"I must ask you, Colonel," Sir Nathaniel said, "why you lied to Mr. Pomeroy about entering the anteroom at all?"
Brandon looked uncomfortable. "Because it was none of his affair. And it had nothing to do with Turner being killed."
"That remains to be seen," Sir Nathaniel said. "Please tell me the nature of your conversation with Mr. Turner in the anteroom."
Brandon sat up straighter. "I do not wish to."
Sir Nathaniel raised his gray brows. "Colonel Brandon, you might well be tried for murder. Were I in your place, I would try my best to establish that my business with Mr. Turner had nothing to do with his death. Now, what did you discuss?"
Brandon's neck went red. "I called him out."
"Called him out. Do you mean that you challenged him to a duel?"
Brandon nodded.
Sir Nathaniel made another note. Even the scratching of his pen sounded disapproving. "Dueling is against the law, Colonel."
"I know that. But Mr. Turner was being offensive to Mrs. Harper. He needed speaking to. In any event, it is a moot point now."
I stifled my dismay. Brandon might as well build the scaffold and tie the noose around his own neck.
"Indeed, it is," Sir Nathaniel said. "And you were annoyed with Mr. Turner's behavior, because Mrs. Harper is your mistress?"
Brandon hesitated. I saw his eyes swivel to the paper, above which Sir Nathaniel's pen poised. It was one thing to say the words to Pomeroy, quite another to have them written down in black ink.
"Yes," he said slowly.
This was nonsense. It had to be. And yet, what had Brandon to gain from protecting Mrs. Harper?
"Very well." Sir Nathaniel's pen moved. "After you and Mr. Turner made an appointment to meet, what did you do next?"
"We never made the appointment," Brandon said. "He refused me. I told him he was a coward and left him."
Grenville glanced sideways at me, and I gave him a grim look in return. If Brandon could convince the magistrate that he'd planned to meet Turner honorably, he might have a chance to prove he'd never kill him dis honorably. But Brandon's words put paid to that defense.
"I see." Sir Nathaniel redipped his pen. "Well, then, Colonel, please go on. Tell me what you did from the time you left Mr. Turner until his body was discovered."
"I've told Mr. Pomeroy," Brandon said in a hard voice.
Sir Nathaniel looked at him with deceptively mild eyes. "Now tell me."
Brandon's shoulders sagged the slightest bit. "I walked out of the anteroom, as I told you. I went back to find Mrs. Harper, and we adjourned into an alcove so that I could speak privately with her. I told her what Mr. Turner had said. She was naturally upset that I had challenged him, and it took some time to calm her down. She asked that I find her some sherry, and I went in search. I could not find a footman with a tray-never about when you need one, footmen-so I was obliged to leave the ballroom. I searched the supper room and found all the decanters empty, so I went out to the hall to find a servant. I had no success and was about to tramp down to the kitchens myself, when I heard Mrs. Harper screaming. I pushed my way through the crowd and saw her standing outside the anteroom, and Turner dead inside."
Sir Nathaniel scribbled away. Presently he asked, "Did you see anyone in the supper room or the hall outside who can be a witness that you were there?"
"No," Brandon growled. "As I said, I found no sherry and no servants. God knows where they all were. When I came back inside, everyone was watching Mrs. Harper. I do not think anyone noticed me."
I broke in. "That does corroborate what Lady Aline Carrington told me. She said that Colonel Brandon came from behind her."
Sir Nathaniel made a note without thanking me. "Even better," he said, "would be a witness who saw you in the alcove with Mrs. Harper between the time you left Mr. Turner and twelve o'clock."
Brandon shook his head.
"Mr. Pomeroy?" Sir Nathaniel asked. "Have you found any witnesses to swear where Colonel Brandon was at the time?"
"No, sir," Pomeroy said. "Most unhelpful, that."
"Indeed," Sir Nathaniel said. "Now then, Mr. Grenville, what can you add or subtract from Colonel Brandon's statement?"
Grenville cleared his throat. "I did see Colonel Brandon and Mrs. Harper enter the alcove after Mr. Turner emerged from the anteroom. I cannot say when they departed it. I was dancing after that, giving all my attention to my partners. I was very near the anteroom, however, when Mrs. Harper entered it. I saw her go in. After a minute or two, she rushed out, screaming at the top of her lungs. I looked inside and saw Mr. Turner slumped against the table. I settled Mrs. Harper on a chair and made her swallow some brandy, then I entered the room with Lord Gillis. Lord Gillis pulled Mr. Turner upright. I saw the knife in Mr. Turner's chest and knew that he was dead."
Sir Nathaniel wrote. The quiet scratch of his pen made a strange contrast to the violence Grenville described.
"Did you see Colonel Brandon come back into the ballroom?" Sir Nathaniel asked when he'd finished.
Grenville shook his head. "I did not see him, no."
"Well, he wouldn't, would he?" Brandon broke in. "He was looking at Turner, not searching the ballroom for me."
Sir Nathaniel gave him another sharp look. "Quite so, Colonel. Captain Lacey. What evidence do you have to add?"
Brandon glowered at me. He did not want me to speak, did not want me there at all. I wondered at his resistance. He might not like me, but he ought to at least realize that I could help him.
"I served under Colonel Brandon from the time I was twenty years old until the time I was thirty-eight," I said. "The fact that Colonel Brandon stands accused of this crime surprises me very much indeed."
"Not accused," Sir Nathaniel said quickly. "This is a preliminary examination, as I said."
"I am astonished that he is under suspicion at all. Colonel Brandon has always acted with the utmost honor." At least, he'd acted with honor except where I was concerned.
"You were in the wars together," Sir Nathaniel said. "A man learns to kill during a war. Otherwise, he'd make a poor soldier."
"Fighting a battle and cold-blooded murder are two different things," I said.
"I concede that." Sir Nathaniel nodded. "I know some officers who are the gentlest of men. That does not mean your colonel has not done murder. Though I commend your loyalty."
Brandon's face had gone a bright, cherry red. The last person he wanted to stand up for him was me.
But if I could save the wretch for Louisa, I would. I still had difficulty believing he'd stabbed Turner. Brandon was guilty of something here, but of what, I was not yet certain.
Presently, Sir Nathaniel ceased writing. "I would like to speak with the ladies who were present. Mrs. Harper and Mrs. Brandon."
"No," Brandon said at once. "I do not want my wife involved in this."
"My dear sir, this is murder. Did you believe it was a private matter?"
"As a matter of fact, I do," Brandon said stiffly. "This is not France, where the police survey our every action. Our committees call for police reform. We shall all be scrutinized whenever we leave our houses, if that happens."
His speech did not please Sir Nathaniel, whose nostrils pinched. "That's as may be, Colonel. At present, I need to investigate a murder and determine whether or not you should be tried for it. Your wife, in fact, may be able to produce evidence that you did not do it. You would like me to find that, would you not?"
Brandon said nothing. His eyes glittered with stubborn fury.
I wondered what the devil was the matter with him. He behaved as though he did not want to be proved innocent.
Perhaps he was throwing himself to the wolves, knowing that Mrs. Harper had killed Turner. But why on earth should he feel so compelled to go to the gallows for her? Brandon was, all in all, a selfish man. Why he'd suddenly become heroic for another person was a mystery to me.