Page 47 of Her Heart's Rightful Earl
Thomas looked sadly at Alexander and then shrugged. “I was at the club in Mayfair last night …”
Alexander remembered the place fondly. What he wouldn’t give to be able to dress up for the evening, take his Landau to Berkeley Square, and meet with his old friends for brandy and play billiards. The memory felt so long ago that it was as if it belonged to another’s life, although this was still Thomas’s reality, and Alexander felt a pang of envy as he longed for it.
“I saw your brother there. He did not see me—he was too drunk and was causing a stir, acting raucously. People avoid him, Wellwood.”
Alexander looked down at the wood chips and fallen leaves of the woodland earth beneath his feet, shaking his head in pity.
“Poor Marcus, what has become of his mind …” he mused, partly to himself.
“Whether or not we believe Marcus to be involved,” Thomas asserted, avoiding the glance of daggers Alexander shot him, “we need to find some concrete evidence to take to the magistrate.The longer we fumble through this independently, the higher the stakes. Charlotte has begun asking questions to which I cannot provide answers.”
“Charlotte?” Alexander smiled at his friend.
“Yes. I am very fond of her, but the way I am acting right now, I should not be surprised if she accepts some other proposal. I am aware my mind is distracted, my temper is short, and I evade her enquiries consistently. I do not know how she can trust me as I currently portray myself.”
“Arabella did not reveal my appearance to her then?” Alexander asked, impressed.
“Certainly not. Arabella has been an absolute font of loyalty.”
Alexander smiled indulgently to himself.
Hearing footsteps shuffling through leaves, Thomas and Alexander’s heads darted towards the encroaching noise, relieved to find it was only Captain Morrison joining them.
He launched immediately into his crucial communications.
“Look here–” the captain held out his hand and nestled in his palm were three mother-of-pearl gambling markers. On each, there was a scrawled initial or name.
“Gambling markers bearing signatures—and these papers–” the captain obtained some paperwork from his knapsack. “Demonstrating Marcus, the Earl of Wellwood’s debts to criminal organizations.”
Alexander snatched the papers and frowned at them. “Where did you get these?”
The captain looked between Thomas and Alexander, considering how much to say. “I believe it will not be news to you that there are some household staff members at the Wellwood residence who are a little disgruntled and, with a small tip for their pains, obliged in searching through the study to bring me items that may be relevant.”
Alexander shifted uncomfortably at the idea that his rightful home could be so easily infiltrated, but he reminded himself of the importance of the deed.
“These names …?” Alexander pointed at the list in his hand.
“These are names of organizations known to me, and I can tell you that they specialize in collection through violence.”
Alexander’s eyes glinted with fear as he appraised the captain.
“My brother must be so afraid …”
Thomas ignored Alexander’s sentimentality and addressed the captain directly.
“Then we can take these to the magistrate as proof of Marcus’s involvement!”
Alexander looked at his friend as though he were a traitor.
“Alas, the documentation provesmotivefor murder, but not definitive proof of the act that would satisfy magistrates.”
Alexander’s eyes zipped between the two of them in outrage at their insinuations. He held the documentation aloft.
“Such massive debts prove only that my brother is being exploited by predatory lenders, andnotthat he would resort tomurderto escape them! Young gentlemen often fall prey to sophisticated gambling operations designed to entrap them in impossible debt—we have all seen it happen. Marcus has been targeted by this underworld. It is our responsibility tohelphim, not to accuse him!”
The captain watched Alexander’s plight play out and then turned to Thomas as if he hadn’t even spoken.
“We need a confession or some evidence of Marcus caught in action that reveals guilt beyond doubt, then we can approach the magistrate.”
