Page 49 of Long Live the Baron
“Thank you for meeting me.”
Briggs nodded. Richard was fidgeting with his snow-white cravat, a sure sign he was agitated. Halmesbury was the most composed, leaning back in his chair with his arms folded over his broad chest and straining the sleeves of his navy coat.
“Is Lily in danger?” Richard’s question erupted without warning, as he leaned forward on the table to glare at Brendan with glinting emerald eyes.
“Something happened last night that confirms Briggs’s suspicions. I thought it best not to discuss it where we could be overheard by one of the servants. There is no specific threat against Lily, but I thank you for arranging the Johns to stand guard while we sort this out.”
Richard pressed his lips together, exhaling heavily as he leaned back in his chair. “We should have done it before she joined your household. If anything happens to her, my wife will be …” He waved his hand in the air, clearly finding no words to describe Lady Saunton’s distress if Lily were harmed.
Briggs cleared his throat. “If I may, your lordship, what happened?”
Brendan raised a finger to rub at his temple, then rattled off what happened in the early hours. When he completed his narrative, the table fell silent.
Halmesbury rubbed his jaw, his gray eyes thoughtful.
Richard clenched his fists on the table’s surface before raising a hand to summon a server. “I need a drink.”
“It is just past nine.” The duke arched an eyebrow.
“A small drink, but a drink nevertheless. This is all far too reminiscent of the troubles Sophia and I had last year, and I need to settle my nerves. When I leave here, I will need to inform my wife of what has happened.”
“Your wife will have thoughts about you imbibing,” the duke warned his cousin.
Richard sighed, waving the server away without placing an order. “I usually prefer keeping a clear head, but these past two weeks have been hell. However … keeping a clear head is probably vital at the moment.”
“Where do matters stand with the servants?” Brendan’s question was addressed to the runner, who was obviously chewing on his news.
“I am still investigating Stanley and David, but thus far, Michaels is the only one who seems to have any motive. The baron has not been in Town in twenty years, so it is difficult to say what could have set this off. Outside of the servants, do we have anyone else to look into?”
“Maybe a handful of people who might visit Somerset or have homes there.”
“What if this is not about something that happened recently, but something from the past? Briggs suspects Michaels because of what happened decades ago, but do we know about the baron’s history in London? Are there any enemies he may have had?” The duke, like the others, was keeping his voice low so they would not be overheard.
Brendan cocked his head, thinking about whom the baron might have interacted with in the couple of days he was in London before he had been killed. “He might have visited the tailor for a final fitting because he had his coronation garments made in Somerset, but his valet could not say. And the baron would have spoken with the servants and the coachman, which Briggs has been looking into. Beyond that, he would converse with other lords at the coronation. The lords sat together at Westminster Abbey, did you not?”
“Like a gaggle of fops in our ridiculous trunk hose,” replied Richard. “I was practically naked with that much leg exposed.”
“So every lord in London is a suspect, then,” Brendan said, throwing his hands up in the air.
The duke shook his head. “I think we could start with a list of men who sat in his row, and the row in front and behind. It would have been difficult to speak with others farther than that, and it stands to reason.”
Brendan threw him a questioning look.
“He sat with barons. Some of them went to school or university with him. He would not have known the others because he never came to London, so the only lords he would know well were ones he knew from the past—from Oxford or Eton. Boys tend to band together according to their ranks, so perhaps that narrows the list down. Some barons will be too old or too young to know him.”
“Agreed. We need more information. I suppose if I could get a list, I could visit them. Perhaps they might have heard or seen something the day of the coronation, but they won’t allow Briggs through the front door. They will not turn me away.”
Halmesbury nodded. “I can get you a list.”
“I will help interview them. We can divide the list.” Richard’s offer was welcome news indeed. The prospect of tracking down a couple dozen barons daunted Brendan, but it would be better than waiting around for something to happen. The earl’s help in tackling the mammoth task would speed it up immensely.
* * *
Lily had assumedthat her husband would return home at some point to inform her why she was now being followed through the house. Or send her a note to explain. But the entire day had passed without a word from him. She had dressed for dinner and made her way downstairs, but there was still no sign of Brendan’s return.
Sitting in the grim library, while the second John stood guard at the door, Lily felt tense with repressed angst. She was not accustomed to having someone breathing over her shoulder in this manner. Visiting the necessary while a man hung about in the corridor had been humiliating, and she had to wonder why the first John had never needed to make use of it himself.
It was pointless fuming over the situation, but she found herself doing so at regular intervals. If the protection was needed, that was one thing. But the fact that Brendan had not explained why it was needed was galling.
