‘We have heard it all,’ Justin assured her. ‘There is nothing you can say that will shock us.’
‘He killed my mother,’ she whispered.
Phillip stared at her while he absorbed that.
Oliver edged closer and took a seat closest to them. ‘Did you see him, or hear them arguing or something?’
Carlotta knew she had to be honest with them. While clutching Phillip’s hand tightly, she finally allowed herself to think back on that horrible day when her life had turned on its head.
‘Or something. I knew my mother was unhappy. What I didn’t know until a weeks before I left was that she had taken a lover. I don’t know how long she had been seeing him, but she came to seem me one day and had such a strange look on her face. It was like barely concealed excitement and pure terror. Mother told me she couldn’t bear to live with father anymore, and that she had to leave before she went completely mad. She had packed her things or was going to; I cannot remember which. She said that she was going to start again with this lover of hers. She said I could go with them. I was stunned but was relieved to be able to leave as well. Mother had it all planned. She knew that father was going to go into town to visit friends. He did every weekend and usually disappeared for several days at a time. Anyway, she said that the next time he went we were going to move out and take our things with us and would be gone by the time he returned. We both knew he wouldn’t miss us. If anything, he would be mad that we had left without asking his permission.’
‘You left,’ Phillip replied when silence fell upon them.
‘When the day came, mother was calm rather than nervous. Father had left the night before like he usually did. We didn’t expect him back for several days. All was well. We had packed in our belongings and were ready to go. The carriage arrived. His name was Rupert; her lover that is. He started to carry the luggage to the carriage. Mother and I helped him. Then, unfortunately, father returned. We don’t know what made him come back so unexpectedly. When he saw the luggage and Rupert, Horace began to bellow and quickly turned violent. He nearly beat Rupert to a pulp. Mother had to beat father with a poker to get him to stop punching him. She didn’t stop. Eventually, Rupert punched Horace back and he fell to the ground. Mother told Rupert to just go before Horace got back onto his feet. Rupert reluctantly left and took the carriage with him. Father went berserk and charged at my mother. The next thing I know, he pushed her. She fell backward only was close to the steps and caught her heel. As she fell, she slammed her head into the corner of the step and never opened her eyes again. Blood poured everywhere. I knew the second I stepped toward her that she had gone. I looked at my father and knew I would never hate anybody as much as I hated him right then. He killed her. He pushed her and killed her. He nearly killed Rupert as well.’
‘That explains the guns,’ Oliver growled. ‘Whatever happens Carlotta, you are never to go with your father’s thugs. No matter who turns up. No matter what they promise you.’
‘I don’t know if it is murder. She stepped back and her heel got caught on the step, but she wouldn’t have if Horace hadn’t shoved her,’ Carlotta whispered.
‘Did his push unbalance her?’ Phillip asked.
Carlotta nodded.
‘Then it was murder. He pushed her and caused her an injury that ended her life. It is no different to running someone over with a carriage. He should have made sure that she didn’t fall, or not pushed her at all,’ Phillip assured her.
‘It is murder,’ she whispered numbly.
‘I am afraid so. That means that your father wants you back to make sure that you don’t tell anybody else what he has done,’ Phillip whispered.
It was only when Carlotta turned to look at Phillip and she saw the sad sympathy in his eyes that she realised that she had been crying while she had been relaying the fateful events of that afternoon.
‘Do you know where we might find this Rupert?’ Oliver asked gently.
‘Mother used to go into Dramner on a weekend. She said it was to visit her cousin, but I think she might have met Rupert while she was there.’
‘Did she have a cousin in Dramner?’ Phillip pressed.
‘Yes, but that is not to say that mother visited her as often as she said she did,’ Carlotta sighed. ‘Even I didn’t know what she was doing. I have no idea how long she had been seeing this man, but I have never seen her as happy as she was when she talked about Rupert. Her eyes lit up. I knew she was looking forward to being with him. She just dreaded having to face father’s wrath. We both did.’
‘Which she did because he returned unexpectedly,’ Phillip murmured.
‘Well, I am afraid that it puts us in a difficult situation. The thugs who your father sent have walked right into the middle of our investigation and one of them has died as a result. I don’t want to alarm you, but I can only assume that your father is not all that far away. In circumstances like this it is my experience that your father wouldn’t trust two low-life criminals with his freedom. If they fail in their task, and don’t retrieve you before you tell anyone, he faces a very long time behind bars for the murder of his wife. It is highly unlikely that he would just remain at home and pace in front of the fireplace. It is likely that he is taking an active part in trying to find you. You just haven’t seen him yet,’ Oliver said.
‘That means you have to remain under our protection.’ Callum slid a wry look at Phillip.
Oliver nodded. ‘Because you have already met Phillip, I am going to put him in charge of your protection. I don’t know how much he has told you about us but most of us have recently married. Our wives wouldn’t be impressed if we spent a lot of time in the company of a pretty, unmarried female. That makes Phillip your new protector.’
Phillip grinned.
Carlotta flushed and opened her mouth to apologise to him only for Phillip to wink at her. She gasped and brushed prettily but couldn’t stop herself from smiling at him. A part of her had to wonder if they were trying to lighten the atmosphere, which had become strained throughout her recounting the death of her mother. For that she could only be grateful.
‘What do we do if he does turn up? Father, I mean?’ Carlotta asked.
‘Leave us to deal with him,’ Oliver smiled. ‘For now, get some rest. We are going to keep watch so please don’t go wandering around at night. The men are on guard, heavily armed and are trained to kill if the shadows move too much. Phillip, you get some sleep as well. It isn’t wise for you to leave those wounds unattended any longer either. The pair of you get some rest.’
With that, the men left again, leaving Phillip and Carlotta to study each other.
‘Come on. I don’t know about you, but I need to get some sleep.’ Phillip stood and held out a hand to her.