Page 29 of The Inconvenient Compromise
“No. Not him. Found someone else. But he’ll not be murdering just anyone. I need to know the particulars. I won’t summon him if I know the job ain’t one he’d take. Not the sort of man whose time you want to waste.”
The butler leaned in, “Two ladies. The Countess of Rathmore and Lady Ralston. They have information that is a threat to my employer’s position. That threat must be eliminated.”
The tavern keeper laughed dismissively. “What sort of threat do two ladies pose? What could they do?”
“It’s not they what can do. It is what they know. Now get the man here. I will pay whatever he requires.”
Lucian had heard enough. Getting up from his seat as silently as possible, he crept forward until he was directly behind the butler. “I don’t think you’ll be paying anyone. And you won’t be issuing any orders from prison… which is the only place you are going.”
The butler turned then, his face etched with panic. But that quickly faded into resignation. After all, he was a man nearing seventy. He had no hope of outrunning or overpowering anyone.
“I won’t spend my last years in a dark hellhole. I’ll tell you everything you want to know and more… if you will let me go.”
“You’ll speak to a magistrate and tell them all?”
The butler nodded. “I will, my lord.”
Lucian looked up at the tavern keeper, who then gestured to a boy sitting near the hearth. Immediately, the boy rose and scampered off, presumably to fetch the lawman as requested.
“Did you kill Estelle Weddington?”
The butler shook his head. “No. Nor did Lady Bruxton. It was an accident. A terrible one. We simply tried to hide it after the fact.”
Word had come from a messenger sent by Westerhaven. The trunk had been located. Its gruesome contents were discovered. Estelle Weddington had died from some sort of blow to the head, either from a fall or from being struck. “How?”
“She was attacking Lady Bruxton and fell over the railing, head first, to the marble ending below. I’ve never heard such a sound nor seen so much blood.”
“And hiring a murdered to kill my wife and the wife of my friend?”
“Lady Bruxton fears that their combined knowledge of her past misdeeds could see her ruined. The ladies she surrounds herself with are discouraged from developing friendships with one another. She keeps them at odds so they will never rise up against her and so they will be quick to cooperate with her when she turns on one,” the man explained. “I’ve been watching her do it for years. Since she was a new bride, fresh to London.”
Lucian shook his head, disgusted by what he was hearing. “And no one, including Lord Bruxton, thought to take issue with her behavior?”
“Lord Bruxton has his own interests, my lord, and they never included Lady Bruxton. He married her because she was beautiful and because she looked the part.”
“What part?”
“The part of his wife, of course. He wanted a woman who was beautiful. One whose origins were poor or meager enough that she would gladly accept his offer and that she would not question him too much about his own behavior and actions afterward.”
“His mistress?”
The butler shook his head. “No, my lord. He has alover,but his lover is not amistress.”
Understanding dawned instantly. There had been no rumors, no speculation regarding Lord Bruxton, but it appeared the man had been harboring a secret for many, many years. “I see. So they live entirely separate lives, and Lord Bruxton does not bother to keep himself informed about the wickedness of his wife?”
“Precisely, my lord. I think he understands that she is not above using his own very damning secrets against him if he were to try too hard to control her.”
“Yet, despite the fact that she is utterly reprehensible, you have been her loyal retainer for decades now.”
The butler dropped his head. “I am too old to get work elsewhere and not yet ready to be pensioned off. What choices do I have? I made myself indispensable to her to secure my position.”
The boy returned then, a member of the City Police in tow.
“That was remarkably efficient,” Lucian remarked.
“I was en route, sir,” the officer said. “Lord Ralston and his grace, the Duke of Westerhaven, had summoned me to Westminster Bridge regarding the discovery of Miss Estelle Weddington’s body. They informed me I would find my culprit here in your custody.”
“Not the culprit, but certainly a witness of significance,” Lucian said. “He’s ready to tell you everything.”
