Heart of Fire. Kat Martin

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СКАЧАТЬ or perhaps something stronger?”

      “It’s just Dolph. I think we know each other well enough by now. And I’m fine.”

      Krista and Leif took seats on the sofa and the investigator settled his lean frame in a chair. “So what can I do for you this time?”

      Krista cast a glance at Leif, who nodded for her to begin. “You remember Miss Whitmore?” she asked. “My friend Coralee?”

      “Of course.”

      “Well, she has become involved in a very dangerous intrigue and we are hoping you might be able to help.”

      Petersen leaned forward in his chair. “Go on.”

      Trusting the man’s discretion, for the next half hour Krista and Leif explained about Laurel Whitmore’s death and that of her illegitimate child. They told him the authorities had concluded it was suicide, but Corrie adamantly refused to believe her sister would do anything that would harm her baby.

      “She thinks her sister was murdered,” Leif said. “She is convinced the Earl of Tremaine is the man who killed her.”

      “Grayson Forsythe?” Petersen asked in surprise.

      Leif straightened on the sofa, emphasizing his incredible height. “You know this man?”

      “Yes. Aside from a rakish reputation with women, Gray Forsythe is as honorable as they come. He served in the military in India and was decorated several times before he came home. Why would Miss Whitmore believe the earl would murder her sister?”

      “To begin with, the earl’s estate, Castle Tremaine, sits next to Selkirk Hall. And both Laurel and the earl’s wife were drowning victims. Both died in the Avon River.”

      Krista went on to explain that Jillian Forsythe’s death had left Gray with a goodly sum of money and the chance to resume his numerous affairs. She told him Corrie knew his reputation with women and thought that he must have seduced her sister, gotten her with child, then killed her to prevent a scandal.

      “Interesting. Not much is known about the circumstances of Tremaine’s wife’s death. The family kept the matter fairly quiet.”

      “Well, Coralee has managed to scheme her way into Castle Tremaine pretending to be some long lost cousin, and that is the reason Leif and I are so worried about her.”

      “If the earl is guilty of murder,” Leif added, “Coralee could be in very grave danger.”

      Petersen grunted. “The lady has guts, I’ll say that for her. I’ll do some digging, see what I can find out. I’ll also try to find out if Tremaine had a relationship with Laurel Whitmore.”

      “If he didn’t,” Leif said, “find out who did.”

      Petersen nodded. “I’ll do my best.” He stood up, and so did Krista and Leif. “I’ll let you know as soon as I find anything.”

      Krista gave him a relieved smile. “Thank you, Mr.…Dolph.”

      He smiled. “As I said, I’ll be in touch.”

      Krista and Leif bade the investigator farewell and returned to the drawing room.

      “I’m so glad you thought of hiring him,” she said.

      “Petersen is a good man. He’ll do his best to find out about the earl.”

      Krista knew he would. She just hoped whatever he discovered wouldn’t be more bad news for Coralee.

      Corrie sat in her bedroom after supper. The meal had been an uncomfortable affair. Since her arrival, she had noticed a certain tension between Charles and his wife that seemed amplified when they were together for any length of time. Gray rarely appeared for the evening meal. An hour ago, she had seen him ride out of the stables, heading off toward the village.

      Thinking of his reputation with women and remembering the erotic books she had found in his library, she figured he had probably gone off in search of female companionship, a notion she found oddly annoying.

      A light knock sounded on the door to Allison’s small, adjoining bedroom. Relieved that her friend had returned to her room, Corrie hurried over to open it.

      “I’ve been worried about you,” she said. “Where on earth have you been?”

      “I was talking to Hilde Pritchard, one of the kitchen maids. The woman is a dreadful gossip—for which I am eternally grateful.”

      Allison sank down on the bench at the foot of the big four-poster bed, and Corrie sat beside her. “So what did you find out?”

      Allison tucked a lock of dark hair up into her mobcap. She was still dressed in the simple black skirt and white blouse that had been provided for her as Corrie’s maid.

      “Hilde is quite friendly. She has worked here a very long time, so she knows a lot about the family. She says there was a great deal of animosity between the earl and his father. Apparently after his mother died, Gray’s father treated him very badly. He was punished for the slightest infraction. Once he was caned so badly the housekeeper felt compelled to summon a physician.”

      Dear Lord. “Why did his father treat him so cruelly?”

      “According to Hilde, the late earl didn’t believe Gray was truly his son—though until the day she died, Lady Tremaine swore she had always been faithful.”

      Sympathy for the young boy Gray had been rose up inside Corrie. A child with a father who beat him, living in a home without love….

      She forced herself to think of Laurel, of her pregnancy and abandonment, her senseless death. Ruthlessly, Corrie tamped any sympathy down.

      “Did you ask Hilde about the earl’s wife?”

      Allison nodded. “It seems Rebecca had planned an outing that day. A number of guests were invited. There was to be a picnic and a boat ride down the river. At the last minute, Gray declined to go with the rest of the group. Half an hour into the journey, the craft sprang a leak and very rapidly sank. Charles was able to help Rebecca reach safety, but Jillian’s garments must have caught on something beneath the surface, and she sank out of sight so fast no one was able to save her.”

      Corrie felt a rush of sadness for the loss of such a young life. It was followed by an unexpected pang of relief.

      “So it truly was an accident.”

      “Apparently so.”

      Still, Tremaine could have murdered Laurel. Coralee revised the thought. She was coming to suspect the earl less and less, if for no other reason than she couldn’t imagine the man in the role of Laurel’s beloved.

      “Perhaps the earl wasn’t the one,” Allison said finally, parroting Corrie’s thoughts.

      “Perhaps not. But there were two other men in residence at the castle much of last year. According to Aunt Agnes, both Charles and Jason Forsythe, the earl’s cousin, were living here when Laurel died. If it wasn’t the earl, it could have been either one of them.”

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