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“Do you know someone with those initials?” Amelia wondered.
Those were common initials. If she thought about it long and hard, she was certain that she herself would be able to remember someone with those same initials. But her acquaintances were irrelevant. He needed to see if he knew anyone with those initials.
“As a matter of fact, I do…” Arthur said, still frowning. He didn’t seem to like whoever it was he remembered. “But… why would he want to hurt me in any way?”
“Who?” Amelia asked. Curiosity exploded inside of her. She couldn’t possibly imagine who it could be. Who would want to hurt him or them?
Because setting someone’s house on fire was more than just a warning. It was a death threat. It was crime with the intent not only to harm but to murder. The thought made her shudder with fear. Why were there such malicious people in the world? Hadn’t Arthur suffered enough? Why would anyone be this malicious as to keep forcing Arthur to go through the worst tragedy and trauma of his life by making it happen again?
She looked over at Arthur, realizing that little Oliver was still holding her by the hand. He refused to let go. In return, she squeezed his hand back. There was something about him that wouldn’t allow her to just turn her back and go home. His eyes pleaded with her. Her heart pleaded as well.
She swallowed heavily as she waited patiently for Arthur to reply. She didn’t want to push him. She gave him enough time to remember, to think things through, to finally identify the potential arsonist who almost murdered them all.
“Jacob Malcourt,” Arthur finally revealed. “Lady Susan’s fiancé.”
CHAPTER27
The carriage ride to Jacob Malcourt’s town home was a whirlwind of memories. It felt like an excavation where Amelia asked all sorts of questions, and Arthur replied without any hesitation, no matter how deep or personal the questions might have seemed. He promised her the truth, forever and always. This was the perfect moment to prove that he meant every word of that promise.
He told her all about the way Malcourt had seemed to have a soft spot for Lady Susan, but Arthur never paid much attention to it. After all, Lady Susan had always been considered a fetching beauty, and gentlemen were always lining up for a chance to simply speak to her, let alone to get the privilege of dancing with her at a ball. Malcourt was one of those who was around her wherever she went. Finally, when the fire, which claimed the lives of Arthur’s parents, broke out, Lady Susan started to pull away from him, slowly but surely. Then, when their engagement was officially broken off, shortly after, Malcourt announced his intention of courting Lady Susan himself. Now, Arthur knew that they were betrothed, and to be quite honest, he did not want anything to do with either of them. He felt they deserve each other because they were two souls with very little sympathy and understanding for anyone other than themselves.
That morning, both Arthur and Amelia were in the parlor of Jacob Malcourt’s town home. Arthur wished to face this man alone. He didn’t want Amelia to see him at his worst, just in case Arthur decided to plant the man a facer which he most certainly deserved. Then again, something assured him that Amelia already knew the worst of him. She knew it, and she was still there by his side, waiting for this vile man and for the whole truth.
Arthur felt like he didn’t deserve this beautiful, strong-headed, bold woman. He felt like he had only married her to solve his problems, but in reality, that was far from the truth. Fate had a weird way of providing one with exactly what one needed, even if that seemed a bit odd at first. That was how he felt upon marrying her. He had felt that he might have fared better with Jane, Amelia’s sweet and kind sister, who would have been easily manipulated into thinking or believing anything. Amelia, on the other hand, was not. All the expectations he had of her were wrong. She managed to surprise him in so many ways, and she still kept on doing it, even now as she stood by his side on his tireless pursuit of the truth.
“Do you know what you are going to say to him?” she suddenly leaned over to him, whispering her question.
They were both facing the door, refusing to take a seat. They looked like two soldiers, about to take someone to prison. That was how this visit felt.
“Absolutely not,” he admitted. But that didn’t change anything. The heart would know exactly what to say. He wasn’t afraid of that.
Finally, their host arrived. Arthur immediately remembered Jacob although Arthur had not seen him many times before. Jacob Malcourt was a handsome man by any account, but his was a deep, brooding handsomeness which many women swooned over. Arthur could not understand it for the life of him. Everything about this man was insincere from his smile to the way he spoke which was by forcefully making his voice sound deeper than it really was. Arthur couldn’t understand any of that. Not that he needed to. All he wanted right now was the truth.
“The Duke and Duchess of Mosebridge.” Malcourt approached them cordially although his smile was a bit too wide, and his tonality was a bit too familiar. “What unexpected pleasure.”
“I fear we do not come on a merry errand,” Arthur said, immediately biting his tongue, regretting that he did not make his entrance with something more damning than a merry errand. But this would have to do.
“No?” Malcourt repeated, his eyes darting from Amelia back to Arthur.
“We have come for the truth,” Arthur added.
All right, that was a bit better,he told himself. He hated such situations. He shunned them as much as he could, but this time, he could not turn a blind eye to the fact that Amelia could have been killed. He was at a risk of losing another loved person in his life, and he was damned if he was going to allow whoever was responsible to get away with it. Not this time.
“I’m afraid I do not follow,” Malcourt shook his head, sounding even more confused. Arthur almost believed him.
“We know that you paid some urchin off the streets to set fire in my home,” Arthur came out with it, boldly and directly. He waited to see and hear Malcourt’s reaction, who immediately frowned.
“You dare come to my home, unannounced, and after I agree to see you, you accuse me of something so heinous in my own home?” Malcourt exclaimed, sounding offended beyond belief. Once again, Arthur almost believed him, but he instantly remembered Oliver’s tears, and he knew where his trust lay.
“I told you I have come for the truth,” Arthur repeated. “I know that you always wished to have Lady Susan as yours. Now, she is your fiancé. I have nothing of yours. I wish for nothing of yours if that is your fear. But to have someone come into my home and try to hurt me or my family…” Arthur boldly stepped in front of the man. “That is something I shall not tolerate.”
“This is an outrage!” Malcourt took a step back. “Insulted in my own home. You had better leave, both of you, before I fetch the constables and tell them that I am being harassed in my own home.”
Arthur knew he couldn’t back down. Amelia took a step by his side. Her very presence was enough to provide enough motivation, enough strength, and enough determination to force the truth to come out. He could see it in the man’s eyes. He noticed it in the way Malcourt shied away from them. He had guilt etched all over his face. All Arthur needed now was a confession. Then, he would be the one who would fetch the constables and have Malcourt arrested for arson.
“We are not leaving until you tell us the truth,” Arthur snarled. “We have already spoken to the boy. He’s told us everything. I just cannot understand why.”
“The boy?” Malcourt snorted. “Who would believe the word of some nameless urchin off the streets as opposed to my own?”
