A Stroke of Malice (Lady Darby Mystery #8) - Anna Lee Huber Page 0,130

not met with an angry duke and earl, but a cacophony of anxious voices.

“Thank heavens,” my brother cried as he caught sight of us. “When we couldn’t find you, I feared the worst.”

“Trevor, what is all this?” I gasped. “We heard that Helmswick’s carriage was seen on the drive to the castle.”

Anderley’s head reared back as he turned to us in surprise, and I realized we hadn’t had time to inform him the corpse was not Helmswick.

“It was. But the valet is saying that Lord John stopped it on the drive a short distance from the castle and forced Helmswick to accompany him into the woods.”

My eyes widened. “Forced him?”

The valet—the much discussed Mr. Warren—stood but a short distance away, and turned to answer this question himself. “Yes! He told him he knew about Renton, that he had proof, and demanded that he come with him or . . . or he would publish it all in the Times,” he gasped, his voice an affected upper class tone.

“Proof of what?” the duke demanded to know.

“Did he have a pistol or some other weapon?” Gage asked Mr. Warren.

“I don’t know.”

“But he wasn’t brandishing one?” Gage pressed.

“No,” he replied uncertainly.

“Then Helmswick left the carriage of his own volition.” Not that that precluded Lord John from harboring the intention to use violence later. But he was smart enough not to reveal his hand, even when panicked.

“Of course not,” Mr. Warren retorted. “Didn’t you hear me? He threatened him.”

“Now, see here . . .” the duke tried to interrupt again.

“With blackmail,” Gage continued calmly. “Which, if I know Helmswick, he mocked and derided, and otherwise taunted Lord John with the fact that he wouldn’t go through with it.”

The valet’s flushed countenance confirmed he was correct. If Helmswick had climbed out of his carriage and gone with Lord John, then it was only for the opportunity to heap more scorn upon his head. But that didn’t mean Lord John couldn’t be goaded past his point of endurance. After all, if he’d killed once, he could do so again.

“Which way did they go?”

“To the south. Into the trees,” Mr. Warren replied meekly.

Gage turned to look for someone who might have some sense of where they were going, and his gaze fell on Henry, who had stepped forward. My pulse throbbed anxiously in my neck at the sight of them standing next to each other.

“There’s a trail that cuts through those woods and across some stepping-stones over the burn to the abbey ruins,” Henry explained.

Gage nodded once in thanks. “Then that may be where they’re going. I need whatever men can be spared to search the woods, the grounds around the abbey, and the lower level of the castle into the tunnel and crypt.” He glanced at the duke, who had fallen into stunned silence, seeming to grasp the implications of what was happening even if he didn’t know everything we did. When he didn’t object, Gage continued issuing directives.

Trevor and Traquair volunteered to lead a group to search the abbey grounds, while Gage, Lord Edward, and Lord Richard would take another contingent down into the doom. Lord Henry agreed to guide a few men, including Anderley, into the woods where Lord John had coerced Helmswick into coming with him.

Gage gripped my left arm. “Kiera, I need you to stay here.”

“Of course,” I replied, knowing when it was best not to interfere, especially in my current condition.

He smiled down at me with the same concern he always exhibited whenever one of us was about to embark on a potentially dangerous engagement, and then pressed a swift kiss to my temple.

As the men gathered to set off, Bree emerged from the small door to the left of the great hearth. “M’lady,” she puffed, but her words faltered as she caught sight of something beyond my shoulder. Or rather someone. Her eyes glinted with elation and relief, and she took an uncertain step forward before stumbling to a stop.

I turned to follow her gaze, discovering she was looking at Anderley, who stood halfway across the room absorbed in earnest conversation with Henry.

Perhaps recognizing how much she’d exposed, she inhaled a swift breath, pressing her hands together at her waist. “I’m thankful to see he doesna appear to have suffered from his journey.”

“I am, as well,” I replied, not wanting her to feel discomfited. “And he confirmed what Renton’s neighbor claimed.”

Anderley looked up at that moment, as if sensing we were discussing him, and his eyes riveted on Bree. Though