When Scandal Came to Town (Scandalous Sons 3)
“Name them?” he echoed. “I was three sheets to the wind. Three parts foxed. Ask Craven. Ask his footmen. They assisted numerous guests into the carriages lining the street.”
“Surely your mother wasn’t sotted. Can she not name those y
ou passed pleasantries with on the way out?”
“My mother?” He was about to say something else but snapped his mouth shut.
“She did accompany you home?”
Distrust flared. Lord Murray always played the doting son. Indeed, he never drank to excess in the matron’s company.
“My mother took ill with a megrim and left early. Hencote returned with the carriage to ferry me home.”
Cassandra stopped breathing for a moment. She had known of Lord Purcell’s early exit but not that of Lady Murray. Were the two colluding to bring about her downfall?
“Did you see your mother upon your return home?” Suspicion slithered and writhed in her chest. “Can anyone confirm she was ill? Can anyone vouch she was not ruining your prospects of marrying me in the hope you might find someone with a larger dowry?”
Lord Murray jerked his head back, aghast at her blatant accusation. “I know you’re upset about the whole affair, but I’ll not stand here and listen to you slander my mother.”
“Then leave.” Cassandra flicked her fingers in a gesture of contempt. “Scuttle back to your mother and pander to her whims.”
“What the devil’s got into you?”
“I am tired of listening to your pathetic drivel.” Honesty proved remarkably refreshing. “You defend your mother because the two of you probably planned the whole thing.”
“How many more times must I tell you? I had nothing to do with what happened to you that night. Good God, I’ll find witnesses to prove my innocence, and then I shall expect a written apology for the despicable way you’ve behaved.”
Cassandra slapped a hand to her chest. “The way I have behaved?” An incredulous chuckle escaped. “Do you know, I should applaud the person who sought to leave me lying on the wet grass half-naked. Due to their wicked intervention, I am married to a real gentleman, not a blithering idiot who cowers behind the sofa when his mother enters the room.”
People were beginning to stare.
Good. She was the scandalous wife of a scandalous son and with it came a responsibility to cause a stir.
“And I find I must refuse your offer of a dalliance. I spoke in earnest when I said I’ve never loved you.” She had liked him, but then she had known little of his true character. Lord Murray hid behind a wall of conceit. Benedict never pretended to be anything other than himself.
She might have stopped there, but her handsome husband appeared in the hallway, his features granite-like, his eyes dangerously wild.
“And just so we are clear,” she said through gritted teeth. “There is only one man I have ever loved, and I am fortunate enough to have married him.” She pushed past the obnoxious lord and marched towards Benedict.
“Is there a problem?” Anger infused his tone. “Miss Atwood said Lord Murray insisted on speaking to you privately. I can speak to him privately, too, should he become a nuisance.” He sharpened his gaze as he stared at the lord. “Though I doubt he will like what I have to say.”
“Come. I shall tell you about it on the way home.” She wouldn’t lie and so didn’t want to be in the same vicinity as Lord Murray when her husband learned of the lord’s suggestive proposition. “Though I did discover something of interest to our investigation.”
“I have information to impart, too, but not here. I cannot continue to avoid my father, and fear what he will do to Murray when he discovers we were attacked outside Mrs Crandall’s abode.”
“Is it not better he hears it from you than from someone else?”
“I don’t need my father to fight my battles. And the only people who know about the attack are Wycliff and Trent.”
“And the Murrays, although they’re unlikely to spread gossip when it makes them look guilty.”
“Agreed. Wycliff will speak to my father and explain our need to visit the Serpentine as part of our investigation. That should appease him until Dermot Flannery discovers who hired the brutes.”
Dread played havoc with her insides at the thought of returning to the Serpentine. “Must we go to Hyde Park tonight?” Having no memory of what had occurred during those lost hours before she had woken, her mind had concocted a host of terrible scenarios. “Is it not better to go during daylight hours?”
He slipped a comforting hand around her waist. “No one will harm you, not while you’re with me. But if you’ve any hope of remembering something, it is better to visit at night.”
“Then let us leave now.” A troubling sense of trepidation took hold. What if the blackguards who’d pounced outside Mrs Crandall’s house followed them to Hyde Park? “Have you pistols hidden in the carriage?”