Once Upon a Diamond by Teresa McCarthy

Author:Teresa McCarthy [McCarthy, Teresa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance, Clean & Wholesome, Historical, Regency, Teen & Young Adult, Historical Romance, Inspirational
Amazon: B008XSBS2K
Published: 2012-08-13T16:00:00+00:00

Before the family’s trip to Drury Lane later that evening, Matthew joined Devin in the drawing room. He hadn’t seen the marquess since the two were children. When his father traveled with Kate years ago, Matthew had stayed behind.

The marquess assured Matthew that Lord Lancewood was an honorable man. But when Captain Gaston’s name came up, it was all Matthew could do to control his temper.

Matthew strode about the room, his hands clasped behind his back, his mouth grim. “Gaston worked for my father. My father knew he was a good captain, so he kept him on. But the man had a dark side my father, like Kate, has never seen.”

He stopped and glanced back at Devin. “I witnessed the captain kill one of his own sailors when I was sixteen. I told my father, but he said it was probably self-defense. Gaston never knew I had seen the murder. I suspect the man has killed before, but I have no proof. I admit, he was a good seaman, and my father liked to think the best of people.”

Matthew helped himself to another brandy. “Believe me, I kept my eye on the man. But he’s been as clean as the deck after a storm. Almost too clean.”

Devin leaned back in his chair, his dark brows knitted into a frown. “Why didn’t you push your father to believe you?"

“Like I said, I had no proof, and the captain has been a true gentleman, nothing problematic, at least from what I could detect. But, the crux of the matter is, I haven’t been exactly on business since Kate’s been here. After my father’s death, I discovered his money was being embezzled. And I had a gut feeling that my father had been murdered at sea.”

Devin sat up. “Murdered?”

Matthew nodded. “I feared that Captain Gaston was involved somehow, and that he hired someone aboard my father’s ship to throw him overboard. After we heard word of the incident that my father was lost at sea, I was attacked, along with a friend of my father’s at a Boston tavern. That was enough for me to send Kate to visit you. I believed her to be safe here, at least safer than Boston, until I figured this whole thing out.” His face darkened. “But after what she told me about the inn and the earl, I have to ask myself what I was thinking.”

Matthew suppressed a sigh and spread his hands along the piano, clinking a few keys. “My father was to bring home a new flute for Kate. She was so excited.”

He plucked middle C with his forefinger. “That’s the story, Devin. I know the captain’s an embezzler and a cold-blooded killer. He was probably involved in the death of my father, but there’s no proof. Gaston wasn’t even aboard the ship when my father died."

Devin finally shook his head and blew out a puff of air. “Unbelievable.”

Matthew moved to the sofa. “Unbelievable, but true.”

A minute later Kate opened the door and poked her head inside the drawing room.

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