Page 85 of Marigold and the Marquess
Julius let out a soft whistle. “Then I hope Ian’s investigators get to Denby’s butler before others do.”
“Did Denby keep an appointment book?” Octavian asked.
“It is likely, but we have not found it yet. Whoever killed Denby probably grabbed it off his desk. Thanks to Gibson’s quick action, the killer did not have time to take any other incriminating ledgers. Finn Brayden was already working on those ledgers when Marigold and I arrived this morning. Now, your turn. Were you able to speak to Lady Withnall?”
“Yes,” Syd said. “That woman is amazing. She knew very little about Denby other than to say she thought he was raised in Exeter. No family to speak of, although she did not think he had been raised an orphan. But he is not a young man, so it is likely his parents died years ago, possibly decades ago, and he was left pretty much to fend for himself. No siblings or other close relatives that she knew of.”
Leo had stopped paying attention to Syd’s report at the mention of where Denby had grown up. “Exeter?” he repeated, his heart quickening and his brain in such a rapid whirl, he thought it might explode. “Are you certain?”
Syd nodded.
He had been standing, but now took a seat beside Marigold for no other reason than he needed to be close to her, although he was not certain why. Nor could he explain the sudden need to hold her hand. He loved the way her delicate fingers rested in his palm. “There’s his connection to my cousin, Cummings. He also grew up in Exeter.”
Marigold frowned at him, but did not remove her hand from his. “Lady Withnall merelythoughtDenby had been raised there. That is hardly conclusive. How old is your cousin? He must be a few years younger than you, and you are not even thirty yet. How old was Denby? In his mid-forties?”
“Yes, but so is my cousin.” Leo knew Marigold was awaiting an explanation of the Poole family tree. “Cummings’ father and mine were brothers. Obviously, mine was the elder. A confirmed bachelor, or so everyone thought, until he met my mother and fell in love at first sight. Cummings was about to enter university when I happened along.”
“He must have been shattered,” Syd remarked. “All these years, thinking he would succeed your father as marquess, only to be suddenly denied what he had come to believe was his rightful inheritance.”
Marigold turned to him, her shift so abrupt, she accidentally bumped the small table where she had set her teacup down. Her spoon clattered against the fragile, bone china. She took a moment to steady it before returning her attention to him. “We must report this to Ian right away. If anyone goes to Exeter, it ought to be one of his investigators.”
“It ought to be me,” Leo shot back gruffly.
She cast him a stubborn look and slipped her hand out of his. “Not on your life, Leo. That is a foolish idea. But rest assured, anywhere you go, I’ll go.”
“No, you won’t. I forbid it.”
She rolled her eyes. “I happen to be related to Exeter’s current magistrate. Well, we are not exactly kin, but two of my Farthingale cousins, Willow and Camellia, are married to his cousins, Shayne and Lorcan Brayden. That is connection enough to make him a part of the Farthingale family. A word from me ought to be enough to have you barred from Exeter, if you mean to go there simply to kill your cousin.”
Leo could not believe what he was hearing. “Lorcan Brayden is married to a Farthingale?”
She nodded. “Do you know him?”
“Yes.” Lorcan was perhaps England’s best Crown agent, but he was not going to mention it to everyone since Lorcan’s effectiveness was due to people not knowing his true role for the Crown.
Marigold smiled. “Willow lives in Taunton with her husband, Shayne Brayden. He happens to be the Taunton magistrate. Their cousin, Rafe Quinton, is Exeter’s–”
“Got it,” he said, abruptly cutting her off. “No need to bother Ian. I’ll ask RomulusBraydento write me a letter of introduction.”
“He won’t if Violet tells him not to do it.” Marigold cast him an irritatingly smug look. “You forget, she is also aFarthingale. We stick together.”
“Gad, how many of you are there?” he remarked, not particularly concerned. No one was going to stop him, not even Exeter’s magistrate. Quinton? Dare he ask if Rafe was related to Deklan Quinton?Dear heaven.It was Deklan who had found him and gotten him released from his hell hole. Lorcan was the best operative working in England, but Deklan worked the most dangerous foreign missions on behalf of the Crown.
Finally, he gave in and asked. “Is the Exeter magistrate related to Deklan Quinton, by any chance?”
Marigold nodded. “They are brothers, which also makes him a Brayden relation and therefore a Farthingale relation by marriage…even though they themselves are not married to Farthingales. Rafe is the eldest. And if you somehow wheedle Romulus into writing you a letter of introduction, have him include me because I am coming with you.”
Blast.
Why did she have to be so stubborn?
He was not taking Marigold with him. “Have you forgotten about the opening of your Hall of Dragons exhibit? You cannot miss it. Aren’t you supposed to give a lecture after the opening ceremony?”
“Yes.” She stuck out her stubborn chin. “Have you forgotten that you are to have a ceremony, too? Some minor thing…oh, what is it again? Ah, yes. I remember. You are to be inducted as a Knight of the Thistle. Of course, this happens all the time. Oh, perhaps once in fifty or sixty years? Nothing important. The royal family and the entire House of Lords will not notice your absence, in the least.”
His ceremony was a little over two weeks away. If he left now, he could easily make it to Exeter, deal with Cummings, and be back in time to receive the honor of a knighthood which was something he neither wanted nor particularly deserved.
He hadn’t deserved that damn medal, either.
