A Season for Christmas (Desire and Discipline #3)

Chapter 2

2

Samuel

The bald statement from Mrs. Browne made Samuel raise his eyebrows again. Oliver had always been much more genteel when he’d recruited Samuel’s services, asking for a favor or a package to be passed on. Occasionally, he would ask Samuel to keep an ear out for specific information or to deliver a message. He certainly would never make such a bold statement.

He glanced at Oliver, who appeared amused by his niece’s opening. Beside her, her husband was studying the map again.

“You have been invited to spend Christmas with the Duke of Clarence, have you not?” Mrs. Browne asked, pushing forward into the silence.

“I have.” Though he wondered at how they’d come by the information. He had not exactly bandied it about. On the other hand, he had not kept it a secret either. “I leave in three days for his estate.”

He and Gregory had met and became friends at Oxford. Good friends. They’d managed to keep in touch during Samuel’s long travels, maintaining the connection even as others were lost. Upon his return to England this summer, Gregory had been thrilled to renew the friendship in person and had insisted Samuel join him and his family for the holiday when he’d discovered Samuel had no plans to celebrate.

Considering the man had just lost his father, Samuel had not felt able to say no. He was used to spending his holidays alone, as his parents had both passed when he was young, and the grandmother who’d raised him had also said her final farewell just before he’d decided to leave London. Losing Catherine to Lord Cross had been the original impetus for him to take his leave of his home, but he would have returned to visit more often, if not for the loss of his grandmother as well.

“I know you and Clarence are friends, but…” Oliver started to speak, then hesitated.

His niece had no such compunction.

“We need to know if he had anything to do with his father’s death.” Her statement landed like lead in the room, and beside her, Captain Browne put his hand on her shoulder.

Samuel looked at them all.

“You… you can’t possibly think…” His voice trailed off because, obviously, they did think. It was true Gregory could be rash and that he was a bit of a ne’er-do-well. He was a rake, a bit of a gambler, and admittedly irresponsible in many aspects of his life. But patricide? Not only that, but multiple deaths on his head? “I thought it was an accident.”

The other three exchanged another glance.

“It’s possible, but we have recently uncovered some information that makes us think otherwise. We are not accusing the Duke of Clarence, you understand.” Captain Browne tapped on the map where the duke’s lands were. “We are looking to see if there is any motive that he might have to… hasten his inheritance.”

Closing his eyes, Samuel pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to fend off the headache that was now threatening. He wanted to say that no, of course, Gregory could never do such a thing, but…

He had been away from England for a long time. For years, their relationship had been confined to letters. The young man he’d known had changed. Grown. Become a murderer?

“I will be honest… I think it unlikely,” Oliver said. “We have far more compelling suspects with much more motive. But I want to be sure. And if Gregory had nothing to do with his father’s death, I still want to know if there is anyone on the estates who might have the motive he lacks… if he lacks.”

That settled a little more easily in Samuel’s gut. He could not believe that Gregory was a murderer, much less that he’d killed his own father, but he could certainly look for someone who might have had reason to. Gregory had never had the aspiration to be a duke. He preferred cavorting without the responsibility.

On the other hand, the former Duke of Clarence had been a hard man, extremely disapproving of his wayward son, and certainly the kind of man who likely had an enemy or two lurking in the woodworks. While Gregory might not want to have hastened the road to his legacy, others might have.

“I will keep my ears and eyes open, but I can promise you, Gregory did not do this,” he said resolutely, metaphorically standing behind his friend even if Gregory was not there to witness it .

“Did not do what?” The female voice behind him had Samuel jumping in alarm as he spun about.

The door to the library was hanging open and full of women, but his gaze went straight to one of them standing at the back—the most unexpected one. Lady Camden, he would have expected, as well as Lady Josephina and Miss Stuart. He knew Lady Talbot and Lady Hartford were long-time close friends of the family, so their presence was not remarkable.

While Catherine had been at the marquess’ wedding, that had been an extensive enough guest list that he could not have said she was a particular friend of the family. And besides, what the devil was she doing here in London rather than out at Cross estates with her late husband’s family? Or with her parents at their country house?

Samuel pressed his lips together before turning back to the others to see what excuse they might come up with. He was surprised Mrs. Browne had left the door open, though less surprised that the ladies had followed her to listen.

“Mr. North is celebrating the holidays with the Duke of Clarence, and we are asking him to find out if Clarence had any reason to… hasten his inheritance.” Mrs. Browne made a face, and so did Samuel, though his was a shocked expression as she spoke as baldly to the other ladies as she had to him.

“Oh, that’s good,” Lady Josephina said, walking into the room as if she had every right to be there and looking down at the map. “He’s one of the few we have not been able to reach yet in any other manner.”

We?

My God , he realized as the others came forward, without a hint of confusion in their expressions. They all knew. They were all in on it .

At least Catherine looked as baffled as he felt. If she was also one of Oliver’s spies, he might have blown his top right then and there. There were only so many revelations a man could take.

Catherine

What on earth was going on?

First, Stims had come for Evie—all the ladies had requested Catherine call them by their first names this afternoon—then Josie had barely been able to sit still before deciding to follow. It had caused a mass exodus from the parlor to the library, and Catherine was having trouble understanding exactly what was going on.

Especially because she was wildly distracted by Samuel’s presence. She’d thought he’d left London again. She’d seen him, not long after the marquess and Diana’s wedding, at a Society of Sin event. And he’d seen her. He’d watched her flog the Duke of Kent, then he’d left… and she’d told herself it did not matter.

Samuel was hardly the kind of man to accept the kind of lady she’d become. She’d seen the shock on his face, the confusion, then the understanding. And then he’d left. Because he did not want her.

She’d told herself it did not matter, that she did not care, then she’d put him from her mind. The same way she’d done when she’d had to marry Lord Cross under her parents’ orders. There was no point in thinking about what might have been. Catherine was far too pragmatic for that—she focused on what was .

Which was why she could hardly push him from her mind again when he was standing here, in the Marquess of Camden’s library, talking about reporting on whether the current Duke of Clarence had killed the previous one.

Why would Evie and her uncle and husband be sending Samuel to discover if the Duke of Clarence had killed his own father—not to mention seven other dukes?

Why were they investigating at all?

She thought it had been deemed an accident.

And even if it was not, what business was it of theirs?

Yet all the other ladies were not only acting as though this was normal, they were also clearly involved.

Catherine knew when to keep her mouth shut and her ears open, and that was precisely what she did right now.

“Exactly how many of you are involved in these operations?” Samuel asked—nay, demanded to know. He was heated. She could see it in his face, in his body language, the way he held himself. Was it only because he was being asked to spy on a friend or because of the women’s involvement in the request?

“All of us.” Diana smiled at him as she made her way to her husband’s side. “Though at least one of us is supposed to be retired.” She gave the marquess an arch look. He snorted, though he looked at her with pure affection.

“Eight dukes. All my contemporaries, not Anthony and Evie’s,” he said in the tone of someone who was repeating themselves. “I knew them better, and my insights are necessary, especially with something so unprecedented.”

“It is that,” Lily murmured. She shook her head, then looked at Samuel. “There is very little information coming out of Clarence, in part because there is very little family there, and Clarence’s grandmother is not the social sort. She has very few friends she has any kind of communication with. His father was more sociable, though the only reports I can get is that there was not any great affection between father and son.”

Watching Samuel’s face as the ladies discussed the possibility of the Duke of Clarence being involved in his own father’s death was highly entertaining, despite the serious subject matter. It was also a revelation for her. As the discussion went round, it was clear all the ladies were a part of the investigation.

Why she was being trusted with all this information was unclear. She held herself quietly in the background rather than break their consciousness.

“You know, that’s a good point about his grandmother,” Mary said, tapping her finger against her lips. She and Rex, her husband and the Marquess of Hartford, held themselves slightly apart from the others rather than crowding around the map. “The Dowager Duchess likely has more information than her grandson since she was living on the estate with the previous duke… but will she speak with Mr. North of her knowledge?”

Everyone in the room looked at Samuel.

“Ah… well, I’ve never met her.” He spread his hands out in front of him. “My friendship was always with Gregory, and this will be my first time visiting his home.”

“Hmm.” Captain Browne frowned and glanced at the marquess, who sighed.

“We cannot just send a lady in to talk to her without invitation,” the marquess said. “I have never met her either. It’s possible my mother might have, but I can hardly claim a connection based on a possibility.”

Evie turned to Samuel. “Could you bring a lady as a guest?”

Unexpected jealousy ripped through Catherine at the idea of Samuel bringing a woman with him to Clarence for Christmas, so hot and fierce that it nearly took her breath away. She stiffened, freezing in place, the skin on her face hardening like a mask to keep her emotions from showing.

There was a roaring in her ears as she struggled to control herself, so loud she almost did not hear Samuel’s response—and when she did, she froze for another reason altogether.

“I could bring Catherine.” For the first time, he met her gaze across the table.

Everyone else turned to look at her as well, but the only person she saw was him.