“Is she?” Solomon asked.
Kellar still looked amused. “No. Though her mother and I were closer than you might approve of, I did not even meet her until Caterina was thirteen years old.”
“But you had an affair with her mother?”
Kellar lifted his shoulders. “What can I say? I am an imperfect man.”
“Stop it,” Solomon said sharply.
For the first time, Kellar betrayed the faintest hint of surprise. One finger shifted very slightly on his wine glass. Then he released it and leaned back in his chair.
“I don’t know what it is you suspect me of,” he said, “but it is clearly getting in the way of the investigation. In the course of my diplomatic career, I have done many things for queen and country that I cannot speak of. Some would, indeed, be reprehensible were they not for that greater good.”
As if mechanically, he reached again for his wine glass and this time took a drink. Because he needed it? Or was he just giving himself time to think what to say?
Kellar lowered the glass from his lips and gazed into it. “Traveling players, singers—entertainers of all kinds make excellent couriers of information and private messages. As things grew more turbulent in 1847, Caterina’s father tried to step away from our arrangement. I…used his wife’s affection for me to maintain their role in my communications. Early in 1848, they were both killed by Roman government forces. I don’t know whether or not it was their connection to me that led to their deaths, but I felt responsible for Caterina in more ways than one. That was why I took her out of Italy and brought her here to be safe.”
“And you still feel responsible,” Solomon said. He hadn’t taken his eyes off the other man’s face.
Kellar nodded. “Perhaps you are right to question my judgment,even my pride. After all, I brought Caterina here to be safe. Her parents’ killers were never brought to my idea of justice. I probably drink wine with them nowadays.” He looked up at last, catching Solomon’s steady gaze. “But my instinct stands. Something is wrong about Caterina’s death.”
“Did you love her mother?” Constance blurted. She wasn’t even sure why it was important, though it probably had something to do with Juliet.
Kellar’s gaze fell again. He set down the glass.
“No,” he said. “But I was fond of her.”
*
“Do you believehim?” Constance said abruptly.
They were in their bedroom, preparing for bed in companionable if thoughtful silence.
Solomon dropped his cuff links on the dressing table and pulled his shirt over his head. “I believe there is truth in amongst all the words. I don’t think he ever lies outright.”
“But he is deceiving us?”
Solomon sat on the bed to remove the rest of his clothes. “He wants us to continue the investigation. He admits to being ruthless in pursuit of his goals. If there is deceit, I can’t see what it is, or what his purpose might be.”
He rose, naked, and prowled to the washstand. His skin glowed like dark gold in the candlelight. Her muscles tightened in inevitable desire. But he was her husband and there was time for everything.
Constance, who had been brushing her hair long enough to make it stand out from her head like a fuzzy golden halo, threw down the brush and paced discontentedly to the bed. She climbed in and admired the glistening droplets of water on Solomon’s long, lean body. He dragged the towel across his broad shoulders, down the ripplingmuscles of his arms and chest to his flat stomach and narrow hips…
She swallowed and, with an effort, rediscovered her thread. “He wants to keep looking after her because he still carries guilt over her parents. All he can do now is bring whoever is responsible for her death to justice. He doesn’t want to accept that no one is responsible, because then he is useless. He is a very complicated, convoluted man.”
Solomon threw down the towel and paced toward her, large and predatory. God, he was beautiful. And she adored the glittering heat in his eyes, as if he had hungered for her for days. And yet last night…
Desire flooded her.Oh yes, last night…And now there wasthisnight.
He sat on the edge of the bed, gazing at her. “We have been trying to prove him wrong. What if he’s right?”
“I’m not sure we’d ever prove it.”
“And what,” Solomon said slowly, “ifheis guilty of the murder?”
Lust vanished along with her breath. “Then…we would never prove that either.” And since Kellar was the one who had instigated the investigation, he would be the only one who was never suspected of the crime. “Oh, Solomon…” She seized him by the shoulders for comfort. “And he saw Juliet! Do you think he recognized her?”
“She certainly did her best to put him off the scent. I have never heard her sound quite so Cockney.”
