“And Sean?”
“They would have let the horses starve before they bothered to feed them. When the police came late in the day, they fed and watered the poor creatures.”
“What do you think happened to those people?” She waited for him to say the M word again.
“I don’t think they’re alive.”
“Who...?”
Clive stood up, staring ahead at the garden. “I don’t know what happened that night but I do know that everything changed. They were all different after that.”
“It was a traumatic event.”
“It was more than that. Deeper. It’s like they all wanted to escape.”
“Escape what?”
“Themselves, I guess. After that night, Nicky started drinking more than his father did. When Byon got his show in London, he ran off without so much as a goodbye. Nadine immediately married some man none of us had heard of, and Bertram’s temper went from bad to vicious.”
He turned to look at her. “I knew there was something else going on. Something much stronger, darker, than just a couple running away together. Whatever it was, it terrified me. Frankly, the atmosphere scared me. I told Willa I couldn’t marry her, then I left. Whatever was going on at Oxley frightened me more than the outside world did. I took a train to London. I thought I’d spend my life washing dishes, but at least I’d be alive.” He sat down beside her.
“And did you? Wash dishes, I mean?”
He smiled. “For years I’d dealt with a Mr. Davies at Coutts Bank. I was always covering for Bertram, always trying to manipulate what little cash there was. The day after I arrived, I went to him. He was...he was the father I’d always wanted. He hired me for a bookkeeping job, then made sure I went back to school. I became a chartered accountant.”
“And now?”
His smile broadened. “Now I handle some of the biggest clients in the world. Last month someone specifically requested me. I spent four days with his family in their villa outside Paris. We did wine tastings, cooked, swam together. When I left, they told me to please stay with them anytime I’m in the country.” He said it all with pride, with a hint of defiance.
“That’s not how they thought you’d turn out.”
“I know.”
He sounded so proud that she laughed. “So maybe you came back to let them know that you aren’t what they said you were.”
Clive didn’t answer with words, but his smile told her that was exactly why he was there.
It looked like the others weren’t the only ones who didn’t care a flying fig about what happened to Sean and Diana, she thought.
“Shall we walk?” he said and they headed down the path. “So who’s here?” he asked.
“Nadine. I don’t think she and Sara get along very well.”
Clive laughed. “They wouldn’t. Nadine much prefers men to women. I read that her husband died recently.”
“Wasn’t he a viscount?”
“Oh yes. Byon said we were to bow to her and call her ‘my lady.’ Is he here?”
“Not that I know of. I didn’t see a Rolls.”
Clive laughed again. “A Rolls and a very good-looking young driver. Male.”
Kate nodded in understanding. “We’ve been told that Jack looks like Sean.”
“If Byon is here, he’d better lock his bedroom door.”
“Interesting.” Kate wanted to get back to the subject. “If Sean and Diana were murdered, who do you think did it?”