Page 96 of One Wicked Secret
Daniel introduced them. “This may sound odd, but we’re here to discuss Josephine Parkes, née Stenson. She was my wife’s grandmother and a witness to the marriage of Clarence and Cynthia Denby over fifty years ago.”
The gentleman smiled like the Lord had blessed him. He clapped his hands together in prayer as tears welled in his eyes. “I knew you would come before I met my maker. I told Mrs Trotter, I won’t leave this earth until a terrible injustice is set right.”
“Mrs Trotter?” Elsa inwardly sighed. Not someone else they needed to question. Her mother had gone to extraordinary lengths to hide one wicked secret.
“The kind woman who delivers my evening meals.” The reverend opened the door wide and beckoned them over the threshold. “Finally, after all these years. I’m not afraid to admit I had almost given up hope. But the Lord rewards the meek.”
The cottage was modest but welcoming, the faint, musty scent battling with that of dried lavender. Between the worn armchairs in the parlour was a table cluttered with letters and three pairs of spectacles.
“You must call me Thomas,” the fellow said, inviting them to sit in the only two chairs. “Mind the cat. He tends to jump onto the arm, although mainly when I’m reading.”
Daniel waited for her to sit but insisted on standing. “Who told you to expect us? You must have been informed fairly recently.”
“I was given the box, along with instructions, three years ago. As for Clarence Denby, I last saw him before he left London to live in Geneva.”
“In Port Noir?” she surmised.
“Yes, that’s right.” The man’s expression grew solemn. “Little did I know it would be the last time we would speak on this earthly plane.”
Questions swirled in her mind but she kept her composure, knowing it was important to absorb every piece of information. “Did you know Clarence Denby well?”
Thomas put his hand on his heart. “Like a son. He placed his faith in me. Trust is a treasure not easily given, and harder to restore once broken.”
She heard Daniel’s heavy sigh before he put a gentle hand on her shoulder. “The secret Clarence told you has caused us no end of trouble. I pray there’s a good reason for this elaborate plot to hide the truth.”
“Your wife is alive because Josephine and Terence kept the secret.”
“You knew my grandparents?”
“I knew all four people involved,” he said, a glimmer of pity in his eyes. “Josephine and Terence sacrificed much in the name of friendship. I met them numerous times, but for everyone’s safety, we agreed never to meet again.”
Tired of vague references and cryptic messages, Daniel said with evident frustration, “Forgive me if I sound blunt, but we have been battling for the truth for months. Two men are dead. My wife was shot. We’ve followed a trail of random clues when all we needed was your name and address.”
Elsa gave an apologetic smile. “What my husband is trying to say is: Can you tell us why Clarence Denby’s life should matter to us?”
Thomas raised his hands in mock surrender. “Of course. It’s all so overwhelming that it’s difficult to know where to begin. Perhaps start with your story, and I’ll answer questions as we go.”
Suspecting this was part of a test, Elsa told him about herfather’s journal, Lord Denby’s loan and the contract her father signed. “It’s all quite strange. Lord Denby seemed in no rush to marry me. He was happy to wait while I mourned the death of my parents, who died a little over two years apart.”
“Because as long as you were bound by the contract, he knew there was no hope of you marrying anyone else. That’s an important point to remember.”
“But Elsa did marry someone else,” Daniel said before giving a slightly altered version of what happened with Mr Carver. “She was found unconscious in the man’s cottage.” He mentioned the lies at the perfumer and hotel. “Was the motive to ruin my wife’s reputation so she had no hope of marrying anyone but Lord Denby?”
Thomas stood with his hands clasped behind his back, nodding while contemplating the question. “Without a doubt.”
“What makes you so sure?” Daniel asked.
“Clarence came to see me a week before he married Cynthia. He was in love with her, though she had no dowry, and his parents demanded he marry for money.”
“He married Cynthia in Islington.” Elsa thought it sounded rather romantic. Perhaps family pressure led to them living in Geneva. “We’ve seen evidence of their marriage and the birth of their child.”
“Yes, a clandestine arrangement to ensure no one knew they had wed. Well, no one other than their closest friends.”
“Because his family would have tried to prevent the marriage?” Elsa recalled her mother saying members of the peerage could be quite brutal when it came to getting their own way.
“Indeed. But Cynthia was with child. They left Englandfor Geneva a month after their daughter was born. Their friends lived with them near Port Noir.”
Elsa straightened. “Their friends lived with them in Geneva?”
