Milli swallowed hard. Her world was spiraling out of control.
Miss Canton bit her bottom lip, shaking her head. “But it sounds so intriguing in a way. One of your suitors is most likely the villain. Money was the reason your father was killed. I daresay the move to Bath was an ingenious plan. Keep the villain in a more targeted area. He wants your fortune, of course.”
Move to Bath...Villain...Marcus...fortune...
The room kept spinning, making her dizzy.
Miss Canton sighed. “No doubt, that is why you are pretending to be in love with Marcus. And he with you. I admit I am a bit jealous when he pays his attentions to you. But he has no idea I know about the investigation or his part in it.” She let out a giggle, taking Milli’s hand in hers. “We ladies must stick together, must we not?”
With her other hand, Milli put her glass to the side, trying to curb her racing heart. Goodness gracious, was the lady telling the truth?
“You are so brave to seek out your father’s murderer. To be the bait takes unbelievable courage. I envy you.”
“Oh, Millicent!”
Milli looked up to see Lady Bringston, Marcus’s mother, strolling toward her. The lady was in her fifties, with black hair streaked with gray. When she moved, she seemed to float like a goddess from one part of the room to another. She was draped in a gown of sky blue, holding her cat, Egypt, in her arms. She peered through her spectacles, not the least be deterred about wearing them as her sister Lizzie was. Lady Bringston was still pretty and her new husband adored her, as did Milli.
“My dear, how wonderful to see you. I left Bath with my dear husband just before you came, and now, I have returned to help with all the festivities.”
Milli hugged the lady and then burst into tears.
Lady Bringston let a purring Egypt slide to the chair as she peered at Miss Canton and raised her delicate brows in accusation.
Miss Canton bit her lip. “Family matters, you know,” the lady replied. “I believe being a Bath bride is all too much for her. London might have proven a better hunting ground.”
Lady Bringston’s eyes widened. “Indeed. I will take her home straight away.”
Milli looked up, wiping her tears. “I c-came with Lord Hughmont.”
Lady Bringston’s expression was furious as she glared at Miss Canton and spoke to Milli. “We will find him and tell him you are coming home with me.”
“Mother!” Marcus walked into the hall just as Lady Bringston and Milli arrived at the Bath home.
Marcus halted at the stern expression on his mother’s face. “What?”
Without a word, Lady Bringston deposited Egypt onto the floor and straightened.
Marcus was ready to give the lady a hug when she slapped him on the shoulder. “How dare you treat this innocent baby with such callous disregard.”
Marcus regarded Milli’s red eyes and winced. She couldn’t even look at him. His mother, on the other hand, was shooting daggers his way.
Marcus grimaced. “If you are speaking about those kisses—”
“Kisses?” the lady squeaked, her eyes widening in alarm. “Why in the blue blazes . . . what kisses?” His mother’s eyes darkened.
He swallowed, casting a wary glance toward Milli. She was no help at all. The female had dropped her gaze, and her fists were clenched. What the devil had she told his mother?
“Now, Mama. I assume Bringston is here as well?”
“My dear husband is still at his estate,” she said in a regal tone. “But I am your mother, and as your mother, I demand to know what the devil is going on!”
Egypt screeched and scurried down the hall, out of sight.
Marcus’s eyebrows went up a notch. His mother had never talked so sharp to him. Lord Bringston’s doing, he presumed. The man let the lady do whatever she wanted, including using words a lady should never use.
His mother kept glaring at him.
He felt as if he were on the witness stand for murder. His temper flared. “Hell’s teeth! I have no idea what you are talking about?”
“Don’t you swear at me, young man.” Another swat.
“Ouch.”
Milli peeked up past her long wet lashes. Her red rimmed eyes seemed to gleam with laughter.
Marcus softened his voice as he addressed his question to her. “Do you have any idea what my mother is talking about?”
Milli’s berry lips became a thin line of contempt.
Marcus blinked. Was she still angry from yesterday? Milli wasn’t one to cry and tell tales to her mother over something like a few kisses.
“Milli?” He took her trembling hands in his.
She jerked away, her dark, angry gaze locking with his. “Your wonderful mother is talking about Miss Canton’s conversation with me.”
“Go on,” he said gently.
“The lady informed me,” she said, her words as icy as a winter storm, “about certain information from the Home Office and White Hall.”
Marcus held back a curse. He was getting a bad feeling about this. Had Milli discovered information about some of his covert missions. “What exactly did you learn?”
“What the devil is all this commotion?” Roderick came down the stairs, his face hard as stone.
Marcus scowled. Bath was becoming a hellhole of problems.
The duke and duchess were not getting along, and Roderick was constantly in a bad mood. And now this!
Roderick froze when he saw his mother. “I thought you were coming next week.”
Lady Bringston glared back at her oldest. “I do not care a whit if you are the duke or not, you big baboon. You had best treat Jane with a little more tenderness than what I have heard. She has lost a baby and you have been heartless.”
Roderick shifted a dangerous gaze toward Milli.
Milli glared back. “I didn’t say a thing.”
With a scowl as dark as midnight, Lady Bringston waved her two eldest toward the nearby study. Marcus looked at Roderick and shrugged.
Milli followed, but Lady Bringston patted her hands. “My dear, I want you to go to your bedchambers and take a nap. When you wake up, you can change for dinner, and we will have this entire mess straightened out by then.”
After Milli left, Lady Bringston closed the doors to the study and glared at her two sons.
Marcus felt about five-years-old again.
Roderick folded his arms over his chest, acting like his pompous self. “What is all this about? But I warn you, Mother, anything that has to do with my wife is strictly off limits.”
That,” Lady Bringston said, her blue eyes flashing, “is not the topic I wish to discuss at the moment.”
Marcus swallowed and exchanged a quick glance toward his brother. He wondered if his mother had discovered some of the things Roderick and he had done long ago.
Well, then, Roderick was in more trouble than he. He bit back a smile at Roderick’s unease.
“And you,” she said to Marcus, “I cannot believe you would lead that little girl on, making love to her in the gardens.”
“What?” Marcus asked, flabbergasted.
“After hearing about those kisses, I can only guess that you moved her to that wandering maze. It isn’t called Lover’s Walk for nothing.” She lifted her brows in anger. “I daresay, I wonder how the girl even stays in this house.”
Roderick glared at Marcus. “Kisses,” he roared. “You were not to go that far! And what the blazes is Lover’s Walk?”
“It is that maze in your backyard,” Lady Bringston snapped. “And no innocent girl should be walking there with some man!” She shot Marcus an accusing glare. “All of Bath knows about it. The last man who rented this place was forced to marry after what happened in that maze!”
Marcus bit his cheek, trying not to explode. “Now, Mama, tell us what is really bothering you.”
“What is really bothering me?” she huffed. “Good grief. I just heard from Milli who heard from Miss Canton, who read it from the general’s papers, that
someone murdered William Shelby! In cold blood! Poison, to be exact!”
Marcus jerked. “Hell’s teeth.”
Roderick swore.
Marcus swung his gaze toward the duke. “Now, what? This is quite a pickle.”
“Pickle?” Lady Bringston screeched. “Some nefarious person poisoned our dear William, and you call it a pickle?” Her high voice started increasing in volume as she pointed toward the window. “Some murderer is out there, and you are using my little Milli to lure the villain. I will not have it! Do I make myself clear?”
“Is that what she thinks?” Marcus replied, biting back an oath.
Lady Bringston paced the floor, muttering to herself, asking herself what she had done to deserve such addlepated nitwits for sons.
Marcus leaned against the wing chair and frowned. “What the devil do we do now?”
Roderick sat against the edge of his desk, looking thoughtful. “Miss Canton may have a big mouth, but I am guessing she thought Milli knew of the murder before she started talking.”
Marcus twisted his lips as he watched his mother continue to pace. “The point is, has the lady been talking to anyone else?”
Roderick glowered at him. “Thunderation, you will have to find out, won’t you?”
Lady Bringston spun on her kid slippers, her gown swooshing about her feet. “I suppose all the men in this family know what is going on, and the women have no clue, am I correct?”
Marcus scowled, knowing where this was going. “We wanted to shelter them. We believe the villain killed Shelby for his fortune, and he is now after Milli and her money.”
The lady’s eyes tapered to little pinpoints of anger. “Oh, that explains everything,” she said sarcastically. “Milli was the bait? Like some wiggly worm on a hook that was thrown to the sharks?”
Marcus stiffened. “Milli is the object of the villain’s eye. If we didn’t do something, he would eventually move without us watching. Would you want that?”
Lady Bringston frowned. “No. But I will not have her hurt.”
“We would never hurt her.”
“No?” she said, glaring at him. “If you kissed that little innocent, you hurt her. She is not used to your ways, Marcus. If you thought that paying attention to her would attract other gentlemen, you are entirely correct. But she is not used to Society’s norms.”
She lifted an accusing brow. “Or men in general. She has a delicate disposition, no matter how dramatic she takes things. That tiny female may seem strong, but she has no mama or papa to watch over her. Elizabeth and Stephen are her family, and so are we.”
Roderick turned a hard gaze in Marcus’s direction. “Jupiter and Zeus! I cannot believe you kissed her. She is family to me. Like a baby sister.”
Marcus clenched his hands. “She is no sister to me, by Jove. I would never have kissed Emily like that!”
Lady Bringston and Roderick stared at him.
A frosty hush descended over the room.
“What the devil are you looking at?” Marcus stammered.
Lady Bringston shot him a thoughtful look, then with a huff, strode angrily toward the door. “I want this murderer found within the week. And that’s all I have to say about it.”
With those last words, the lady swept from the room, leaving Marcus and Roderick to stare at each other in dumbfounded silence.
Chapter Nineteen
The knock on the door brought Milli’s head up from her pillow. Her thoughts were whirling out of control. She could not believe that anyone would kill her father.
She quickly wiped the wetness from her cheeks. “Come in.”
Her sister stepped into the room. “Are you ill, dearest?”
Milli scrambled to a sitting position. “My stomach. I guess something didn’t agree with me.”
Lizzie felt her forehead. “You are not warm. Perhaps I could send up for some tea.”
“That would be wonderful,” Milli said, forcing a smile.
With a concerned expression, Lizzie sat on the bed, holding her hand. “I have been thinking about your future.”
“I know. You do not want me to get married. You want me to stay small for the rest of my life. Well, look!” Milli grinned, spreading her hands wide. “I am not growing any taller.”
Lizzie chuckled. “Silly. I just want you to be happy. I had no idea so many gentlemen would vie for your hand. It makes me nervous. Not that you aren’t beautiful, dearest. But, well, you are so young . . . and rich.”
Milli looked up. She was not going to tell Lizzie about their father. It would devastate her. “I told you I wished I had never started this, but Jane needed something to do.”
Lizzie frowned. “Your plan worked for a little while. Jane has been quite busy, but—”
“But the duke is not happy.”
Her sister nodded. “He must have an heir. I think Marcus will be looking for a wife too. It’s his duty, especially being the second oldest male.”
Milli’s stomach churned. She slipped off the bed and strode toward the window. “I believe he is, uh, interested in Miss Canton.”
“She is very beautiful. But I believe he is also interested in you.”
Milli spun on her heels. “It’s a lie and you know it.”
Lizzie seemed to pick her words carefully. “It’s obvious he has been paying his attentions to you. Also, word from London is that Marcus has set his cap for you.”
“That’s absurd.” She didn’t want Lizzie involved in this.
“But I heard Marcus is the one who spread the news. You must have known I would find out. I was hoping you would talk to me about it.”
Anger swelled in Milli’s breast. “You know, I am beginning to hate him. He thinks that if he pretends to set his cap for me, then my other suitors will feel pressed to come to Bath and—”
“And what?”
Milli snapped her lips together. She could not tell her sister that Marcus was trying to lure their father’s murderer into a trap. “I think Marcus wants to see who is going to fight for my love.” There, that should keep Lizzie satisfied.
Lizzie laughed. “Oh, Milli, do you think so? I asked Stephen, and he believes Marcus knows his own mind, and he wouldn’t do something like this unless he is interested. He must be in love with you, but perhaps he is afraid to show his true feelings.”
Love? Milli wanted to smack Stephen. Lizzie’s husband knew the exact reason Marcus was paying attention to her, and it had nothing to do with love. “I will have to speak to Stephen then.” And she would not listen to any of his edicts now. If she wanted to take a stroll with any of her suitors, she would do it, without his permission!
Lizzie let out a sigh. “The more I think about it, the more I realize Marcus is probably doing what you say. Creating competition for the other suitors. Maybe this is his way to help. You must know Stephen is beside himself, thinking some despicable fellow will steal you away.”
Milli leaned against the window seat and let out a snort of disbelief. “I highly doubt that. I have too many gentlemen watching my back.”
A wide smile touched Lizzie’s mouth. “Ah, yes. The Clearbrooks are a protective lot.”
It would have been a glorious day for a picnic if not for a murderer on the loose. The smell of roasted chicken drifted to Milli’s nostrils. She shifted her gaze to the picnic baskets, then to the men sitting beside her. Which one had killed her father?
As she nibbled on her chicken leg, Milli let her gaze wander over the group. Without intending to, her curious eyes locked with Marcus’s.
She let out a light laugh as Bennington said something in her ear. Let Marcus stare, she thought. She hadn’t said a word to him since yesterday when she had walked into the house with Lady Bringston who was staying in a townhouse a few blocks away.
Lord Bennington sat to her left and Lord Valford to her right. Knightengale stood a few feet away and was speaking to Jane. Lord Hughmont and Lord Breadford were sitting across the blanket, sending her worried glances now and t
hen.
Her gaze swept over the Clearbrook men standing in a circle, sipping their wine. She was furious that they had involved her in this plan and not told her about her father’s murderer. The rest of the family, including Gabby and the other children, were sitting on another blanket, eating to their hearts’ content.
She looked up at the clear blue sky and felt her anger build. The sun was warm upon her brow, but her stomach coiled in dread when she thought about her papa. She hadn’t said a word to Elizabeth or Jane about the murder. But it seemed Lady Emily had sensed something was wrong.
“Miss Millicent, would you like to take a boat ride?” Lord Hughmont rose and walked toward her, putting out his hand.
She peered up through curious eyes. Bennington bristled beside her. Knightengale looked up from his conversation. Valford narrowed his gaze. Breadford started to rise. But it was Marcus’s dark gaze that attracted her attention. She pressed her lips together and put down her chicken leg. The other Clearbrook males glanced her way, then went back to their conversation, as if Hughmont’s questions meant nothing at all. But she knew their eyes were attached to her like a hawk.
She batted her lids at Hughmont. “I would be delighted to take a boat ride with you.”
As she lifted her hand for Hughmont to help her rise, she could feel Marcus’s hard eyes upon her.
She and Hughmont walked toward a couple of rowboats that bobbed in the lake. She carefully took a seat in one of the boats, wondering if her friend could be the killer.
“Hughmont!”
Lord Hughmont spun around at Marcus’s shout. “What?” he asked perturbed.
Marcus’s tall, lean body strode across the grass like a sleek panther heading toward his prey.
Milli scowled. “Let’s go,” she said, tugging on Hughmont’s jacket. The boat swayed.
Hughmont glanced over his shoulder at Milli. “It will be only a minute.”
But the dangerous gleam in Marcus’s eyes sent shivers down Milli’s back. “I think we need to go now.”
But it was too late. Marcus towered over her, glaring at Hughmont. “The duke needs to speak with you?”
The Mischievous Bride (The Clearbrooks) Page 20
