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He sighed. “I saw yer braither in the garden with somebody last night,” he said, “and then there’s a murder’n another attempt on the Duke’s life…”
He let his voice trail off as he watched her putting it all together in her mind. She was an intelligent woman. She was clever. And Fin knew she would know where his questions were leading. She clenched her jaw and narrowed her eyes as color flooded her face.
“Are you insinuating that my brother had something to do with the attempt on the Duke’s life?” she hissed. “Or the attempt on Gillian’s life?”
It was going about how Fin had expected it to. She was already getting upset and preparing to defend her brother. At the moment, Fin could not blame her. He had nothing to base an accusation on. But she could very well be the key to unlocking the whole mystery. Even if she did not know or accept it.
Fin held his hand up to forestall the impending explosion. “I am nae insinuatin’ anythin’,” he said. “I’m just askin’ questions like I’m s’posed tae be doin’.”
“It certainly seemed like you were accusing my brother--”
“I was nae accusin’ him of nothin’,” he said. “It just seemed tae be a coincidence tae big tae ignore.”
“Well, you can get that out of your head right now, Fin,” she huffed, her indignation growing. “My brother did nothing to harm the Duke or Gillian.”
“I’m nae sayin’ he did. I just need tae ken the name of the man he met with last night,” he argued.
“Fin, this is ridiculous,” she said. “My brother would never do anything to hurt the Duke.”
He let out a breath and pursed his lips. “Like I keep sayin’, I’m nae sayin’ he did,” he said. “I just need tae be sure and nae rule anythin’ out.”
“Well, you can rule Castor out. He may be craven and ambitious, but he is no killer.”
“Ivy, I just need the name--”
“I do not know,” she practically screamed, her voice filled with exasperation. “He did not tell me. But whoever this man he met is, I can assure you that he is not the assassin.”
She spoke so forcefully and passionately. She truly did believe her brother could not have had anything to do with the assassination attempts. And Fin would have loved to be able to believe her and leave it at that. But if she did not know who her brother met with, she could not know what they talked about or what the man did - or did not - do.
The air between them was suddenly tense and filled with angry energy that crackled all around them. Ivy’s demeanor had suddenly grown cool as she looked at him, and that imperiousness in her attitude he had seen the day they met returned. She glared at him, her jaw clenched, and her hands balled into fists in her lap.
Fin wanted to tell her he was sorry. Wanted to bridge the gap that had suddenly opened between them and smooth everything over. He wanted to go back to when things were fun and free between them, and she didn’t look at him like she wanted to run him through with a sword.
“I didnae mean tae upset ye,” Fin said. “I’m just doin’ what I was ordered tae dae.”
She looked at him for a long moment, and Fin saw her features soften - slightly. She let out a long breath and gave him a tight smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. Ivy opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by the sound of the door to his office being opened. Fin looked up to see Brixton, the big man who had been shadowing her that day in the market, standing in the doorway. He was tense and had a look of sheer exasperation on his face.
Fin cut a glance at Ivy and saw that she was staring straight ahead, her face stony, her silence deafening. As much as Fin wanted to laugh, knowing what he did, he kept it reined in.
“What can I dae for ye, Mr. Brixton?” Fin asked.
The large man’s eyes settled on Ivy, who hadn’t turned around or acknowledged his presence in any way. As Brixton stood in the doorway, Fin studied the man and thought back to the mystery man he saw in the garden with Castor last night. He quickly rejected the thought, though. Brixton was too large to have been that man.
“I came to collect the Lady Welton,” he said. “We seem to have gotten - separated - earlier.”
Fin nodded. “Aye. She just came tae say goodbye.”
“Well then, come along Lady Welton,” Brixton said. “Your brother is waiting.”
Ivy let out a long, loud breath as she got to her feet. She cast a look down at Fin, and it looked like there was more that she wanted to say. But something in her eyes changed, and Fin was sure that what she was actually going to say died on her lips.
“It was lovely to meet you, Mr. Begbie,” she said. “I wish you well in your endeavors.”
“Aye. I wish ye well tae, Lady Welton,” he said. “Safe travels back to Elix.”
Her eyes lingered on his for a moment longer before she turned away. Fin watched as Ivy strode past Brixton and out into the corridor, never looking back once. Brixton gave him a hard look before he turned and followed Ivy, pulling the door closed behind him. Fin leaned back in his chair, his eyes fixed upon the door, some small part of him wishing that Ivy would come bursting back through it again.
Might as well wish for the sun not tae rise on the morrow.
To Fin, it felt like there were many words left unsaid between them. It felt like their conversation was incomplete. He knew there was much more he wanted to say to her. Many questions he had as he endeavored to get to know her. And in that last glance she cast at him, Fin thought he saw much the same in her eyes. She left in a huff, upset at him for thinking what he was, but there was something more there as well. She was hesitant. Reluctant. She did not want to go, he could tell.
But she was gone. She was gone, and he was left alone with his thoughts — and his regrets. And he still had a job to do.
