Page 38 of The Rum and The Fox

That anxious, disquieting feeling that he was lacking, that he was, and never would be, good enough wrapped around him like a wet cloak. Making him feel weak and hopeless all at once.

Apparently oblivious to his distress, his grandmother moved to one of the chairs by the fire. “And why was that grubby inspector here again the other night, poking his nose where it’s not wanted?” she demanded as she sat down, glowering at the idea of some common fellow digging into their private affairs. “There is a lot of talk flying around the ton. Wanting to know how we are involved in this, and what that blasted girl is doing here!” She banged her hand on the arm of the chair, looking furious. “It’s turning into a scandal and I won’t have it,” she barked in fury. “She’ll have to go.”

“No.”

Lady Margaret gave him a hard look. “Do not defy me on this, Felix.”

“You forget yourself, Grandmother,” Ash replied, staring down at her and wondering what she could see in his eyes now. Did she still think him a fool and a fribble, seeing the implacable look that must be in his eyes? It was true that he felt sick to his stomach at defying her, knowing she would likely make his life hell in retaliation, but there was no power on earth that would make him turn Keziah out. “I am the Duke of Chartley. This is my house, you stay at my pleasure.”

She snorted, her face full of the contempt she felt for him. “Think you’ve got it in you to turn me out, do you?”

Ash looked away from her. “Perhaps not,” he admitted, disgusted with himself, but then, she was his grandmother, she was not as young and strong as she might like people to believe, and he wasn’t so heartless as to damage her reputation or create a scandal for her at this late stage. “But if you think you can force me to make Lady Todd leave, you have greatly overestimated your influence.”

Her lips compressed into a thin line of displeasure.

“You are wrong, as usual,” she replied with a sneer. “I have only underestimated the influence she has over you.”

Ash blushed and held his tongue as she laughed at his reaction.

“Fool.” She sat back in her chair and they were silent as Grant brought the tea-tray in. Ash refused any, wanting to get out of the woman’s company as fast as he may, but he had not yet been dismissed.

“You never answered my question,” she said, once the butler had removed himself. “What did Inspector Formby want with you?”

Ash narrowed his eyes at her and sat back in his chair. He felt all at once that he would very much like to shock his aged relation. Shock her so much that she might actually have to re-evaluate him. “He would like very much to arrest me for murdering Viscount Rennard,” he said, wondering what she would say if she knew the truth. He didn’t have to wonder for long as she burst out laughing.

“You?” she said, mirth glittering in her eyes. “You murder a man like Lord Todd?”

She threw her head back and laughed until tears rolled down her face, and Ash watched as his fury grew, bubbling in his gut, boiling in his blood until it threatened to consume him if he did not find some release. “Oh dear,” she said, dabbing at her eyes with a lace handkerchief. “What an idea.”

“It’s true.”

For a moment she simply blinked at him and then her face grew cool and stern.

“Don’t joke about such things,” she snapped. “And certainly don’t lie. I cannot abide liars and cheats, and I thank God that you are merely a fool.”

“I’m not lying,” Ash replied, feeling a sense of deep satisfaction as the shock grew in her eyes. “The night he beat Keziah, after I’d seen what he’d done, I took the pistols which are at this moment hidden in my study and I went to his house … and I shot him.”

Lady Margaret simply stared at him, looking at him as though she’d never before seen him. “I don’t believe you,” she whispered, all the colour drained from her face.

Ash shrugged and looked away from her, sorry now to have caused her distress despite his earlier anger. “Well, whether you do or not, Inspector Formby knows I was there. There is a witness.”

Lady Margaret put a hand to her throat, shaking her head in horror.

“Who?” she demanded, her voice trembling now.

Ash shrugged. “No one with any standing. The viscount’s valet, a shady character himself ,by all accounts. It isn’t enough to convict me.”

“No, but the scandal would destroy us.”

Ash snorted and got to his feet. He should have known that would be her first concern. With a soft laugh, he decided he’d had enough of familial affection for one day.

“If you’ll excuse me, Grandmother, I have things to do.”

She made no objection as he got up and left, and Ash felt a strange and rather twisted sense of victory as he closed the door on her.