Page 6 of Not a Fine Gentleman

“No, thank you,” Connor said. “Time is of the essence. Tell me everything you know.”

Christian explained. “Meg came to our dinner party two nights ago.”

Meg. Such a casual, familiar name for a marchioness.

Christian continued, “The next day, we learned her husband was dead, and she was missing. A night watchman claimed she ran away out of guilt. But she didn’t murder her husband—I vow it.”

“How did she seem at the dinner party?” Connor asked.

“The same as always—composed, self-possessed. She didn’t display any murderous intents if that’s what you’re implying.”

Connor inclined his head in acquiesce. “Do you have any idea where she might have fled?”

“Honestly, I’m surprised she didn’t go to Cole or to Rachel, her twin. She’s close to both of them, but no one has seen her.”

“Maybe she feared that would be the first place the authorities would seek her.”

The youngest Amesbury shook his head. “It doesn’t make sense. She knows we can protect her until we can sort it.”

“Where else might she have gone, if not to family?”

Amesbury spread his hands apart and looked to his wife.

Mrs. Amesbury spoke. “She might have gone to that cottage near Scotland.”

Amesbury nodded slowly. “Rachel lived there for about a year, but I don’t know if she is still leasing it.” His expression fell. “If Meg fled in the middle of the night, she might not have enough money to travel that far.”

“You’re positive she didn’t pay a visit to anyone in the family?”

Amesbury shook his head. “Rachel is nearly hysterical with worry. Jared is out searching for her. We still haven’t heard back from Cole or Grant—they both left town before we received news of Hennessy’s murder. The messengers have not yet reached them.”

Itching to begin hunting for the murder suspect, despite her brother’s protestations of her innocence, Connor stood to excuse himself. “I’ll find her.”

“Jackson.” Amesbury looked down at his hands and carefully laced them together. “It’s likely that whoever murdered Hennessy is also after Margaret. It’s the only reasonable explanation for why she hasn’t come to one of us.”

His wife sucked in her breath and fixed frightened brown eyes on Connor.

If that were true, Lady Hennessy would be in danger. Connor nodded. “Do you have a portrait of her?”

Amesbury retrieved a miniature from a sideboard table. “This was done just before she got married. It’s a good likeness.”

As Connor took hold of the framed painting, everything inside him went still. A stunning, dark-haired woman with a pair of startlingly luminous eyes stared out at him in shades of blue and green that reminded him of the ocean off the coast of Italy. Her full lips suggested she had a laugh tucked in the corner, and the tilt of her head revealed an impish slant to her character. Something else in her, something compelling and almost familiar, made his heart trip all over itself.

No. He would never again make the blunder of allowing his attraction for a woman—especially an aristocratic woman—cloud his judgment and rule his heart. He’d learned years ago never to dally with a woman of her class. The one and only time he’d made that mistake, it had nearly broken him.

Really, considering his mother’s history, he should have known better; the nobility had no place in their hearts for the working class. He knew it now, and he’d not soon forget.

“She was so happy back then,” Amesbury said in a hushed voice.

Connor removed his focus from the oddly compelling miniature. “Back then?”

Amesbury chose his words. “The last few years were difficult for her. Her marriage was not… happy.”

Was it bad enough that she killed her husband?

That mischievous, lively, lovely girl in the painting could not have done such a heinous act. However, if she’d grown into a bitter woman, she might have. Time changed people. Hardship changed them even more. What was the saying… hell hath no fury like a woman scorned…?

“She didn’t kill him.” Amesbury’s vehemence set his features into one belonging to a formidable foe should they ever find themselves on opposing sides—which they might if Connor found evidence that Lady Hennessy was guilty.