Page 84 of A Bride for the Beastly Duke
“I had surmised that you did. Pray tell.” He gestured for Pemberton to have a seat while he crossed over to the drinks tray and poured them both a brandy.
“It is as I thought. They are going to bury the Fenton issue. Official cause of death is he threw himself off the cliff in a fit of day of jealous rage when he realized that his former paramour, your wife, did not love him any longer.”
Edward gnashed his teeth. “How dare they use her as a scapegoat?”
Pemberton snorted, “I thought you would have learned by now that nothing is sacred to these people. Nothing but power and money.”
“Yes, well they usually dress it up a lot better than this.”
“Or perhaps, you were willfully blind.”
Edward sighed, “Perhaps.”
“In any case, I am reading the writing on the wall. I only came by to give you the news and to let you know that I will be setting sail for Spain soon.”
Edward stared at him. “You think they will still come after you?”
“Perhaps not. I have a fair bit of leverage. I suggest you get some if you want to live in peace.”
Edward looked down at the table. “I have his knife. The blade is serrated in a very unique manner. I suspect that if we matched it with Jonathan’s wounds, we would be able to prove that Lord Fenton killed my brother.”
“Yes, perhaps, but the man is dead. The Home Office could twist it any which way. They would certainly insist that he acted alone.”
“Not if I had the name of the man for whose title deed they were willing to kill. Lord Fenton does not personally benefit from that death. The government, however, does.”
Pemberton gave a cynical smile. “And you are hoping I will give you this name?”
Edward looked him in the eye. “Why else would you have come here?”
Pemberton sighed and then laughed softly, shaking his head. “You Marlow men will be the death of me,” he murmured softly.
Edward just looked at him.
“Fine,” Pemberton burst out, “I shall give you the name. Perhaps an address as well. You might benefit from direct correspondence.”
“Thank you.”
Pemberton huffed, “Do not thank me. Just don’t die. Your brother would be very disappointed if you did.”
Edward smiled, “Jonathan always did have the knack for making people not want to disappoint him.”
“Good,” Pemberton said and removed a paper from the inner pocket of his jacket. “Be careful,” said he warned as he put it on the desk, and then turned around and left.
Edward snatched it up and opened it, reading the man’s name, his address, and the location of the land in question. He nodded to himself. “That should do it.”
Ava looked up as Edward came into the room. He stopped right in front of her rocking chair. “I have to go to London,” he said.
She pursed her lips but nodded in agreement. “I understand. Be careful.”
He bent down and kissed her cheek. “I promise,” he whispered before crossing over to his vanity and opening it to take out some clothes. “I promise this will be a quick trip; for good or ill, I should be back by the day after tomorrow.”
“Where will you stay while you’re in London? At the townhouse?”
“Perhaps not. Why be easy to find? If your father has no objection, I shall stay with them.”
“Of course, he has no objection. I think he would prefer it. That way he would know at once if—” she cut herself off abruptly, not even wanting tothinkthe word.
Edward turned to face her. “I think at this point, they are awaiting my move. I have no doubt they have people watching us, but they do not know what I know or what I will do. So, I think I should be relatively safe to speak with Sandringham. After that, however, all bets are off.”
