Mrs.Abernathy and Lady Moorland both gasped.Eldrige leaned forward a little and looked to Adrian with incredulity.“Am I to understand that someone made your sister match the profile of Clive Newton’s victims?”
“Precisely.”Adrian kept his attention firmly on Wrengate.The man’s expression remained unflappable.Not even a statue could have appeared more unmoved by Adrian’s revelation.“It’s my intention to figure out who.That will be my ultimate purpose moving forward.”
“While I understand your reasoning,” Moorland said after a brief silence, “I doubt it will be as rewarding as you imagine.If I were you, I’d take comfort in knowing the man who actually took her life is gone, and focus on your blessings instead.Last week you were on your way to the scaffold.Yet here you are now, back home with your lovely wife.Do you honestly want to lose that?”
The concern with which Moorland spoke made Adrian stop and think.He did have a valid point.If he found the man who’d sent Clive Newton after Evie, there was no doubt in his mind that he’d kill him.And that act could put everything he had just gained at risk.
Considering what he knew, he was confident the person he sought was someone high-ranking.If he were accused of murdering them, he’d be sentenced to death, and this time there would be no getting off the hook.Of that he was certain.
Even so, he knew there was no escaping his duty.Turning his back on this goal and letting the person who’d taken Evie from him walk away unscathed was unthinkable.But maybe it was best to keep that to himself.
“You’re right,” he said and sent a deliberate smile toward Samantha.“The man who wielded the blade is gone, and I have a new lease on life.It would be foolish to squander that.”
“A wise decision.”The statement, spoken by Wrengate, made Adrian feel like slamming his fist against the table.
He forced the urge under control and made a mental note to keep the duke under added surveillance.Given all he knew of the man, it was becoming increasingly clear that Wrengate wasn’t nearly as honorable as someone in his position should be.
* * *
Samantha wasn’t the least bit fooled by Adrian’s supposed decision to stop looking for the man responsible for his sister’s death.It was the main reason behind his decision to stay in England and forge a path that would take him home.Had it been up to her, he wouldn’t have risked it.
But she understood the goal that drove him.
Consequently, she also knew there was no way in hell he’d be giving it up.
Anything he said to the contrary was no more than smoke and mirrors.A deception intended to trick another deceiver.Whether or not the Duke of Wrengate would be revealed as that person, she wasn’t sure.They would need concrete proof to determine his guilt.
Allowing their dislike of the man or the fact that they knew him to be involved in underhanded activities to cloud their judgement could lead them both down a dangerous path.One in which they caught the wrong man, suffered the consequences, and allowed the true villain to slip between their fingers.
It was vital she remind her husband of this, lest he lose focus.Especially since Wrengate seemed intent on conflict.The man was exceedingly boorish.It almost seemed like he thought it his right to behave as he pleased on account of his rank.Either way, he clearly didn’t care what anyone else here this evening thought of him.A sentiment that made her wonder.
“Do either of you know who Wrengate’s closest friends are?”she asked Mrs.Abernathy and the duchess once they’d removed themselves to the parlor for tea, leaving the men to enjoy their after-dinner drinks.
Not that she cared, but now that she and Adrian were looking into him, it would be prudent to gather as much information as possible in order to form a larger impression of who he was as a person.
“I’m not sure he has any.”The duchess reached for her cup.She presently reclined in one of the two wingback chairs the room had to offer – a piece crafted by Chippendale and upholstered with cream-colored silk.
Samantha and Mrs.Abernathy had taken up seats on the matching sofa opposite her.
“Everyone has friends of some sort or other,” Samantha said.
“Not Wrengate.”The duchess sipped her tea.“He keeps to himself unless there’s a social event important enough to warrant his putting in an appearance.”
“And yet he’s here this evening.”
“A surprising occurrence, I assure you.”
Adrian had mentioned he’d informed Wrengate that two other dukes might attend.Apparently they’d held enough sway to make sure he showed up.Unless he had other reasons for doing so?
“Isn’t Wrengate the one with the bed-ridden sister?”Mrs.Abernathy asked.
Samantha blinked.“What?”
Mrs.Abernathy squinted as though attempting to pull an elusive thought into sharper focus.“One of the journalists in my husband’s employ wrote an article about her some years ago.It was pulled from the paper before it was printed.Something about an accusation pertaining to the invasion of privacy and being threatened with legal action.Lots of fuss and such.Too much for the article to be worth it.”
“So your husband scrapped it?”Samantha asked.
“Yes.”Mrs.Abernathy’s frown deepened.“I’m fairly sure the whole business involved Wrengate, though there’s every chance I’m mistaken.As someone who’s not a member of Society and has little interest in gossip, I tend to struggle with keeping track of all the titles and family connections.”
