"Unless of course Gerald has gone there?" Emma suggested.
Clifford considered that for a brief moment. "Possible, but not likely. They aren't all that close, for all they are cousins, and I'm pretty sure Gerald isn't going to be welcome there after the debacle last night with the card game."
Then Clifford turned to Malcolm. "What do you think of what Henry has told us thus far? Does it not seem suspicious to you?"
Malcolm admitted grudgingly, "Whilst there is nothing so unusual in securing a house overnight, we all know that there's little to steal at Hawkesworth House."
"Aye, I would not be suspicious myself, except for the fact that Gerald gave particular instructions to that effect," Henry revealed. "Normally he does not worry so much about locking up, since as the servants pointed out themselves, there's virtually nothing in the house of any value. Gerald has sold everything he could in the past few years. Vanessa apparently doesn't have any trinkets worth mentioning."
"Though rumors of her wealth might tempt someone," Josephine suggested.
"True," Clifford conceded. "But let's go along with my theory, shall we?"
"Very well," Malcolm agreed, though his handsome face looked pained. "If you insist on taking the worst possible view of the situation, I shall just continue to take notes."
"Thank you." Clifford gathered together his thoughts for a time in silence. At length he said, "It is true she could simply have had a bad oyster. But given she was locked in, and the servants dismissed early and also locked in their quarters for the night, I would speculate that Gerald knew she was ill, or would become ill. It would appear that he staked everything upon her not being found until morning. I would even go so far as to say that he has gone into company to give himself an alibi for the night. And to avoid having to be confronted with her illness and possible demise."
"How monstrous!" Josephine exclaimed.
"Monstrous indeed," Clifford said grimly. "But we will never be able to prove attempted murder without concrete evidence, right, Malcolm?"
He nodded.
"Even if we did get it, I doubt that Vanessa will go so far as to accuse her half-brother. Family loyalty runs deep with her. As indeed it would do with any of us if we found another member of our family being accused of something so heinous with little or no proof."
"A bottle of poison is proof," Malcolm said firmly.
"He could argue it wasn't his. That it had been planted."
"True," Henry sighed.
"Besides, unless John changes his mind about the bad oyster theory and admits the possibility of poison, it's pointless to even try to point the finger at Gerald. As I've said, he's rash, part of the horse and hounds set hereabouts. But just because we choose to live in a more decent and civilized manner does not make him a murderer. "
"So what can we do?" Emma asked, worry clouding her bright blue eyes. "Gerald is going to turn up sooner or later asking after her. As will her cousins."
"Did Peter pay a call to her today?"
"I don't know. The servants didn't mention anyone else at supper, but that's not to say that he didn't. I never thought to ask anything else like that. I'm sorry," Henry said.
"Never mind," Malcolm said. He stretched over to give him a reassuring pat on the arm. "It will be easy enough to ask the servants in the morning."
"Good, you do that," Clifford said with a approving nod. "I don't like to see enemies behind every tree, but with her fortune at stake, every man in a ten-mile radius is going to be buzzing around her like flies around a honey pot."
"Except that she's in mourning."
"Aye, but when has that ever stopped a persistent suitor intent upon his prize?"
"It will stop Vanessa, though," Malcolm said. "Not to mention the fact that you have prior claim due to the card game last night."
"A claim I would not normally dream of asserting in the normal way of things," he said with a sigh.
"No, of course not," several of them protested at once.
"But given the circumstances and my fears for her, I'm afraid I'm going to have to play the role of besotted swain. She needs to be protected. If we have severe doubts that she will be looked after appropriately by her own relatives, I'm the only other logical choice for the role of protector."
"It would seem so," Malcolm admitted grudgingly.
Clifford glanced at him, wondering why he looked so uneasy. Perhaps he felt guilty over his part in the proceedings after all.