Page 35 of The Lady Confesses
Bates’s eyes narrowed. “You still think her entirely innocent?”
“I do. If she’d wanted out of the marriage, she had other ways to get out of it.”Or she’d had other ways out of it, until he couldn’t keep his cock in his bloody trousers.“And after the ransom refusal, had she elected to remain with her sister and the Hound, no one would have questioned it, and Ernsdale wouldn’t have dared brave the scandal to demand she return.”
Bates was silent for a moment, considering those things. “Those points do have a certain degree of logic. But there has to be more.”
“Hettie would never have harmed him. She’s not the sort to plot out a murder for hire. It’s not in her nature.”
Bates drew back. “Hettie... not Lady Ernsdale. You are more than simply a hired inquiry agent to her! You have a personal relationship with the woman!”
“I do,” Joss admitted. “Just as you have a personal relationship with the woman residing at 47 Bedford Court.”
“Do not dare threaten her!”
Joss shook his head in denial. “I’m not threatening her. I’m just pointing out that if the situation were reversed, and she was facing such accusations, you’d do exactly as I am to prove her innocent.”
“Fine. I’ll take it on account,” Bates admitted. “You’re a lot of things, Ettinger, but your ability to read a suspect has always been spot on.”
Because he’d been raised in a place where reading someone’s intent and capabilities had often been a matter of life and death, he’d learned early on what the cost of inaccuracy could be. “Speak to her. Speak to her without any sort of bias. After all, it was Dagliesh who pointed you in her direction... ask yourself why he would do that. And how the hell did he even know that his uncle was already dead and had likely been murdered?” That was the thought that had been niggling at his mind from the beginning. The man had time to seek out the Runner, pass along his accusatory tale, and set something in motion that would cast suspicion on anyone but him. Still, Simon had known before anyone else did that Ernsdale wasn’t only dead but had been murdered. If that wasn’t some proof of his guilt, what could be?
Bates nodded. “She’s no longer my primary suspect. But I’ll not be taking her off the list altogether. Not until I know for certain who the guilty party is.”
It was a gamble to confess it, but Joss didn’t feel he had any choice. They needed Bates on their side. “That’s all any of us want, Inspector Bates. To find out precisely who did this... because Lady Ernsdale is with child. And if the person who murdered Lord Ernsdale did so to gain the title, that makes her a potential victim rather than a suspect.”
“Is the child Ernsdale’s?”
Joss did not lie. But he answered without answering. “Under the law, any child conceived during a marriage is considered tobe the progeny of the husband. And that’s what we’re up against here. The letter of the law.”
“I’ll ask around about Dagliesh.”
“Find out if he has any connection to the Walpoles,” Ettinger suggested. “I can’t help but feel there is something there.”
“Is this one of your hunches or based in fact?”
“A hunch,” Joss admitted. “But you know they are never wrong.”
Bates cursed. Because he did know.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Simon entered thesolicitor’s office in high spirits. As quickly as the man had summoned him, he could only imagine that things had gone smoothly with Henrietta and she had capitulated to his demands. It didn’t take long for his spirits to flag. The grim-faced solicitor appeared quite put out.
“What’s happened?”
“Your aunt is with child,” the solicitor replied. “And there is naught to do now but wait. Perhaps the child will be female and it will have no bearing on your claim to the title. But if she gives birth to a son—I do not need to tell you how disastrous that would be for you.”
Simon sank into a chair. “With child? It cannot be my uncle’s! He was impotent!”
“Who knows that? Who can testify to it? Only his wife, and it is in her best interest to say nothing!”
Simon cursed bitterly. “I’m a dead man. Ardmore will not give me any more time. If I cannot repay him, it will be the end of me... and you. You’re just as indebted to him as I am!”
“You think I do not know that?” the solicitor snapped. “There is one possibility... women lose their babes all the time. Just because she’s with child is no guarantee. If Lady Ernsdale were to suffer some sort of accident... perhaps a fall?”
“It won’t be easy. She’s moved in with her sister and that criminal! I’ll not be able to get to her.”
The solicitor shook his head. “Not you. But a servant perhaps? A maid or a footman who could be swayed to see our way of things?”
Simon nodded. Remembering the maid who had been Hettie’s constant companion and a constant thorn in his side, he smiled. The girl’s mother and sister lived in town. The mother was not well, and the girl—she was young. Very young. Not even fifteen. Foster would do anything for her mistress, true. But would she do those things if it meant the life or death of her family?
