“I’d like to know that myself.”
Eugenia turned at the sound of the new voice and saw Adam standing in the doorway of the study. Her heart leaped and butterflies took wing in her stomach, much as they had when Adam was courting her. No one who made her feel so bright and alive could kill anyone. She was absolutely certain.
“By the way,” Adam continued as he closed the door, “Father was threatening to starve that poor Mr. Thomas when you came along and said you’d order him a tray. That was kind of you, Genie.”
He walked over and bent over to give her a hug. “You’re not too upset by what’s happened, are you?”
Eugenia tilted her head up and quickly kissed him. “No. I’m all right. But I’m sure I haven’t made myself popular with your father. I’ll have to make up for it by coaxing Mr. Thomas out of the room so your father can try to find your mother’s letters.”
“Good luck with that,” John said, groaning as he straightened out his injured leg. “Ward knew how to hide things very well. As I said, he worked with spies.”
“Did he work with Mr. Thomas during the war?” Adam asked his brother.
“I don’t know. Let’s ask him.” John’s grim tone told Eugenia what he’d thought of anyone associated with Ward, particularly spies.
The three left the study. When they reached the base of the stairs, Adam stopped and put his arms around Eugenia’s shoulders. “Genie, you shouldn’t come with us.” His eyes and voice were full of concern.
“Why not? I promise not to get the vapors like your mother.” She smiled back at him, thrilled he would be so worried for her.
“It might be unpleasant.”
“Seeing a man drop dead in front of me with a knife in his back is unpleasant. Everything else is a search for justice.”
“John and I may have to ask uncomfortable questions.”
“You do realize John knew Major Ward during the war and will be considered a possible murderer. Your father left the ball for a while and could easily have killed the major over your sister’s honor. Your mother, quite uncharacteristically, left the dancing and definitely had a reason to murder the man. We should be working together to find the killer and protect your family.” She put a hand on his arm. “Please, Adam.”
“Father isn’t going to like this.”
“Your father will dislike a member of his family being hanged for murder a great deal more. Even the simple accusation of murder could ruin us. Think of the hysterics your mother would have if someone accused the duke of being an assassin.”
Adam cringed. “Right. Let’s go.”
They walked to the room assigned to Major Ward and scratched on the door. “Who’s there?” a male voice called out.
“Earl Hunter, Countess Hunter, and Lord John Hunter. We’d like to come in,” Adam announced.
“Lady Hunter? Is she the one who sent me the tray?”
“Yes, I am. Was it to your liking?” Eugenia said.
“It was very kind of your ladyship. You may come in. You and you alone.”
Adam opened his mouth to object, but Eugenia shook her head. Mr. Thomas could be the murderer, but she’d have to face him.
“No, Genie,” Adam whispered.
“It’s all right.”
“No, it’s not. Please don’t.” He clutched her hand.
“Yes, Mr. Thomas. I’ll come in alone,” Eugenia said and waited for the sound of the key in the lock. Then she turned the knob and walked in, shutting the door behind her.
The valet locked the door again. The sound of the key clicking behind her nearly made her scream in fear, but she swallowed down her terror and walked forward toward the windows.
The room was immaculate. Mr. Thomas was apparently a diligent valet. Eugenia sat down on the chair and indicated to Mr. Thomas to sit on the footstool.
“Where are you going to sleep tonight?” Eugenia asked.
“I’ll stay up until my master returns.”
Eugenia looked at him sadly and shook her head. “Major Ward is dead. He was involved with spies. You must have known his was a dangerous life.”
“The war’s over. He should be out of danger.”
“Out of danger? He came to our Christmas house party while blackmailing the duchess and possibly Miss Wilton. Who knows who else lived in fear of him? That is a dangerous life.”
His eyes widened slightly. “I didn’t know he was blackmailing anyone. Truly.”
“Not even his former spies? Yourself, for example.”
Thomas leaped up and paced to the window. “He was not blackmailing me.”
“He had some hold over you. When a delegation comes to tell a servant his master is dead, most servants will come out to view the body and make plans for their future. They worry about the lack of a reference. They don’t stay at their post in the face of all logic unless they are very much afraid.”
“If I admitted such a thing, I could be hanged.”
“No one will hear it from me.”
He laid his head against the cold glass. “It is true. I am afraid. Major Ward not only spied for England, he also spied for France. I was one of his French spies. But I am not the only one in this house.”
“Miss Janvier, the governess?”
Thomas looked at her with wonder. Tears glistened in his eyes. “How do you know these things?”
“Miss Janvier fainted when she heard of his murder. A strange reaction to the death of someone she’d scarcely met, don’t you think?” Eugenia replied.
“I went to get my dinner the day we arrived, and I saw her talking to the housekeeper. I was shocked to see her in an English household. She begged me not to tell the major she was here. She recognized me because she used to give me her reports to give to the major. And now you swear that Major Ward is dead?” He sounded hopeful.
“Yes. His body’s in the game larder if you want to see for yourself.”
He nodded. Then with slow steps he walked over and unlocked the door.
The valet and the three aristocrats made an odd, solemn procession through the halls. They picked up wraps by the back entrance and John lit a glass-shielded candle. They went outside on the recently shoved walk and entered the game storage cold room.
Hanging carcasses of mutton and beef were near the far wall, past dressed turkeys and geese, beyond baskets of eggs and quarts of cream and wheels of cheese. Near the door on a table was the sheet-covered body.
Adam twitched away the sheet so Mr. Thomas could see the face of his late master. In the cold, Ward’s dead face had become bloodlessly white and predatory, even vulture-like.
Showing his true nature, Eugenia thought.
“Thank God,” Thomas said. “I’m free.” His body sagged in relief.
“I don’t understand,” Adam said.
“He treated me like a slave, not a servant.”
“Will you go back to France?” Eugenia asked.
“No. I’m English. Not French. The major paid my father’s debts and then made me collateral, like a watch or a house,” he grimaced, “until such time as my father could repay him. He wasn’t able to do this before he died, and with no hope of a salary of my own, I was locked into service with him forever.”
“Then you’re free. Do you have a bed in the servants’ attic?” Eugenia asked. The poor man couldn’t stay in Ward’s room any longer. Not if they wanted to search it.
Thomas shook his head.
“Go to the housekeeper, and she’ll find a place for you. No one is going anywhere for a few days. Soon, we’ll talk about getting you a reference if you’d like another position as a valet.” Eugenia gave him a dismissing nod.
“Thank you, my lady.” Mr. Thomas bowed and then seemed to spring from the game locker in his haste to return to the house.
The other three shut the body away and walked indoors, hanging up wraps and moving as a group toward the grand entrance. Everyone was leaving the midnight supper in the dining room and milling about in the hall. Eugenia looked wistfully in the direction of the supper. Maybe they could get something later.
“We’re all afraid to go to bed because of the murderer,” Aunt Anna announced.
Oh, what a silly woman, Eugenia wanted to say. Aloud, she said calmly to her aunt, “Major Ward was a very unpopular man. Unless you’re as devious as he was, you have nothing to worry about. Good night, Aunt Anna. Sleep well.”
“Good night, my darling niece. Happy Christmas.” Anna gave Eugenia a kiss on the cheek and went upstairs. The others followed her in a long procession, each saying good night and wishing all and sundry a happy Christmas until Adam, John, and Eugenia were left alone in the hall.
“Well, shall we examine Ward’s luggage for his secrets?” Adam asked.
“I’d rather find other people’s secrets so we can return their papers and relieve their minds,” Eugenia said.
Adam took her hand. “I’d like to know his, too. He might have been murdered for something other than blackmailing our guests, but I have no idea what other reason someone might have. Yet.”
They climbed the stairs and walked down the hall. They went into Major Ward’s room to find a candle burning on the bureau and Uncle Charles bent over Ward’s trunk. Clothes were scattered on the floor.
“Uncle Charles! What are you doing?” Eugenia asked.
He ignored her as he continued to dig through the trunk. “Ward took something of mine. I hoped to retrieve it before anyone else looked through his belongings.”
Adam and John crowded in behind her as she said, “What did he take?”
“The deed to my manor.”
John whistled.
Eugenia stared, shocked by his words for a moment. “Isn’t it entailed to you?” she asked when she finally found her voice. The estate was the only source of the Dawson family’s wealth and position.
“No. It came through my mother’s family.”
Adam asked, “How did Ward get hold of it?”
Uncle Charles rose stiffly. Then he walked over to the window and pushed aside the draperies to look out into the winter darkness. Standing with his hands behind his back, his stomach protruded under his embroidered vest and both of his chins were evident above his cravat.
“Through stupidity on my part. I made a foolish investment and used the manor as security. It was an investment that couldn’t fail!” He banged his fists on the windowsill. “It couldn’t fail, and yet, it did. It was so unfair!”
“How did Major Ward get involved in this investment?” Eugenia asked.
“Ward bought up the securities and took the deed to my manor. He was charging colossal amounts of interest on the debt. I was going broke, and without the manor, I’d have nothing for my family. We’d be ruined. And the major didn’t care. He thought it was funny.”
Eugenia watched him through narrowed eyes. “Aunt Anna doesn’t know, does she?”
He hung his head. “No.”
Adam said, “Let’s see if we can’t find it, along with everything else we’re searching for.”
John looked at his brother. “No sleep for any of us tonight.”
Eugenia moved in front of her uncle. “But there will be for you. Goodnight, Uncle. Go see to my aunt. She must be as frightened as everyone else at being trapped in with a killer.”
“But surely he escaped into the night after murdering Ward. Whoever he is,” Sir Charles said.
“No one’s gone anywhere in this weather,” John said. “Best head to your bed and lock yourself in.”
Sir Charles lingered in the door. “If you find my deed …?”
“We’ll return it. Goodnight, Uncle.” Eugenia gently shut him out of the room and then turned to the others. “Now, where do we start?”
“Happy Christmas,” Adam grumbled. Then he pulled Eugenia close and kissed her forehead. “I’m sorry. It’s just so beastly to have a murder on Christmas.”
John looked around the room. “And we’re searching for blackmail material. What an odd way to begin Christmas day.”
As the sun rose weakly over a glistening Christmas morn, a weary Eugenia looked around the room where they’d searched every inch, turned to her husband and his brother, and said, “Any other ideas?”
“None.” John grumbled and rubbed his unshaven cheek above his scar.
“Then I suggest we lock the room and go down to breakfast. It’s Christmas and I’m sure your parents and our guests would appreciate a little normality in our festivities today.” Eugenia yawned and stretched. Walking over to her husband, now sleepily rubbing his eyes, she leaned in and gave him a Christmas kiss.
“It’s a good thing Father invited the bishop. We’d never make it into the village for church,” Adam said with a smile, returning the kiss. “And could I interest you in a before breakfast Christmas present?”
John tried to turn his laughter into a cough. “I think I’ll go down to breakfast. Let me know when you want to try again to find Ward’s purloined papers.” He escaped the room, leaving a trail of chuckles in his wake.
Adam drew his wife to him and said “Happy Christmas” before their lips joined. Eugenia relaxed into the kiss as it wiped away her fatigue, leaving her blissful and joyous.
They enjoyed only a minute of solitude before the duke’s voice was heard. “Have you had any—oh, pardon me.”
Adam and Eugenia jumped apart like guilty children.
“Don’t look like that,” he playfully scolded. “No one wants grandchildren more than I do. The line must continue. But perhaps today, we should put our minds toward Christmas and finding your mother’s foolish letters.” The duke’s tone ended as dry as last summer’s straw.
“We’ve had no luck finding anything so far, Father,” Adam said, standing a little straighter as he answered.
“We were about to lock the room and go down to breakfast,” Eugenia said, hoping no one heard her stomach rumble.
“Good plan.”
Eugenia swallowed and then took a deep breath, knowing she was about to make herself unpopular with Adam’s father by asking the question she felt she must raise. “But first, Duke, where did you go last night after your dance with the duchess at the ball?”
“Why do you ask?” His gaze turned icy.
Adam squeezed her hand.
Eugenia knew she had to continue. “Because you were supposed to dance with me, but you disappeared. During that time, Major Ward was stabbed with your letter opener. There will be gossip that you are the killer.”
“I am not a killer.” He boomed ducal displeasure at her, but Eugenia stood firm.
“I’m sure you aren’t. But where did you go?” Eugenia knew the question would come better from one of his sons. He was a duke. She was the orphaned child of a baron. But then, she knew neither Adam nor John would put the question to him.
“I found it necessary to step outside for a few minutes,” the duke said stiffly.
In the snow? “Were you unwell?”
“Not really.” He colored slightly, and Eugenia realized a call of nature had sent him from the ballroom.
“Oh.” Her own face heating, Eugenia curtsied to the duke.
“Why outside, Father? Why not your own room?” Adam asked.
“I didn’t think I’d make it. Not as young as I once was.”
He had hurried out of the ballroom, Eugenia recalled. “Why did you invite Major Ward to the party?” she asked in a quiet voice.
“I needed to deal with him to get the duchess’s letters back. Seemed like the season to negotiate in good faith. And then Sir Charles asked me to invite Ward and I discovered he also needed to bargain with the little swine.”
Falling silent, they left the room. Adam locked the door, and the duke pocketed the key. “We’ll reconsider possibilities after our Christmas service. The bishop is going to lead us in prayer in the ballroom, and the musicians are going to play Christmas hymns,” the duke said.
“Will the servants be able to join us?” Eugenia asked.
“If their work is caught up, of course. It is Christmas,” the duke replied, striding off toward his breakfast.
“I’ll inform the butler and housekeeper and have them send word to the stable hands,” Eugenia said.
“Appropriate, considering the Christmas story,” Adam said, grinning at his wife.
It wasn’t until after breakfast and the church service that Eugenia could find a moment to speak privately to Adam again. She pulled him into the blue drawing room and said, “I think we ought to ask Mr. Thomas if he has any idea where the papers might be located.”
“He said he didn’t.” Adam kissed her soundly, letting her know he had other things on his mind than blackmail that Christmas morning.
After a few treasured moments, Eugenia broke away with regret and said, “We have to find those papers and discover the murderer if we’re to lift the threat of a murder charge against someone in your family. Mr. Thomas might know something he didn’t think would be helpful. And right now, anything would be helpful.” Eugenia gave a weary sigh and led Adam to the servants’ hall below stairs. She’d had no sleep and no private time with Adam. What a terrible first Christmas they were having as a married couple.
When the next duke and his wife entered, the servants all leaped to their feet. Eugenia was glad to see the servants had decorated their hall with greens from the estate and bits of colorful ribbon. It gave the cheerless room a bit of Christmas joy.
“Please. As you were.” No one returned to their tasks. “We want to speak to Mr. Thomas, Major Ward’s man,” Adam said.
“He’s not been down here since breakfast,” the butler said from where he’d been polishing silver. “And he didn’t join our church service. Thought he might be chapel. Or popish,” was added with a sniff.
With a thanks and a “Happy Christmas,” Adam and Eugenia went up to the attic rooms where most of the staff slept. No sign of Ward’s man there, either. Eugenia could see her breath and knew no one would linger up there, even on a holiday.
As they exchanged a look, Eugenia knew Adam also wanted to check Major Ward’s room next. They hurried downstairs to find the locked door ajar. They’d locked the door before breakfast and the duke held the key. Why would the duke come up without them? Then Eugenia blinked as it registered in her sleepy mind that the lock was broken and the doorframe splintered. Adam put Eugenia behind him and pushed the door open fully.
She peeked over his shoulder and saw Thomas on the floor, an ornate knife handle protruding from his stomach. Gasping, her stomach reeling, she reached out for something to steady herself. She leaned against the hallway wall outside the room and gulped down cold air. He’d been a nice man, lost in the shadow of his master’s evil. He was an innocent in this terrible business.
“This is wrong,” she managed to say. “He didn’t deserve this.”
Adam looked at her, his eyes wide. Then he walked over and held her, taking away some of the horror. “Who would do this? On Christmas? Have we invited a madman to our feast?”
“Or madwoman?”