Page 72 of Her Daring Earl
“Mandrake was on my list of gentlemen to investigate, but I must tell you that I didn’t find anything suspicious about him,” he said. “There are two other gentlemen, however, whose actions could be perfectly innocent or could be telling of a crime.”
“Who would they be?” Fitz asked, sitting back in his chair, crossing one leg over his other knee. He would have liked to have pulled Eliza into his lap – he had a hard time preventing himself from touching her or drawing her near – but he barely knew Archibald.
“Well, there is Lord Baxter Munroe.”
“Lord Baxter?” Eliza exclaimed. “He is my brother!”
“Yes, I know,” Archibald said, apology in his tone. “But he has motive, means, and opportunity. I have heard that he was not particularly pleased with the way your marriage came about. Apologies for the directness, but I believe it is suspected that you married in haste due to your… condition, my lady. Munroe was upset about this. Secondly, the apothecary confirmed that he has been a frequent visitor, although he was rather hazy in his memory of what your brother purchased. And finally, he was there at the time of the poisoning and is also a frequent visitor to The Scarlet Rose.”
“Madeline’s club,” Fitz told Eliza, who bristled slightly, but otherwise simply nodded.
“I am well aware,” she said dryly.
“Who is your second suspect?”
“Lord Brighton,” Archibald said, surprising Fitz.
“Brighton is one of my closest colleagues and an ally in Parliament.”
“Perhaps. But I don’t believe he is as good of a friend as you might think. He has been speaking with some of the other gentlemen about this bill that you would like to put forward.”
“He agrees with me. He is one of my staunchest supporters. Mandrake was one who was opposed .”
“Yes, but Brighton would prefer to take the glory for it rather than you. If you were no longer around, then he would have the opportunity to present it and take the credit. Added to that, he was not particularly pleased that you stole Lady Eliza out from under his nose. He has not visited the apothecary, but he does have a small one in his home. It wouldn’t take much to achieve what he needed to create a poison.”
Fitz was already shaking his head.
“I am not entirely sure what to make of this.”
“Which is why we are not coming forward and accusing anyone straightaway. We will have you speak openly about an evening you will partake in at The Scarlet Rose.”
“What?” Eliza practically yelped.
“Not to worry. He will not be doing anything there besides waiting to see if someone makes any attempt on his life.”
“That’s even worse,” Eliza said in a more even tone, apparently recognizing that her presence in the meeting wouldn’t help matters if she was allowing her emotions to overwhelm all else.
“If we are lucky, we will not even get that far,” Archibald said. “I am hoping that this man reaches out to Miss Madeline first and she will tell us of the plans before we have to put anything into place.”
“Do we trust her?” Eliza said wryly. “She did try to kill you, Fitz.”
“Not entirely,” Fitz assured her. “But if she doesn’t come forward, then we proceed with the plan as it is. Either way, we will determine who is behind this threat.”
“And you will stay safe,” Eliza said, staring him down.
“I will,” he confirmed.
“Do you promise?”
“I do.”
“As do I,” Archibald added. “Now, shall we discuss the details?”
“Very well,” Fitz said. “Let’s finish this.”
Matthew Archibald had a fairlysizable number of men working for him, which was both a blessing and a curse.
It reassured Eliza but also meant that it took another week for him to fully assemble his team and ensure all was in place. He had also told them that he wanted to provide enough time for word to spread regarding Fitz’s plans to celebrate his recovery.
