Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13

Time was passing quicker than ever for Marina. The thought of being set out on the streets by her uncle horrified her, but she couldn’t let go of the investigation now.

The pace at which information was gathered felt much slower than anticipated, but at least they had recently found a possible murder weapon: deadly nightshade.

This conclusion drove Marina slightly mad as she was left to envision how her very own uncle had picked berries or leaves and somehow tricked her father into the consumption of them. The other maddening aspect was how on earth they were supposed to prove their fathers having been poisoned by him.

“Ah! Nancy, how do you do?” Marina nervously asked as she was walking down the corridor, nearly walking directly into her cousin. She was on her way to her cousin’s room to for investigative purposes- if possibly any information had been hidden there- but instead she walked right into her presence.

“I thought you’d be off to town today,” Marina asked, looking at Nancy who was dressed slightly fancier than her usual attire.

“I am,” Nancy replied bluntly, a deep stare piercing into Marina, making her uncomfortable. Marina was well aware of Nancy’s lasting anger toward her, so she usually avoided direct conversations. But today she found it inevitable, as her cousin stood inches from her, not planning to move.

“How about you?” Nancy asked, an unsettling fake smile appearing across her lips.

“Oh, not much planned for the day. I’d probably go on a walk this afternoon or continue my needlepoint,” Marina commented, unsure of how to turn from the conversation. Since she was walking toward Nancy’s room, she didn’t have few places to leave to except the front door or suspiciously turning in her tracks.

“Won’t the Duke of Darrington be visiting so you could continue scheming?” Nancy asked, the fake smile still instilled on her face.

Marina’s heart jumped at her cousin’s words. Does she know about the investigation? What else could she be referring to?

“What schemes?” Marina laughed, trying to appear as natural in conversation as possible. “And besides, he had some work to attend to this morning so I’ll only meet him later on.”

“I see you lurking about the house,” Nancy said in a whisper. “I always catch you in the most unexpected places and frankly, I find that a bit suspicious. Also, I’m not blind to the whispers and conspiring happening between you and the duke.”

Marina’s heart continued to beat heavily in her chest, but she couldn’t lose her nerve now. She had to avoid Nancy growing suspicious at all costs possible.

“Oh Nancy, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Marina laughed in attempt to persuade her cousin that she was imagining it. “But, my dear cousin, I do still apologise for the state of matters. I knew you deeply liked the duke and-.”

“Oh, I despise the duke, thank you very much,” Nancy added quickly, hands on her hips. “He’s all yours and I certainly want nothing to do with him. I just find it sad that a family member would exchange me in order to find a piece of love.”

“Nancy,” Marina tried calling, but she had already stormed off to her room, leaving Marina alone in the corridor. Marina had no choice but to swallow her pride and turn back around.

“Thank you, my Lady, the pastries are divine,” Griffin dryly smiled as he sat across from Marina within the drawing room. Marina couldn’t help but stare blankly at him, knowing they both are extremely bored.

Penny sat a few feet from them as she was on chaperoning duty for the day, but her eyes were slowly starting to dip into a deep sleep. Marina was just waiting for the moment she starts snoring to sneak out.

“My biggest pleasure, Your Grace. They are baked by our fine cook here inside the Cromwell House,” Marina responded emotionlessly, their bleak conversations merely a tactic to bore Penny deeper into her rest. By now Penny’s eyes had fallen shut, so Griffin silently chuckled at Marina’s dryness.

He picked up another pastry, but as he noticed it to be the last one, he attempted to hand it over to Marina.

“For you, my Lady, I insist,” he said, holding out the pastry. Marina smiled as she took the pastry from his hand. She placed it on a small ceramic plate in front of her and proceeded to half it with an unused knife. She picked up one half and handed it to Griffin.

He stared at the pastry hesitantly, but eventually giving in to temptation and taking a large bite. The two laughed together silently.

Just as Marina was chewing her last bite, she got a slight fright due to a noise coming from Penny. A deep snore escaped her lips, but it sounded a bit foreign. Whatever the sound might’ve been, at least they knew that Penny would be sleeping for quite a while from now on. Thus, Marina waved a hand for Griffin to follow her out of the drawing room.

As they tip toed down the corridor, Griffin placed a single finger to his mouth to gesture their absolute silence. A part of Marina wanted to giggle despite her heightened nerves.

They entered uncle Josiah’s study, making sure to close the large wooden door behind them. The memory of finding Griffin snooping here played in Marina’s mind, and she couldn’t help but smile at the thought.

“So, exactly what are we looking for?” Griffin asked, hands on his hips.

“Remnants of deadly nightshade as well as the reason for your father’s blackmail,” Marina responded, already diving into a desk drawer. She mostly found several bottles of ink and pens, but gathered a stack of paper from the back of the drawer. Griffin tended to the bookshelf, pulling out books and flipping through their pages in hopes of finding any deadly nightshade remnants.

“Aha!” Marina exclaimed, pulling out a stack of letters from a lower drawer. She opened the first one carefully, seeing the envelope addressed from Griffin’s father, but inside was nothing but specks of dust. In desperation, she started opening the second, and then the third, but no envelope seemed to hold any letter.

“This feels like some cruel joke,” Griffin said from the bookshelf, looking at Marina hastily flip from envelope to envelope.

As Marina opened the last one, she held her breath in expectation. To her surprise, the letter did, in fact, hold something. She started to pull the piece of paper from its envelope, but was interrupted with calls from the corridor.

“Marina!” Nancy’s sharp voice yelled from somewhere in the hallways. An intense panic had struck Marina, nearly causing her to drop the stack of envelopes. Instead, she tossed the letters back into the drawer and closed it. Griffin was forcing the book he held back into the shelf before he gestured for Marina to hide underneath the large desk. Marina followed his instructions, but was unaware of his lurking presence behind her.

He attempted to join Marina underneath the desk, the study not holding any other hiding place for him. But as Marina shifted to make space for him, he fell right on top of her. A soft shriek escaped Marina’s lips as Griffin’s face stopped mere inches from hers.

Griffin placed a finger over Marina’s mouth, pleading with her for silence. There was no time to shift from one another as Marina heard Nancy’s footsteps become unnervingly close.

“Marina?” Nancy called as the study’s door swung open. Her cousin gave a large, audible sigh. Both Griffin and Marina held their breaths, trying to prevent any sound from escaping their mouths.

Nancy’s wandering footsteps remained audible, but just as she was about to near the corner of the desk, she stopped. She turned around and made her way back toward the door, swinging it shut behind her.

“Marina!” Nancy’s voice echoed softer and softer as she walked in search of Marina somewhere else. Marina lifted a brow, still laying on the floor in question of what Nancy could possibly have wanted from her. As far as Marina was aware, Nancy hated her as a being as well as conversing with her in any matter.

She looked back at the duke, who was hovering but a few inches from her face. His brown curls hung messily around his head, but his eyes were fixed upon Marina’s. Marina was planning to say something to the duke, but after meeting his eyes all of her words were wiped completely from her memory.

“Your Grace,” Marina managed to whisper, but the rest of her words failed to pass her lips, leaving her staring back at the eyes of the duke in silence.

Before she knew it, the duke had gently cupped her cheek and leaned in for a kiss. Nothing within her was able to resist this move, as it is what she had desperately wanted as well.

Marina found herself to be completely lost. Lost within the kiss, lost within mind. And greatly lost within Griffin- the Duke of Darrington.

“Wait,” Marina eventually found the courage to say, although a part of her desperately wanted to continue in the kiss. “We can’t.”

Griffin pulled away from her, his eyes appearing confused for a second. But as he came to the realisation of what had just happened, he jumped up to his feet.

“My deepest apologies, my Lady,” Griffin mumbled as he came to his feet, brushing himself back to a neat picture. He avoided any attempt of making eye contact with Marina.

“It alright, Your Grace,” Marina softly said as she made her way to her feet as well. She felt deeply embarrassed at their actions, knowing the entire situation would be destined for heart break if she dared continue..

As Marina started her way toward the large wooden door of the study, she felt the soft touch of the duke grab her arm.

“My Lady, pretend this never happened,” he said, his eyes still avoiding the gaze of Marina. Marina had no option but to silently nod as a reply, before turning back to the door. She opened the door softly, listening for any footsteps to avoid being caught.

Her heart still pounded loudly from within her chest, but a large cloud of anger was starting to overcome her. She feared Griffin to be another man who enjoyed the brief interactions with a lady, only to disappear once the damage had been done to her.

Marina wasn’t prepared to be just another girl on the list a man was collecting. Besides- after the investigation the courtship would end and Griffin would become another vague memory in his head.

“Follow me,” Marina uttered as she started her way down the corridor. Her cheeks felt hot, possibly glowing red from what had just happened. As she walked, she made efforts to neaten herself, wanting to look professional once again so Griffin could regard her for who she really was. An independent lady with no time for any childish nonsense.

The pair made their way back to the drawing room. Penny was still fast asleep, drool starting to form at the corner of her mouth. Prior to the kiss this would’ve been something the two could’ve joked about, but Marina kept her lips pursed and sat down in her seat.

“My Lady,” Griffin apologetically whispered as he came to a seat himself. Marina lifted a hand to gesture for Griffin to discontinue his apologies.

“It’s alright, Your Grace,” she whispered back, still avoiding to look at him.

Penny was finally awoken by hasty footsteps hitting the wooden floor. She looked around the room in confusion, but was reminded of her duties once she spotted Marina and Griffin staring back at her. She nodded at the pair, trying to conceal the fact that she was fast asleep for over half an hour.

“Marina! Where had you be-… Oh, good day, Your Grace,” Nancy said as she rushed into the drawing room, her face red from the fast pace she held. Her demeanour took a vast turn once she spotted Griffin sat in the drawing room he had once courted her.

“Good day, my Lady,” Griffin bowed. Nancy looked at him with a hint of disgust before turning to Marina.

“I’ve been searching all over for you,” she huffed, catching her breath from the run she made around the house.

“Apologies, Nancy. I had left to the garden to show Griffin the dahlias that are starting to bloom,” Marina replied, shooting a look at Griffin to gesture for his compliance.

“Might that be true, Penny?” Nancy asked Penny who was still fighting her way toward full consciousness.

Penny nodded in agreement, not wanting to relay the fact that she had passed out for an unknown amount of time.

“That’s strange, I was out calling for you in the garden minutes ago,” Nancy retorted, a suspicious expression growing on her face. Her red hair flew from her head in all directions, showing that she had indeed been outside in the raging winds. Marina’s hair, however, remained completely neat in how she had styled it.

“We might have missed one another,” Marina smiled, hoping to clear any hint of suspicion within Nancy, but something told her it was a worthless effort.

“Might I speak to you for a second?” Nancy asked, causing Marina to rise from her seat and follow Nancy into the corridor. Marina gave her cousin an inquisitive look.

“I’m not commenting on your suspicious behaviour because I simply have no time,” Nancy huffed. “But I need to leave for town and I’d like to request Penny accompany me. Thus, I think it’s best if you send Griffin home for now.”

“Of course, might I inquire where you are off to?” Marina asked, but Nancy gave a foul look indicating the question wouldn’t be answered.

“My Ladies, I wish you a well evening, but I have to make my way back to the Stanton Manor,” Griffin said as he entered the conversation, starting to fix his hat back onto his head.

Nancy remained silent, leaving Marina to be the only one saying her goodbyes.

“Thank you for the visit, Your Grace,” Marina said in a curtsy, her gaze still avoidant to Griffin. And with few words, Griffin made his way from the two women.

It wasn’t long before Penny and Nancy followed in Griffin’s tracks by leaving the front door to the awaiting carriage outside. This left Marina in complete solitude, allowing the perfect opportunity to search the final room in the house- Nancy’s room.