The Mayfair Affair Read Online Free PDF Page B

suspected." She set the cup down. "Even when one is inured to it, one can't but feel a bit of a sting."
    Malcolm wondered if he imagined the flash of pain beneath the brittle tone. Mary had enough to contend with at present without him pushing her. "Anyone else?"
    "Not that immediately occurs to me. I wouldn't say Trenchard had a habit of making enemies, but neither was he universally liked."
    "Was he on good terms with his heir?" Malcolm asked.
    Her brows lifted. "Good God. I suppose in a way James is the obvious one to benefit from his death. But it's difficult to imagine— You know him. He's always been a dutiful son."
    "Were he and Trenchard close?"
    "I wouldn't precisely say that." Mary twitched a fold of her skirt smooth. "I don't know that I'd describe Trenchard as close to anyone. He was pleased James had gone into Parliament, pleased he was a Tory." She flashed a look at Malcolm that was a reminder of his own and her brother's politics. "Pleased James had provided him with heirs. But to own the truth, I think he thought James was a bit dull."
    "Had he always thought so?" Roth asked.
    "I'm not sure. Both my husband's sons from his first marriage were to all intents and purposes grown by the time we married."
    "Both?" Roth said.
    Mary reached for her cup and held it for a moment. "Of course. You're a stranger to Mayfair scandals. And Mrs. Rannoch won't have heard the story either. My husband's eldest son and his wife died in a carriage accident in India four years ago."
    "I'm sorry."
    Mary took a sip of coffee. "It was a difficult time. Jack—my elder stepson—was a major with the army."
    Roth frowned. "Unusual surely for an eldest son to join the army."
    "Quite." Mary stirred sugar into her tea. "No sense in prevaricating. I don't see what it could have to do with Trenchard's death, but if you're looking into the family, I daresay you'll learn of it. Jack was something of a black sheep. He was sent down from Cambridge after a coffeehouse brawl escalated into a duel. By the time I married his father, Trenchard was in the process of paying off Jack's gambling debts for the third time. There was an uncomfortable incident involving a Covent Garden Opera dancer that I wasn't supposed to know anything about, though I'm aware that it cost my husband considerably more than my annual pin money." She wrinkled her nose. "I believe he was still paying her. I suspect I shall have to deal with that."
    "There was a child?" Suzanne asked.
    "I believe so, judging by the quarrels I overheard and the size and regularity of the payments. Jack had several other unfortunate entanglements which necessitated rusticating at one or another of our country houses. Then eight years ago there was another incident. I don't know the details, though I believe there was another duel. Trenchard covered it up, but he said this was the last straw. He bought Jack a commission and packed him off to India. He said at least if he got into trouble there it would take us months to hear of it."
    Malcolm saw the reaction in Roth's eyes. God save us from the officers our leaders provide us with . But Roth merely said, "And his wife went with him?"
    "No, he met Jane there. She was his colonel's daughter. Apparently they were caught in a compromising position at a regimental ball and for once Jack did the appropriate thing. Or perhaps her father compelled him. I think Trenchard was torn between concern that his heir had contracted a mésalliance and relief that his heir was finally married."
    "They didn't have children?" Suzanne asked.
    "Jane was pregnant when they died."
    "It must have been dreadful for all of you."
    "Yes. Though I confess I didn't know Jack well, and I never met Jane. Trenchard was in India as an envoy at the time of the accident. I think he'd arranged the posting so he could see what he thought of the girl his heir had married. He doesn't show emotions much, but from his demeanor on his return, I believe he took it hard. I always sensed Jack