This would be their base, but Mandy knew, their only hope was to find Elly Bonner and the diary as quickly as they could. That was their only hope.
Chapter Five
THE DUKE’S THOUGHTS moved from shock into sudden clarity. He could not believe such nefarious activities had been perpetrated in the wilds of Yorkshire. That his young ward, a Lord of the Realm had been accused of a murder, the viscount assured him, the lad had been incapable of committing struck him as warranting secretive investigation. Just as he had made up his mind to use his position as Duke of Margate to get the boy out of his cell, the viscount further astounded him by telling him that his ward, aided by his sister had broken out of prison.
He was moved to ejaculate, “Bloody hell! Why the devil didn’t you use your influence to get him home until his hearing?”
“I tried. Magistrate Connors was adamant that we appear above board before the judge arrived.”
“Aboveboard? What absurdity is this? The evidence they have is all hearsay and conjecture. Aboveboard indeed,” the duke snapped back at his friend.
“Look, I told Mandy you would come as soon as you got my letter. I tried to make her understand that if anyone could see us out of this mess, you could, but she wouldn’t listen to me. I suppose she felt that nothing would move you to come since you had not all year. Then when Agatha stepped forward this morning and nailed poor Ned in his coffin. Well, I suppose she thought she had no choice,” Skip explained shaking his head.
“Why did she not take you into her confidence? If I understand you correctly, she came to you first…”
“Indeed, she did. Then I let their uncle take Ned off, sure that as his uncle he would at the very least make certain Ned returned home to await a hearing.” His shoulders slumped. “I don’t think Mandy trusts my judgment any longer…” He sighed. “You have to understand, Ned is more than a brother to her. He is her twin and they have been close, so very close all their lives.” He smiled suddenly and added, “Mandy is, well, indomitable and brave, steady and loyal, as is Ned. She will stand strong against any force out to hurt him.” He eyed the duke. “Make no mistake; I believe the real killer has gone to some lengths to cast suspicion on Ned.”
“Yes, I agree, but this last escapade of hers,” the duke shook his head. “Indomitable and brave she might be, but also, foolhardy. Skip, don’t you see—she has behaved worse than a hoyden. She has taken criminal action, will only serve to make him appear guiltier than ever. Why take this course of action, why not wait for me to arrive and help?”
“They had no confidence that you would arrive and I suppose they felt they needed the freedom to search for Elly Bonner and the diary. Mandy is not the sort to allow others to take control when she thinks they are not doing what they should. She was adamant that she could not leave Ned in that cell. I should have made more of a push to get him out.” The viscount sighed heavily. “She told me she did not believe the hearing would go well and refused to accept that he might be held over for trial. Even so, I did not think she would break him out.” on these last words Skip grinned.
The duke eyed him from a frown, “Why you should smile over the fact, is quite beyond my understanding.” He bit and chewed at his bottom lip, “Damnation, we have a situation here.”
“The thing is Brock, you have to understand it all to get to the bottom of it,” Skip frowned at his friend. “They had no reason to believe that you would, indeed, come here and help them and I do believe whoever killed Celia, means for Ned to hang for this. I agree with Mandy and don’t think they had a choice.”
“Tell me one thing, Skip. Could Ned have been the father of this Celia’s child? And if he was, is he the sort that is capable of killing her to avoid being shackled?” The duke watched Skip’s face.
“Never, and when you meet him, you will see that in an instant,” Skip returned in strong accents. “There isn’t the slightest possibility he is the father of that child. For one thing, he had only been home less than a month. Even if Celia had seduced him in that time, though I doubt it as she had her sights elsewhere when Ned first got home, but even if she had, it wouldn’t have been in the first week, so then…what, would she already know in two weeks that she was with child?” Skip shook his head, “No, Ned is not the father. Besides, you had only to see his face when he declared he only kissed her, to know he was telling the truth.”
“Do you know who might have been the father?” the duke asked quietly.
“Dash it to hell, I don’t know. She had a string of admirers and she was well able to keep them dangling after her. How many had the poor woman bedded in the hopes of attaining a beneficial marriage?” Skip shrugged. “I don’t know. I did think her last ‘interest’ was someone she cared for. She had the look of a young woman in love, but perhaps, I just imagined that. I can’t be certain. I would wager a monkey’s uncle that it is all in that diary that has gone missing.”
“Ah yes, the missing diary.”
“Aye, ‘tis why Mandy and Ned need to stay hidden…wherever they are. Until we can locate the diary and Elly Bonner, Celia’s maid, Ned’s chances look dim.”
“How are we looking into the matter of the missing maid?”
“I did put out some informal inquires, however, I was waiting to find out what you might suggest,” Skip said pointedly.
The duke suddenly grinned, “Were you? Well, before I left London, I too called in some favors owed to me. I have some people looking for this maid of Celia’s. We will get to the bottom of this.” The duke stopped a moment and eyed his friend, “Another mystery I should like to clear up…why the deuce have you been here in the country so long? Six months without one visit to London. Why?”
“Did you miss me?” Skip grinned broadly.
“As a matter of fact, I did,” chuckled the duke. “So then, you aren’t going to answer me.”
“Do you still feel up to going to Sherborne?” Skip asked ignoring his friend’s remark.
The duke eyed him, but let the matter drop, “Aye, then the sooner I settle this thing, the sooner I leave Yorkshire…and perhaps take you back to London with me?”
Skip said nothing to this other than, “Your team is exhausted. I’ll go have my man bring up my carriage and fresh horses. Shall I accompany you?”
“Not this time. I believe I may have more of an impact on the good Aunt Agatha if I arrive alone and lord it over her a bit. The way things stand, she hasn’t been very helpful to her nephew and I should like to see if I can frazzle her a bit.”
“I quite agree. Till now, the Speenhams and this aunt Agatha of theirs believed they had free rein to railroad Neddy, but now with you, a duke and your…shall we say, hauteur, we may nab her in a lie and nip them back a bit.”
Skip left the duke then to have the carriage brought round and His Grace looked after him curiously. Why was Skip being so secretive about his sojourn at his country home? In all the years he had known him, he had never found him so reticent about himself.