or you would not have found out. I want to know who the individual is.”
“So you can do what, exactly?” Adrian scoffed. “The mistake has been made. Just be glad it’s been kept from the gossip columns. Now tell me, was your indiscretion with Lady Eleanor a brief lapse in judgement, or did you have a more permanent arrangement?”
“She and I got along exceedingly well. I enjoyed her company tremendously and as a result, I began seeking her out whenever the chance to do so arose – at musicales, garden parties, balls. You get the idea. We never danced though, mostly because I knew doing so might encourage her parents to think I’d an interest.”
“Which you obviously did,” Adrian reminded him dryly.
“Yes, but not with regards to marriage. I have my own financial troubles. An heiress is what I’ll require, but there was no denying the fierce attraction I felt toward Lady Eleanor. It increased with each conversation, with every inconspicuous touch and knowing glance. It was as though we’d been caught in a roaring fire, and as a result, I fear I may have forgotten myself completely.”
Adrian considered this briefly, then asked, “Would it be accurate to say you seduced her?”
Chesterly shook his head. “What happened between us was mutual.”
“How far did you take it?”
Splotches of red appeared on Chesterly’s face. There was no denying the outrage he felt in response to the question. “I didn’t take her innocence if that’s what you’re asking.”
“But you wanted her. Craved her. Yes?” Adrian knew what that felt like. “It can’t have been easy for you, knowing she’d marry another.”
Chesterly dropped his gaze, his hands fisting at his sides. “It was awful, but there was nothing I could do about it. Not when I wasn’t in a position to ask for her hand myself. The worst part was knowing she would be marryinghimof all people.”
“And why is that?”
The earl’s mouth twisted with displeasure. What he said next cast a shadow over the fondness Mr. Benjamin Lawrence supposedly harbored for his fiancée.
It left Adrian with one pressing question: Who the hell was telling the truth?
26
The rain had stopped completely by the time Samantha and Adrian left Avernail House. Despite her initial annoyance over being dismissed from her husband’s conversation with Chesterly, she’d acknowledged the reason for it and had done her best to shake off any lingering frustration.
Her slippers tapped lightly against the damp ground as Adrian escorted her to their carriage. He handed her up, spoke to Phelps, their driver, then climbed in behind her. The door was pulled shut and the carriage rolled into motion with a buoyant sway.
“I’m sorry I sent you away earlier,” Adrian said, his hand catching hers in a light hold, “but Chesterly’s point was correct.”
“I know.” Twisting slightly, she looked at him through the darkness. “I’m sorry, too,for letting it bother me when it shouldn’t have. Did you at least learn something useful from him?”
“Possibly. It all depends on whether or not he was being honest with me. Of course there’s also the chance that the situation simply appears a certain way from his perspective.” Adrian leaned toward her, the weight of his body supported by one hand pressing into the bench. “Chesterly told me Lawrence craves power and enjoys being in control. Lady Eleanor feared him. She was desperate to get away from him and felt increasingly trapped as her wedding day approached.”
“Not exactly the happy relationship Lawrence claimed he had with her,” Samantha mused.
“It could be that Lawrence was unaware of how she truly felt about him. Or maybe Chesterly is jealous and is now trying to diminish what Lady Eleanor and Lawrence shared.”
“True, but let’s suppose he’s right. If Lady Eleanor felt ill-treated by Lawrence, if she feared the life she’d have as his wife, then that would support Mr. Hutchins’s claim that she planned to elope with him before the wedding.” Samantha bit her lip while trying to sort through the details they’d uncovered thus far. “It wouldn’t just have been about love but about escape and self-preservation. Combined, they would have provided a powerful motive.”
“But would it have been enough for her to choose to bring scandal upon her family?”
“I suppose that depends on what Lawrence was capable of. If he’s the type of person who enjoys causingpain to others and he gave her a taste of what to expect, she may have been ready to sacrifice everything, including her family’s reputation. Especially if she confided in them and they refused to help her.”
“I suppose—”
The carriage jerked sideways as though attempting to avoid an obstacle, causing Samantha to slide across the bench, trapping her hand and Adrian’s against his thigh.
Another jolt followed when one of the wheels hit something uneven. The carriage bounced and struck the ground hard, sending a shock through Samantha’s teeth. Stretching her legs out, she braced her feet against the opposite bench for support and pushed herself upright.
The speed with which they travelled seemed to increase. Shouts came from outside, along with the rapid drumming of hooves. A thunderous boom exploded around them, the loud sound shaking the air with an all too unsettling familiarity. Samantha sent her husband a quick glance, saw the alarm in his strained features, and knew she wasn’t mistaken. Someone had fired upon them.
