Page 71 of Marigold and the Marquess
She glanced up and felt several droplets fall on her cheeks. It was drizzling lightly now. “Really, Leo. If we don’t–”
“Marigold, enough. I will not have you meddling.” Leo truly looked as though he was at the end of his tether. Anger, disgust, impatience, all registered on his face. “Never mind the damn rain. You have likely wiped away all evidence with your big feet stomping across the area.”
“I do not have big feet.”
He emitted a grunt of disgust. “Fine, your tiny feet then. Who knows what you have crushed beneath those dainty slippers of yours? And what of your friends? All five of you have been walking upon the crime scene. How am I to tell which boot marks belong to the assailant and which belong to Octavian or Julius? I know they were trying to be careful. But can the same be said of you, Syd, or Gory? Were you even looking where you stepped when you ran to me?”
No, she had not been looking.
She had seen her husband and thought only of rushing into his arms…arms he had not extended to her.
“Let’s hope you have not obliterated anything vital.”
Gory cleared her throat. “Despite what you think, we were careful where we stepped. Since I am here, would you let me look at the body?”
Leo did not hesitate for a moment before answering with a growled, “No.”
“Because I could check under his fingernails. He might have scratched his assailant. And I can help determine the height of the assailant. Is the knife still in Lord Denby? One can tell by the angle it was plunged into him whether–”
“Not necessary. We have already made that determination.” Leo’s voice was still a harsh growl.
“And there is also the matter of the blood spatter. Surely, the killer must have gotten some blood on his clothing. How does one stab another through the heart and not get a drop on him? Is the scene very bloody?”
Leo just glared at Gory.
“Because if it wasn’t, then I would question the lack of blood. He might have been stabbed to divert attention from the true means of murder. If there is no blood, then he was likely dead before the knife was plunged into him. Blood does not flow if one is already dead.”
Leo now spared a glance at all of them. “Go home.”
Marigold’s heart felt bruised. “Is this all you have to say in response to Gory’s comments? They are quite thoughtful and intelligent. You know she is an expert when it comes to matters of blood.”
“So am I,” he said, trying to hide the undercurrent of anguish in his tone. “I bled for four damn years.”
Dear heaven.
How could she have been so stupid as to forget this and all the pain he had endured while imprisoned? He had not confided the precise details, but she had seen the scars on his back and been told enough to know his pain must have been horrific. Had he watched others being treated just as brutally? Heard their screams?
She put a hand to her stomach as the realization of his ordeal hit her hard and nauseated her.
She had cried over Leo’s scars the first time he had taken off his shirt and turned his back to her. And yet, she had not even considered how agonizing all of this was for him. How could she treat him so cruelly? They had wanted to help but were only rubbing salt into the raw wound of his years of hurt.
“Sorry, Leo,” Octavian said. “They outsmarted me. I should have anticipated their tricks and taken them back to Chipping Way using a longer route. Truly, I am sorry.”
Leo nodded. “Just get them back to my house, will you?”
“At once.” He and Julius herded them back inside the carriage.
As the carriage jerked to a start, Octavian began to lecture them. “Seriously, do you have any idea how difficult this has to be for Leo? And you barge in on him as though you are on a picnic. Gory, don’t you dare look despondent over being denied the sight of a dead body.”
Syd tipped her chin up to protest, but Marigold stopped her. “Octavian is right.”
Syd regarded her quizzically. “He is?”
Marigold nodded.
Octavian leaned forward, his big, looming presence naturally intimidating even though he spoke gently to her and her friends. His gaze rested particularly on Syd. “You and Gory are on the marriage mart. Lady Dayne and Lady Withnall are generously sponsoring your come-outs. Is this any way to repay their efforts? How about you concentrate on gaining the attention of alivingbody? Someone capable of breathing and speaking. And you, Marigold…”
Her eyes widened in surprise. “What about me?”
