a tasseled cord that would summon one of the servants.
The duke scowled.
“In any case, you can’t be surprised that most of the gentry in this area disapprove of our morals, even if few would be so bold as to say so to our faces.” She passed behind his chair, laying a restraining hand on his shoulder when he would have argued. “I think you can afford to overlook Mr. Rodgers’s pomposity. After all, beneath his huff and puff, he granted us what we wished.”
There was a rap on the door, and she turned to ask the footman who had answered the summons to bring tea.
She returned to the sofa as he departed, meeting my gaze. “You look like you could use some fortification.” Spreading her goldenrod skirts with diamond ruching around the hem as she sank down onto the cushion, she sighed and adjusted the cornette cap covering her white hair. “We all could.”
“What have you uncovered, then?” the duke blustered, apparently not content to wait for tea to arrive before we launched into the matter. “Is the poor sod Helmswick or is it not?”
“That, I’m afraid, we cannot definitively say,” Gage replied, his gaze flicking to the duchess as he searched for the most delicate way to say what he must. “The . . . damage . . . to the distinguishing features of the corpse was too great.”
However, it was not the duchess who cringed, but the duke. He wrinkled his nose as if he’d smelled something revolting.
“We can say he was dressed in the clothes of a gentleman, and finely tailored garments at that. And there was something about the body that reminded Lord Edward almost immediately of his brother-in-law. That is where the suspicions began.”
“That’s all?” The duke scoffed. “There must be dozens of gentlemen who appear similar to Helmswick. He was rather average in appearance. Average height, average weight, average brown hair.”
“I would have called it more of a light sandy brown,” the duchess interjected serenely.
The duke waved this away as if it was of no consequence. “Still quite average.” His brow lowered thunderously. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Ned thought of his brother-in-law just to stir up some sort of hornet’s nest. He always was the most likely to ruffle everyone’s feathers and create trouble.”
“That’s hardly fair,” the duchess objected, only to have her defense cut off by the arrival of the tea tray.
I sensed this was a familiar argument between the duke and duchess, and I couldn’t help but wonder if it had to do with a matter the duchess had alluded to me about months before in London. She had hinted at the fact that her third son preferred the company of men to that of women, though of course she had not stated so outright. Such a thing was simply not done, and in any case, was far too dangerous to admit openly. After all, the act of sodomy was a capital crime. A fact I was troubled by, feeling such things were a private matter rather than a criminal one.
Whatever the truth of the matter, I didn’t believe Lord Edward’s identifying Helmswick as possibly being the victim had been any sort of ploy or prank. He had clearly been distressed by the matter, and reluctant to voice his observations. So I discarded the duke’s suggestion immediately. In any case, his words were not the lone reason our interest had been aroused in that direction.
Gage waited until the duchess had finished pouring the tea before offering up any further evidence. “The corpse was also wearing a pair of Hoby boots.”
“As do half the noblemen in the House of Lords,” the duke argued, which was only a slight exaggeration.
“Yes, but these Wellingtons had rather distinctive stitching along the back of the calf.”
The duchess paused in bringing her cup to her lips. Then, as if realizing how much she had betrayed, continued as if she’d never hesitated. Though the fact that she would not meet my gaze said more than enough.
The duke, on the other hand, scowled, evidently having no idea what we were talking about. But then, not every gentleman was sartorial-minded. In general, gentlewomen paid more attention to the details of other’s clothing. After all, it was one of but a few acceptable hobbies and interests open to them.
“If you say so,” the duke retorted. “But how distinctive could they really be? Hoby probably sold the design to dozens of his clients.”
“Perhaps, but if not Helmswick, what other gentleman has visited