“Thirty years! I don’t want to wait thirty years to see myself loved by the man I love.”
“I was only joking, my dear.” The dowager duchess walked toward the door, then muttered, “Mostly, anyway.”
Vanessa groaned. She certainly hoped her mother-inlaw was joking. And how could the man be so good at noticing her feelings but be so blind to what his own feelings were?
Unless he didn’t feel as deeply as Vanessa did. He’d been forced into marriage, after all.
I think he already does love you.
Oh, she hoped that was true. She would cling to that possibility as long as she could. In the meantime, there was one way of endearing him to her, and that involved solving the issue of whether Bonham’s bookkeeping could be trusted.
With that, she settled down to work.
Chapter Twenty-One
Two hours later, Sheridan and Gwyn left Lady Hornsby’s and headed for his coach. “That was an utter waste of time,” Sheridan grumbled.
“I told you and the rest of them it wasn’t her. She might enjoy seducing young—and old—men more than she should, and she might be a bit saucy in her language, but at heart she’s a decent sort and very kind.”
“Except for the periodic cuckolding of other people’s husbands.”
Gwyn sighed. “True. Except for that.”
He helped his half sister into the coach and climbed in after her. “I still can’t believe the countess has been having an affair with Lisbourne all this time.” He shuddered. “Vanessa has no idea what a close call she had.”
“I doubt Lady Hornsby would have stood for seeing Lisbourne marry a much younger woman, anyway, at least not while she and Lisbourne were having an affair. And there’s no telling—perhaps in time she and Lisbourne will marry. He has an heir already, and it’s not as if she could have children, anyway. Hornsby left her well off, and Lisbourne needs money. It could be a match made in heaven.”
“If you say so.” Privately he was skeptical. “But you think she was telling the truth about the house party?”
“The first one? Undoubtedly. Hornsby wasn’t the best husband, from what Mama has said, so it makes sense she would have gone off to her little love nest with her first lover—of many—as soon as possible. We’ll have to compare notes with Mama, but I think it’s believable.”
“Lady Hornsby’s explanation of what she was doing during the second house party seems a bit more believable to me. I can easily see how she would be reluctant to attend a house party when gossip was circling around society that she was mistress to Thorn’s father. Assuming that she and Mother were still good friends—and we have no reason to believe otherwise—she would have stayed away out of courtesy to Mother.”
“But why was she listed as a guest at the party?”
“Those lists were invitation lists,” Sheridan pointed out. “Did you keep a list of the people who attended your ball a few weeks back? I daresay you only kept a record of whom you invited.”
Gwyn frowned. “True. I hadn’t thought of that. I wonder if Mother would remember if Lady Hornsby was at the house party. If she remembered one way or the other, though, wouldn’t she have told us?”
“Not if she was in labor during the whole party.”
“Oh, right. I forgot she was in labor.”
“I don’t know how you could forget that,” Sheridan teased her. “She was in labor with you and Thorn.”
Gwyn made a face at him, and he laughed.
Then both sat quietly for a bit. Finally, Sheridan said, “I guess this means we’ll have to look into servants and other staff now. Because you and I both know Lady Norley isn’t some master criminal. I could believe it of Lady Hornsby perhaps and definitely of Lady Eustace, but Lady Norley is a likable lady who puts up with her arse of a husband because she loves her stepdaughter.”
Gwyn nodded. “That about sums her up.” She nudged his knee. “Meanwhile, how is married life treating you?”
“Pretty well, under the circumstances.”
“You did finally tell Vanessa about Helene, didn’t you?”
“I did.”
“And you told Vanessa you’re in love with her now, right?”
He stiffened. “I’m not in love with Vanessa. I have great affection for her, and I certainly have a healthy desire for her, but love? I don’t want to be in love with her. The last time I was in love, it nearly destroyed me.”
“Yet here you are, completely whole again.” Gwyn shook her head. “Nobody wants to be in love. Why would anyone choose an emotion capable of ripping one’s heart to pieces?”
“Exactly what I was saying.”
“You’re missing my point. You don’t choose love; love chooses you. You have no say or recourse, and when it happens, resistance is pointless.”
“That sounds alarming.” It also sounded close to how he’d felt with Helene years ago. Actually, it was closer to how he felt with Vanessa now. Bloody hell.
Gwyn tried to stifle a yawn but wasn’t successful.
“You’re tired,” Sheridan said. “Why don’t you nap a bit on the way back?”
“Thank you. I believe I will.” She patted his hand, then put her head against the squabs and promptly went to sleep.
Gazing at her, he wondered if Vanessa would be so tired once she was enceinte. Would she eat strange foods? Would she even be happy to carry his child?
Will you try not to love your children, too, so you don’t suffer pain if one of them dies?
He grimaced, remembering what Vanessa had said about children. He should stop dwelling on that and turn his thoughts to figuring out where to go next in their investigation.
Unfortunately, by the time he and Gwyn reached her town house, he hadn’t come up with much of a plan. To his surprise, Joshua was apparently waiting for them to arrive, because before Sheridan’s footman could open the carriage door Joshua appeared at the bottom of the steps, cane in hand. “Hold up, Sheridan. I need to speak to you before you leave.”
Sheridan leaned out of the carriage window. “I’m meeting with Bonham in half an hour to go over the books, so this had better be important.”
“It’s damned important. Where are you meeting with Bonham?”
“At my house. Why?”
“Because this concerns him. And I should go with you.” Joshua glanced in the carriage and said, “You shouldn’t go, sweeting.”
“I want to hear what you found out. I’m part of this, too, you know.”
Joshua hesitated, but he probably knew better than to argue with Gwyn when she’d dug in her heels. “All right. But once we reach Sheridan’s, I’m sending you back home.”
That certainly sounded worrisome.
Joshua got in and took a seat beside his wife. As soon as they were off, he said, “I haven’t left town to confirm the details of Sir Noah’s past, but I did speak to a number of gentlemen who know him and will readily vouch for him. So I think we can rule him out.”
“Thank God,” Sheridan said. “I wasn’t looking forward to telling Vanessa I suspected her uncle of anything. Bad enough I suspected her mother. Who, by the way, is now excluded as a possibility.”