Page 21 of A Scandalous Bargain
It seemed Mrs. Chamberlain had gone to Bow Street after all. Thomas entered the sitting room and immediately recognized the constable. “Mr. Sheffield.”
Harry Sheffield, brother to Thomas’s friend North, the Viscount Northwood, inclined his head. “Good afternoon, my lord.”
“Please, call me Rockbourne. Your brother is a friend of mine.”
Sheffield was a rather imposing figure, with broad shoulders and an inch or two on Thomas. His dark auburn hair was brushed back from his forehead, which was lightly creased. “That’s why I’m here. My colleague is leading an investigation into your wife’s death, and I asked to accompany him.”
Even from the grave, Thea would torment him. “May I ask why? Not why you’re here, but why is there an investigation? Thea fell from the balcony. It was a tragedy. She is already interred.”
“Her mother, Mrs. Chamberlain, is concerned it may not have been an accident. She asked Bow Street to conduct an inquiry. It’s a formality, Rockbourne.”
Thomas supposed he understood that. “What will this investigation entail?”
“We’ll interview everyone in the household and look at where she fell.”
Everyone? “You won’t speak with my daughter. She barely understands what happened.”
Sheffield shifted, his features displaying a slight discomfort. “That won’t be necessary. My apologies. I wish we weren’t bothering you at all.”
Thomas exhaled. “I understand. Can I get you anything?”
“No, thank you. Shall we sit?”
Gesturing to the settee, Thomas took a chair opposite. He waited for the constable to pose his first question.
Sheffield withdrew a small bound book and a pencil. He opened it and scratched something on the parchment. “Can you tell me what happened prior to Lady Rockbourne’s fall on Sunday night?”
Tension spun through Thomas’s frame as he tried to find a comfortable position. He hadn’t wanted to think about this again, let alone speak of it. “We were in the sitting room, as was sometimes the case at that hour.” In truth, Thomas tried to avoid her, but occasionally that was impossible. “She’d imbibed in a great deal of port, which was not unusual.”
“Her maid, Miss Emily Spicer, said you and she were arguing and that you often became angry with her.”
Spicer had provided testimony? He’d rarely spoke to the woman. She was—or had been—Thea’s maid and kept entirely to her mistress.
Thomas flexed his hands, then flattened them on his knees. “Is that what she said?”
Sheffield’s gaze was unflinching. “It was.”
Unfortunately, the maid wasn’t entirely wrong. Theyhadbeen arguing, and Thomassometimesgrew angry with Thea. To her, his anger justified her outrage. She hated when he failed to rise to her bait, which he tried to do as much as possible.
“I would rather not discuss the specifics of our conversation. The woman is dead, and I’d prefer to let her rest in peace.” Thomas wanted peace too.
“Why would her mother think you’d pushed her? Many married couples argue.”
“Do they?” Thomas had hoped his own parents were an aberration. “I understand you are shortly to be wed. Do you expect to argue with your wife?”
A quick smile flashed across Sheffield’s mouth. “In fact, I do. I also expect to make up in a thoroughly enjoyable fashion.”
Thomas wanted to laugh, but the truth was that he couldn’t imagine such a relationship. Envy burned within him. “To answer your question, I can only guess at why my mother-in-law would think I pushed my wife from the balcony. Lady Rockbourne despised me. She likely told her mother any number of untruths about me, such as that I was unfaithful. Which I was not.” Thomas saw no harm in telling him something Thea’s mother had likely already reported to him or another constable.
“Your wife despised you? How did you feel about her?”
Exhaling, Thomas glanced toward the portrait of them that hung in the corner. It had been painted shortly after they’d wed. He made a mental note to remove it immediately. “I suppose I felt the same way about her.” He met Sheffield’s gaze and didn’t flinch.
“You won’t tell me what you were arguing about?”
No, he wouldn’t, not entirely. “I confronted her about her infidelity—I doubt her mother mentioned that. The countess grew angry. She went out onto the balcony and the next I knew, she’d fallen. As I said, she was quite intoxicated.”
“And this was a common occurrence? Her intoxication, I mean.”
