been sure if Joshua realized what was going on. I mean, if he killed Uncle Armie as a result of finding out what the man was doing, my secretive brother would be unlikely to tell me the truth about it. And if Joshua didn’t kill Uncle Armie . . .” She released a long breath. “Then he’d hate me for suspecting him of such a crime in the first place.”
“Still . . . You would have been within your rights to seek your brother’s aid.”
“Yes, but truthfully, by then I was able to handle it.” She kept her gaze averted from him. “I had learned how to keep from being alone with my uncle. I usually claimed I had to be elsewhere, or I threatened to tell Joshua. That worked fairly well. Until . . .”
When she trailed off and her eyes got a faraway look in them, his stomach churned. “Until?”
“Well, a year ago, I started hearing that Uncle Armie might be planning to sell the dower house.” She cast Grey a sheepish look. “As you said earlier, I was concerned. When I finally got up the nerve to ask him . . .” Her voice grew haunted. “He told me he wouldn’t sell if . . . I’d agree to be his mistress. He said Joshua and I could live in the dower house as long as we wished, but in exchange I’d have to . . . do as he pleased.”
The fury rising in Grey burned clear down to his soul. Which was probably why he spoke so unwisely. “If your uncle Armie were still alive, I’d kill him myself for that.”
The words seemed to startle her. “You don’t blame me?”
He blinked. “For what?”
“Attracting his attentions. Perhaps dressing too . . . I don’t know, provocatively? Though I really didn’t think I did.”
“Of course you didn’t. He was the culprit. He was the one who thought he could make use of you, whether or not you wished it.” It reminded him of his own relations trying to make use of him. He understood all too well what it was like to be little more than a child at the mercy of one’s family.
“I did try to keep him from touching me, even when he pretended it was innocent affection in front of the servants. And I always ignored the lascivious remarks he hissed under his breath when he passed me in the hall.” She slumped. “Though that only seemed to make him say worse things. He seemed determined to get a rise out of me.”
Grey tried to swallow past the bile rising in his throat. “Certain men thrive on the challenge of seducing a woman who won’t pay them any mind.” He reached out to caress her cheek, then thought better of it and dropped his hand. “Your uncle wanted to win you, as vile as that sounds. And if he’d done so, he would have discarded you soon enough for the next new attractive female who resisted him.”
“Attractive?” Her brow furrowed. “I always just figured he chose me because I was close at hand and easy to bully.”
“Not so easy. Thank God.”
She glanced away. “He has a string of former mistresses scattered about Sanforth, you know. I’ve always wondered how many of them actually chose the position. He also has a by-blow he never provided for.”
“That isn’t a surprise, given his tendencies. You were wise to put him off.”
“Was I?” She shook her head. “When I refused his vile ‘offer,’ it’s possible he resorted to telling Joshua his demands. Because not long after I refused to let him blackmail me into being his mistress, Uncle Armie . . . um . . .”
“Met his demise?”
Her wince was answer enough.
“So you suspect that your brother resorted to murder.”
“I’d like to think he wouldn’t have. And he said he was in Leicester that night. But . . .”
“You can’t be sure.”
She shook her head no. Then she faced him with squared shoulders. “However, I do know for a fact that Joshua didn’t murder Uncle Maurice. Joshua was with me the night your stepfather died. We’d promised Uncle Maurice we would ready the gamekeeper’s accounts for his meeting with the family solicitor the next day. I’m not certain why, but he wanted us to make sure they were up-to-date and there were no errors. So Joshua and I were going over them together.”
Grey narrowed his gaze on her. “And you spent the whole evening doing that? You were with