Page 18 of A Bride for the Beastly Duke
It took three long months for a Commission of inquiry to be formed and only because Edward insisted upon following up. He contacted every person that he knew as a retired Navy commander. He cajoled, he pushed, he was insistent and intractable. Finally, they set up the Commission, if only to appease him. By that time, however, Sommers had disappeared, and there were no other clues as to the man who had stabbed his brother to death. Nobody anywhere seemed to know who he was or what he might have been doing in France and with Jonathan.
Edward read the letter again. It still made no sense to him.
Once the inquiry was closed, the crown approached Edward about taking his brother’s place.
“You and he are very alike, and your skills would be an asset to the crown. If you were to join us, you would also have access to confidential papers and whatnot that might help you in your search for your brother’s killer.”
The last argument is the one that attracted Edward the most. He could not rest until he got to the bottom of this, and if doing his brother’s job would help with that, he was more than happy to sign on. He had expected that he would be provided with information about his brother’s last case and what, if anything, he might have been pursuing that made him a target.
So far, however, the crown had kept him busy with other cases. At the moment, he was supposed to be investigating a case of blackmail. One of the Duke of York’s younger sons had taken it upon himself to threaten a member of the exchequerwith blackmail in an effort to funnel funds to the French. The case was indeed delicate given the personalities involved, and Edward was tasked with coming up with enough evidence to bring a prosecution.
“But what about my brother’s case?” he asked when the file had been brought to his desk. “I am in the midst of trying to locate Sommers.”
“This is more urgent,” his immediate superior had informed him. “There are people out looking for your absentee soldier. Until he is found, there is nothing more we can do with your brother’s case, so focus on this one.”
Edward had tried his best to do so, but he kept coming back to the letter, trying to find a new angle or something that he had missed.
One single thread that I can pull is all I ask.
He reached for the bottle of whiskey and poured himself a full glass. There was a knock at the door, and he looked up with a frown. Who could be disturbing him at this time of the night? It was gone ten in the evening, and the household should have been fast asleep by now.
“Yes? Come in,” he said gruffly, expecting Notley. To his surprise, it was his wife who opened the door.
“Your Grace, I require to speak to you.” She lifted her chin and gave him a challenging look.
He stared back in disbelief, wondering why she persisted in seeking him out. “Is something the matter? If there is, I do assure you that my aunt or the butler is better equipped to help you with it than I am.”
“That is unfortunate because this problem requires your input. You must hear me since I am neither married to your aunt nor the butler.”
Edward’s eyebrow disappeared into his hair, “I beg your pardon?” he asked, surprised at her hostile tone.
“You must hear me. Kindly do not be facetious.”
He blinked a few times, completely taken aback by her aggressive directness. He pointed to the armchair across from himself. “Do have a seat then.”
She looked at the brown leather armchair as if it were a rotten carcass before lowering herself slowly onto it. She blew out her breath and then met his eyes. “It has been two weeks since we married, and in all that time, I have seen you perhaps twice. What do you have to say for yourself?”
He stared at her unblinking, feeling completely nonplussed. “I do not understand.”
Her eyes flashed with anger. “You do not understand? There are obligations of marriage, especially when one is a duke. You have fulfilled none of them. I had to go by myself to the village to introduce myself toyourtenants. Nobody has seen you, not just me. Is this how you intend to rule your dutchy? How are we to proceed? People meet me, they ask me questions about you, and I have no answers because I know nothing. Are you just to exist as a ghost in this in this castle? Why did you marry me?” Her voice echoed around the room, and every word had gotten louder and louder until she was shouting at the end.
Edward was rather frozen in place, not knowing how to proceed. “I am not sure what you want from me. You have the title, and your family has provided all the funds that you may need to make yourself at home here. I have given youcarte blancheto do the same. What more do you need?”
“I need a husband. Lily asks after you, and I have nothing to tell her. Every day your aunt smirks at me from the other side of the dining table, making quips about how I have failed to hold your attention—in front of my daughter!What did I do to you to deserve this?”
Edward lost all patience. “Do you think everything revolves around you? Do you assume that I am avoiding you just to embarrass you? Did it ever occur to you that I might have matters of my own that I must contend with?”
Ava made an impatient sound. “I am aware that your concern lies with your brother and what happened to him, and I am sympathetic and will help you in any way I can. However, thatdoes not give you the right to neglect your other duties — and I am not talking just about me here but about your land and your tenants.” She gestured angrily toward the door. “This is your home, but do you even know what renovations have been conducted in it for the last two weeks? Have you even bothered to notice, or do you intend to flit around the halls like a ghost for eternity?”
Edward blinked at her and then shook his head and laughed. “Do you honestly think I care what the corridors look like when my brother was killed, and the killer is still at large?”
“Of course, by all means, you need to avenge him. I do understand that. But does that mean you cannot do anything else? What of the legacy he left you? Will you just throw that away?”
“Do not… talk like you knew him.” He grabbed hold of the desk, gripping it hard in his anger as he ground the words out through his teeth.
She simply looked at him, her eyes sad, and then she got to her feet. “I do not know why I came here. It is obvious that you do not care. I am sorry that I bothered you.”
She turned to make her way to the door, but before he knew what he was doing, Edward grabbed her wrist to detain her.
