The Rakehell Regency(50)

"Damnation."



"Aye. They all quarreled, so far as I could tell from what the servants did and didn't say."



"Why, because they were angry with Gerald over the card game?" Clifford asked doubtfully.



Henry shook his head. "More like because they came to press their own suits for marriage with Vanessa, and then with Gerald. They both want her for their own."



"Damnation," Clifford gritted out again. "It is no less than I suspected. But the visit and subsequent rows will now weaken my theory that Gerald was responsible for trying to poison his sister."



"No other visitors came to the house. I think the servants are very honest, loyal to the family despite not liking Gerald at all. It's their home, and so long as they are not women, they have a quiet enough life with Gerald out gallivanting most days and nights."



Clifford paced up and down in the corridor for a time. "So now we have three possible suspects for poisoning."



"If that's what it was."



"Bother."



"Quite. It also begs the question of whether or not the ambitious Peter and rapscallion Toby might be involved in the depredations upon our estate?"



"Or all three acting in league with each other?" Clifford posited.



Henry conceded, "It is possible. However, that assumes a great deal of trust amongst all three. But I doubt Toby could keep a secret for so long. His tongue is looser than a sailor's teeth. And his drinking is getting much worse."



Clifford chewed the inside of his cheek thoughtfully. At length he said, "We need to look at our own records, and those of Geoffrey Branson. Find out when our troubles first started. Certainly not in Father's day. Nor, I suspect, when Gerald's father was alive."



"But just in case, I shall also discover when Peter's father died."



"Hmm, you do that," Clifford agreed. "Listen, I can't thank you enough for--"



"Save it, Clifford. Thank Geoffrey and Malcolm. If anyone can get to the bottom of this, they can. It just depends on how much you want me to confide in them."



"All of it," Clifford instructed. "Malcolm is doing his best to gather evidence of his own. Perhaps there has been something his father or his deputies have missed. I have no qualms about airing my suspicions if it protects Vanessa. I will be more than willing to eat crow about Gerald if he is innocent. So long as she is safe, nothing else matters."



Henry nodded. "Very well. I shall go see John, tell him to include Vanessa's cousins on the list of people not allowed to see Vanessa alone. Then I shall visit Malcolm."



"Thank you, Henry. I'm just going to go in to sit with her now."



The brothers gave each other pats on the back, and separated, Henry down the stairs, Clifford back into the sickroom.



He found Vanessa just rousing from her slumber.



"Any nightmares this time?" he asked gently.



Her cheeks flushed brightly, but she shook her head and sat up against the headboard. "I can't think what came over me before. How embarrassing."



He stroked her hair back from her forehead. "No need to feel embarrassed. Everyone has nightmares. Even me."



"And what would terrify you?" she asked curiously.



Clifford thought for a moment. "Losing the people I care about," he said promptly, recollecting what he had endured whilst serving in the British army in the Iberian Peninsula.



"Losing Stone Court, which has been in the family for generations, though I have to say, it is just a house, and as such, nothing compared with the loss of a loved one."



Her fine brows shot up in surprise. "Not the answer I would expect from a ruthless man."



Clifford gazed at her fixedly, then held out his hand. "I'll make a bargain with you, Vanessa. I won't listen to anything people tell me about you, if you won't listen to the gossip you hear about me."



She took his hand and squeezed it warmly. "I'm sorry," she sighed. "You just don't know what it's like to be so uncertain of everything and everyone. Becoming an heiress has changed my life utterly. I feel like a child stumbling around blindly in a dark house, terrified out of my wits."



His blue eyes sharpened but he kept his tone mild. "An interesting comparison. Any reason why you said that?"



She began to shiver again, but said, "No, no reason at all."



He gave her a long measuring look, but decided not to press her for any more confidences at this time. "Well, if you're done being ashamed of your dreams, why don't we talk about some business? I'm hoping you'll be well enough to leave here soon. We need to make some future plans.