Page 69 of A Whisper at Midnight

“Yes, but I also attributed it to his excessive alcohol consumption.”

The coroner asked Massey to detail Chambers’ symptoms, which sounded truly unpleasant. But how pleasant was aninquest supposed to be with a dead body laid out on a table? At least Chambers was covered with a cloth, and there were sprigs of lavender around the body.

As the coroner concluded his questioning of Massey, Hadrian realized that there’d been no discussion of Massey’s secret—that he spent one night every fortnight at a brothel, and not an ordinary brothel at that—or that Chambers had threatened the valet with exposing his secret. Whilst Hadrian didn’t want the man’s private life laid bare, he couldn’t help feeling that he didn’t want his own past revealed either, particularly because it made Hadrian appear a suspect. Massey was also a suspect but did not appear to be since he wasn’t questioned about his hidden behavior—of which Teague was aware. Why had Teague decided not to treat him as a suspect?

Tilda elbowed Hadrian gently. He turned his head to see her watching him intently. She nodded toward the coroner.

“Lord Ravenhurst?” Graythorpe asked, and Hadrian realized he’d been lost in his thoughts.

“Yes?” Hadrian stood.

“Thank you, my lord,” Graythorpe said with a deferential smile. “Would you remain standing? Or you may take this chair.” He gestured to an empty chair near the table.

“I’ll stand,” Hadrian said.

“How long have you known Mrs. Chambers?”

“About four years.”

Graythorpe clasped his hands behind his back. “You courted her during the Season?”

“I did. And we became engaged to be married.” Hadrian wanted to put this behind him as quickly as possible. “There was an unfortunate situation, and Mrs. Chambers and I decided we didn’t suit.”

“Because you caught Mrs. Chambers in an embrace with Mr. Louis Chambers, correct?” Graythorpe looked at him expectantly.

“Yes.” Hadrian felt something brush his hand. He looked down and saw that it was Tilda. But she was already resting her hand back on her lap. Still, the brief, simple gesture eased his tension.

“Did you blame Chambers for the ruin of your betrothal?” Graythorpe asked.

Hadrian loathed having to answer this in such a public setting. It would undoubtedly hurt Beryl, but there was nothing Hadrian could do. “I mostly blamed Mrs. Chambers.” He saw from the lower part of his eye that Beryl had turned her head toward him, but he kept his attention fixed on the coroner.

“Yet you came to help her when she asked,” Graythorpe noted.

“I did. She sounded desperate, and I am not unkind.”

“Is it possible you still have a romantic inclination toward Mrs. Chambers?”

Again, Hadrian disliked having to expose himself and his emotions in this manner. He rolled his shoulders. “It is not.”

Graythorpe then asked Hadrian about what had happened at Arthur’s the night before Chambers was killed. Hadrian relayed that, as well as his arrival at the Chambers’ house the following day, including his shock at learning Chambers had been murdered.

“Shortly thereafter, Miss Matilda Wren arrived. The two of you work together to investigate crimes?”

“We have on one other occasion,” Hadrian said. “I hired her to find Chambers’ killer.”

Graythorpe’s brows drew together. “Why would you do that?”

“Because Miss Wren is a skilled investigator, and I believed she would find the murderer as quickly as possible.”

The coroner’s eyes narrowed, and Hadrian’s neck bristled. “And you are working with her.” It wasn’t a question. “You have conducted yourself above reproach and have not sought to divert the investigation away from yourself?”

Hadrian’s jaw clenched. “I always conduct myself with the utmost integrity, Mr. Graythorpe. Anyone will tell you that.”

Graythorpe inclined his head. “Thank you, my lord. You may be seated.”

Next, the corner asked Tilda to stand. She flicked a glance at Hadrian, and he couldn’t detect even a modicum of nervousness or apprehension.

Over the next several minutes, she answered the coroner’s questions about Beryl’s intention to divorce her husband, as well as the jewelry that had gone missing and Tilda’s efforts to find it. He then questioned her about what she’d learned regarding Martha Farrow. Tilda answered everything openly and honestly.