“This Lucas Tremayne, would he be the same one who has been escorting Marabella DiSimone around Town recently?”
Simon choked on his tea and Sir Williamson answered for him. “That would be the gentleman in question, yes.”
“And the land that he sold, it wouldn’t happen to have belonged to my father before he died, would it?”
Simon was turning green. Sir Williamson sat back and crossed one leg over his knee as if he were preparing to have a very long battle of wills. “He is the son of the man who inherited your father’s estate. Presently he is merely twenty-two and quite full of himself.”
“He must be if he thinks he can afford Mrs. DiSimone,” she replied.
“Oh, he can afford Mrs. DiSimone ten times over. He’s a very wealthy man.”
That gave her pause. “How has a young man who came from nothing, before he inherited my family’s land, made so much of himself at such a young age?”
“That was my question as well. Your father’s death was deemed suspicious years ago, but the local surgeon had said he was inebriated and fell into the river. An accident like that is not unheard of, so the doctor’s ruling left everyone none the wiser to your father’s actual cause of death.”
It was odd talking about her father’s death in such a chilling fashion, but she suspected it would be the only way in which she would receive the answers she and her sisters deserved. Otherwise, any suspicions the government had would either be swept under the rug or passed on to Ross as the highest-ranking male member of their family, and Ross would decide if and what the daughters of Duncan Blair were told about his death. Considering the Crown had given her family home to Ross, she wasn’t sure if his conscience would make him tell Iseabail and the rest of them the truth, or if he would file the information away without a word. It irritated her to no end that Ross would have such power over their lives when he had married into their family nearly a decade after their father’s death.
“Tell me, who deemed my father’s death suspicious if the surgeon said it was an accident? And if it was not an accident, what was his actual cause of death?”
“We believe it was murder, but beyond that, we have no proof.”
We believe it was murder.Sir Williamson said it in such a calm and aloof fashion he could have said,You have a speck of biscuit on your lip,orI beg your pardon, I have traipsed mud on your carpet. “What makes you believe he was murdered?”
“As you know, Lord Pembrock met with your father just before he died.”
She nodded.
“Lord Pembrock was young and desperate for funds.”
“It seems all the gentlemen of the ton are desperate for funds.” She could barely keep the contempt from her voice. William certainly had been one of them. Her dowery had been the only thing he valued in their marriage.
Sir Williamson nodded as if that was just the way of things. “Lord Pembrock was attempting to convince your father to sell some of his land to an investment company who wanted to build a canal from Inverness to Fort William.”
“My father would never sell his family land.”
“Yes. The morning after their conversation, your father was dead, and your family land, which your father had owned prior to meeting your mother, was bequeathed to his distant cousin, Clyde Tremayne. Mr. Tremayne died in his bed a few years back.”
“And that’s how Mr. Lucas Tremayne came to be in possession of my family’s land. I find it interesting that the men who own the land are dying inordinately young.”
“Clyde Tremayne loved his whiskey, not many were surprised by his early death,” Sir Williamson stated. “And before you demand the land back, you should know your father’s will was clear. Mr. Tremayne has the land legally, regardless of your father’s cause of death.”
“So, someone got away with my father’s murder and potentially his heir’s murder.”
“They haven’t gotten away with your father’s murder yet, and I’m not convinced the senior Tremayne was murdered.” Once again, his tone was matter of fact. There was no conviction, nor was there a lack of conviction.
“How do you plan to catch this killer?”
“Continue to dig. Astley obviously made someone nervous with his questions, which we believe led to his kidnapping by the French.”
“Why would the French care about Astley looking into my father’s death?”
“The French have a vested interest in being able to access Fort William from the North Sea without being detected. Both pieces of your father’s property are on the proposed path of a new canal from Inverness Firth to Loch Linnhe. If the French could control the canal with spies and Scottish people whose loyalty is for sale, then they could do some serious damage to England and our supply chain.” Sir Williamson eyed her dispassionately, clearly gauging her response.
It was Simon who addressed the faint accusation in the air, his voice deadly quiet. “Are you saying you believe her father was a traitor to the Crown?”
“I do not know.” Sir Williamson’s manner, however, said, yes, he did in fact believe her father had been a traitor.
Caillen put down her teacup. “How dare you? My father was no traitor.”
