fuller at that hour, and he’d get more answers from the patrons while they were in their cups.”
“Perhaps, but one could also argue they’re more likely to take offense and throw a punch.”
Gage shrugged, opening the door. “Your brother can handle himself.”
However, it wasn’t Trevor who stood on the opposite side of the door, but the Earl of Wansford, the duchess’s lover.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Might I have a moment?” he asked tentatively, his gaze flicking from Gage to me and back again.
“Of course, Wansford.” Gage stepped to the side. “Come in.”
He moved forward in an uncertain manner, seeming oddly self-conscious. Which instantly put me on guard. As a prominent man in politics, and one of the leading arbiters of fashion in his younger days, he was not a figure who was often unsure of himself. Though he was spare with his words, my impression of him was that of a man who commanded the room and attention—when he wished it—without having to do much but breathe. It was that quiet confidence that had first drawn the duchess to him, I suspected, along with his trim waist and distinguished salt-and-pepper hair. But here before me was not that self-assured man.
I gestured toward a chair. “What can we do for you?”
“Well, I learned something that I thought might be useful to you.”
Gage sat beside me. “Oh?”
He cleared his throat. “I don’t normally encourage my valet to gossip, but in this case . . .” He cleared his throat again. “He said one of the footmen told him that a gardener had seen two men wandering through the abbey in the early part of December. That he didn’t recognize them, but he knew the duke didn’t mind allowing people to view the old ruins. He returned to his task, and when he looked up again they were gone.”
Into the crypt. That was meant to be his implication, but I wasn’t going to follow the bait.
And neither was Gage, it appeared. “I see,” he stated succinctly. “Well, thank you for telling us. We’ll look into it.”
Wansford nodded, his gaze darting between us, as the corners of his lips pulled downward. However, I didn’t think his displeasure was directed at us, but himself. Or the duchess.
Gage showed him out, and then turned to lean against the door. His eyes were so sharp with cynicism they could cut glass. “It appears the duchess is determined to blame the matter on tramps and walkers.”
I scowled blackly as I spread jam on my cold toast. “Yes, and I assume if we should go in search of this footman and gardener, they will corroborate this fictitious and completely useless story.” I took a savage bite, speaking around it as I chewed. “They might even add in a few details, just to create the right atmosphere, free of charge.”
So much for the duchess’s promise not to interfere or impose on her staff’s loyalty.
There was a knock on the door at Gage’s back, and I scoffed, expecting Wansford to have returned with some forgotten particular. This time when he opened it, my brother strode through.
“Good morning,” he declared, but after taking one look at our faces, stumbled to a stop. “What is it? Have I committed some infraction?”
I shook my head, unwilling to spread Wansford’s ridiculous tale further. “Ignore us.” Taking a sip of tea, I narrowed my eyes, scrutinizing his countenance. “You seem to have escaped your visit to The Sheep’s Heid without injury.”
He arched his eyebrows. “Oh, ye of little faith.” Bending forward, he stole two slices of bacon from my tray. “And I come bearing information.”
Given this, I chose to overlook his petty larceny. “Well, then. Out with it.”
“Renton did indeed visit The Sheep’s Heid.”
Gage sank down beside me, leaning over to steal his own slice of bacon.
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. The truth was, I’d begun asking Bree to bring extra bacon with my breakfast trays for this very reason. The gentlemen of my acquaintance seemed to have bottomless appetites, and yet the cravings of a woman with child were all that anyone commented on.
“In fact . . .” Trevor leaned back, squeezing this revelation for all that it was worth. “He spent two evenings there in the taproom.”
“Did anyone know where he was staying?” Gage asked. “Or see him leave town?”
“No. Said he came and went in the dark. But he did ask the proprietor if he’d ever been down in the crypt of the abbey ruins.”
“So he did know,” I exclaimed, nearly spilling my