David acted instantly. He didn’t care much for Lord d’Ylles but it was clear that Lord de Xander was the culprit. Otherwise, why would Lord d’Ylles have any reason to attack him in the first place? With that in mind, he charged after the older gentleman, who dropped the poker and held his hands up in surrender.
“Allow me, sirs!” he bellowed loudly, with such force that both David and Lord Pemperton drew to a slow halt. “Allow me to explain what is happening here before you try to attack me in my own home.”
Lord d’Ylles was still groaning in pain, holding the side of his head. David saw that it was bleeding profusely and Lord Pemperton stooped down to help him up and out of the way.
David kept his eyes on the Count de Xander. He maintained the distance between them, noting that though he had dropped the poker, it was still close enough for him to grab it again.
“Then you know why we are here,” David said to him. He took in the Count’s appearance, realizing that he looked nearly exactly the same as he remembered him, except now his hair was fully white instead of streaked with it.
“Yes,” Lord de Xander said. Despite being attacked, he looked calm. “You are here because of Miss Isabel Chenieux.”
David’s heartbeat spiked at the sound of her name. He narrowed his eyes. “What do you know?”
Lord de Xander slowly lowered his hands and said, “I’ll explain everything from the very beginning and if you do not believe me, then you may call on the authorities to arrest me.”
David frowned. He opened his mouth to agree, ignoring the angry mutters coming from Lord d’Ylles, but before he could, more people came rushing in. David had enough time to turn and see the butler charging toward him before he was tackled to the floor.
Chapter Thirty-Five
He hit the ground hard, the butler’s heavy body pressing him into the rough carpet. With ease stemming from David being taken off guard, the butler pulled his arm behind his back, with his knee pressed into David’s back, keeping him from moving. Lord Pemperton and Lord d’Ylles were also pinned to the ground by two other servants.
The anger that had been bubbling in him since he entered the room now threatened to overflow. “Unhand me!” he shouted, trying to pull himself free from the strong hold.
“You cretin!” Lord d’Ylles screeched. “You kidnapped her and now you try to attack us when we come to take her?”
Lord de Xander, as impossible as it seemed, grew even calmer despite the accusations. David watched as he made his way over to the seat by the fire and sat. Then he sighed and leaned forward, pinching the bridge of his nose before he said, “Let them go.”
The butler was clearly hesitant. David kept his eyes on the Count, watching how weary he had suddenly become, even though suspicion and anger swirled within. In truth, David didn’t know what to feel right now.
Lord de Xander’s actions confused him. He didn’t behave like a man who had been caught red-handed. He didn’t even carry himself like someone who might be the slightest bit guilty, even though he was claiming there was something that he needed to explain. It made David want to listen to him, to at least hear what it was he wanted to say before he made his judgment.
“Let them go,” Lord de Xander said again and the butler and the others finally began to move. David had nearly forgotten how intense the pressure of having the butler on his back was until he got up. The butler tried keeping a hold on David’s hands but once he was standing, it took nothing for David to simply shrug him off.
As soon as Lord d’Ylles was free, however, he charged after the Count again. He didn’t get very far, as was expected. The other two servants grabbed him by both arms and forced him to the floor, while he snarled in anger and tried his best to shake them off.
“Lord d’Ylles, stop,” Lord Pemperton said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Let us hear what he has to say first.”
Lord d’Ylles didn’t even look at Lord Pemperton when he spoke. His angry gaze remained solely fixed on Lord de Xander but after a while, he stopped struggling. David could still see the fight in his eyes, but he did nothing, as if waiting for the right moment to strike again.
As if they knew that, the servants didn’t let the Count go. David didn’t mind. Lord d’Ylles hotheadedness was making it increasingly difficult to remain composed right now.
Lord de Xander sighed again and looked at David. “I remember you,” he said. “You were at the funeral of the Chenieuxs, were you not?”
“I didn’t think you would remember who I was.”
“You are the son of the family who took their daughter in. Of course I would remember you. I tried my best to keep up with everything that was going on with her.”
“Are you admitting to us right now that you were the one who took her?” Lord Pemperton asked.
Lord de Xander looked over at him and nodded. “Yes, I am admitting it. I had her kidnapped from the Opera House.”
David’s hand instantly clenched into a fist. Now, he felt like Lord d’Ylles, with the incredibly violent urge to send his fist flying into the face of this old man, but he had to understand one thing first, “Why?”
“Because I had to. It was becoming dangerous for her.” Lord de Xander eyes darted between the both of them and then he said, “I see that you are confused, so allow me to start from the beginning. You two are well aware that Miss Isabel’s parents died from strangulation, correct? The case was closed due to the culprit being found. They claimed it was one of their servants who did it, but he was never brought to justice since he fled and went into hiding before that could happen. Jean Baptiste and Pauline Chenieux were my very close friends.”
Lord de Xander closed his eyes briefly, his breath hitching. When he opened them again, David could have sworn he saw a shimmer of tears before it was blinked away.
“Their death was devastating to me,” he went on, “so you can imagine that I, more than anyone, wanted to find out who was behind such a heinous crime. When I learned that the servant was one who did it, I could hardly believe it. They were kind people who treated their employees well, and so to think that one of them may have hated them so much, to the point of strangling both, was unfathomable to me. Even when they closed the case, I never believed that could be it.”
David felt himself frown the same time the Count did.
Where is he going with this?
“What puzzled me about the case,” Lord de Xander continued, “and what made it so difficult for me to believe what they claimed happened, was the reasoning behind the act. The Chenieuxs were so well-loved that if a servant was to do such a thing, they would have to have a decent enough motive, don’t you think? But nothing was missing from the manor. Everything seemed to be in place, yet the only motive I can think of was to steal from them.”
Lord de Xander pursed his lips. He trailed his finger over his trousers in a very idle manner. David got the feeling he was getting lost in his story.
Lord de Xander’s voice didn’t falter for a moment. “Perhaps they had been in the process of stealing and were caught, so they took matters into their own hands. Perhaps they thought it would be much easier to make off with more things if they got the masters of the household out of the way first. I thought these were all expected things to find after accusing the servants, but there was no evidence of any of it. So, I searched for the servant.”
For a brief moment, his eyes darted to Lord d’Ylles before returning to David. “Since he went missing and wasn’t actually brought to justice, I thought I at least had a chance at finding out for myself if that was what truly happened. It took me years to find him but then I realized that he was the one who had found me. He sent me a letter stating that he was on his deathbed and that he wanted to tell what truly happened to someone he knew would listen to him. He’d heard that I was looking for him so he thought I was eager to get to the bottom of the situation.”
Lord de Xander rose. He began moving around the room, clearly looking for something and David watched his e
very move. He felt rooted to the spot, on the cusp of a massive revelation, though he didn’t know what it was. The suspense tugged at him and anxiety was coursing through him as he waited for the Count to find what he was looking for.
At long last, he pulled open a drawer and found a paper. “Here it is,” he said. “The letter that he wrote to me.”
In slow and patient movements, he made his way over to David and handed him the paper. David only glanced at it before he returned his gaze to the Count, who was making his way back to his seat. He had a feeling that Lord de Xander was going to explain everything to him.
“In the letter,” Lord de Xander went on, “he explains to me what happened. He had fled not because he was the murderer and he was trying to escape conviction, but because he had been an eyewitness to the actual murder. He claimed he was scared that the person who actually killed Jean Baptiste and Pauline Chenieux would find him and kill him to keep him quiet. He had even more of a reason to stay away when he learned that his disappearance made him a suspect to the crime. But then he goes on to tell me what happened that night.”
Dazed, David looked down at the paper. He began to read, even as he kept a listening ear out for what Lord de Xander was saying. “The killer had approached the Chenieuxs at their home and had poisoned their drink. The servant claims he had been about to walk into the room, bringing another bottle of wine, when he saw Mr. and Mrs. Chenieux choking and gasping for air.”
The older Count’s hand curled into a fist, though his eyes remained steady and clear.
“It had been clear just looking at them that they had been poisoned and that it was beginning to take effect, but the person responsible grew too impatient and strangled them to death right before the servant’s eyes.”
Lord de Xander ran his gaze over everyone in the room. His eyes didn’t linger on anyone but David.
He hopes I believe him. He wants to make sure that I do.
“The servant claims he made a sound, a gasp of shock and horror. The murderer heard him. He rushed off before he could be caught and decided to flee that night, knowing that he would be found out soon enough. He wrote all that to me while battling an illness and said he was willing to speak with me in person, telling me where he was staying, but in case he didn’t last that long, he wanted to at least tell me what happened.”
Lord de Xander shrugged, as if he wasn’t speaking about the death of his friends. Yet, one look at him showed the burning in his eyes, the anger that had smoldered for years and years of searching for the truth about what happened.
“You have quite a roundabout way of telling us this, My Lord,” Lord Pemperton said, sounding a tad bit impatient. “Will you not say who this murderer is and what this has to do with your reason for taking Miss Isabel?”
“The murderer happened to be the cousin of Pauline Chenieux and in the letter, the servant believed that the motive was Miss Isabel’s large inheritance. If they were to die, Miss Isabel would become the cousin’s ward, which would allow him to have control of all her inheritance. When reading it, I thought to myself that this seems like a very convoluted way of stealing the inheritance of another, until I arrived and found out what was happening, and why I needed to bring Miss Isabel to safety.”
“Then what is that reason?” asked Lord Pemperton with slight desperation in his voice.
David came to the end of the letter before Lord de Xander spoke. He had already pieced it together as he read and he stood there reeling in shock, unable to believe what he had just found out. Painfully, he dragged his eyes up to meet the Count as Lord de Xander said, “The person who murdered the parents of Miss Isabel was Gautier Metier.”
This cannot be right…
Lord Pemperton visible reeled in shock. David could hardly see what was before him, his mind whirring. “Metier…?”
Lord d’Ylles was too silent. He had been struggling while Lord de Xander spoke but now he was so still and quiet that David feared what he might see if he dared to look at him. So many things were going through his mind at once that he left it up to Lord Pemperton to vocally piece everything together.
But it was Lord de Xander who spoke next. His accusatory gaze settled on Lord d’Ylles, the heat of his anger so strong that David felt it himself.
“The late Count d’Ylles, Lord d’Ylles father, was the one who killed her parents.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Too many thoughts were exploding in David’s mind. He thought back to when he first saw Lord d’Ylles and Miss Isabel together and how jealous he had been. How he had rolled over and allowed the love of his life to be taken away from him because of his marriage to duty. He had said, albeit with all the reluctance in the world, that he approved of the betrothal between him and Miss Isabel.
Yet all this time, his father was the one who killed her parents.
David turned to him, still unable to believe what he had just heard and read and yet already convinced that it was the truth. He felt even more so when he saw the way Lord d’Ylles seethed in his quietude, glaring holes into Lord de Xander.
“Did you know this, My Lord?” David asked him, his tone softer than he expected it to be. For now, he simply wanted to get an understanding of the Count’s thoughts before he gave into the riotous rage within him.
Lord d’Ylles didn’t even look in his direction. He only continued to glare at Lord de Xander as he spat, “The acts of my father have nothing to do with me. That has nothing to do with the love I have for Miss Isabel.”
“Ha!” Lord de Xander barked harshly. The sound surprised David, seeing that the Count had been so at ease this entire time. “Love, you say? When I learned the truth of what happened, your father was already dead and so I searched for you instead. And when I saw that you were not only in London for the Season, but getting close to Miss Isabel as well, I knew it wasn’t simply a coincidence. There was a hidden intention behind your actions and the closer you two got, the more concerned I grew.”
David looked back at Lord de Xander. “You were the one who handed her the note at the debut ball.”
“Yes, I was. I thought that if she knew the truth of what happened to her parents, she would be a little wiser in choosing who she got close to. I thought that would stop her from ever wanting to see Lord d’Ylles again. But she refused to show, which I could understand. The cryptic note must have put her on edge. So I just continued to watch her.”
“I had no ulterior motive for approaching her,” Lord d’Ylles protested. “She is a lovely lady. I never even knew of my father’s bad deeds in the past and that is no reason to judge me.”
“I thought so, as well. For a moment. But I’ve also been doing research on your family, My Lord, and you have a name that is well known for chasing riches. I even got in contact with an old servant of yours that told me you received a letter when your father died and you came into your inheritance.”
Taking David by surprise, Lord de Xander’s entire body went rigid, his eyes accusatory.
“The servant overheard you explaining to your steward what happened and how you planned to continue your father’s scheme by marrying Miss Isabel and securing her riches. You are her distant cousin and her relative, after all. Once you marry her and get her out of the picture, it would all be yours.”
“Be quiet!” Lord d’Ylles screeched. “If it weren’t for you, everything would have gone perfect. Father told me you were still snooping around but to think you would really go as far as to kidnap her is something else! You are the one who should be locked up, not me! I did nothing! I am innocent!”
This time, they exploded at the same time. The accusation set off warning bells in David’s mind and he turned to Lord d’Ylles, not knowing whether it was a good idea to attack him the way he wanted to or not. Lord d’Ylles, on the other hand, pulled at the hands holding him with such force that one of the men went flying forward to the floor.
David saw him reach for something by his side. He didn’t stop to think after that. The anger
was forgotten, as well as the fact that he had wanted to avoid being violent as much as possible. All he saw was a dangerous situation escalating to a point that would be unrecoverable and he reacted.
He drew his own pistol a second before Lord d’Ylles fully drew his, and pulled the trigger. The loud bang that echoed in the room rang in his ears but he focused all his attention on the Count he just shot, who was standing stock-still.
Lord de Xander was frozen as well and David, for a very confused moment, didn’t know whose lead ball landed. Then, Lord d’Ylles staggered backwards and a large red stain began to spread through his shirt. He staggered again, then sank to his knees. He tried keeping his pistol upright, to shoot at Lord de Xander, but as his life slipped away, his arm went limp and the pistol fell out of his hand. Lord d’Ylles dropped to the floor, blood pouring out of his chest.
Daring Deeds 0f A Forbidden Duchess (Steamy Historical Regency Romance) Page 23
