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“You mustn’t read theDaily Informer.It was full of salacious gossip at the time,” she said.She sat at the edge of the bed, with her hair loose and messy over her shoulder.There was nothing he’d done in his life to reward him with such a wife.He would have given his entire fortune to have her.Because with Rose Elliston at his side, he could have rebuilt his empire and then some.
“I am surprised you would read it,” he said.
“There is little for a widow to do when the entire household is scurrying about to ensure she is not overtaxed.Reading the newspaper was my exclusive retreat.”
“Healthy men don’t just die,” he said.
“They do when they are gouty, overweight and of weak heredity.”
“Yet Edmond was none of those things, as I read it,” he said.
She played with the fringe of the bed covering.“It was a hunting accident before the Season started.It seems a lifetime ago.”
“Who was he hunting with?”
“I don’t know.Lords came and went at the country estate.I had already left for London with the girls.When I got back a few days later, Cyril had already taken charge of everything, including relegating me to the corner of the estate reading newspapers.”She shrugged, one shoulder lifting in surrender.“What else was there to do?”
“There was no gossip?”
“If there was, Cyril made sure I didn’t hear it.We are the weaker sex, after all.”
“But you did hear something?”
“About Edmond or Cyril?”
“Either.”
“Have you heard of a condition amongst soldiers, battle-weary soldiers?Some call it acute mania,” she said.
“A disorder of his brain?Is that what you mean?”
“Cyril is troubled that way.Hallucinations.Nightmares.He’ll deny it if asked.”
“Has he been to a physician?”
“In the military, I don’t know.But here, the Duke of Sandhurst would never allow his mental acuity to be challenged.Once I saw him alone in the library, on the carpet, rocking back and forth and running his hands over his head.It was frightening.”
“Before or after?”
“After.It was one of those events that made me realize I had to dosomething.”
He needed more information about Cyril’s condition, but he didn’t want to alert Rose to his concerns.Not yet, anyway.“Come to bed, Rose.It’s not healthy for you to be about this late.The servants will help tomorrow for any of the last-minute preparations.”He drew back the covers.“And I promise I’ll not make such a rash decision again.”
She crawled onto the bed, throwing one arm over his chest and burying her face near his neck.“Well, now that I have just about conquered this challenge, I will not be amused if you tell me we won’t have the gala next year.”
“We won’t have the king next year.I will need the money to pay for this expensive excursion into the Beau Monde.”
“Serves you right,” she said, then yawned
Matthew had another question, but perhaps now wasn’t the time to inquire.Did Cyril have something to do with Edmond’s death?It was the most obvious answer to a question no one asked.Thetonprotected its own.Cyril would have known that, and a ducal title was a perfect place to hid when one was clearly implicated in the Cato Street Conspiracy, even though Matthew was the only one doing the implicating.It was clear to Matthew, at any rate.
A military career was respectable on its face.Add the title to it and Cyril, whatever his involvement, would be virtually invisible to the magistrates and juries, especially if money were liberally applied to help the cause.
The possibility he also suffered from some battlefield mania only added impetus to Matthew’s brewing hypothesis.
The letter Matthew had procured as part of his normal household spying was deeply incriminating, along with the rumors that there were conspirators who hadn’t been revealed.The conspirators were widely mocked as shoemakers and members of those trade societies that fomented revolution, but there were a fair number of veterans who’d returned home from the war to find hard economic times and social unrest.Naturally, politicians were to blame.Thistlewood and his cohorts had inside help, but it was a police informant who had both agitated the group and reported on their doings.
Cyril Elliston was clever enough to stay away from their meetings.He wasn’t so clever not to send notes, especially one to Thistlewood that had promised funds after their success.If he had acute mania, as Rose described, could there have been another, uncontrollable reason for his participation?
Matthew glanced down at Rose’s head, her hair spread over his chest.He reached down and grabbed the hanging bed covers and drew it over his body for modesty’s sake.Rose snuggled next to him was enough heat to last the night.
“He wasn’t a normal man, even at the time I married Edmond,” she whispered, her breath tickling over his skin.“I had hoped the military would change him in a positive way, but the ravages of war made him cruel and vindictive as well as secretive and falsely charming.”
“You are not to worry.I’m with you, Rose.You and the children will be safe.”Who did Matthew know that could give him information on Cyril’s regiment?And who did he know who could tell him about the seriousness of acute mania?What further harm might such a man cause?
More importantly, what harm could Matthew prevent?
Well, there was only one man who could find the information quickly, and that was Jack Sparling.
