“I won’t dispute that. I wish I could say that I was surprised by the callous way that William is treating his new wife, but I can’t.”
Fredrick glanced at the opened door. “Will you be all right staying here?” he asked. “I only ask because until we know for certain that Lord William is behind this, you are in danger.”
“I will be fine. My staff is loyal to me.”
As he said his words, William stepped into the room with the usual annoyed look on his face. “You asked to see me, your lordship,” he grumbled with an exaggerated bow.
With a frown, Harred asked, “Where were you?”
“Why should that concern you?” William demanded. “I don’t answer to you.” He shifted his gaze to Lord Chatsworth and tipped his head. “Lord Chatsworth.”
Fredrick rose from his seat. “I wanted to wish you congratulations on your wedding. You have a lovely wife.” His words were pleasant enough but there was a sternness to them.
“She is tolerable, I suppose,” William responded.
Harred crossed his arms over his chest as he studied hisbrother. William’s hair was slightly disheveled, which was in stark contrast to how it normally was. His brother always took great care with his appearance so why had he stopped?
“I need to know where you were,” Harred pressed.
William met his gaze and narrowed his eyes. “Why should I tell you?” he mocked. “You may try to lord yourself over me, but not for long. My solicitor is looking for a place for Ruth and me to reside in for the rest of the Season.”
“I am not trying to lord myself over you, but it is important that I know where you were,” Harred said.
“Pray tell, why is that?” William asked.
Fredrick did little to hide his disdain for William as he shared, “Because our carriage was tampered with and we were fortunate to escape the accident with minor injuries.”
Realization dawned on William’s face and his mouth dropped open. “And you think I might have something to do with it?” he asked. “Surely, you cannot be that daft.”
“We don’t know what to think at this point, but if it wasn’t you, then who else could it be?” Fredrick asked.
With a swipe of his hand, William said, “I resent the implication, especially since I had nothing to do with it.”
Harred noticed that William was growing increasingly angry, but he still hadn’t answered the question as to where he had been for the last few hours.
“It is simple,” Harred started. “Just tell us where you were these past few hours and we can move on.”
“I won’t do it,” William said. “My business is my own, and I don’t need to explain myself to you.”
“William, be reasonable—” Harred attempted.
William cut him off. “You want me to be reasonable? Yet you are accusing me of getting my hands dirty and tampering with a carriage. Why in the blazes would I do that?” he asked. “Is it not more likely that this was a terrible accident?”
“No, it wasn’t,” Harred replied. “Not only were the bearings loosened on the wheel, causing it to fall off, but the reinshad been tampered with. Someone didn’t mean for us to walk away from the attack.”
Walking over to the drink cart, William picked up the decanter and poured himself a generous helping of brandy. “I can’t help you, Brother,” he said. “But look elsewhere. I had nothing to do with this.”
Harred had a fairly good idea as to where his brother was so he decided to confront him about it. “Were you with another woman?”
William’s face blanched, but he quickly recovered. “Would it matter if I was?”
“Good gads, you just got married,” Harred replied. “How could you treat your wife with such disrespect?”
Picking up his drink, William said, “Ruth knows that this is a marriage of convenience and nothing more. I do not owe her an explanation.”
Harred shot Fredrick a look of disbelief. He was at a loss for words. His brother hadn’t changed one bit now that he had a wife. If his brother was so callous in his treatment of Ruth, he was beginning to wonder what else he was capable of. Furthermore, William didn’t seem too bothered that someone had just tried to kill him, alongside Fredrick and Octavia.
William took a sip of his drink before saying, “If this interrogation is over, I have things I need to see to before I go back out tonight.”
