When a Duke Loves a Governess (Unlikely Duchesses #3) - Olivia Drake Page 0,62

tart retort wrested a chuckle from Guy. He was relieved to be back on friendly footing with Tessa. If truth be told, he’d never wanted to believe her capable of the crime. But once he’d noticed that his diaries were missing, logic had forced him to assemble her actions into an inescapable conclusion. The inconsistencies in her personal history. His discovery of her in his study that one night. Her rendezvous with Orrin Nesbitt in the garden.

All of it had pointed toward her guilt. However, Guy had been missing half the pieces of the puzzle. He hadn’t known the truth about her background or her reason for seeking the position of governess.

When Roebuck entered, Guy tasked him to fetch the footmen. Then he set to work hunting for the guest list among the papers strewn across his desk.

As he did so, Guy surreptitiously watched Tessa, who was absorbed in straightening his books. A hatmaker, by God. One couldn’t help but admire her audacity. She was a clever, plucky woman, and as much as he despised her deception, he could understand why she had done it.

Her story was perfectly plausible. Growing up in an orphanage explained her unfamiliarity with aristocratic homes, her unorthodox approach to child rearing, and her occasional lapse into a lower-class dialect. As for the gold pendant, however, he remained dubious. Perhaps the necklace had come from a lord—there were plenty of noble by-blows in England. Yet a six-year-old’s memory of her dying mother’s words seemed a bit unreliable.

Tessa believed it, though, he was sure of that. Her voice had held the passion of conviction. In particular, he winced to recall that glimmer of tears before she’d turned her face away from him. Then as now he felt the powerful urge to protect her.

The early-morning sunlight kissed her buttercream hair and lit the delicacy of her face. The fine manners of the upper class seemed to come naturally to her, yet no society lady he knew would ever have pitched in to clean up this mess. Perhaps that was why he vastly preferred Tessa’s company to that of any of the debutantes who were considered suitable for a man of his rank.

The footmen trooped into the study, half a dozen of them, and he painstakingly reviewed the names on the guest list with them. Once he glanced up and spotted Tessa edging toward the door, but he motioned to her to stay. He didn’t want her returning to the nursery just yet. Not when she might offer some insight on the attendees. At least that was the excuse he gave himself.

In the end, only one guest had not been observed by anyone to have departed. His identity left Guy numb with surprise. He swore the footmen to secrecy, dismissed them, and stood frowning at the empty doorway.

Tessa appeared at his side. “So the culprit is Lord Haviland. If I may ask, how well do you know him?”

Guy turned a bleak eye on her. “We’ve been friends since our school days. Blast! It just can’t have been Will.”

“You did mention that he’s a gambler. Perhaps he’s in desperate need of funds and hopes to enrich himself with the treasure map.”

“Still, I cannot believe it of him. Despite his faults, he’s always had a certain sense of honor.”

She was silent a moment, then said, “Well, perhaps there were others at the lecture with a reason to steal the map. Remember, the robber may have left by the front door and then reentered at the rear in order to throw you off the scent. There was a middle-aged man with a beaky nose who kept hounding you about the treasure.”

“Lord Churchford. He’s as rich as Croesus yet he’s always greedy for more gold. Yes, I could see him funding an expedition if he had the map.”

“Then add him to your list. Is there anyone else?

Mentally reviewing the guests, Guy prowled back and forth on the plush carpet. “Another possibility is the Honorable John Symonton. He’s a scholar at Bullock’s Museum.”

“Was he the young gent wearing spectacles?”

“One and the same. For Symonton, it would be less about the gold and more about the archaeological value of the treasure. Such a find could be the makings of a young man’s career.”

Tessa’s eyes shone. “There you go, Carlin. You have some likely suspects to investigate. One of them had to have stolen your diaries.”

For a bare moment, it crossed Guy’s mind to wonder if Tessa wanted to make the men look guilty in order

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