Triumph in Arms by Jennifer Blake Read Free Book Online

bow of apology. “You were saying?”
    “Where was I? Oh, yes, Theodore. He was never one to abide illness, so took himself off to town. His uncle, already ill with a wasting sickness, came down with Marguerite’s childish complaint and was carried off by it in a matter of hours. Reine, being apologeticover the death and feeling the funereal atmosphere was unlikely to aid her little one’s recovery, bundled her up and brought her here where she might have the aid and support of her family.”
    “Your son-in-law returned and came to River’s Edge to be with them, I suppose.”
    “It would appear so.”
    Christien lifted a brow. “Meaning?”
    “No one saw him arrive on that night, just as no one saw him leave. Or be taken away, as the case may be.”
    “How did he get into the house? Was the butler not on duty?”
    “Alonzo had been sent to bed after more than twenty-four hours on his feet, carrying trays up and down, also endless cans of hot water. The doors were not locked as Reine and the baby’s old nursemaid, Demeter, were still going in and out to the kitchen. Everything was at sixes and sevens, you perceive, as we feared for Marguerite’s life.”
    Christien gave a nod as he pictured it. To close off access to the outdoor kitchen would not have been practical. “No one saw or heard anything unusual?” he asked after a moment.
    Cassard shook his white head. “The sheriff came and put the same question to the house servants and everyone else on the place. Yes, and with the same lack of results. Monsieur…”
    Christien lifted a brow as he waited for his host to arrange his thoughts. When he failed to continue, he said, “You meant to say?”
    “I hesitate to speak for reasons that may be obvious,yet honor compels that I be frank with you. The circumstances here are more difficult than you imagine. Because of it, I shall not hold you to your offer of marriage. That’s if you think to withdraw it.”
    “No.” It was the last thing Christien intended.
    “You are not put off by the notoriety surrounding Pingre’s death?”
    “It was a trying time, I’m sure, but I can’t imagine your daughter was at fault. My concern is only for how she came to be implicated in such a bloody affair.” As he was not inclined to pursue his release from his proposal, he went on with hardly a pause. “What do you believe happened?”
    His future father-in-law looked at him for a second while relief eased the lines of strain in his face. Glancing away again, he said, “I cannot answer that, I’m sorry to say. I was not at home that evening.”
    “You were in town?”
    “Gaming, you mean?” Cassard grimaced. “I can hardly fault you for wondering, but no. The upset with Marguerite had brought on one of my wife’s nervous spells. She had but a single dose left of the laudanum she takes at bedtime. I drove to town late that evening and slept at the town house overnight so as to purchase a new supply the instant the apothecary opened next morning. By the time I returned with it, the sad business was done.”
    It made sense, Christien saw. If Cassard had been on the premises, the murderer would surely have thought twice about entering the house. “Exactly how long ago did all this take place?”
    “Over two years now, as Marguerite was five herlast birthday. She saw it, you know, or we must suppose so as she was in the same room. You might think she would recall nothing, being so young. Nevertheless, she has horrific dreams, sees monsters everywhere since that night. Why, she even claimed she saw one the night you saved her outside the theater. I’d thought her release from mourning black might improve matters, but…” He trailed off with a shake of his head.
    Papa. Oh, Papa.
    The child’s soft cry echoed in Christien’s memory, the undercurrent of his every thought concerning that night outside the opera house. He’d thought he might have reminded Marguerite of her father, but it seemed unlikely given what