Page 23 of Fit for a Duke
‘A life hereafter is what the churchwantsus to believe in and, as you say, it guarantees regular Sunday worship and a steady income. That way, the clergy are able to occupy the moral high ground and look down upon us lesser mortals, while simultaneously doing exactly as they please, all in the name of God, naturally.’
‘I am sure you are being sacrilegious.’ Clio threw back her head and closed her eyes for an expressive moment. ‘And in such a place, too. However, you have more reason than most. I expect you are thinking of your dead brothers and hoping that they will have a better time of it if they are reincarnated, which is understandable. As is your cynicism regarding the church, given that your family has suffered so many tragedies.’ When she opened her eyes again her gaze had been softened by compassion. ‘I am very sorry about that. Life is seldom fair but if one seeks explanations for its random acts of unkindness then one is likely to lose one’s senses.’
‘Thank you. Not many people dare to broach that particular subject, or stop to consider my feelings on the matter.’
She grinned. ‘I try never to be predictable—and besides, it is the most natural thing in the world to express sympathy for a situation that was not of your making. I am sure you didn’t expect to become duke, and even if you enjoy your elevated status I doubt whether you would have wished to assume it at the cost of your brothers’ lives.’
Ezra bowed his head. ‘How well you appear to understand me.’
‘I am a student of human nature. The manner in which people react to a particular situation fascinates me. Take last night in my aunt’s drawing room, for example. I watched the ladies being drawn to you like a moth to flame and I wondered how you could stand it.’ She sighed. ‘It all seemed so clinical. If this is what I have to look forward to when I am presented next year—a marriage mart that more closely resembles a cattle mart, I mean—then perhaps I shall spare myself that indignity.’
‘And deprive thetonof the pleasure of your presence?’
Clio smiled and waved the compliment aside. ‘I am not sure that I like the idea of matrimony, at least not at any cost, so it seems like an unnecessary torment. I did promise my cousin Adele that we would go through it together though, and I cannot break my word.’ She turned towards him with a capricious smile. ‘However, your friend Lord Fryer seemed very taken with Adele last night. If you could persuade him to offer for her than I would be released from my promise.’
Ezra laughed. ‘I would happily oblige, but for the fact that my friend falls in love on a weekly basis. Charming as your cousin appears to be, I’m afraid that I am unable to guarantee his constancy and cannot therefore recommend him as suitable husband material.’
‘How very disobliging of him.’ She sighed and threw up her hands. ‘Perhaps someone else will come along and fall for Adele’s myriad charms before next season commences. One can but hope.’
They fell into a momentary silence, which Clio eventually broke. ‘You asked if this site is haunted. Can you sense a presence? I have always thought that I could, but it is not malevolent, which is what draws me here. There again, perhaps that feeling is simply a product of my over-active imagination and I use it as an excuse to return here frequently. However, I don’t suppose ghosts from centuries past were the reason for your private discussion with Mr Godfrey.’
And so, Ezra thought, they returned to the substance of her earlier question. He had hoped to distract her but had clearly failed. She was a determined little minx and he knew that a haughty ducal reprimand for eavesdropping would not have the desired effect. He must tell her something, if only to prevent her from speaking publicly about what she had heard and misinterpreted.
‘Godfrey and I were attempting to decide who is out to kill me,’ he said, surprising himself by settling upon the absolute truth.
‘Kill you?’ She blinked at him, looking dumbfounded. ‘Someone here at this party wants you dead?’
‘Whether or not the person is here is open for debate,’ Ezra replied, watching a frown creep across her forehead. ‘But what is beyond question is that if I do not find and stop him first then I am likely to meet the same fate as my father and brother.’
‘You think they were both deliberately killed?’ she asked, her mouth agape.
‘My brother was, without a doubt. It was made to look like an accident, but it was clumsily done. I was with the army at the time so I wasn’t here to ask the right questions. By the time I returned, the matter had been investigated by the local magistrate and a decision reached that it had been an accident. He fell from his horse and broke his neck.’
‘You do not believe it?’ she asked, touching his arm.
‘Not a word of it,’ Ezra replied, covering her small hand with one of his own.
Clio glanced up at him, eyes wide, and withdrew her hand. ‘I am so very sorry,’ she said, tears swamping her eyes.
‘There, now I have made you cry, sweet Clio, and that was not my intention.’
He had been addressing her informally inside his head and did so aloud now without conscious thought. She raised no objections.
‘Life is so cruel,’ she said simply.
‘Richard was an expert horseman and had been seen by one of our keepers moments before the supposed accident, trotting along a fence line. The story goes that a shot was fired which spooked Richard’s horse, but the keeper is convinced it didn’t happen that way. Richard was riding an old favourite of his who seldom spooked at anything.’
‘Did the keeper not give evidence at the inquest?’
‘He was never called.’ Ezra threw back his head. ‘Someone in a position of authority ensured that he kept what he had seen to himself. When I asked, I was told by the magistrate himself that since the keeper hadn’t seen Richard actually fall, his evidence would have been of little value.’
‘Do you think he was bribed?’
‘The possibility occurred to me, but I dismissed it. The magistrate has been in his position for two decades and is generally respected as being fair. He has earned a reputation for dealing in facts alone and getting to the truth. He’s right that if our keeper didn’t actually see the accident then he couldn’t swear on a bible that the horse wasn’t spooked,’ Ezra said, attempting to be fair himself. ‘Horsesareunpredictable.’
‘Who fired the shot?’
Ezra sent her an approving look. ‘A very astute question, and one to which I haven’t been able to find a satisfactory answer. No more could the magistrate. One assumes that if one of our keepers had fired he would have made that admission.’
