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"I just have a few questions regarding Harry, if you would be kind enough to answer them," Edward suggested. "It has come to my attention that Harry was involved with some criminal activities in his youth, and perhaps you knew some of the people he was with back then." Edward could immediately tell that this conversation would amount to nothing.
The man stood up, obviously enraged. "You come to my home, accusin' me of hangin' round lowlifes and criminals?"
"I wasn't insinuating any such thing, I assure you," Edward tried, but there was no rectifying this situation.
"You listen here now," the man pointed at Edward with his index finger. He was one of those people who did not care much about social classes, and believed that in a fist fight, two men were equal whether they were rich or poor. Edward did not have the slightest intention of getting into any altercation with this man, who had a faint scent of alcohol about him. "My son made a lot of bad choices when young, that was before your parents gave him a chance. But we," he pointed at himself and his wife, "knew nothin' of this murky business. So don't you come in here, accusin' anyone of dealin' with criminals when it was only Harry who was doin' that."
"I understand," Edward nodded. He could see that Leah had already taken a step back, apprehensive at what she was hearing and the way that man was speaking. "I did not mean any offense, I assure you."
Usually, Edward would never allow someone to talk to him like that, especially when he had come not threatening or offending anyone, but simply asking for answers to his questions. However, this man had lost a son. First, he lost him to crime, then in real life, forever. Edward could not blame him for being bitter and angry with the whole world. In fact, Edward would not be the slightest bit surprised if the man blamed himself for losing his son, only he was too blind to realize that, so that now, his anger was misplaced. For all of that, Edward decided to be the bigger person.
"We won't take up more of your time," he added, grabbing Leah by the hand and heading back toward the door. Fortunately, it was just one straight line of several steps that would take them out of this stuffy home and into the illuminated street.
But when they opened the door and were about to close them, Edward could see that the woman followed them. She turned around, hesitant to see whether they were alone. When she was assured of this, she leaned forward and whispered in a weak voice that was on the verge of breaking.
"You two are young and still have your whole lives ahead of you," she spoke her words slowly, as if each word cost her a lot and she wanted to put them to good use. "Leave all this behind, before you put yourselves in more danger than you ever thought possible." Edward could see the glimmer of tears in her eyes, which she was trying to keep restrained.
Just when Edward was about to ask her more about this danger, she slammed the door in his face. He turned to Leah, incredulous at what just happened.
"Well, that certainly did not go the way I thought it would," he admitted as they turned around and started heading back to the carriage. Leah was silent. "What do you think?" he probed. He wanted to hear her opinion on everything, and especially on this.
"I think they don't know anything," Leah finally spoke as they were already inside the carriage and Edward gave the signal to the footman to take them back home.
"You think so?" he wondered.
"Yes," she nodded, looking at him gravely. "They lost Harry. They have a daughter, and now she is their only child. I don't think they would get involved in any criminal dealings, because they know where it would lead them. Harry's mother was suppressing her tears when she warned us to stay away from all this. You've seen it, too. That means that her husband has all the control in that family. Regardless of what it may appear, I think she loves her children. She loved Harry and she loves the daughter she still has. That alone makes me believe that she wouldn't do anything that might get her in trouble."
"What about her husband?"
"He is wallowing in self-pity," she explained. "He is too weak to do anything. Did you see that his first reaction was him thinking we came to accuse Harry of having stolen something then bringing it there, to them? He was quick to tell us he doesn't have whatever it is we are looking for."
"Yes," Edward agreed, pondering on what she was saying.
"So, no," Leah sighed. "I don't think it was a waste of time to come here, but we didn't find out much. At least we didn't find out what we needed to know."
"We need to plan further," Edward pointed out.
"We need to go to that address," she reminded him impatiently.
"We do," he said. "But we can't just appear there, with nothing that we know for certain. We need something tangible, something we can prove."
"We can discuss this some more at home," she suggested. "Maybe we shall have some new outlooks on the whole matter."
He nodded. He watched her turn to the window and wondered what she was thinking about. He didn't ask her. He allowed her a moment of peace, hoping to steal one for himself as well.
CHAPTER23
"Your Grace, the Marquess of Coston is here to see you," Willoughby informed Edward as soon as the couple had returned home. "He is waiting in the parlor. Since you said you would be returning by three, I have taken the liberty of informing him of the same, and he decided to wait."
"Thank you, Willoughby," Edward replied. "We shall head there immediately."
"Could you please send for some tea?" Leah asked, to which Willoughby bowed, and the couple immediately headed where their friend was waiting.
As soon as they opened the door, Andrew jumped up from his seat, shaking head disapprovingly. "Where have you been, you two? A guest comes to see you, and what do you do? You leave him to wait for hours and hours."
Edward laughed. "Hardly hours, old boy. Willoughby mentioned you've been here a short while."
"Ah," Andrew grinned. "Then my plan of making you feel bad has been ruined."
