a moment the room was silent and then Abigail sighed. “There is no shortage of suspects, I suppose. His brother, all of us, probably untold others…all had a motive for the killing.”
“And the Duke of Gilmore,” Pippa added.
At that Abigail did react, her gaze darting to Pippa swiftly. “I suppose him, too. Mr. Gregory seems driven to uncover the truth. And he comes off clever enough to do it.” She leaned in and met Celeste’s eyes evenly. “You spent a few days with the man, much longer than either of us. What do you think of him?”
Celeste sucked in a breath at the direct question she should have expected but somehow hadn’t. She’d been trying to obtain information, but here she was being asked for it. “He is…he was kind about his revelations,” she began slowly.
“Yes, he was,” both Abigail and Pippa said together.
Ignoring the flare of jealousy that worked through her at that statement, Celeste continued, “He has done nothing but try to set me at ease. He is very intelligent and observant, and I think driven to do his duty.”
“And he’s very handsome,” Abigail said with a tiny smile. “You didn’t add it, but it’s clear you think it.”
Celeste’s eyes went wide. “I—he—” She gathered herself as best she could. “The gentleman is attractive. There is no denying it, for it is fact. I noted it, of course. But it isn’t a factor in this situation, is it? Erasmus was handsome, after all, and it didn’t make him decent or good or true. Mr. Gregory’s looks will not change his ultimate actions.”
Pippa stifled a smile into her cup as she finished her tea before she said, “No need to get ruffled, my dear. As you say, Mr. Gregory will determine the answers in the end.” Her smile fell. “There will likely be no stopping him.”
Abigail sighed. “Yes. Now I’m certain poor Celeste must be exhausted after the last two days on the road. May I show you to your room? We will have plenty of time to get to know each other over supper. And I’d like to discuss anything but the wicked Erasmus Montgomery. We are more than our wayward husband, ladies. We always have been, and by God we will be again.”
There was something about the way Abigail declared it that made Celeste believe it could be true. So as she followed her hostess and Pippa from the room to find her chamber, she chose to go with that feeling. Because it was hope. And hope was what she needed to carry on with whatever would happen next.
Owen hadn’t been surprised to arrive home to a missive from the Duke of Gilmore demanding he join him at his home for supper. He hadn’t even been surprised that the Earl of Leighton was also in attendance when he arrived. The two men, after all, were splitting the bill for his services. Gilmore because Owen had uncovered the truth about Montgomery’s marriages. Leighton because he claimed to wish to discover who had struck his half-brother down.
What he was surprised about was how untroubled the men seemed to be when he joined them in Gilmore’s parlor.
“Mr. Gregory,” Gilmore said as he gestured him into the room with a nod for his butler. “Good to see you again. Would you like a drink?”
“Is that whisky?” Owen asked, as he stared at the drink in the duke’s hand.
“It is. I have property in Scotland and there may or may not be a still on the land. I suppose as a man of the law, you disapprove the smuggling of such contraband?”
“Not at all,” Owen said with a smile. “I’ve always enjoyed a good whisky when I can get it. I’ll have the same.”
As Gilmore poured, Leighton shook his head. “And so what do you think of the threesome of ladies my brother treated so callously?”
Owen took the drink offered to him and sipped it slowly, both to savor the flavor and also to consider what to say next. Leighton’s disgust with Montgomery had been clear from the start. Owen knew the two had not been close—they had different mothers and very different attitudes, and that had clearly put a wedge between them.
But was Erasmus Montgomery’s behavior troublesome enough to the earl that he might snuff out his own kin?
“I’d be more curious about your thoughts, my lord, Your Grace,” Owen said at last.
Gilmore snorted out a laugh. “I’m sure you would, since you obviously still suspect both of us in the