Page 112 of The Scottish Duke
“Why now?” he asked. “Why mention the Matrimonial Causes Act now? You had plenty of time in the last day or so.”
“Because of Nan,” she said. She turned and looked at him steadily. “Because, for a little while, I thought she would die. Then I realized that someone wanted me to die. For marrying you. It seems to me that if I’m in danger for being your wife, I ought to at least be treated as one.”
He didn’t respond.
She stood, keeping herself silent. She knew who wanted her gone from Blackhall. So did Alex. Was he going to do anything about Mary?
How he treated this situation might well decree their future and the rest of their married life together. What had Louise said? Something about life being too short and to grab her happiness where she could.
Someone wanted to ensure her life was cut short now.
Chapter 28
Alex sat at his office desk, trying to concentrate on the fingerprint cards before him.
He put down his magnifying glass and stared out at the view of the morning from his office. It was no use. He couldn’t concentrate.
The day was a gray one. Mist huddled on the ground like earthbound clouds and clung halfway up the trees. The top branches were black against the white, dead sticks waiting for a touch of green.
He and Jason had each taken half the cards belonging to the staff and were going through them to find a match to the fingerprints they’d lifted from the cottage, in what he was mentally calling Lorna’s apothecary.
His contribution to the task was almost nil. His mind was on Lorna’s words from the previous night.
He’d slept on the damnable cot again, his dreams fitful things no doubt fueled by the events of the evening. He was worried about Lorna’s safety, incensed by the thought that someone would dare to try to harm her, and trying to push his suspicions away, at least until he had proof.
An excellent reason to press on with this task. He picked up the magnifying glass again and took the next card to examine.
She thought he’d just married her for Robbie’s sake. Not only that, but she’d leveled a look of such disgust on him that he’d physically felt it. It was one thing to be lectured by Thomas, who was a profligate satyr. Quite another for Lorna to excoriate him with a few words.
He felt more inept than he’d felt for years. Or ever. What did she want from him?
The truth?
She was right. That was the damnable thing about the whole situation. She was absolutely right. He didn’t have any grounds to mount a defense. His actions had been indefensible.
He’d been behaving exactly like he had all his life, burrowing inward, hiding himself, revealing nothing.
I’m not Ruth.No, she wasn’t. Lorna wouldn’t escape Blackhall for the entertainments of the city. She wouldn’t take lovers, of that he was certain. Nor would she allow him to remain in his office, immersed in his prints, if there was something on her mind.
Look what had happened last night. He didn’t doubt that she meant what she said. Scandal be damned, she might just sue for separation if he ever left her again. She was right about something else. They were good together. Better than he had envisioned.
For the first time in his life he knew he hadn’t lived up to the expectations of his family. Not only those of his father, by example, but his mother and uncle. The discordance of that thought had him standing, walking to the window, and fighting back the urge to flee.
He couldn’t escape himself, yet he’d certainly tried to do that, hadn’t he?
He had three problems at the forefront of his mind. One: Lorna and their relationship. He needed to define it, capture it, and understand it. Two: how did he keep his new family safe? Three: if Mary was behind the attack, as he suspected, how did he handle her?
Disturbed, he went back to his work and was almost instantly rewarded with a match. Fifteen minutes later he found another. Jason surprised him with an announcement that he’d found not just one match, but two.
He motioned Jason to his side. He slid the set of prints he’d taken from the shards of glass in the cottage next to the cards.
“You look at the ones I found and I’ll check yours,” he said.
They each spent a few minutes examining the cards.
“There are definitely four matches, sir,” Jason said.
He agreed.
