Who Wants to Marry a Duke - Sabrina Jeffries Page 0,99

wife.

That, rather than the actual wedding, had been the crowning moment for him.

“What’s this about, Thorn?” Sheridan demanded.

He wiped the grin from his face. “Mother and the deaths of her husbands. A subject that has weighed heavily on our minds of late.”

“I knew you children were up to something!” Mother exclaimed. When everyone turned to look at her, she added, rather petulantly, “Well, I did. A mother knows these things.” She paused to regard them all with a quizzical gaze. “So, what are you up to, exactly?”

“Are you going to explain, Grey, or shall I?” Thorn asked.

“It’s your house,” Grey drawled. “You should do it. Besides, you and Wolfe are the only ones who know the whole story.”

“All right,” Thorn said, and turned to his mother. “As you may remember, last year we came to the conclusion that Maurice and his predecessor were both murdered.” When her eyes widened, he added hastily, “That was what got us all thinking about the fathers of Grey and us twins. We think perhaps they were both murdered, too.”

“That’s absurd.” Mother shook her head. “Thorn, your father was killed in a carriage accident!”

“Yes, but we now think Father’s was caused when the perch screws were loosened enough to send the coachman flying off and to startle the driverless horses. And if not for Wolfe’s swift intervention earlier this year, you, Gwyn, Wolfe, and I might also have been killed on our way to London for the debuts. Since both accidents involved the perch screws being loosened, both were probably also deliberate.”

“What?” Mother said. “I—I don’t understand.”

Gwyn covered her hand. “We didn’t want to bother you with what we uncovered, Mama, until we were certain we weren’t imagining things. But it does seem as if someone has been systematically murdering the gentlemen close to you. And if not for Joshua and I seeing the fellow fooling with the carriage, you too would have been in an accident. We four might have been killed or maimed!”

“So we decided to start by investigating the death of my father,” Grey said. “We suspected he might not have died of an ague because I, who supposedly infected him, did not perish, but Father did. That’s why I asked Thorn’s wife to use her extensive knowledge of chemistry to test my father’s remains. That’s the real reason Thorn and Olivia traveled to Carymont with me and Beatrice.”

“That was all a sham?” Mother sat back with a huff. “You four ought to be ashamed of yourselves.”

“We didn’t want to worry you,” Beatrice said hastily.

“Hmph,” Mother said.

“Anyway, Mother,” Thorn said with a smile for Olivia, “my brilliant wife found arsenic in the remains. But before she did, someone attempted to put an end to her tests by destroying her laboratory.” His voice turned steely. “She could have been killed. Thankfully, she wasn’t there. And although the lad named Elias, who did it, fled, Joshua tracked him down and arrested him. But Elias was murdered in Newgate before he could reveal who hired him.”

Everyone else gasped.

“Do we know how?” Sheridan asked.

“We know he was poisoned by arsenic,” Thorn said. “We don’t know how it ended up in his food in the prison.”

Sheridan leaned over the table. “Is it possible he was also responsible for the deaths of Uncle Armie and Father?”

“At this point, anything is possible,” Thorn said. “Well, except that Elias couldn’t have done the two earlier murders. He was too young. Still, we have a number of suspects.”

“A number of suspects?” Mother exclaimed. “Good Lord. Who would do such a thing?”

“We’re getting to that, Mother,” Grey said.

Thorn laid down two sheets of aging paper. “As you know, Mother has a tendency to store her entire past in boxes in the attic.” Everyone laughed. “So we have a list of who was present at Carymont for Grey’s christening, which is when Grey’s father died. We also have a list of who was present at Rosethorn for the birth of me and Gwyn, which is when our father died. Excluding Mother, three names appear on both lists, all female. Grey and I figured that if we’re correct and both men were murdered, someone had to have had access, which means they attended both events.”

Mother stood. “I can’t believe this . . . this conspiracy you suspect. It seems outlandish. Those people were our friends. Why would any of them kill your fathers?”

Sheridan sat back in his chair. “I don’t know, Mother, but you heard the evidence from last year about Father and Uncle