Tenacious Trents 03 - A Reluctant Rake (29 page)

“He won’t.”

How could he be so certain? She had
concerns before for much milder reasons compared to charges against
him for murder.

“After I tell my brothers what
happened, I will call on your uncle and explain.”

“Thank you.” Mr. Trent was a former
vicar so perhaps her uncle would be more understanding.

“I’ll also ask that you remain here,
with us. I don’t wish Grace to be alone.”

“Yes,” Grace agreed.

Audrey didn’t want to be anywhere else
at the moment. Not until they received word of what was happening
or until Jordan returned.

“I’ll ask that your things be sent
over.”

“Thank you.” Audrey was more grateful
than she could ever express.

“I’ll return when I have
news.”

After he left the ladies crossed the
room and embraced. “I am so afraid.” Audrey confessed.

“As am I.”

Within the hour Lady Bentley, Mrs.
Trent and Lady Brachton arrived. The ladies were to remain together
and keep each other company. Their husbands feared they would worry
themselves ill without the company.

“Please, call me Eleanor,” Lady Bentley
insisted.

“I’m Madeline,” Jordan’s younger sister
grinned.

“And I am Elizabeth,” Mrs. John Trent
said once they were seated and the tea service placed on the table
before them. “I understand you are to be family.”

Audrey was grateful for the welcome
into their fold. She didn’t know what she would have done had they
asked her to leave because she wasn’t part of the family
yet.

They fell into silence, sipping tea,
each afraid to say anything or voice their own fears. Surely they
didn’t think Jordan had committed those acts. “What do you think is
happening?” she finally asked.

“They are probably simply questioning
him and will soon let him come home,” Elizabeth
insisted.

“I am sure you are correct,” Eleanor
agreed.

“Do you deny murdering Mr. Everton and
Mr. Dalton?” a man, who had identified himself as Mr. Wesby, asked
Jordan again.

Jordan had been taken to Newgate
directly from Matthews’s house. He hadn’t been locked up yet, but
was seated in a small room with an investigator with Bow
Street.

“I swear, I had nothing to do with
either of their deaths.”

“You were seen fighting with both of
them. Each time was on the eve of their death.”

Being punched by Dalton in the gaming
hell as well as striking Everton after he had attempted to rape
Audrey flashed through his mind. “That does not mean I killed
them.”

“What did the fights
involve?”

The mention of ladies may damn him
further, but he had to clear this matter up. “Dalton was angry
because a certain lady preferred me to him.”

“The lady’s name?”

“Lady Lydell.”

Mr. Wesby scratched out the name with a
pencil onto the parchment before him.

“And he attacked me. I did nothing to
provoke him.”

“Except perhaps seduce the lady he
wished for himself.”

“I did not seduce Lady Lydell, ever,”
Jordan shouted. That woman was causing him more grief than anyone
in his life before. He wished he had never seen her or asked her to
dance.

“Mind your anger, Mr.
Trent.”

Jordan took a deep steadying breath.
Yelling and fighting would not help prove his innocence.

“Why did you fight with
Everton?”

Jordan clenched his jaw before
answering. If he told, Audrey could be ruined. He couldn’t do that
to her. It didn’t matter that they were to be married. “He was
attempting to take liberties with a young lady who was trying to
get away from him.”

Mr. Wesby studied Jordan. “Are you
suggesting he was going to rape her?”

“Yes.”

“Perhaps you misunderstood what you
were seeing and the lady was willing.”

“No,” Jordan shouted.

“I can see you have a tempter, Mr.
Trent.”

Jordan closed his eyes and took another
deep breath. He needed to maintain control of his emotions or he
would be hanged in the end.

“Everton was not accepting her
rejection and I thought to intercede but she handled the situation
before I could reach them.”

“How so?” Wesby asked with
interest.

“What any young lady should do when in
a similar situation and practically dropped Everton to his
knees.”

A small smile started on Wesby’s lips
but he straightened and looked down at his notes before glancing
back up. “If she dealt the blow, why did you feel the need to fight
the man?”

“Because he was about to hit the young
lady.”

Wesby nodded. “And what is this young
lady’s name?”

Jordan bit his lip. He could not bring
Audrey into this.

“Are you willing to hang from the
gallows simply to protect her reputation?”

Jordan wanted to answer yes but he was
too selfish. If he died, he wouldn’t have the life he hoped with
Audrey. There wouldn’t be children or the stables he wished to give
her. “Miss Audrey Montgomery.”

Wesby nodded and wrote down her
name.

“Where did you go after Dalton struck
you?”

Jordan thought back over the night. He
had visited the gaming hell to speak with Stanwick. As he was
leaving was when Dalton had struck him. Where had he gone next? “I
was summoned to Lady Rothsbury’s. The message was given to me by my
footman as I was leaving Dagger’s Haven.”

“Interesting.”

Jordan wasn’t sure what the man found
so interesting but hopefully it was enough to clear him of the
murder.

“Where were you when Everton was
murdered?”

“I don’t know when he was killed. I had
just learned of his death when you arrived.”

“Late last night or early this
morning.”

“I was at home.”

He quirked a brow. “Alone?”

“Yes, except for my
servants.”

“Can they attest for your presence all
night long?”

After Audrey had dropped him on his
doorstep, Jordan had gone to his room, soaked in hot water, had
supper, drank two glasses of brandy. He had been asleep by ten. “I
retired early and didn’t leave my home until this
morning.”

“Where did you go?”

Jordan wasn’t sure what that question
had to do with anything but he answered anyway. “To Madame
Devine’s.”

Once again Wesby wrote
notes.

“What is your connection to
Devine’s?”

Surely the man knew it was a brothel. A
fairly popular one at that. “The same connection as any other
gentleman who visits.”

Wesby picked up the papers before him
and shuffled through, reading his notes. He seemed to take
particular interest in something written toward the bottom of the
third page. He set it down and placed the other documents on top of
it before Jordan could read what it said.

“I understand you share a special
closeness with a certain employee by the name of
Angelique.”

“Who told you of my personal life?”
Jordan demanded.

“It does not matter, Mr. Trent. Tell me
of your relationship to this Angelique.”

“I’ve known the young woman since my
father introduced her to me when I was sixteen.”

“How old are you?” Wesby
questioned.

“One and Thirty.”

“That is a very long time,” Wesby
mussed and studied Jordan. “Did you spend time with the other
employees or only Angelique?”

“Only Angelique.”

The man nodded. What did this have to
do with anything?

“It is rumored that you are in love
with her.”

“Where are you getting your
information? From society gossips?”

“You are rather defensive on the
subject, Mr. Trent.”

Jordan bit back his anger. He needed to
remain calm. “I am not in love with her any longer.”

“I understand you were there a few days
ago. Perhaps she spurned your advances.”

“She did not.” Besides, he hadn’t made
any advances and it was Angelique who invited him to her
room.

“Where were you yesterday?”

What did yesterday matter? Then it
dawned on Jordan. “Certainly you don’t think I had anything to do
with the attack on Angelique?”

Wesby raised his grey, bushy eyebrows.
“So, you know about the attack.”

“I was told this morning when I was
there.”

Wesby frowned. “Why would you visit in
the morning?” It was a normal question since Madam Devine did not
open her doors until seven in the evening.

“I am a solicitor and had documents to
deliver to Madame.”

“You were not there
yesterday?”

“No,” Jordan insisted.

“Where were you?”

“I visited the stables owned by Mr.
Slaine?”

“Were you there to purchase a
horse?”

Jordan could not tell him the truth. “I
went to ride.”

“When was that?”

“Two. I didn’t return until around
seven that evening.”

Wesby rubbed his chin and frowned. “You
would have needed to leave London at around one,
correct?”

“Yes.”

“Where were you earlier?”

“I hadn’t left my home. I was working
in the library until it was time to leave for my
appointment?”

“Who can verify that you were there the
entire time?”

“I did not harm Angelique,” Jordan bit
out.

Wesby raised a censured
eyebrow.

“I am sure my footman and valet can
account for my presence.”

The Runner nodded and made a few more
notes before picking up the pieces of parchment, reading each one,
slowly and carefully. Jordan resisted the urge to squirm in his
seat or get up and pace.

“What were you doing before you had
your encounter with Dalton at the gaming hell?”

“I attended the Welburn ball. I was
there late. Dozens of people can account for my
presence.”

“Did you go home?”

“I did for a short while but Mr.
Stanwick had sent a message that he needed to see me.”

“Did you go immediately?”

“Yes?”

“Why did he wish to see
you?”

“It was of a business
nature.”

“I understand you were in the gardens
with Lady Rothsbury that evening and that when you returned inside,
she was upset.”

“That is because her brother-in-law
made threats.”

Wesby frowned and shuffled through his
papers. “I thought you had made threats against
Creighton.”

“The man is gambling away his nephew’s
estate, the very young and current Lord Rothsbury.”

“Shouldn’t these matters be left to
family to handle?”

“Lady Rothsbury asked for my
assistance.”

“The two of you were lovers once, were
you not?”

“What does that have to do with the
murders?” His frustration at the situation was mounting and Jordan
feared he would plant the man a facer if he didn’t conclude this
business soon. Such an action would only make him look guilty of
the crimes he was being accused of.

“Answer the question.”

“Yes, over a year ago.”

“Did she reject you the night she was
attacked?”

“Of course not!”

“So you are current lovers
now?”

“No.”

“Yet she didn’t reject you,” Wesby
questioned again.

“Because I didn’t try to seduce
her.”

Wesby pulled paper from the bottom of
his stack. “We received a letter this morning that was of great
interest. Based on the contents it led us to believe that you might
be involved in the murders of Dalton and Everton.” He slid the
letter over to Jordan. “As well as the attacks on Lady Rothsbury
and Angelique.”