Chapter 28

“You have got to stop this.”

Arthur looked up from his drink. He had been sitting at this table in the pub for the last four hours on the off chance that he might strike up a conversation with someone who could give him information about Lady Reeves. After all, if what he had learned was true, she was in the habit of having affairs with all sorts of gentlemen. She must be very well known. There must be plenty of gossip going around about her. Someone was sure to know something.

So, it was frustrating in the extreme that the person standing before him now was none other than his friend Taylor. Taylor, who knew so much and yet refused to tell him what he wanted to know. Taylor, who could have pointed out Lady Reeves in a crowd and had decided not to do it. Taylor was no help at all, and that was maddening to Arthur.

“Why are you even here?” he asked his friend.

“I’m here to help you,” Taylor said. “Goodness knows you could do with some help.”

“Now, you want to help me?”

“Don’t be rude. I’ve helped you a great deal already, and you know it.”

“And yet you won’t direct me to the one person I need to see most of all.”

Taylor sighed and sat down opposite Arthur. “My position on this hasn’t changed,” he said. “You don’t know what you’re going to do. How can I send you off to confront this lady when you don’t know what will happen when you do?”

“I don’t care anymore,” Arthur replied. “I’m going to find a way to face her, Taylor. If there’s a chance that she knows something about my parents’ deaths, I have to do that. I have to know what happened. I’m not able to move on. I can’t live my life while this is unresolved. And for the first time in a very long time—maybe the first time ever—there’s a life I genuinely want to live! I want to be able to enjoy my marriage without thinking about revenge in every waking moment. I want to live happily with my wife without worrying that something dreadful could happen to her as well.”

Taylor’s expression softened. “Nothing is going to happen to her,” he said.

“We can’t know that. I didn’t think anything would happen to my parents until it did. You never know what might happen. And if there’s someone out there with my name on their mind, for whatever reason…I need to put a stop to it, that’s all. I need to find a way to close that chapter and move on to the next phase of my life. Until I can do that, I’ll give all my attention—all my energy—to solving this. And you can either help me with it or not.” He frowned. “How did you find me here, anyway? I didn’t tell anyone outside of my own household that I was coming, and they wouldn’t have told anyone else.”

“No, no one told me,” Taylor confirmed. “But they did tell me you weren’t at home for three days straight, and after that, I put the pieces together. There were only so many places you could have gone. You would have gone somewhere you could have your solitude. I’m not fool enough to imagine that you would spend your time in the company of others if you had any other choice. I know you far too well to believe something like that.”

“So, you guessed that I would be at my estate on this side of town, and then you tracked me to the pub?”

“No, I came to the pub for a drink,” Taylor said. “Finding you here was good luck, that’s all. And I don’t mind telling you that Lady Reeves is not in this pub, by the way.”

Arthur laughed. “Not exactly a helpful piece of information since there are no ladies in here.”

Taylor shrugged. “I’ve helped you plenty. You’re the one who never chooses to see my help for what it is. I’m here to help you today as well.”

“I hope that means you’re finally ready to help me track down Lady Reeves.”

“I’m here to tell you to go home to your wife where you belong,” Taylor said. “I’m here to tell you to give up on this obsession of yours once and for all. You’re doing yourself no good with it.”

“I would give it up if I could,” Arthur argued. “I can’t. If you want me to move on, you must help me find a way to put an end to this. One way or another, I must confront Lady Reeves, find out what she knows, and seek revenge against whoever is responsible for the deaths of my parents. If I don’t do that, I will never be able to turn my attention to the things I know I ought to be enjoying in my life. You must help me. But if you can’t bring yourself to do that, I beg you to leave me in peace so that I can tend to these affairs without you.”

“Arthur,” Taylor said, “you know that I would never leave you to cope with these matters on your own. Of course, I’m going to help you—as much as I can for as long as I can. I never intended to make you feel as if I wasn’t.”

“Then show me to Lady Reeves.”

“You’re really not going to let that idea go, are you?”

“I can’t think why I should! It’s the best lead we’ve ever had. I feel sure she must know something about what I’m trying to learn. She may be able to point me to my parents’ killer. Then this would all be over.”

“Would it?” Taylor asked quietly. “Suppose she could give you the name of your parents’ killer, Arthur. What then? What would you do? You couldn’t go to the constables. The information is years old. You would require some sort of proof, and I’m sure the guilty party would deny it.”

“I’m not seeking justice,” Arthur argued. “I’m seeking vengeance. I want the murderer to pay the price for his crime, and I will exact that price from him with my own two hands if I must.”

“You’re saying you’d kill someone yourself?”

“If you’re asking me whether I would end the life of a killer to keep them from harming the ones I love, the answer is yes,” Arthur said coldly. “I would do that, and I would have no regret about it. I have had plenty of time to consider how far I would go to protect the people I care about, and that’s my answer.”

“Well, I suppose it’s good that you know the answer to that question at the very least,” Taylor observed. “I was wrong about you, Arthur. You do know what you’re doing—what you’re getting yourself into. Maybe you are ready to confront Lady Reeves after all.”

“I told you that I was.”

“I don’t know where to find her,” Taylor said. “I could identify her if I happened to see her, but failing that…I’m not sure where to begin the search.”

“I don’t believe that for a moment,” Arthur replied. “You’re the best in this city at finding things—finding people when they don’t wish to be found. Even if she’s hiding from the public eye, I’m sure you’ll be able to locate her with no trouble. All I need is an address, and then I can go and speak to her.”

Taylor sighed. “This isn’t the way I would have chosen to handle things,” he said, “but I can see that you’re determined.”

“Very determined, yes.”

“All right.” Taylor rose to his feet. “I’ll do what I can to find you an address. Will you be able to meet me back here tomorrow at this same time?”

Arthur was unsurprised to hear his friend offer to get the job done so quickly. It was to be expected that Taylor would be able to solve the mystery with no trouble. Taylor had all the right connections, and it would be no struggle at all for him to acquire information.

“I’ll be here,” he assured his friend. “I’ll even have a drink waiting for you as a reward for your trouble.”

“Never mind that,” Taylor said. “All I ask of you is that you keep my name out of it when you confront her. I don’t want anyone to know that I was involved in these affairs.”

That seemed more than fair to ask. After all, someone in all this was a murderer. “I wouldn’t have given your name anyway,” Arthur assured his friend. “It seems very unsafe to do so, knowing the type of people we’re dealing with. They already have my name, or I would be more worried about making contact.”

What he didn’t say aloud, simply because he couldn’t bear to manifest the thought by speaking it, was that this was the very reason he had run away from Isabella. If he was to hunt down a killer, he couldn’t allow himself to be too close to his wife. She couldn’t be hurt in the process. That was one thing he wouldn’t be able to bear.

Perhaps he should never have married her…but that was another thought he couldn’t allow himself to dwell on. Having her in his life had allowed him to dream of a future in which he was free from his obsession over revenge for what had been done to his parents. For the first time, he felt happy and excited when he thought about the future, and he didn’t want to let those feelings go. He wanted to return home to Isabella, take her in his arms, and kiss her again. And this time, he didn’t want to get caught up in guilt and worry and force himself to pull away from her. He wanted to hold her in his arms for as long as he liked without letting go.

He should be free to do those things. And once his affairs were in order here, he would be free to do those things. He was so close to putting this part of his life to rest. He was sure that Lady Reeves would have the answers he sought if he could only ask her.

He bid Taylor farewell, hoping that his friend was being honest—that he really did mean to come back tomorrow with the information Arthur wanted. Taylor had never lied to him before, but Arthur knew that he was making things more and more difficult for his friend. He was aware that he was pushing Taylor beyond what he had ever really wanted to do.

Still, there was nothing to do but to hope and put his faith in his friend. This was the best chance he had at finding the answer he sought. It was the best chance he had ever had. And he would be a fool to pass it up for any reason. He would be here tomorrow, and whatever Taylor could offer him, he would use it and hope that it would get him one step closer.

Lady Reeves, if the rumors were true, had had an affair with Arthur’s father.

And then his father had been killed, and his mother along with him.

There had to be a connection. There simply had to be. It was impossible to imagine that such dirty deeds could bear no connection to one another. And once Arthur knew the full story, once he understood at last what had really caused his parents’ deaths, he was sure he would be able to untangle the knotted thread that would lead him to the killer at last.