How To Beguile A Beauty Part 19

"Justin? Tanner, what's going on? Why would you ask Justin to come up here?"

"Lydia, please. Just do as I say. And don't speak of this with anyone but him."

"But I-but-very well. I hate leaving you. Will you be all right?"

"I'll be fine. We'll be fine," he said quietly, knowing he had just lied to her. "Just fine."

Only as he heard the sound of Daisy moving past him on the lane did Tanner drop onto his haunches to take a closer look at the body of his cousin. He'd seen many bodies on the battlefield, too many. Bodies with no legs, no heads, pieces of bodies, and bodies that looked untouched save for a small black hole marring a jacket or a temple.

But, somehow, this was different. Thomas Harburton held no saber in one dead hand. No spent rifle laid beside him. He'd been defenseless when his attacker had robbed him of his life.

He'd died here, not elsewhere. The amount of blood told that story well enough. But what had he been doing here? The path may exist because it had been used for generations of walkers drawn by the hills, but Thomas was never a walker. He was too bulky, for one thing, and his old injury didn't allow for recreational jaunts around the countryside on foot.

At the same time, Thomas did not like to ride. He traveled the estate in a pony cart Tanner's father had provided for him, and this path wasn't wide enough for a cart.

No, if Thomas had come to this spot, he'd come for a reason. To meet someone. Someone he trusted, or else there would be a weapon somewhere.

He'd come here, and he'd waited for the person he was to meet.

Tanner got to his feet and walked the perimeter of the small clearing amid the trees, looking at Thomas, judging distances, and then walking toward one particular tree. Yes, the weeds behind the tree were bent down, as if someone had stood there.

He saw all the signs of an ambush.

Hiding from sight, waiting, only to jump out when Thomas arrived, taking the man by surprise. Grabbing the man from behind, imprisoning him against his chest with one arm as he pulled him backwards, away from the path and into the trees. As he lifted his knife and drew it deeply across the man's exposed throat, then allowed the body to drop where it was, pumping blood onto the ground with each beat of Thomas's dying heart.

"Cowardly b.a.s.t.a.r.d," Tanner swore softly. He'd no great love for his cousin, but n.o.body deserved to die this way.

The sound of hoofbeats on the path brought Tanner back to attention and he stepped onto the path just as Justin was gracefully swinging his leg up and over his mount's rump as he dismounted.

"Lydia says someone is dead," he said as he looped his mount's reins around a branch of the same tree where Tanner had secured his own horse. "And not of old age, not from the look on your face. Who is it?"

"My cousin Thomas," Tanner said with a wave of his arm toward the body lying about ten feet off the path. "Someone sliced his throat from behind."

Justin shot the cuffs on his jacket as he moved to inspect the body, stopping a good five feet from the soles of Thomas' boots. "Messy," he said without inflection. "But, then, murder is rarely neat. I rode almost entirely across country, or I could have spared Lydia this. I'm sorry. How long do you suppose he's been here?"

"I don't know," Tanner said, joining him. "I would imagine he arrived at Malvern last night. He said it was so we could be sure of our welcome."

"Ah, yes, I can see that. Welcome home, Tanner," Justin said. "Well, shall we?"

Justin didn't have to explain. Nor did Tanner. Together, they approached the body, Tanner on the left, Justin on the right.

"I don't suppose you want to take a peek in his eyes," Justin said, going down on his haunches, careful to keep his coattails from touching the ground. "Did you know that some say if you look into a dead man's eyes, you'll see the last thing he saw? I don't put much faith in that, myself."

Tanner lifted Thomas' right arm. "He's cold, and his limb moves fairly easily. He may have been out here since last night, or very early this morning."

"Well, that's good. I do hate it when they don't bend, don't you?"

"Justin, for the love of G.o.d..."

"I'm being gruesome? My apologies. Let me have a go at his pockets." He carefully unb.u.t.toned Thomas's jacket and reached inside, somehow managing not to come in contact with any of the stiffened, blood-soaked cloth.

Tanner could see the pocket watch Thomas always wore. Moments later, Justin held the man's small purse in his palm, hefting it. They both heard the jingle of coins inside it.

"Not robbery," Justin said unnecessarily, continuing his search of the body. He performed the moves as a man who'd had practice in such things, something that would have surprised most anyone who knew him by reputation only. "I remember this fellow I came across in Toulouse a week or so before Wellington's victory," he said conversationally as he worked. "b.l.o.o.d.y battle, and a b.l.o.o.d.y waste, since Boney had abdicated four days earlier, but you know that. At any rate, the fellow was known to have been carrying a message to the Emperor, but n.o.body else seemed able to locate it on the body, so he was turned over to me. Clever thing, the slim metal cylinder he'd secreted up his-ah, and what have we here?"

Tanner watched as Justin raised a velvet pouch by the strings that secured the opening.

They both got to their feet and walked some steps away from the body before Justin handed over the pouch. Tanner pulled open the strings and dumped the contents onto his palm.

"Smallish stones, but quite lovely. I've always had a fondness for diamonds set around sapphires," Justin said as the necklace glittered in the sunlight. "Apparently, so did your cousin. Although I doubt they would have flattered him."

"What was he doing with them, Justin? Stealing them? Returning them? Was he here to meet with some coconspirator? And if he did come here to meet someone, why didn't that someone at least take away the necklace? Are the jewels real, or are they paste?"

"So many questions spring to mind, I agree. I'm afraid I can only help you with that last part, and not until we get back to the house. Lydia is waiting for you."

The mention of her name turned Tanner's attention away from the jewels in his hand, the body lying on the ground behind him and the trouble that had come to Malvern thanks to both of those things. "I promised her..."

"Promised her what, my friend?" Justin asked as they mounted their horses and headed toward Malvern.

"Never mind," Tanner said, knowing he could never explain, as the quiet, uneventful life he and Lydia envisioned spending together would bore his friend to flinders within a week. "Jasmine isn't going to take this well. Thomas was her only living relative, save me, and some distant maternal aunt somewhere in the wilds of Wales. She runs a charity school for wayward females, or some such thing."

"Reformed harlots? Sounds like a jolly place, full of sermons and penance and bread without b.u.t.ter."

"Yes, I agree. Totally unsuitable for a sensitive young lady like Jasmine. So I suppose I'm stuck keeping her. I was going to give Thomas an allowance, send them both home. Now what in living h.e.l.l am I going to do with her?"

"Perhaps she'll decide to take herself off to a nunnery."

"Once again, Justin, you're not helping."

"I never intended to. I'm only here to observe, and perhaps enjoy myself. Except that I'm not, enjoying myself, that is. Those sapphires, Tanner? I'm afraid that's all you have of the Malvern jewels, save those few bits of gla.s.s and very minor pieces you took to London. The box I located behind the portrait was empty. Everything else is gone except for a few empty cases lying on the floor. Neatness didn't seem to be a priority. In fact, I believe you were supposed to find a mess. After all, otherwise it might have been weeks or months until you'd discovered the theft."

Tanner reined in his mount, as they'd reached the scythed lawns. The entire collection numbered more than fifty pieces, some of them dating back over two hundred years. Everything was taken? Yes, of course it had been. But he had to ask anyway. "Gone? All of it? The Malvern Pride?"

"I'm sorry, but yes. So what do we have here? A theft to cover a theft? I was pondering just that when Lydia arrived, and wondering if your cousin had insisted on coming back to Malvern ahead of us to do just that. Victim of a guilty conscience, he may have felt you had all but confronted him in London. He may have panicked, believed making the rest of the jewels disappear would help to cover the fact that any more of the stones had been changed. Unless they hadn't been, and he wanted them all for himself before you returned and found a better way to lock them away. I wouldn't have needed the key, you know. Anyone with even a modic.u.m of talent who found that portrait and opened it would have had the lockbox in his hands with very little effort. I can't imagine why your papa and ancestors didn't take more care with them. At any rate, I imagine he was going to greet you with the news that he'd discovered the theft. Except that something went fatally wrong for the man."

"You're saying that Thomas took the remainder of the jewelry, and then ran afoul of some accomplice in the theft? Whoever had been helping him replace the stones?"

"I don't think I said that precisely, but, yes, it seems feasible, as we can be certain the man's death wasn't a suicide. The Malvern Pride alone could make a man consider murder a necessary expedient."

"No reason to take the watch, the purse. Not when he had the jewels."

"A mistake, I'd say. Although why your cousin had kept the sapphires separate I can't explain. Perhaps a sentimental attachment? Then again, if the stones had already been changed out, perhaps he separated it from the real stones?"

Tanner had another thought. "Or he could have dropped the pouch in his rush, and then stuck it in his pocket rather than chancing he could be discovered by one of the servants. He was in a hurry to meet with his accomplice, hand off the jewels, and then hie himself back to Malvern in time to play the bearer of bad news when we arrived. That way, the man who killed him wouldn't have known about the sapphires."

"Yes, I rather like that one, although we'll probably never know the truth now that old Thomas has c.o.c.ked up his toes," Justin said. "Have you ever considered a life of crime, friend? I think you might have the devious brain required to be successful at it. You know, if this being the duke business doesn't work out for you."

"I'll be sure to consider it, thank you." They continued to walk the horses toward the drive, and another thought hit Tanner. "Unless the sapphires-you said they're a minor piece-were expressly left behind to prove Thomas a thief," he said, trying out the idea out loud. "Nothing of value taken from the body, but something added."

"Ah, I like that, as well, perhaps even better than the first one, although I must once again point out that we'll probably never know precisely why the necklace was in his pocket. Back to the robbery, which was successful. One thief exposed-and very dead-and the other clearly in possession of the remainder of the jewels save the sapphires, and already miles away, and riding h.e.l.l for leather to the coast. Unknown, and impossible to find. Or do you plan to mount a search?"

"I'll hire some fellow from Bow Street," Tanner told him, as he'd already come to that conclusion on his own. "I'll question the servants, make some inquiries locally, of course. But that's all. I have Lydia to protect now. I can't go haring all over the country looking for some d.a.m.n stones that may very well be fakes, leaving her here alone."

"Yes. You have Lydia."

Tanner looked at his friend. "This can't touch her, Justin."

"She's more precious than any stones, you'll get no argument there. What are you thinking? What's your next step? And, whatever it is, consider me walking beside you."

They dismounted and a groom ran up to take the reins, bowing to His Grace and welcoming him home.

At last, Tanner shared his worst fears with his friend. "I'm thinking, Justin, that there was something else missing from the body. Thomas held the keys to every gate and door on this estate, and was never without them, as they were the outward sign of his authority. Malvern holds a d.a.m.n sight more than those b.l.o.o.d.y jewels, Justin. I'm thinking that maybe Thomas' murderer isn't all that far away, not when he now can walk in and out of Malvern whenever the spirit moves him until we complete the ma.s.sive job of replacing all the locks. Our coconspirator, and whoever may be in his employ."

"d.a.m.n. You know, Tanner, this is what comes of cutting loose our brave soldiers into a land where they can barely afford food or shelter, denying them pensions or help of any kind. It is inevitable that some will turn their talents to fleecing the rich, those who have so much, when they have so little."

"Now you sound like Rafe and Lucas, although I agree with you."

Justin put a hand on Tanner's arm, holding him in place just at the bottom of the front steps. "Events are taking a considerably ugly and confusing turn, aren't they? Before we join the ladies, let's see if we can eliminate anything, shall we? Are we still to look at what's happened today and see a conspiracy to have you wed to Jasmine, or is that over now?"

"That had all been only conjecture on our part anyway, that business about Jasmine and me. I think we can agree that plan died when Thomas was murdered. And, I think, we can also dismiss any idea that Thomas acted alone."

"I concur. We'll stay with the jewels then, and some sort of partners.h.i.+p, at the very least. One to steal the stones, one to sell them, have the stones replaced. But, for some unknown reason, the thieves had a falling out, and your cousin was murdered. Leaving us to ask, who is this man, this possible gang of men? Ah, wait, I believe I have one suggestion. Perhaps one of your cousin's gambling chums, one he owed a considerable sum of money?"

Tanner had thought he was beyond being shocked. "Gambling? My cousin gambled?"

"Didn't Jasmine tell you? Thomas was always sneaking off somewhere to gamble at cards, with the dice. Here on the estate, again in London. He was sometimes gone for days. To hear her tell it, your cousin was pockets-to-let, completely. Either you married her almost immediately and bailed him out of the River Tick, or he was ruined. In any event, that person or persons may have pretended to go along with him, but with an entirely different objective in mind. Invite in the devil, Tanner, and he can be counted on to show up, even with his demons in tow, and with a whole set of evil ideas you hadn't thought of on your own."

But Tanner was still attempting to picture his tight-fisted uncle as a gambler. "How blind can one man be, Justin? I had no idea Thomas played deep. But Jasmine told you this?"

"A tongue hinged at both ends, remember? Were I forced into her company for any time above a fortnight, I'd have no choice but to strangle her. But she's harmless, I suppose, unless you mind your ears bleeding from time to time."

Tanner nodded, his mind working feverishly. "What you said makes perfect sense. Why split the proceeds on the stones? Why only get them piecemeal, whenever Thomas needed funds? Why care about Thomas's plan at all? The thieves saw Malvern, and saw so much more that could be theirs. He d.a.m.n well did everything but invite them in for tea."

"Yes, remove the coconspirators he so foolishly partnered with, and your cousin's plan might have worked, and there soon would have been no need for any more small thefts-or any more profit for those coconspirators. If it hadn't been for Lydia, that is. Truly an unexpected complication for him, you falling in love with her. After all, you'd been two years without a romantic attachment of any kind, and you'd taken Jasmine with you to London, so surely you were about to come up to snuff. Thomas must have felt he was closing in on his victory. He can't be faulted for that. Half of London believed the same thing."

Tanner wasn't really listening. He was still attempting to work everything out in his mind. And the more he thought, the more he realized that he had put Lydia in danger by bringing her to Malvern. He could allow Justin to come to that conclusion himself, in his own good time, while he concentrated on other things.

Justin sighed. "I'm to continue this conversation with myself? Very well. So we agree there's someone else involved in this larger plan, perhaps more than one person, perhaps an entire gang of low thieves. Whoever-whomevers-slit your cousin's throat when he became an impediment in some way. Perhaps he was foolish enough to tell them he wasn't going to steal any more, that his daughter was soon to be the d.u.c.h.ess, and he no longer needed them."

"Quiet, please, Justin. I'm thinking."

"You do that. I, however, prefer to think out loud. Now, where was I? Oh, yes. Perhaps Thomas belatedly realized his mistake, and objected to having his daughter become d.u.c.h.ess of a house that echoed in its emptiness? But, really, does the why of his murder matter? We're standing out here, my friend, with Lydia and Jasmine inside, and all four of us very much in the way of those who now hold the keys to every gate and door of your home. I doubt your being in residence will bother them overmuch if they decide to come calling one night soon. You wouldn't expect the thieves to return, not now that they have the jewels. Why, we'd be lambs to the slaughter, wouldn't we, murdered in our beds?

"You certainly can't be faulted for holding a boring house party, I'll say that for you. Tanner? Yoohoo. Excuse me, but I don't believe I was speaking rhetorically. Surely you have something to add, something along the lines of: My G.o.d, man, we could be under siege at any moment and must send the women back to London, posthaste!"

But Tanner didn't answer. He'd already pa.s.sed beyond his friend's musings, and was remembering the way Lydia, on their way to Malvern, had rolled her eyes whenever Jasmine went on about whatever she seemed to prattle on about. Lydia had thought Jasmine sweet, amusing, if a little silly. In London, she had thought that. But no more, that was obvious now that he thought about the thing.

He was remembering how Jasmine had glared at Lydia when she'd walked into their private dining room at the inn on Captain Flynn's arm. Had she been glaring at Lydia-or at the man beside her?

He was remembering how Lydia had stepped in to explain that Jasmine had sustained an injury. How she'd whispered in the girl's ear in the coach, and the shocked expression that had come over Jasmine's face.

Jasmine's bruised face, poor thing.

Had Jasmine confided in Lydia, woman to woman? And, if so, what had she told her?

"Captain Flynn," he said quietly as a cold certainty gathered in his gut. He didn't have all the pieces yet, but he'd begun to see at least the outline of the puzzle. He'd been suspicious that Thomas may have sent the man to stir up trouble. Now he felt certain he'd been right.

"Captain Flynn?" Justin repeated. "Your Captain Flynn?"

"He's not my-all right, yes, my Captain Flynn. G.o.d knows I'm the idiot who invited him for supper. He knew about Fitz, about Quatre Bras, all of it. I'd already thought Thomas might have put him up to it, that business about Fitz and the ladies..."

"All right. So they were in it together, your cousin and this Flynn person. I can see how you might make that connection, Flynn as coconspirator. The man might have wanted a look at you, to size you up in some way, and used Fitz to get himself in the door. So comforting to be able to put a face to evil. But why did Flynn kill your cousin? Which one of my many very good theories most appeals to you?"

"I don't know."

"Oh, good. I was worried there for a moment that I might have gone stupid in my advancing years. Still we should probably put all this heavy thinking and theorizing to one side until you've informed Jasmine of her father's demise. You go on, and I'll round up a small party to retrieve the body. Then we'll speak again of removing the ladies to someplace safe."

Tanner looked at the closed doors to his home. Doors he'd wanted to see opened as he and Lydia approached them together, so he could watch her reaction when those doors were flung back and she saw her new home for the first time.

Thank G.o.d they'd had those moments together at the inn, on the hill above Malvern. They might be the last quiet moments they'd have together for a long time...

CHAPTER NINETEEN.

LYDIA THANKED THE BUTLER as he set a lovely silver tea service on the table in the main saloon before bowing to her and to Jasmine, turning smartly on his heel, and leaving the room. Very proper, Tanner's butler, but with kind eyes. Lydia had taken to him on sight. Although he did seem to be worried about something; she wouldn't have noticed, except that a small tic had been working in the man's cheek. And the household seemed unnaturally quiet, with none of the hustle and bustle she would have expected with the master on his way home.

"He doesn't like me, you know," Jasmine said as she reached for one of the scones arranged on a small dish. "Roswell, I mean. He thinks I'm the poor relation putting on airs. Which is silly, because I'm here because Papa is the estate manager, and because Tanner wants me here. That's because Tanner is kind, and caring. It's a pity I can't love him. Oooh, these are quite good, aren't they? I think I'll have some jellied strawberry on the next one."

"Hmm?" Lydia said, her mind concentrated on listening for Tanner's arrival. There was a dead body out there. She had even caught a quick glimpse of it as she urged Daisy along the path. She'd never seen a dead body before, had never hoped to. One of the estate workers, Tanner had said. Had a tree fallen on him? Or perhaps he'd been tossed from his horse, which had then bolted and run away. She searched her mind for some reasonable explanation, but couldn't stop thinking that Tanner had looked not just serious, but rather shaken.

"I said, how lucky I am that Tanner doesn't love me."

Lydia shook off her thoughts and smiled at the girl, although not without effort. "Yes, how fortunate. Because he'd be doomed to disappointment, wouldn't he? Because of your Bruce Beattie."

"My-oh, I keep forgetting I told you his name. I shouldn't have done that. It was...it was our secret. You'll keep our secret, won't you? Tanner could use his influence to have him turned off, you know."

"Perhaps he should. An honorable man would have applied to your father if he wished to court you."

Jasmine's expression turned sulky. "And what good would that have done? Papa is convinced Tanner will come up to snuff, sooner or later. He has to, or Papa will soon bankrupt us with his gambling. I am under strict orders, you know, to be all that is pleasing to Tanner this week. I'm so glad the baron is here with us. You don't mind that Tanner has paired him with you, do you? I suppose you'll be the first to hear the announcement, when it comes. And, who knows, perhaps you two will have one of your own?"

Lydia tipped the silver pot in its holder and poured herself a cup of tea, surprised that her hands were steady. "Is that how you see the thing, Jasmine? That Justin and I have been invited here for each other?"