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CHAPTER FOURTEEN

R olfe was still staring at the door where Cassia had just departed several moments before when Dante came into the room.

“Rolfe, has something happened, man? You look disturbed.”

“What? No.” He shook his head. “Nothing I care to talk about anyway.” And then he remembered, “My thanks for coming so soon, Dante. I’m sorry I couldn’t come to you myself, but as I said in my message, I’m somewhat housebound these days.”

Dante grinned. “Yes, where is the lovely Lady Winter hiding herself?”

Rolfe frowned. “Her name is Cassia, Dante. Lady Cassia to you.”

His friend wisely took his cue. “I see.”

Dante took a seat, dropping unceremoniously into the chair that sat before the desk. “I believe you sought some information, milord?” he said in heavily-accented cockney.

His attempt at levity did not succeed in banishing the frown etched on his friend’s face.

“So what have you been able to find out so far?” Rolfe asked.

He handed Dante a glass of brandy before lowering himself into the chair on the other side of the desk. He leaned forward on his elbow and waited for Dante to respond.

“Well, I’m sorry to report I haven’t found out much at all, really.

It’s funny. No, actually, it’s really most odd, but for some reason the usually loose-lipped members of the court are being rather reticent these days.

They are refusing to divulge much at this time, other than to say that they most of them believe the lady guilty of the crime. ”

He removed a scrap of parchment scratched with notes from his coat pocket.

“Let’s see. I was able to verify that the lady’s cousin, Geoffrey Montefort, has been in arrears with his creditors for at least six months now.

What strikes me as odd is that up until recently, he had been living somewhat sensibly, not spending beyond his means, steering clear of the higher stakes games tables, and typically paying his creditors on time.

Around the time of the death of Cassia’s mother, though, he began to spend as if he had a tree that sprouted guineas for fruit.

That is also the approximate time that his gambling debts began to grow to their current outlandish heights. ”

“So, how bad off is he?” Rolfe said. “Really?”

Dante regarded him. “I would say that unless Cousin Geoffrey lands himself a na?ve and, might I add, rather myopic heiress—or unless he finds some other long lost relative to leave him, say, thirty thousand pounds, he’ll soon be vacating his stylish rooms near St. James and will be taking up residence in a small but cozy debtor’s cell in the Fleet instead. ”

Rolfe mulled over the information. So the desperation he’d heard in Geoffrey’s voice just before he’d come into the room hadn’t been imagined.

The man was in need of funds, dire need it seems, and his fifty pound annuity wouldn’t even begin to chip away at it.

Clearly this made him feel angry and powerless, and he wanted to punish someone for his misfortune.

It certainly explained his behavior toward Cassia.

It also confirmed what Rolfe had already suspected.

“What about the night of Seagrave’s murder? Have you been able to verify Geoffrey’s whereabouts then?”

Dante took a sip of his brandy. “Yes, that was one thing I was able to pin down. Geoffrey was seen at the Manton’s ball on the Strand that night—as were Lord Seagrave and Lady Cassia—and very nearly every other person in town who could lay claim to an invitation.

Hell, I was even there, though not for long, having engaged the company of a thoroughly delightful little blonde with this tiny little .

..” Dante paused, noting the look of impatience that crossed Rolfe’s face.

“But that is another story entirely, for some other time. As for Geoffrey, no one I spoke with can account for having seen him after Lady Cassia’s public and shocking refusal of Manton’s son, Malcolm’s, proposal to her, and her swift removal by her father thereafter.

Geoffrey seems to have departed as well soon afterward. ”

Rolfe considered this. “So he could very well have followed them here to Seagrave House and committed the murder himself.”

Dante nodded. “A possibility, indeed. From the direction of your questions, I would take it you no longer believe the lady guilty of the crime?”

Rolfe looked straight into Dante’s eyes.

“I will say this only once and I will be quite clear in doing so. There is no possible way Cassia could have been the one who killed her father. And I will no longer entertain any idea of it. So now I must concentrate on finding out who is the real murderer. What about Geoffrey?”

Dante agreed. “Yes, he could, I suppose, have done the deed, but honestly, Rolfe, do you really think he did? I mean, from what I’ve heard and seen of Cousin Geoffrey, I’m not confident he has the mental acuity to have brought it off to this much success, much less having managed to circumvent any suspicion of the crime and lay the entire suspicion at Lady Cassia’s feet.

He just doesn’t strike me as being clever enough. ”

“Agreed, but you also didn’t see him standing in this room not minutes before your arrival threatening Cassia with rape.”

Dante gave him a look of incredulity. “And the man still managed to walk out of here alive? You must be growing soft in your old age, Rolfe, for you’d never have let that sort of affront to any lady pass unpunished in the old days.”

“Three and thirty years is not such an old age, Dante. Need I remind you that only a handful of months separate us in age, my friend? And, believe me when I say that the man came within inches of sampling the end of my rapier blade. Fortunately, common sense prevailed.”

“How so?”

“If I had killed the swine, it would make my proving him guilty of Seagrave’s murder difficult to say the least, wouldn’t you think? I need him alive at least until I can do that.”

Dante nodded. “Good point.”

“Now, back to his habits. With whom does Geoffrey regularly associate?”

Dante referred to his notes again. “Geoffrey seems to drift in whichever direction the wind of advantage will blow him. He appears to enjoy gambling with the sons of the higher aristocracy—in particular of late the Duke of Manton’s son, Malcolm, also Dursley’s boy, you know the sort.

Curiously, he has been seen paying court to Lady Castlemaine more recently as well, although the reasons why simply elude me.

I had credited the lady with much higher standards, but then one never knows why a woman does the things she does.

That is what makes them such fascinating creatures. ”

“Dante ...” Rolfe shook his head.

His friend laughed. “I will see what else I can find out for you along that line.”

“And see what you might be able to learn about Lord Seagrave’s finances, especially those since the wars. He seems to have amassed rather a tidy fortune in a short period and at a time of economic uncertainty for many. I find myself exceedingly curious as to how.”

Dante nodded, finishing his brandy. “Consider it done, my friend.”

The clock on the mantel suddenly chimed the second hour of the afternoon. Dante stood.

“Well, Rolfe, that is all I have for you now. I will see what else I can find out before our next meeting, which, I take it, you will summon me for in much the same fashion as this one?”

Rolfe nodded.

“Then, if there isn’t anything else you need now, I’ll be off. I’ve an appointment with a lovely young thing back at Whitehall and I would hate to keep her waiting. Ladies get petulant at having to wait. It’s a privilege they think only themselves worthy of.”

Rolfe had to grin. Was there ever a time when Dante wasn’t engaged in the pursuit of a woman? “Dare I ask the lady’s name?”

“Certainly. ‘Tis none other than La Belle Stuart herself.”

“Not King Charles’s Frances Stuart?”

Dante beamed. “One and the same, although when last I checked, she’d not been confirmed one of his burgeoning bedroom flock as yet.

Certainly not for lack of trying by our friend, the king, though.

I hear tell he’s been quite diligent in his attempts to win her over.

They even compare him to old King Henry when he was pursuing the Boleyn.

It’s amusing. Frances has been called empty-headed and foolish for her fondness for making card houses and the like, but truthfully, I think she’s more clever than everyone thinks.

She just wants them to believe she’s got nothing more than cotton wool in her brain so they won’t accuse her of being a manipulative, gold-seeking harpy like Castlemaine. ”

Rolfe started walking his friend toward the door.

“I’ve heard it said that Miss Stuart thinks that by putting the king off as she has these past months, she will be rewarded all the more when she finally does acquiesce and allow him her favors.

Some have even said she has her sights set on becoming his next queen. ”

Dante shook his head. “When last I checked, I believe that post was already filled. But I also have it on good authority that the lady has her sights set on another gentleman entirely.”

Rolfe regarded his friend. “And whatever happened to your personal code of conduct in bedding only married ladies?”

Dante shrugged. “This little darling came to me, my friend. I didn’t pursue her. What sort of gentleman would I be if I refused the request of a lady?”

“You’re playing a dangerous game with this one, Dante. Be careful.”

Dante began to laugh, unable to mislead his friend any longer.

“You needn’t worry about me, Rolfe, though I appreciate the warning.

This time it is not the lady’s bedchamber I am frequenting.

Call me Mercury for I am employed merely in the role of messenger this time, nothing more.

I am acting as a decoy for the man who truly holds the young nymph’s heart. ”

“A decoy, you say?”