"His last wife?" Jo asked sharply. "How many has he had?"
"Three. Each has died within a handful of years after their marriage," Thomas said and then added, "My mother lasted four years or so. She was the longest."
"He's had three life mates?" Jo asked with amazement.
"No," Marguerite said at once. "Only one was a life mate. Nicholas's mother. Armand turned her. The second wife, Thomas's mother, was an immortal. She was a bit wild, became his lover and got pregnant. Obviously, she wanted to or she wouldn't have been drinking enough blood to even start the pregnancy, let alone keep it long enough to know she was pregnant," she added dryly, and then shrugged. "She told Armand, and he, of course, married her. It was the eighteenth century," she added. "And at that time, an unmarried girl simply didn't have a child on her own. No one in the immortal community would have been too distressed, but we were all trying to fit in as mortals. They married for propriety's sake, but agreed it would only be until one or the other met their life mate." Marguerite grimaced. "Instead, she died."
"The last wife, Jeanne Louise's mother, was also immortal," Nicholas announced. "Father was lonely, and I think she felt sorry for him. She also wanted a child of her own and so they made an agreement—a temporary marriage for companionship until one or the other met their life mate."
"But she died too," Jo murmured.
"Yes," Marguerite said with a sigh. "Armand has had absolutely no luck with wives."
Jo raised her eyebrows. "You're kidding, right?"
Marguerite raised her own eyebrows. "You think losing three wives is good luck?"
"I think an immortal losing three immortal wives one after the other is completely unlikely," she responded grimly. "Let me guess, they all died in weird accidents?"
"Well, yes," she admitted with surprise. "Nicholas's mother died in a fire, and—"
"You didn't tell me fire can kill you?" Jo said, turning on Nicholas accusingly.
"It usually can't," he said quietly. "We can take a lot of damage and still keep moving and get out of the fire and then repair. But my mother was trapped and…" He grimaced and shrugged.
Jo shook her head and glanced at those surrounding her. "You guys are immortals, hard to kill. What are the chances of one of you losing three wives in a row? Don't you think that's odd?"
"That's what Annie said," Jeanne Louise murmured almost thoughtfully.
"Did she?" Jo turned on her quickly.
Jeanne Louise nodded. "I'd forgotten about that. She was curious as to why Father hadn't attended the wedding, and when I told her about his misfortunes with wives, she thought it was weird too and started asking all these questions…"
"She was very interested in how they died and so on that day you both came for tea," Marguerite murmured.
"She asked me about Uncle Armand and his wives too," Lissianna said. "I didn't think anything of it at the time."
"She did talk about it a lot," Jeanne Louise said, turning wide eyes to Jo. "You don't think that has something to do with what she was going to tell Nicholas?"
"It could," she said thoughtfully. "I certainly would have thought it odd and been curious about it. And if she started looking into it and learned anything that suggested even one of the deaths wasn't accidental…"
"Then it would be a very good reason for someone to want her dead before she could tell Nicholas what she'd learned," Thomas said grimly.
"Yes," Jo murmured, not noticing the sudden silence in the room, until Bricker broke it by standing up.
"I need, to feed," he announced, heading for the door. "Does anyone else want something?"
There were murmurs from several people, but Jo was distracted with considering what it was Annie might have learned… and how she'd learned what she had. The deaths had happened so long ago, it was hard to imagine she'd learned anything.
"I think I heard Lucy chattering as I crossed the hall."
Jo glanced up at Bricker's comment to see that he'd returned and was passing out bagged blood.
"I guess I'd better get her. She'll need feeding," Lissianna said, and stood to slip from the room.
"Oh, she forgot her bag," Leigh said, standing to follow her.
Jo watched them go and then glanced back to the group and said, "It seems to me we need to talk to Armand. He might be able to help clear things up. We should at least get some idea of where to look or what step to take next."
"I'm not sure," Marguerite murmured. "If Armand knew anything I think he would have said so at the time."