Stephanie Laurens: The Edge of Desire

She fell silent, but before he could frame his next question, she volunteered, “One other thing my dresser babbled-she was in a complete tizz-was that this morning the door to the study was locked, with the key on the floor some way inside. Mellon and the footmen tried to force the door but couldn’t.” They both turned to consider the door, a heavy, inches-thick oak panel with a lock of similar ilk. “Luckily, someone in the household can pick locks. That was how they got in…and found him.”

Quitting her side, he prowled toward the door; his senses remained distracted, but his intellect was engaged. “How far inside? Guess from what she babbled.”

“A few yards, not more. That’s what it sounded like.”

He was standing staring at the floor, absorbing the implications of the key being in that spot, when a girl appeared in the doorway. Looking up, he met her eyes, then glanced up at her hair and smiled. “Hermione.”

“Lord Dearne.” She bobbed a curtsy. “I didn’t know if you would remember me.”

He let his smile turn charming, as if he hadn’t forgotten the scrap who’d been all of four when he’d last seen her. Luckily, her hair was a telling feature; in common with, as far as he’d ever heard, all those born to the house of Vaux, she possessed luxuriant dark locks that, despite their darkness, could never be described as anything other than red. With that, combined with the evidence of her features, a softer, milder version of Letitia’s, placing her hadn’t been difficult.

Her attention shifting to her older sister, Hermione advanced into the room. Christian noted she didn’t look at the bloodstain; her focus was Letitia.

He glanced at Letitia; she was looking down, mind elsewhere. She was patently undisturbed by Hermione joining them.

Glancing at him, Letitia continued, “That’s really all I know of my own knowledge. What I gathered from the investigator-”

“No.” He held up a staying hand. “Don’t tell me. I want to hear it from him, direct.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Without my interpretations?”

He suppressed a grin. “Without your appellations.”

She humphed, a sound Vaux females had down to an art, then looked at Hermione. “Are you all right?”

Hermione blinked. “Of course. I was wondering about you.”

Letitia shrugged. “Once Justin turns up, and the fools who call themselves the authorities admit it wasn’t him and start looking for the real murderer, I’ll be fine.”

Christian inwardly blinked. No sarcasm ran beneath her words-with a Vaux, one never needed to guess-yet she’d just lost a husband of eight years in shocking circumstances…

He studied her; she was looking at Hermione, but there was nothing in either woman’s attitude beyond sisterly comfort. While Hermione was presently a less intense version of Letitia, she’d no doubt grow into her dramatic powers in time. Both sisters seemed at ease with each other, the only real difference being in age, and the suggestion of care, of viewing Hermione as a person she needed to protect and watch over, that colored Letitia’s eyes.

He recognized the emotion. Realized he knew it all too well. He stirred. “If you’ll summon the butler-Mellon, was it?-I’d like to speak with him.”

Interrogate him. He needed to focus on the matter at hand, rather than let his Jezebel play on his sympathies, however unconsciously.

Letitia crossed to the bellpull and tugged; the alacrity with which the summons was answered had her smiling cynically-and exchanging a look with Christian. Obviously Randall’s staff found his presence noteworthy, enough to hover close.

Despite that, Mellon dutifully fixed his gaze on her, ignoring Christian. “You rang, ma’am?”

“Indeed, Mellon. Lord Dearne”-she waved at Christian-“has some questions he’d like to ask you. Please answer as best you can.”

Mellon reluctantly turned to Christian, who smiled easily, charming as ever.

She could have warned him; Mellon turned rigidly frosty.

Christian saw, but chose to ignore the man’s reaction. “You’ve been Mr. Randall’s butler for…how long?”

“Twelve years, my lord.”

Long before Letitia’s marriage to Randall; Christian glanced at her, but all he could detect in her face, her stance, was a species of resigned indifference toward Mellon. She didn’t like the man, but had let him remain as head of her household staff; he had to wonder why. He returned his gaze to the butler. “How did you get on with your late master?”

Mellon puffed out his chest. “It’s a-” He broke off, blinked, then his chin firmed. “It’s been a pleasure working for Mr. Randall, my lord.”

“And the rest of the staff?”

“Feel the same, my lord. None of the staff had any problems with the master.” Mellon’s eyes shifted toward Letitia but stopped before he made contact.

The man’s antagonism was obvious; Christian wondered at its cause. The Letitia he knew was invariably kind to the lower orders; the impulse was bred into her, all but instinctive, not something she could readily change. There had to be some other reason behind Mellon’s patent dislike of her.

“Very well.” He let his voice relax. “If you could tell me what, to your certain knowledge, drawing solely from your own observations, happened last night. Start from the point where Lady Randall returned home.”

Mellon primmed his lips like an old woman, but was only too ready to oblige. “The mistress came in and the master asked to speak with her. Here, in the study. They closed the door, so I don’t know what was said, but there was a great to-do.” His gaze flashed to Letitia, then returned to a point beyond Christian’s right shoulder. “We could hear her ladyship ranting and raving, as she’s wont to do.”

Ah . There we have it. Devoted to his master, Mellon resented Letitia’s treatment of Randall.

Christian paused to reassess; Randall was the gentleman Letitia had betrayed him for, yet all he’d seen thus far of her attitude to the man seemed totally inconsistent with the love match their marriage was purported to have been. He made a mental note to learn more about Randall, especially about his and Letitia’s marriage. But first…his apparently unquenchable protectiveness prodded him to ask, “Did anything occur during the time her ladyship and Mr. Randall were arguing in the study?”

“Indeed, sir, although not in the study.” Mellon’s eyes gleamed with vindictiveness. “Lord Justin Vaux, the mistress’s brother, called to see the master. It was the master he wanted, not the mistress. He could hear the carry-on in the study, so he said he’d wait in the library. I led him there. He told me I didn’t need to wait on him-it was latish by then. Said he’d show himself in once the mistress had left.”

“So you retired?” His tone conveyed his surprise; Percival never retired while he was up and about unless he, himself, ordered him to.

Mellon looked stricken. “I wish I hadn’t now, but his lordship’s often here-makes himself at home, and the master had mentioned earlier that he was expecting him, so, well…it was clear he didn’t want me about. So I went.”

Even without glancing at Letitia, Christian had little doubt how to interpret Mellon’s statement. Justin hadn’t liked Randall, and had therefore called frequently, “making himself at home,” supporting Letitia-very likely keeping an eye on her. That was revealing in itself. Although Justin and Letitia were close, they’d never lived in each other’s pockets. And there was Hermione, too. Christian glanced at her, and wondered if Letitia’s protective attitude had some specific cause beyond basic family instinct.

Clearly, Justin had made his dislike of Randall sufficiently obvious, hence Mellon’s rabid dislike of him.