"Particularly with a long-barreled pistol." Vane nodded. "All right-so we have Tolly dead. Charles "arrives" at the Place then plays the grieving brother the next day."
"Very convincingly." Devil's face hardened.
"He must have got one hell of a shock when he realized Tolly had lived long enough to talk to you."
Devil nodded. "But he kept mum and saw it through, Tolly's funeral and all."
"But then came the biggest shock of all." Vane looked from Devil to Honoria. "Charles learned you were going to marry Honoria."
Honoria frowned. "Actually, no. Not then. I put him off." When Devil looked his question, she grimaced. "He came to see me in the summerhouse after the wake. He offered to marry me in your stead, assuming I was concerned over protecting my name."
"He what?" Devil stared at her.
Honoria shrugged. "I told him I'd no intention of marrying you or anyone."
"He believed you," Vane said. "He was taken aback later, at Mama's ball, when Gabriel and I suggested you'd changed your mind."
"Har
dly surprising." Devil glanced at Honoria. "He'd stopped us in the park not long before and you as good as assured him you were off to Africa in a few weeks."
Honoria shrugged again.
"And that," Vane said, "was when the attacks on you started."
"Your phaeton accident." Honoria paled.
Devil squeezed her hand. "An impulsive first attempt. I was very busy after that, then came our wedding."
Honoria shivered. "I just remembered-Charles warned me on our wedding day that I shouldn't have married you."
Devil drew her against him. "While we remained at the Place, he didn't attempt anything."
"Too dangerous," Vane said. "Too likely he'd be spotted there."
"But as soon as we returned to town, he started plotting in earnest." Devil looked at Honoria. "First, he tried to convince me to send you back to the Place." His lips twisted. "I'm afraid I told him precisely where you stood in my affections. So, from then on, you, too, were in his sights-he wouldn't risk a posthumous heir."
Turning to Vane, Devil missed Honoria's startled expression. "The episode with the brandy came next, then the three sailors with swords who knew my route home. Both attempts were well within Charles's capabilities."
Vane held Devil's gaze. "That brandy should have done for you, you know."
Feeling Honoria shiver, Devil shot him a warning glance. "But it didn't, so he persevered. The sailors, I suspect, was an opportunity he couldn't pass up-he's walked home with me from White's often enough."
Vane frowned. "What about this business with the palaces? Where does that fit?"
Devil grimaced. "It might not-but I'll wager it'll turn out to be Charles. Whatever, I'll find out tonight."
"Tonight?" Vane blinked. "What with everything else, I'd forgotten. What's our plan?"
Devil glanced at Honoria; absorbed with her own thoughts, she eventually felt his gaze. Looking up, she blushed. "I was just recalling," she said, her eyes locking on Devil's, "something Lady Herring mentioned."
Devil's expression blanked. "Lady Herring?"
Honoria nodded. "She said Charles approached her-something about replacing her last paramour. She refused him-from the sound of it, quite contemptuously."
"Hmm." Devil looked thoughtful.
"That wouldn't have helped Charles at all." Vane shook his head. "He always resented your successes-apparently on that level, too."