Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

“Your Grace,” Marina happily greeted as she made her way through the gates of the Stanton Manor.

“Why, my Lady, I must say that I’m impressed! How had you managed to escape the gates of Cromwell?” Griffin asked with a bow.

Marina replied with a slight chuckle, thinking of how she persuaded Leilah to carry the story that she was “out in town with a female friend”. Leilah was quick to agree, only happy to assist marina in her alleged courtship. Leilah had always been a romantic through and through.

“I’ll just admit to having a friend who was a darling and agreed to tell some white lies for me,” Marina chuckled, one hand on her bonnet to prevent it from blowing away in the wind.

“Dear friend you have there,” Griffin laughed back, allowing Marina to enter his house ahead of him. “Welcome to the Stanton, my Lady.”

For a moment, Marina stood still in the corridor as she shifted her gaze around the manor. It was lovely. Beautiful embellishments of red and gold, with dark, wooden furniture.

She hadn’t even realized Griffin had moved past her as she enjoyed the interior, having a little fright as she turned back to him.

A young maid stood peeking from the dining room, trying her best not to make herself seen, but before she knew it, she was called by Griffin.

“Beth! Allow me to introduce you to Marina,” he called, causing the maid to peep her head out further with a large smile. Her upper body stretched out of the door frame, but her remaining figure hid behind the threshold of the dining room. A smile appeared across her face. She looked at Griffin with questioning eyes.

“It’s alright Beth,” he softly said. “She’s not like that.”

Marina switched her eyes from Beth to Griffin, unsure of what he meant by “she’s not like that”. Marina was a lot of things, but she was unsure what Griffin meant when he called out an absence of a trait.

“Hello, my Lady,” Beth said as she stepped into full view. Marina was caught off guard by Beth’s absence of a full arm on her left side, a stump forming just beneath the elbow. It was a noticeable thing, but Marina was impressed by how well Beth carried herself, still a working woman when she lost half a limb.

“How do you do?” Marina kindly asked, smiling at the woman before her.

“Quite well, my Lady, thank you. Might I assist in anything?” Beth asked, looking between Griffin and Marina for an answer or gesture of needed help.

“Well, Beth, today is Monday. The garden is all yours,” Griffin commented. Beth grew a childlike smile before excusing herself to the outdoors, gaining a little jog as she ran outside in excitement.

“Aw, isn’t she just lovely?” Marina said as she watched the blonde girl run about through the window.

“She’s always been like a younger sister to me,” Griffin smiled. “My father knew her parents quite well. They fell bankrupt quite suddenly and grew impoverished, thus they asked my father to employ their daughter. She was born without a lower left arm, but one barely realizes it judging by her amazing work. You should see the amazing garden she has growing outside. Most of our produce grown from her hands,” Griffin said.

“She does look quite happy with her tasks,” Marina laughed as she looked at Beth gleefully attend to the weeds, pulling them out one by one.

Griffin led Marina into a large, luxurious study. Large bookshelves towering over them with a neat, wooden desk situated in the centre of the room. Griffin pulled over a large chair for Marina to sit upon, before clearing his desk of any clutter.

“You may go first, Your Grace,” Marina gestured to the desk in front of them. At Marina’s request, Griffin pulled out several books and notes and placed them on the table. Marina shifted closer to get a better view.

“Apparently, my father enjoyed a fair amount of journaling in his free time,” Griffin said, a mix of intrigue and determination resonating in his voice.

Marina looked at the leather-bound books before her, each neatly inscribed with the name “Nicholas”- the name of Griffin’s father.

“I had started reading through one of them since my discovery last night. A majority of them detail formal discussions and other rather boring information, so you have been warned,” Griffin said. Marina could tell by the look on his face that he was deeply proud of his discovery.

“This is quite an advantageous discovery, Your Grace. If your father could possibly have hinted at any foul play regarding my uncle we might compile a case,” Marina said, gently picking up the nearest book. As she neared it toward her, a single, pressed leaf fell onto her lap.

“Oh, he was a bit of a botanist himself. I’ve found dozens of pressed herbs, flowers and leaves between the pages,” Griffin laughed.

Marina picked up the single leaf and twirled it around by its stem. It reminded her of how her mother used to take her out into the garden when she was a young girl. They would try to pick all colours of the rainbow from their garden and press them between thick pages of her father’s books. Once, her mother had been a loving woman.

“There are several of these to investigate, but I gather the one you’re holding to be the most important. I looked at the time period in which each of the journals were written, and that one happened to be written amongst the time when my father started receiving blackmail letters,” Griffin said, pointing at the journal in Marina’s hands.

“Why, the evidence I’ve gathered is incomparable to this, Your Grace,” Marina chuckled. Marina opened the journal onto the first page, tracing her fingers over what could possibly be cryptic text.

“At least you’re pretty,” Griffin laughed, causing Marina to shoot a fake offended look over to him.

“At least my organization skills appear far more beneficial than the Duke of Darrington’s,” Marina laughed, pulling out a folder she had compiled. She placed it in front of Griffin, opening to the first page. “A timeline of events, contributing factors to our suspicions as well as concrete evidence.”

“Concrete evidence is quite empty, don’t you say?” Griffin commented with a smile as he paged further through the files.

“Indeed, Your Grace, indeed,” Marina giggled. “If there had been something there my uncle would already have been behind bars.”

The day was mostly spent flipping through journals, until Beth had kindly made the effort to serve the pair with some tea in the study.

“Ah, a little break won’t do too much damage,” Marina sighed as Beth left the study. The cup of tea was well needed after paging through a large amount of business terms amongst the journals.

“My father had always loved a good cup of tea, so Beth still keeps the habit of bringing his scheduled tea breaks over to me. But please, tell me you have found something, my Lady,” Griffin said hopelessly, throwing the journal he held back to the desk. He brushed a hand through his curls in exhaustion.

“Your Grace, I was hoping you might bear good news. It seems like the lead has run empty,” Marina replied, placing the open journal on the desk as well. “Not a single mention of blackmail to be found in this book.”

“I don’t remember my father to be so…” Griffin paused.

“Boring?” Marina giggled, but inside her anxiety was growing at the thought of uncle Josiah getting away with the murders. If the investigation continues at the current, sluggish pace- Marina had entered a false courtship for nothing. Her uncle would undoubtedly throw her out of the house, leaving her no place to run to. She might end up homeless.

“My father was known for his dry humour,” Griffin laughed with a disheartened tone, his head held by the palm of his left hand. “His journal might just be an addition to some cruel joke.”

A silence passed between the two of them, but Marina didn’t mind. She felt content in Griffin’s presence, not having to act any certain way or force conversation. She could merely sit in silence with her cup of tea as he did the same.

“My Lady, might I inquire if you had been able to do some questioning?” Griffin asked, putting his tea cup down on the provided tray.

“Unfortunately, I have not,” Marina sighed, following Griffin’s actions and finishing her tea. “I have been tossing around some questions regarding my uncle and his past to the women working for us, but none knew much of him either.”

“Your uncle went rather unnoticed until his announcement as Earl,” Griffin said. “Had there been anyone working for him prior to his new position?”

Marina’s eyes lit up. A vague memory from the day her uncle had moved in passed through her mind.

“Percy was his name, I believe?” Marina thought out loud. She remembered the scrawny man who stood near the carriage awaiting her uncle to shout new orders. He didn’t appear much older than twenty, which could perhaps count in Marina’s favour.

“Percy?” Griffin asked, pulling up his nose at the name.

“Yes! I remember him from the first day that my uncle moved in. He had to be working for my uncle during the time that he, well, killed people,” Marina said, perching up in her seat from excitement of possible information.

“People?” Griffin asked with a raised eyebrow. “Are we working with deaths in the plural?”

Marina bit the tip of her tongue. Griffin doesn’t quite know of the suspicions regarding her father, and she didn’t feel the moment to be right. She shrugged it off as a mistake of words.

“Alright, but I still don’t like the idea of a Percy,” Griffin said quite seriously as he stood up, walking to a nearby bookcase. Marina fell silent, unsure what he meant by that.

“How old might you describe the mentioned ‘Percy’ to be?” he asked.

“Well, he struck me as no older than in his twenties, I believe, Your Grace. He’s quite tall, but his features appear young,” Marina replied, a bit confused by Griffin’s questioning.

“Ah, in his twenties, you said, my Lady? The perfect age to steal you from me,” he continued, swirling around a glass he picked up from a nearby table.

Marina cocked her head to the side, unsure what he meant. She left a moment of silence for him to continue his sentence or elaborate on his cryptic sentence.

“I mean, to be quite frank, you’re a beautiful lady,” Griffin whispered, leaning closer to Marina. “And I think Percy would be quite aware of that. But I’ll make sure that if he shows any other intentions with you, he would be informed of who’s you are.”

Marina looked at Griffin with a dumbfounded expression. What had gotten into the duke that he had so quickly became possessive of a false courtship? Up until now they had both been professional toward one another, and now he was naming Marina as his own?

Marina noticed the corners of his mouth twitch involuntarily as he kept his gaze upon her- then she realized. He was suppressing laughter. Might he be trying to pull a joke that could frighten her? If so- she was willing to play along.

“Easy for you to say, Your Grace. I was left a little jealous when I had to find out about Beth. You hadn’t even bothered to mention her to your Beloved; thus, I can’t help but think that she might be after you,” Marina replied, putting on her best act in an effort to appear serious. She threw a glare over in his direction.

He looked caught off guard, unsure of what to reply. Then, after he caught hold of Marina’s realization- they both broke out into a large fit of laughter.

“My Beloved you said, my Lady?” Griffin laughed.

“I’m unsure what ‘lovers’ call one another, Your Grace,” Marina laughed back as she rose to her feet. She felt a crunch underneath her foot, causing her to jolt back. The leaf she had found in the journal prior lay crushed underneath her feet.