Page 65 of Vengeance in Venice
“That is very kind of you,” Solomon said.
“It is a most disturbing event. I suppose there is no doubt that it was poison?”
“Not according to the doctor—who believes she only survived because she ingested so little.”
“Or because no one intended me to die in the first place,” Constance said. “Just to frighten me away.”
Kellar regarded her. “And they haven’t, have they?” he said slowly. “Is that because you are foolishly brave? Just foolish? Or because you know who did it?”
“We have a few theories,” Solomon said.
Kellar grimaced. “I imagine I must feature there.”
“Your name was on the list,” Constance said, “but we could find no motive.”
His eyes twinkled at her bluntness. “I have none,” he assured her. “I wanted to marry your mother, you know.”
“Juliet?” Constance said in disbelief, before she could stop herself.
Kellar smiled. “Why should that surprise you? Presumably she marriedsomeone.”
Constance, thinking of Solomon, merely smiled back and kept the truth to herself, although curiosity surged. “How did you meet my mother?”
“At a garden party. The sun shone on her hair like a halo.” Kellar inclined his head. “Much as it does on yours now. I all but forced our hostess to introduce us, and I courted your mother most assiduously.”
This sounded like respectability of a kind totally alien to Juliet—or at least Constance’s knowledge of her. Suspicions rose.
“Did her family approve?” she asked lightly.
Kellar’s mouth quirked. “You are trying to catch me out. I don’t blame you for your suspicion, considering what happened to you. But we both know she had no family. She was the companion of a rather terrifying old lady. Or, at least, she seemed old to me at the time. She was probably forty years old. In any case, I was young and brash and I was not interested in anyone’s approval except Juliet’s. And I thought I had it.”
Just for an instant, his sharp eyes softened with reminiscence. But he was not, it seemed, a man who dwelled in the past or wallowed in regrets, for when he blinked, the tender expression had vanished.
“But you did not?” Constance prompted him.
“Have her approval? Yes, I think I did. Just not…enough.”
“Why was that?” Constance asked, aware she was going beyond interest to inquisitiveness.
“Honestly? I never discovered. The best I can think of myself is that my posting to America loomed. I was swept off my feet and assumed she would prefer the adventure of marriage as adiplomat’s wife to the respectable drudgery of her present life. I think it was too quick for her, an irretrievable decision she was not yet ready to make. She refused my offer and I went to America alone. She never answered my letters. But I never forgot her.”
There was genuine feeling in his voice, but he was not, somehow, the kind of man one felt sorry for. He was not inviting sympathy or reciprocal confidences. Constance, who hadn’t quite got past the idea of Juliet as companion to a respectable old lady, could think of nothing to say.
He was watching her steadily. “I think you too are a remarkable woman. You must tell me about your father one day.”
“One day,” she said, “I might. A glass of wine, Mr. Kellar?”
“Why not?” He sighed with contentment as the servants brought the usual wine and savories. “There are reasons Venice is my favorite city in Italy.” He raised his glass to them. “ToLa Serenissima, and your continued recovery, Mrs. Grey.”
Constance mixed a small amount of wine with water, and risked nibbling at the plainest savory on offer, something with ham and apple.
“We would value your help, sir,” Solomon said. “Is there anything you can tell us about Angelo Savelli that might shed light on his murder?”
“I did not know him well anyway, but no, I know nothing to his discredit—save his enmity with Giusti, which was mostly habit and instinct, from all I can gather. I liked him.” Kellar gave a wry smile. “There was something almost British about his reserve. And like most people, I found his wife fascinating.”
“What about Nicolo Premarin and his wife?”
“All things to all men. A pragmatist and a danger to no one. I’m not sure I have met his wife, though gossip says she is younger.” He cocked an eyebrow. “You are seriously consideringthem for the murder? And the poisoning, since I presume they are connected.”
