When a Duke Loves a Governess (Unlikely Duchesses #3) - Olivia Drake Page 0,113

I started considering who else had been in my family’s orbit for the past five or more years. And I took a hard look at Banfield. It was merely a theory, one I’d hoped to discuss it with you, Tessa. But when you weren’t in the nursery and I went looking for you, Banfield approached me with the note, insisting that I read it. It was then that I knew for certain.”

She shivered. “He must have been reaching for another gun in his pocket when he fell…” A thought distracted her. “Why did he fall?”

“’Twas me knife,” Jiggs said, kneeling beside Banfield’s unmoving form to search him. “Blimey, ’e ’as two more pistols.”

“Jiggs was the other ace up my sleeve,” Guy said. To the valet, he said, “You took your sweet time throwing that blade.”

“’Twas milady bein’ in the way. Ye scared the bejesus out o’ me, missy, when ye bust out of them bushes!”

“I’ll second that,” Guy said on a rueful laugh. “I thought her a hell-born beast. And just when I was about to nab Banfield and force him to confess at gunpoint.”

Tessa was glad the darkness hid her blush. The black dust disguised her better than she’d imagined. Every inch of her must be covered, for she’d had to climb a mountain of coal in order to wriggle through the chute, escape the cellar, and position herself near the door. Just in time, too, for a moment later the gate had creaked open and they’d entered the garden.

Though as it had turned out, Guy hadn’t needed her help. He’d already deduced the truth and had a plan of his own.

Just then, the back door opened, and a tall man slipped stealthily out of the house. As he peered in their direction, his fingers were clenched into fists as if he anticipated trouble.

“Come join the party, Will,” the duke called out. “Unfortunately, you’ve missed all the fun.”

Haviland vanished inside and emerged a moment later with a glass-chimneyed lamp. As he came down the pathway, it was clear from his dressing gown of mulberry silk that he’d settled in for the night. “I heard a scream. What the deuce is going on here?” He glanced at the three of them, then lifted the lantern to illuminate Banfield’s fallen form. “Damme, isn’t that your secretary, Guy?”

“Regrettably, he’s also the Carlin Killer. For rest of her life, my Aunt Delia will be telling everyone about her role as oracle in the infamous tale.”

Haviland regarded him with a trace of ironic amusement. “It seems I did miss all the fun. And in my own backyard, no less.”

“Be thankful he didn’t succeed in his scheme, or the Runners would be clapping you in irons to hang for murder. It’s a long story.”

“I’m all ears,” said the earl.

Guy gave a concise summary of the events, and Tessa contributed what she’d learned from Banfield’s gloating confession while she was tied up in the coal cellar. “He stole Guy’s diaries, milord, and hid them in your library in order to incriminate you.”

The earl regarded her in slight puzzlement, as if he was trying to figure out how the governess had become involved and why she was on a first-name basis with her employer. But he merely commented, “I wonder how he managed to creep into my house. And to filch the key to my coal cellar, too.”

Tessa shrugged, unwilling to betray the fact that one of his maidservants had fed information to Banfield, as he’d told Tessa in the cellar. She didn’t want the hapless girl to be tossed out on the street for the naïve mistake of being conned by a villain.

Haviland glanced again at Banfield’s still form, under guard by Jiggs. “Well, Carlin, unless you want more vulgar news articles about your family like the one I was just reading upstairs, I would suggest removing this fellow from my property.”

“I’m thinking he was set upon by footpads,” Guy said. “But not in Mayfair. Too upsetting to the neighbors.”

“And messy,” the earl agreed. “But it can’t be too far away if he merely went out for a walk. Piccadilly, perhaps? Covent Garden?”

“That’s too respectable,” Tessa said tersely, the memory of her ordeal in the coal cellar still fresh in her mind. “He can have gone to a bawdy house. I can show you the location of several in Seven Dials.”

That earned her another stare from Haviland and a chuckle from Guy.

He took hold of her hand, his gaze scanning her in the lamplight. “Thank you,