pen at Marcus, who nearly choked on his tea.
“You cannot seriously think I want to kill Nick,” Marcus spluttered, once he had recovered from his coughing fit.
She wrote his name on the list. “Again, not likely. But you stand the most to gain — the Folkestone title, for one, not to mention whatever share of Corwyn, Claiborne and Sons is left to you in Nick’s will. Nick’s return changes everything for you, does it not?”
He didn’t look at her. He looked at Lucia instead. “Perhaps it does. But I would rather have more time, not more responsibility. Nick is welcome to take over his estate any day he pleases.”
Nick believed him. Perhaps he shouldn’t. Ellie was correct, after all. Marcus would gain more than anyone if Nick died without another heir. But even as a youth, Marcus hadn’t cared for power. Stuck in the middle between Nick and Rupert, he had played the peacemaker rather than the rabble-rouser.
That brought another thought uncomfortably close to the surface. He hesitated, and Ellie sensed it. “Who would you add?” she asked.
He kept his eyes on Marcus. “I have another brother who would stand to gain.”
“Rupert?” Marcus asked, turning toward him. “That is even more unreasonable than suspecting me. Next I suppose you’ll accuse the Prince Regent?”
“Of course not. But Rupert always wanted to build something of his own. And I don’t think we see eye to eye on our business dealings, although sending a letter from India to the Caribbean and back takes so long that I hear from him far less than I do from you. Perhaps he was tired of trying to change my mind about business issues.”
“I assure you that Rupert is not a murderer,” Marcus said. “I’ve seen him several times in the last decade — whatever his sins, fratricide is not among them.”
Ellie intervened. “We are merely listing suspects, not sending anyone to the gallows. And I agree with Nick — Rupert has a hot head, and a motive. He stays on the list, even if he’s not likely.”
Lucia coughed delicately. “Is there anyone else, my lady? Or do all his lordship’s enemies share his last name?”
Nick felt a stab of remorse at that. He didn’t think any of the three were likely to kill him, but he should be bothered by the fact that they topped the list. “We’ve listed all the Claibornes — let us move on to more likely candidates.”
Ellie frowned at that. “We did miss a Claiborne, actually. The dowager marchioness still lives on the estate, although we are no longer on speaking terms. But it drove her absolutely mad that a man with your background inherited her precious son’s title. Perhaps she hired someone?”
“That seems unlikely,” Marcus scoffed. “Even if her anger hasn’t subsided, how would she arrange it? She never leaves Surrey, as best as I can tell.”
Nick agreed. “There are more likely options, and they are all related to my business interests. The East India Company tops the list.”
“Shall I write ‘the Company’?” Ellie asked sarcastically. “Or do you have names?”
“Marcus knows the directors better than I do. They are all based in London.”
Marcus handed his cup back to Lucia to be filled again. As she poured, he pushed his hand through his hair. “I find it unlikely that the Company is behind this, Nick. True, you are driving our business in India — but if you died there and I pulled us out of the India trade as a result, they would face a dire shortage of ships. You know they can’t haul all their goods on their own. With the discussions in Parliament about their monopoly, they can ill afford a loss in profits.”
Marcus had told Nick all about the debates in the carriage the day before. The East India Company already wasn’t quite a monopoly; private traders accounted for almost ten percent of the goods imported to Britain from India. The Claibornes had made a tidy profit off even that sliver of trade, not counting the contracts they had to transport Company goods on their ships. But if the Company lost their monopoly entirely…
“Perhaps another trader, then?” Nick asked. “With me gone from India, other ventures are better suited to take advantage of whatever happens to the Company’s share of the India trade.”
Ellie tapped her nose with her pen. “But that doesn’t explain how someone knew to find you here, or why they still wish to harm you in England. If it were purely a matter of driving