to weave her curiosity about the family and the duke and the death into general chatting and gossip. That might have not been such a bad thing, however. The one bit of useful information that emerged from Mr. Edkins had slipped out. A startling piece of information. She debated whether to share it with Chase.
The horse stopped near her gig. Chase dismounted and tied the reins to the back of the conveyance. He walked over to her and offered his hand. “I will bring you back to the village.”
She allowed him to help her to stand. “What makes you think I need to return to any village?”
“I saw your companion there. I assume you need to collect her at least.”
He handed her into the seat, then took the reins and climbed in beside her. They rolled down the lane with his horse in tow.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
“What are you doing here?”
A sigh of strained forbearance breathed beside her. “I came down to Melton Park with my cousin for a few days.”
“The duke is in residence?”
“He is.”
How inconvenient. Her plan to ask the housekeeper for a tour of the house no longer would work. She might as well return the gig, and find transportation back to London.
“What did Edkins tell you?” he asked.
“Very little. We mostly talked about old times and his memories.”
“Memories of what? How old?”
“Fairly old. Mrs. Fowler, and his master. He admired the last duke an inordinate amount, seeing as how as valet he would see him in very human terms, what with bathing and such. He told me the man was a genius. That was the word he used. Eccentric, quite odd at times, but a genius who did not suffer fools gladly and most men in comparison were fools.”
“My uncle was very kind about that. Fools rarely knew he thought them as such. Did he talk about my uncle’s businesses?”
“In a general way. I’m not sure Mr. Edkins understood what they were. Inventions, he said. Financial things. Buildings. Shipping. He mentioned that there could be arguments over all of that. Some of the other investors could become demanding.” She did not mention the specific example he had used.
“One of those business partners may well have had cause to want to see him gone. If one had cheated, for example. I will be looking into that.”
“When you get to it on the list, you mean.” If business partners needed investigating, she would be at a disadvantage, since she did not even know what businesses the duke had invested in. She did not think it was one of those business associates, however. Not exactly.
He drove the gig faster than she ever did, so they approached the village soon. He slowed it when the roofs came into view. “Are you staying at the inn here?”
“Only one night. We will leave this afternoon.”
“Yet you surely intended to do more than chat with the duke’s old valet. I expect you had some plan for gaining entry to Melton Park.”
“Why would I want to do that?”
“That was not your plan? You came all this way only to carry the cook’s well wishes to Edkins. You are a good soul.”
“Thank you. I try to be. Although I hear Melton Park has a grand house, and wondered if the housekeeper ever gives little tours when the family is not in residence.”
The gig rolled for at most a ten count. “I can get you in, of course,” he said. “As my guest. Your companion too.”
“I expect it is worth seeing, being such an important house.”
“I did not know you had an interest in architecture. If so, you really must see it. Why don’t you stay there tonight? We can examine that parapet together. It is of great architectural uniqueness.”
She turned to see if he was serious. “How will you explain who I am to your cousin?”
He thought about that while the gig entered the main lane of the village. “I will tell him that you are one of my agents, who aids me in inquiries on occasion.”
“Your employee, in other words. I would prefer if you told him I am a partner on occasion. A woman who conducts her own inquiries but who partners with you when you require help.”
“I am not going to say that I need help, least of all from you. If we do this at all, you are an occasional employee or you are not coming.”
“If you are going to be so prideful, I will do it that