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“And you help the people you care about.”
He gave a tentative nod. “I like to think that I do.”
“What happened next?”
“The queen didn’t prosecute me. Instead…” He hesitated. Did he tell her an earldom hung in the balance? That he might have just given it up? He’d come this far… “She asked me to investigate Kinross.”
“Why did you lie to me?” Her eyes were laced with a hurt that tore at his insides.
“You were tied to him. What if he was innocent?” But that wasn’t exactly accurate and not really fair. He’d lied to her for far more selfish reasons. “But also, because I didn’t know you and I wanted you to help me. With your intimate knowledge of Kinross, I thought you might give me insight into his character. But instead, you gave me insight into yours.”
Her fingers squeezed his. “How so?”
“While you never betrayed a single confidence of his, you went out of your way to help me. You’re one of a kind, Clara.”
Marcus said from his seat across the carriage, “Tell her what hung in the balance for you. What still hangs in the balance.”
Ralph winced. “If I complete the investigation, the queen offered me the Earl of Pembroke’s title.”
Clara went very still. “What?”
“If I can prove the new earl’s guilt or innocence in his father’s death, the title is supposedly mine.”
“Supposedly?”
“I don’t exactly trust that it will actually be done. My father and all…” He looked down at the hand clenched in his lap. He’d not trusted many people along the way. Until her…
“But how could she take something like that away? And after all you’ve done?”
“Clara,” Marcus said softly. “He didn’t finish the investigation. He still doesn’t know if the earl’s death was natural.”
She started. “You came with us instead?”
He looked into her eyes, wanting her to understand. “I help the people I care about.”
A soft cry fell from her lips.
