Page 18 of One Wicked Secret
“Blackmailed? Why?”
“The villain wanted your father’s journal. By all accounts, he kept detailed records of his business dealings.” Perhaps some of thosedealingswere illegal. Whatever was written on the pages must be damning. “A hired thug arrived at the house to collect the book. Magnus gave him a letter saying he had never seen the journal and it wasn’t amongst your father’s belongings.”
Elsa sat still, listening intently.
Clara reached for Elsa’s hand, clasping it tightly.
“The blackmailer threatened to hurt you unless your brother found the book. Magnus tore every volume off the library shelves, searched every room, even the basement and attic, but failed to find the journal.”
“Perhaps their father destroyed it before he died,” Clara said. “Some people don’t want their private thoughts known.”
Elsa’s gaze drifted to a dark corner of the room. There it remained for a few drawn-out seconds. “It’s a blue leather-bound book, smaller than the average-sized novel.”
Daniel’s pulse quickened. “You’ve seen the journal?”
So, it wasn’t a figment of the villain’s imagination.
“I crept up on my father in the hothouse and saw him studying the pages of a book. When I asked what he was reading, he shoved it into his coat pocket along with a pencil, and persuaded me to smell the roses. I knew not to ask a second time, and I never saw it again.”
For six months, Magnus had given the blackmailer free rein to search Edenberry. Despite endless nights spent watching the property, Daniel saw no one enter. The former Bow Street Runner he had hired to patrol the estate reported nothing untoward, either.
“Magnus claimed he knew nothing about the journal.” He was adamant. His father never mentioned keeping a diary and he had never seen it among his possessions.
“Men can be secretive,” Elsa replied.
Clara offered her insight. “The blackmailer is willing to kill to own the journal. Perhaps Magnus is lying and knows the moment he surrenders the book, he’s signing his own death warrant.”
“Yes,” Elsa mused. “That’s why he’s gone to Geneva.”
“Magnus fled to Geneva to avoid prosecution,” he informed her, but a seed of suspicion took root in his mind. Had Magnus lied? “He doesn’t have the money to pay damages and knows he’ll be liable.”
“To avoid prosecution? For what?”
“For failing to abide by the contract made between Lord Denby’s father and yours. You were supposed to marry a lord, not a commoner.”
Elsa jumped to his defence. “You’re not a commoner; you’re a member of the landed gentry. Some of your ancestors held noble titles.”
“Forgive my attempt at wry humour. I meant a lord is always considered a better match.”
“Magnus had faith in you. He told me he needed me to marry you because you’re the only man he trusted.”
A memory slid into his mind: his quick response to Magnus’ late-night summons—a note saying ‘come at once and bring two shillings’. The sickening sense of dread when he learned she was missing, feared dead. The instant wave of euphoria when Magnus begged him to marry her as they carried her back to the house.
“Marrying you was no hardship,” she added. “Yet Magnus used your pact to persuade you to marry me.” Elsa swallowed the rest of her port. “That’s what I find most confusing. Why did he not simply take me to Geneva?”
Daniel had asked himself the same question.
“He needed to place distance between you. The blackmailer couldn’t threaten to hurt you if he didn’t know where you were. Creating instability weakens an opponent.”
It had forced the devil to search for the book himself.
Daniel had expected to return to Chippenham to find Elsa’s home ransacked. That everything remained intact suggested the blackmailer had been methodical in his search.
“That’s why you said I’d made things worse by coming here.” Elsa looked at the window. Was she struggling to look at him, or had she heard a noise? “And why you were annoyed I brought Clara to town.”
“You did what you thought was right with what little information you had.” Daniel crossed the room, parted the curtain and peered outside. Jarvis was still atop his box. “But yes. Your being here complicates matters. There’s every chance Carver’s killer has seen you, though I pray you’ve limited your outings to Aldgate.”
“We’ve been discreet and tried our best to blend into the background,” Clara admitted. “Mainly to avoid alerting you.”
