“We could probably get Mother to tell us who was invited,” Thorn said, “although we’d have to give her some reason for our wanting to know.”
Grey nodded. “The point is moot until we’re certain whether he was poisoned. So speculation will get us nowhere just now. Let’s worry about getting the tests done, and if the results show poisoning, we can think about what to do next.”
Beatrice was staring out the window. “We’re nearly there, anyway. Thank the good Lord. I swear, this trip seems to take longer every time we make it.”
Grey smiled at her indulgently. “My wife would stay her entire life at Carymont, Miss Norley, if she had the choice. She’s not one for town.”
“It was fun at first,” Beatrice admitted. “I did like seeing the menagerie at the Tower of London and listening to the music at Vauxhall. Highbury Barn was wonderful entertainment, too, with its bowling green. But in general, I find that London is too dirty, too noisy, and has too few dogs of any breeding.”
“Also, she finds the Season, with all its parties and people, very wearing,” Grey said.
“As do I.” Olivia cast Thorn a pointed glance. “There are so many people who can’t be trusted. Or who always see the worst in others.” She forced a smile for Grey and Beatrice. “Although I do enjoy the theater and the lectures on science. Oh, and I like that I can find any sort of chemical I need. That isn’t the same in the country, trust me.”
“Then it’s probably a good thing you had us order the chemicals ahead to be brought here,” Grey said. “I can promise that our nearest town, Sudbury, wouldn’t have had many of them.”
“Speaking of that, Your Grace,” Olivia said, “as soon as we arrive, I should very much like to start putting my laboratory together, if that’s all right.”
“You know,” Greycourt said, “there’s no need to stand on ceremony with me and keep calling me ‘Your Grace.’ My friends call me Grey, so you must, too.”
“Then you must call me Olivia. I have few friends in society, since I’m almost never around it, but as your wife already knows, I would be honored to consider you and her my friends.”
“And me?” Thorn drawled.
She flashed him a frosty look. “I think of you as more of an adversary, Your Grace.”
That irritated him. She was clearly angry at him for lumping her stepmother in with the others, but what did she expect? Surely she knew of Lady Norley’s Machiavellian side.
“Getting back to setting up your laboratory, Olivia,” Grey said, “if you wish to do so at once, that’s fine by me. Once the exhumation is finished, we’ll need to move quickly anyway.”
Beatrice laid her hand on Olivia’s knee. “But don’t you want to rest a bit first or have some refreshments? I’m already parched and quite ready for a cup of tea and a bit of a nap.”
“Yes, but you’re enceinte,” Olivia said with a smile, “and I am not, so I still have the energy to do some work before dinner. Indeed, I’m eager to get started.”
For no reason Thorn could fathom, he flashed upon a scene of domestic bliss, with Olivia, not Beatrice, at the center. She’d make a fine wife and mother. Surely she’d also be relieved not to have to worry any longer about her chemistry pursuits.
Chemistry was my primary interest then, and it’s my primary interest now.
Then again, he might be wrong about that.
He scowled. It didn’t matter how she felt about her unusual pastime or whether she’d make a good wife and mother. She would not be wife to him. Once he decided to settle down, he wanted a woman he could trust, a woman without secrets. A woman who was prepared to be a duchess in every way, who put nothing else above that.
The way he put his dukedom above everything else? He groaned. He did his duty by his tenants, and he tried to be a good steward of the land, as his stepfather had taught him before dying unexpectedly. He’d even found taking his seat in Parliament more entertaining than he’d expected, though he didn’t crave power the way others in the House of Lords did.
But he took no pleasure in London society and its constant gossip. Granted, at first he’d enjoyed having women fall into curtsies and men eye him with envy every time he entered a ballroom. But he’d soon discovered it was lonely being of such lofty rank. How much lonelier would it be if his wife enjoyed and thrived on her rank when he did not?
At least Olivia had a purpose in life. He had none beyond writing entertaining plays, looking after his properties, and counting the days until death.
God, she was making him maudlin.
“Very well, Olivia,” Grey said. “I’ll have a footman accompany you to the old dairy, and help you with unpacking and setting out everything.”
“If you can spare a footman,” Olivia said, “that would be wonderful.”
“There’s no reason for that,” Thorn said. “I’m perfectly happy to show you to the dairy and help you with your unpacking. I need to get my blood moving again, anyway, after sitting so long in this carriage. Besides which, I’m curious to see this laboratory unfold.”
If she’d insisted on a separate building for her laboratory to keep suspicious people at bay, she was in for a surprise. He meant to shadow her today and every other day.
“Now I feel positively decadent,” Beatrice said. “I’ll be lolling about while the rest of you do things.”
“Feel free to loll about as much as you wish, sweetheart,” Grey said. “You have good reason.” He raised an eyebrow at Thorn. “Unlike my brother, who means to blunder in where he doesn’t belong.”
“Because one of your footmen knows so much more than I about unpacking chemicals and laboratory equipment?”
Grey’s lips thinned.
“There’s no need for you to trouble yourself, Your Grace,” Olivia bit out. “Surely you’d also like to have some tea and settle into your room.”
Olivia’s wary expression raised his suspicions even more.
“Nonsense,” Thorn said. “I’d enjoy keeping you company.” He looked at Grey. “As for tea, I’m certain my brother would be happy to send some over to us.”
“We’ll have it done at once,” Beatrice said hastily, clearly bent on continuing her matchmaking. “And I trust you’ll be able to tell us if Olivia’s laboratory meets all her needs. I fear she’s too polite to admit the truth.”
Never was there a less likely description of Olivia’s character. Even if he’d been convinced she was as innocent of scheming as she pretended, she was too blunt and frank not to give her benefactors a thorough assessment of the laboratory they’d bought for her. He couldn’t wait to hear her list all the ways in which it was inadequate. Perhaps then they wouldn’t be so hasty to champion her.
Right. Because Grey and Beatrice just hated blunt and frank speech.
Thorn sighed. They’d probably make her an honorary member of the family for it. Well, he refused to let her charm him again until he figured out what she was up to. And whose side she was on.
“We’re here!” Beatrice said cheerily.
He looked out to find that they were indeed heading up the long drive to the front of the majestic house, a residence as big and stately as Rosethorn, his own family seat in Berkshire.
“What a beautiful manor house, Your Grace . . . I mean, Grey,” Olivia said in ill-disguised awe. “Are those carvings of sandstone?”
“You have a good eye.” Grey smiled. “The walls are of red brick, but the cornices and other decorative elements are sandstone. As soon as you finish setting up your laboratory, I’d be happy to give you a tour.”
“That would be lovely, thank you.”
As they climbed down from the coach, a wide-eyed Olivia continued to scan her surroundings.
But before Thorn could do more than disembark, Grey pulled him aside. “I need a word with you.” As Olivia began explaining to the footmen which of her trunks should be taken inside and which taken to the laboratory, Grey lowered his voice. “What are you up to now? You practically accused Olivia’s stepmother o
f killing my father.”
“You don’t know that she didn’t. That might be why her stepdaughter readily agreed to your proposition, because she knows her mother had something to do with his murder, and she wants to hide that fact by having control over the tests.”
“Except she didn’t even know her mother might have done anything until we proposed it just now.”
Thorn gritted his teeth. Grey had a point.
“Nor do we have any evidence whatsoever,” Grey said, “that Mother and Lady Norley were close friends back then.”
“That’s not true, actually. I couldn’t say this in front of Miss Norley, but I happen to know for a fact that they were. Lady Norley told me that herself when I offered for Miss Norley.”
“Still, it doesn’t prove that Lady Norley could have killed my father. Or that she was even interested in him.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “And none of this explains why you insist on viewing Olivia’s laboratory.”
“Has it occurred to you that left to her own devices, Olivia—Miss Norley, I mean—could very well twist the results of her tests in order to get what she wants out of this?”
Grey thrust his hands in his greatcoat pockets. “And what, pray tell, do you assume that is? Her mother exonerated of a crime we don’t even know was committed?”
“Don’t be an arse. Miss Norley wants to publish her results. To make a name for herself as a chemist. You didn’t know that was her goal, did you?”
“No, but it makes sense. That’s the goal of every man or woman of science. To be known. To discover new ideas, new tests. I have no issue with it.”
“Well, I do,” Thorn said. “It makes her methods suspect. How can we be sure she won’t doctor the results so she can gain her credentials as a chemist?”
“By that score, you would find every chemist’s methods suspect, since all of them wish to publish their results.” Grey stared him down. “At some point, Thorn, you simply have to trust a person to do what they promise.”
That brought him up short. “I don’t have to trust anyone. And I don’t plan to, either. Beyond my family, I mean.”
His brother shook his head. “So that’s why you wish to help her with her laboratory. To make sure she isn’t up to anything suspicious.”
“Exactly. I can fathom a great deal about her knowledge of chemistry from watching how she sets up her laboratory.”
Grey laughed outright. “The way you fathomed her methods after she started reciting formulas you could no more comprehend than I?”
“That’s the point. She knows we’re ill-educated when it comes to her field, so she can fob anything off on us, and we’ll be impressed. But it’s hard to hide that one knows little about chemicals when faced with a laboratory full of them.”
“True. I’m sure you’ll prove your ignorance the moment you step inside.”
“I meant her.” Thorn hadn’t forgotten her wary expression when he’d said he’d be helping her.
“I knew what you meant.” Grey shook his head. “You’re a hopeless case. If I were her, I’d find your constant suspicion wearing, especially when it’s borne of a blow to your pride years ago. So I tell you what. I won’t insist upon sending a footman with you if you promise this will be your last test of her.”
“Fine,” Thorn said. “I promise.”
With any luck, this would tell him once and for all whether she knew what she was doing, whether her goal was deception, and whether he was right about the sort of person she was.
And if she was? If she proved to be everything she seemed? Then what did he mean to do with her?
He’d cross that bridge when he came to it.
Chapter Six
Olivia wished she had waited until Thorn wasn’t around to ask Greycourt if she could get right to work on her laboratory. She wished she’d told Thorn she didn’t want him there.
She wished she’d never laid eyes on the man. Why, he actually thought Mama could have murdered Grey’s father! The devil! How dared he? When it came to her and her family, he always thought the worst.
The dratted man even meant to intrude in her laboratory! He would not ruin this chance for her. She wouldn’t let him.
“You’re very quiet,” Thorn said as they walked along a gravel path that wound through the gardens.
“Is that a problem, Your Grace?”
He cursed under his breath. “You weren’t calling me ‘Your Grace’ last night when we were kissing.”
“You weren’t accusing my stepmother of murder.”
“I wasn’t—Damn it, all I’m saying is that she was a member of the group of ladies having their debuts in the same year. I just made the obvious conclusion that one of them might have—”
“Murdered your half brother’s father. Yes, I know all about your conclusions. I’m not sure how obvious they are, but you’re certainly free to make them. Just leave me out of it.”
They walked a few moments in blessed silence, but he of course couldn’t leave it alone. “What other explanation do you have for why someone would poison Grey’s father?”
“First of all, as a woman of science, I prefer not to speculate on anything. I amass facts, and then I prove my hypothesis. I have no facts yet concerning the possible poisoning of Grey’s father. Until I do, I can only postulate that his cause of death is undetermined.”
“All that aside,” Thorn snapped, “I’m not saying it was necessarily your stepmother who poisoned him. Just that there are three women who had the means and possibly the motive to murder him.”
“Four women,” Olivia shot back.
“I beg your pardon?”
“Your mother had the means and ‘possibly the motive’ as well.”
His face darkened. “My mother had nothing to do with his poisoning, I assure you.”
She halted to face him. “Based on what evidence?”
“She was caring for her infant son, for one thing.”
“No matter what men think,” Olivia said primly, “a woman can take care of a child and do other things at the same time.” Though she truly didn’t believe his mother—or any of the other ladies—had killed Grey’s father, she was trying to make a point: At present he had no more evidence to prove her stepmother guilty than she did to prove his mother guilty.
“It wasn’t my damned mother!” he cried. When she lifted her eyebrow, he added, “There’s more to our suspicions than you know. Than we can reveal until we have additional information.”
“That’s precisely what I’m saying. Until we prove Grey’s father was poisoned, we shouldn’t speculate about who fed him the poison.”
“Fine. I will ignore my tendency to speculate for the time being. Will that satisfy you?”
“Perfectly.” She marched off down the path. Him and his secret suspicions. He was no better than Papa, slipping off into the night to do whatever he pleased.
He matched her stride. They went quite a way without speaking before he said, in a toneless voice, “The dairy is just around the bend ahead at the top of a hill.”
She walked on, but he had offered an olive branch, so she felt she should take it, at least for the moment. “I gather that you know your brother’s estate well.”
“Well enough. Grey and I used to travel up here to get away from town. Carymont is his nearest property to London. Sometimes we’d even invite other bachelors and make a house party of it.”
“Without any women present?”
“We-e-ell—”
“That’s what I thought.” She stifled the urge to torment him about it. “You and Grey are very close, I suppose.”
“Yes. Although less so now that he’s married.” He stared off ahead. “I don’t know how it happens, but once a man takes a wife, he seems to replace all his bachelor friends with her. And with other couples.”
“That’s probably why my uncle has never taken a wife. He prefers the company of his Oxonian friends.”
She could feel Thorn’s gaze on her. “And you,” he said.
/>
“Yes. But not at the same time. A niece is different than a wife. No matter how much I tidy his rooms in town or he champions my work as a chemist, when his friends are there, he wants me nowhere around.”
Thorn surprised her by chuckling. “Probably because he doesn’t want them eyeing you with lust.”
“What? I’m sure they don’t even know what lust is.”
He snorted. “They’re men, aren’t they? Trust me, they know. Your uncle is probably just trying to protect you. Especially if visits from his friends involve substantial amounts of ale, wine, and spirits, which visits of that kind generally do.”
“For your friends perhaps. Not his.”
But the observation gave her something to consider. She’d assumed that although her uncle was proud of her among certain circles, he was still too ashamed of her being a female chemist to introduce her to his lofty Oxonian friends. That it might be something more like Thorn described soothed her hurt pride.
They’d reached the dairy now. It wasn’t at all what she’d imagined. In keeping with the only other one she’d ever seen, she’d expected a tiny building. That’s why she’d asked the duke about the shelves and tables.
But the pretty brick building would provide her with all the room she could want. And when she walked in, she was pleased to see that there were not only plenty of shelves, but a nice amount of floor space for the tables she required.
Grey had explained that his father had built a new dairy of a better design, so this one was no longer used. But it still had sufficient windows to give her light during the day and a fireplace to drive away the cold. She might need that fireplace, but she’d have to be cautious with it. No telling what residue of coal and wood ash might be lingering in the chimney. It wouldn’t do to have a dangerous chemical reaction happen because of negligence.
In the meantime, she would place her main worktable near it so that if she did have chemicals catch fire, she could at least sweep them into the hearth where the fumes could rise and be dissipated in the air.
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