"You were out early?"
Devil nodded. Vane's gaze blanked; he turned to stare, unseeing, out of the window. Devil waited. After the dramatic events of the night, he felt deadly calm. In between making love to his wife, he'd spent the night thinking. Near death was a wonderful focuser-nearly losing Honoria had eradicated all pretense, exposed all the logical reasons he'd used to justify their marriage as the facade they actually were. What he felt for his wife had nothing to do with logic.
Abruptly, he shifted, and glanced at Vane-then inwardly, mockingly, shook his head. At himself. Whenever his thoughts even touched on that point-that emotion he could not, would not, define-he pulled back, edged away. That unnameable emotion left him feeling so vulnerable he found it near impossible to countenance, to even admit its existence. It opened up a gaping hole in his defenses; his instinctive response was to rebuild his walls with all speed.
But he would have to face it soon. Insecurity lay, a leaden weight in his gut; the uncertainty was driving him insane. Honoria cared for him-last night had proved that. She might even care in the way women sometimes did, at some different level from any sexual interest. On some other plane. He desperately needed to know.
Finding out without asking, without revealing his intense interest in the answer, was a challenge he intended to devote his entire attention to-just as soon as he'd dealt with his would-be murderer.
Who'd very nearly murdered his wife.
He looked up as Vane turned, fixing him with a worried look. "This is more than serious." Vane started to pace. "Why only in London?" He shot a glance at Devil. "There weren't any other suspicious happenings at the Place?"
Devil shook his head. "London because it's safer-more people about. Cambridgeshire is open country, and my fields are rather full of my workers."
"That didn't help us locate Tolly's killer."
Devil looked down, swirling the ale in his tankard.
"To sabotage your phaeton, they had to get into your stables undetected, know which carriage, and how best to make it look like an accident, which presupposes some knowledge of your driving habits. Whoever shot at you in the park must have known you make a habit of riding that early. And whoever put the poison in the decanter"-his expression grim, Vane met Devil's eye-"whoever did that had to know where the ducal appartments lie as well as your peculiar method of drinking."
Devil nodded. "If they hadn't known that, they'd have been far more circumspect in their dosage-there was enough in one mouthful to fell an ox, which was why Honoria detected it so easily."
"So," Vane said, "whoever it is knew all the above, but-" He broke off and looked at Devil.
Who grimaced. "But didn't know that Honoria shares my brandy as well as my bed."
Vane grimaced back. "Even I didn't know that, so it doesn't help us thin the ranks." He paused, then asked: "So was Tolly killed because he was coming to warn you?"
Slowly, Devil nodded. "That scenario makes sense of what he said at the cottage as well as, if not better, than any other."
Both fell silent, then Vane asked: "What will you do?"
"Do?" Devil raised his brows. "Precisely what I was planning before, only with both eyes fully open."
"And with me to cover your back."
Devil grinned. "If you insist."
It was a familiar sally between them; some of Vane's tension eased. He sat in the chair opposite Devil's. "So, has Bromley finally turned up trumps?"
"Not yet-but he thinks he's laid his hand on a winning card. He came by yesterday with the offer of a meeting-the madam in question wanted certain guarantees. I told him what she could have-he's gone off to negotiate time and date."
"Place?"
"The palace itself."
Vane frowned. "You'll go?"
Devil shrugged. "I can see why she'd want it that way."
"It could be a trap."
"Unlikely-she's got more to lose by siding against me rather than with me. And Bromley's too enamored of his comforts to encourage any double-dealing."
Vane didn't look convinced. "I don't like any of this."
Draining his tankard, Devil shook his head. "No-but I'd rather not miss any clue for want of looking." He glanced at Vane. "I still haven't remembered that something I've forgotten about Tolly's murder."