seemed to stick in her throat and the hand of guilt lay heavy upon her shoulder. But she knew she could continue no longer in this game. She forced herself on. ‘I have accomplished what we set out to do.’
His eyes narrowed as if he could not believe what she was telling him. He stared at her more closely. ‘What do you mean, Venetia?’
She swallowed, but no amount of swallowing would shift the great lump lodged in her throat. She had to tell him. She had to end it. ‘Linwood was responsible for the fire that destroyed Rotherham’s house.’
‘He admitted it to you?’ Robert’s eyes widened, his brows lifted high.
She nodded, and could not bear to see the glee in his eyes. She stared down at her hands, fiddling with the buttons on the wrist of her glove, and could feel nothing of her brother’s gladness and excitement.
He blew out a sigh of incredulity. ‘I can scarce believe it.’ He stared into the distance, smiling and stroking his chin before turning his gaze to her. ‘And the murder...?’
She shook her head.
‘I suppose he’s hardly likely to admit pulling the trigger to the woman he’s trying to bed.’
Yet her brother did not know how it was between her and Linwood. She feared that Linwood would tell her. And feared even more that it would make no difference to what was unfolding. The game would play out to the inevitable conclusion, if she let it. ‘Why not?’ She looked him in the eyes. ‘He admitted arson, why not murder?’
‘It is not the same thing, as well you know.’
‘No, it is not the same thing at all,’ she said quietly.
‘The house burned to the ground, Venetia. It was an act of hatred and destruction. A clear message. Are you honestly telling me that you believe the man who did that is not the same man who put a bullet in our father’s head?’
She knew that the argument made sense. The idea that another unrelated man had just turned up out of the blue to kill her father was almost ridiculous.
‘We both know that he did it, Venetia.’
There was a small silence.
‘Regardless, my part in this is over, Robert. You have what you need. I’ve done my duty. I will not see Linwood again.’
‘Do not be so hasty, little sister.’
‘My mind is made up, Robert.’ Her voice was firm.
‘Then unmake it. There is something I have not told you. A development.’
She felt her chest tighten in apprehension.
‘My witness, the one who saw Linwood leaving our father’s study that night, has disappeared. No doubt Linwood had a hand in it, with his...connections.’
She thought of the villains in Whitechapel who had turned themselves in for capture.
‘Without our witness, the only evidence that ties Linwood to Rotherham is his admission to you...unless we find the murder weapon—dear Papa’s missing pistol.’
‘Even if he is guilty he could have disposed of the weapon.’
‘No. Why take it, if he did not mean to keep it as a souvenir? It was not his and therefore could not have identified him. And yet he took it along with a book from our father’s library.’
‘I did not know a book was missing.’
‘It was seen clasped within Linwood’s hand as he left and there is a space on the shelf where it sat, a space that was not there when I visited our father earlier that day. If either were to be found in his possession...’ He paused. ‘Linwood will be out on Friday night. He has a meeting that starts at nine and will not finish until midnight.’ He looked at her expectantly.
‘Find someone else to do it.’
‘That is not so easily done. Think how easy it would be for you. Your association with him is known. It would be simple to gain access past his servants, to wait for his return, to search his private quarters...’
‘Robert, there are rumours enough about my relationship with him. If I am seen going to his rooms at night, it is as good as admitting to all of London that I am his mistress.’
‘You have been thought mistress to other men in the past. Such speculation has never bothered you before.’
But it wasn’t the same with Linwood at all.
‘You have to at least look, Venetia. One way or another it would prove his guilt...or his innocence.’
Those last three words seemed to echo within her. She met his gaze across the carriage. ‘You are sure he will not be there?’
‘I am positive.’
She swallowed. ‘And after this, no