Clarion leaned forward. “Then what? We still won’t be to the bottom of the sabotage. If he’s behind it, sooner or later, he’ll show his hand. Give me some credit, Benson. Besides, your brother Eli and I have people watching his office and home.”
Rob interrupted to tell him about Spangler’s offer and about Robbins showing the worm off the property at Willowbrook. “Coming to Caulfield Hall is one thing. Turning up at Willowbrook on his way is another. I don’t want that man within three feet of Lucy Whitaker.”
Under the earl’s knowing gaze, Rob shifted in his seat. “She’s your responsibility, Clarion.”
“Agreed. Make sure you remember that. She isn’t without protection.” The earl studied his half-brother with narrowed eyes.
What do you take me for? I have more honor than—Rob swallowed those words. He didn’t know if he would have saidthan youorthan your father. He ignored the earl’s warning frown. “We can guard Willowbrook. If he comes to the hall, you warn him.”
The earl appeared deep in thought, as if considering a mystery. “Did you say Spangler made you an offer to buy the place?”
Rob explained the two offers.
“Why would he sabotage a property he hopes to own?” Clarion mused. “Even if he were capable of a plot like that, why would he do it?”
Rob’s sigh came from a deep reservoir of frustration. “So my brother Eli also asks. What else has he done? You said you have people watching him. Any funny business?”
“I was getting to that.” Clarion clamped his lips shut, staring at the table for a long moment in grim silence as if gathering strength. Rob waited, the tension putting him on alert.
The earl spoke through a thickness in his throat. “My mother has gone to Nottingham to shop twice since she came home. She claimed she borrowed money from my sister. Lady Madelyn denies it.”
Rob sat up straight. “And—”
“The men I have watching reported that she met with Spangler—in a coffee shop, as if it were a chance encounter.”
“Two chance encounters? Unlikely.”
Clarion nodded grimly.
An unexpected swell of sympathy for the earl came to Rob. He certainly didn’t envy the man his mother. Before he could react, Clarion spoke slowly, as if pulling the words out one by one. “You need to know, Benson, that my mother believes I married beneath me. She bullied Marjory and loathes Lucy for her independent spirit and refusal to be cowed.”
“Did you confront her? Your mother, I mean,” Rob asked softly.
“Not yet. You’re the security expert. What do you advise?”
Rob had to respect his old nemesis for the integrity it took to come to the Willow with the revelation and a question that had to be painful. It was, without doubt, why Clarion had come.
“How would she react if you did?” Rob asked.
“Deny it. Attempt to bully me—I’m used to standing my ground, though. I could have her confined to the house. Even—” Clarion waved his hand as if to push the thought away.
“Even what?”
“Useless thought. There’s a small manor on the borders in Northumberland, an odd little parcel left in the entail. The house is gone to ruin, so sending her there seems unlikely.”
“Your thoughts about Spangler—give him rope to hang himself—made sense as it turns out. However much I wanted him slapped in prison, this information proves you were right to let him go and watch him.”
“If I make accusations, I’ll never know whether she is complicit or not.”
And he needs to be sure for his own sake. Rob lifted one questioning brow. “Neither you nor Eli believes Spangler is capable of orchestrating a plot against me. Someone else might be.”
Who that someone might be hung in the air between them. The earl nodded miserably. “Are you putting it about that you’ve had this generous offer from London? It might force their hand.”
“It might, unless his coconspirator is behind the offer.”
“If there is a coconspirator, and the offer came from them, they would have to have money,” the earl said.
And the countess has none.Rob slumped back in frustration. “None of what we know fits easily together. Why would the countess want Willowbrook anyway? She prefers London, does she not?”
