Page 18 of The Hero

“Then perhaps a French soldier disarmed the duke before running him through with his own sword?”

“Plymouth’s sword was recovered after the battle. There was no blood on it to show it had killed anyone.”

“How many officers, apart from Plymouth, were present in that part of the woods that day?”

“Ten, excluding myself.”

She frowned in thought. “Leaving only five. You said you were shot during the battle, and none of the remaining four Ruthless Dukes would have ever struck Plymouth down.”

Gideon felt briefly warmed by her confidence in their unquestionable affection and loyalty for Plymouth. He also knew it was only a brief respite, because Harry was too intelligent not to add two and two together and reach the correct conclusion.

Her chin rose abruptly. “My father was one of those five officers.” Her eyes widened. “My God, are you here because you think my father might have killed Plymouth?” She stared at him incredulously for several long seconds before bursting into unrestrained laughter.

Which was not at all the response Gideon had been expecting.

* * *

It took Harry several long minutes to attempt to bring her humor under control. At which time, she glanced at Gideon’s regretful expression before laughing louder and longer than before.

Because the very idea of her father killing a fellow officer was ludicrous.

Yes, he had been present that day, as had the rest of his regiment. But he had also received a wound to the head during the battle and been rendered unconscious. Even after he had recovered enough to return home, he had remained muddle-headed about the events of that day. Harry had ceased questioning him about it once she realized how distressed it made him.

But she would never believe her father’s reluctance to discuss that day was because he was guilty of attempting to kill a fellow officer.

She would have found it far easier to believe if Gideon had suspected Edward of killing someone. Her brother was also a romantic, but in a way that called for him to perform outlandish heroics and knightly deeds.

But she knew from talking with her brother that Edward and his regiment had been under the direct command of the Prince of Orange at Waterloo.

She now gave a shake of her head. “You could have saved yourself the journey here and the excruciating company you have been forced to keep, myself included, if you had called upon my father in Gloucestershire before this and simply asked him if he had killed the Duke of Plymouth.”

“I do not find your company in the least excruciating,” Gideon refuted huskily.

“This is not about me.” She impatiently dismissed that he had chosen to linger on that part of her statement. “The relevant part of what I said was that you should have visited my father privately and asked if he had slain Plymouth. His memory has been a little…amiss since he was wounded at Waterloo, but I am quite sure, if you had asked, he would have tried to answer your questions.”

“I had not realized your father was injured during that battle?”

She nodded. “He received a blow to the head. Once he recovered, it was discovered that some of his memories of that day were either completely lost or temporarily mislaid.” She smiled slightly. “Edward was most put out when our father’s initial attitude toward him revealed that he had completely forgotten Edward even existed.”

“That is…worrisome.”

“Oh, he remembered his son eventually, but not soon enough to soothe Edward’s ruffled feelings.” She sobered. “I do not believe my father capable of killing anyone in cold blood, so one of the other four officers must be responsible for Plymouth’s death. No?” she queried when Gideon slowly shook his head.

“No,” he confirmed grimly. “The other four Ruthless Dukes have already established it was not one of those officers.”

“Beyond a doubt?”

“Beyond the shadow of a doubt,” he assured firmly.

“Leaving my father as the only officer yet to be investigated?”

“Yes.”

“Oh.”

“My attraction to you was wholly unexpected,” he added with a frown.

Harry could imagine that it was. She had known Gideon for such a little time, but she already knew he was not a flirtatious or promiscuous gentleman. Nor did she believe him to be in the habit of indulging in sexual dalliances with women he had just met.

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