Page 99 of One Wicked Secret
Any respect Daniel once held for his brother-in-law had turned to boiling disdain. “I doubt he even made it to Dover.”
Rothley released the golden-haired coward. “Oh, he went to Geneva but returned two months ago. You can thank the Earl of Berridge—he promised to tear up the vowels of any man who helped me find your brother.”
Although Daniel’s temper flared, it was Elsa who gritted her teeth and stepped forward. “You came home and didn’t bother to visit me at The Grange? You realise I was shot while trying to discover who murdered Mr Carver?”
“Yes,” Magnus grumbled, tugging his coat sleeves. “The marquess told me when he bundled me into his carriage and tried to strangle me with my cravat.”
“I was rather polite until you forced me to act like a heathen.” Rothley strode to the decanters on the console table, poured a stiff brandy and swallowed it swiftly.
So many questions whirled through Daniel’s mind that he could only scowl at Magnus in furious silence.
“Well?” Elsa demanded. “I’m waiting for an explanation. Let’s begin by you sitting there”—she pointed to the leather wingback chair—“and telling us everything you know about the deceitful Mr Carver.”
One irate glare from Daniel had the fop falling into the seat.
“Can I at least have a drink? A brandy won’t go amiss. I’ve been standing outside White’s for hours, chilled to the marrow of my bones.”
“Did you kill Carver?” Daniel blurted, refusing to wait another second before hearing this fool’s confession.
Magnus flinched. “Of course not.”
“Did you find Elsa in the woods and put her in Carver’s bed to force me to marry her?” Had he staged the scene, knowing Daniel loved her?
“What?” Deep frown lines etched his brow. “You think I would drug and humiliate my own sister? Everything happened as I said. Elsa went missing. I asked for your help to locate her, and we found her in that terrible state.”
Instinct said Magnus was telling the truth. Still, he had lied about many things. “Who do you think killed Carver?”
Magnus jerked like it was a stupid question. “If I knew that, I would sleep better at night. Whoever it is has connections. I fled Port Noir in fear for my life.”
“Why did you choose to hide in Port Noir?” Elsa asked, showing no sympathy for her brother’s plight.
The shifty look in Magnus’ ice-blue eyes confirmed he was not as ignorant as he pretended. “It’s something Father said while dosed with morphine on his deathbed. The crux of his problem with Denby lay in Port Noir. Then he begged me not to let you marry the lord.”
Daniel felt the devil’s fury consume him. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me that before you left for Geneva? I spent months investigating your father’s business associates, all to no avail.”
He’d abandoned his wife and might have lost her forever had she not come to London to confront him.
“Because my father said you were the only one strong enough to save Elsa, and I feared you would insist on coming with me to Geneva.”
Elsa clutched her abdomen as if it pained her. “Father said that? You knew my life was in danger before the incident with Mr Carver?”
Magnus’s cheeks flushed red, as obvious as blood onsnow. “It was after Father died. I read the letter addressed to you, which he’d hidden in his Bible. He said to solve a puzzle, one must begin at the beginning.”
Heat flooded Daniel’s palms. The desire to shake Magnus had him clenching his fists at his sides. “What else did the letter say?”
“That Denby had tried to ruin Father to hide a secret. That’s why I went to Port Noir, but no one there knew Lord Denby. Father said Elsa should trust no one. That Gothic tales echo the truth of real life.”
Magnus’ admission answered one question.
Elsa’s parents were right to leave a trail of confounding clues. If Magnus knew what had really happened in Port Noir years ago, he would have confronted Denby and found himself dead in a ditch.
“If only I’d found Father’s journal,” Magnus continued, frustrated with himself. “I’m certain he kept proof of Denby’s misdeeds.”
Daniel looked at Elsa, willing her not to mention the blue book. “Strange you say that when Charmers insists you were behind the schemes to ruin your father. He’s in custody now, facing charges of fraud. There’s evidence confirming Carver was also involved.”
Looking as guileless as a babe, Magnus shook his head. “I haven’t the faintest idea what you mean. Carver was inept, always misplacing things and bungling the accounts. But Father trusted him. As for me, why would I steal from my own coffers?”
Daniel fell silent.
