Malcombe who had lured Jenny from the MacGraff cottage and killed her.
Since Meggie was still weak, Thomas carried her to the drawing room, where his mother served everyone afternoon tea.
It was a quiet group. Every few minutes Madeleine said, "I had rotten cards last night. You, Vicar, never should have won."
"That is indeed true," Tysen agreed pleasantly for the third time, giving his hostess his best social smile.
Mary Rose, her beautiful red hair corking out about her head, was pacing, something Thomas did with great regularity, more now since all the bad things had started happening. Every once in a while Mary Rose paused, looked at Meggie, who was, in truth, still on the pale side, still suffering some pain in her shoulder, and still refusing to take more laudanum. Mary Rose looked nearly desperate. Thomas knew the feeling well.
He also had finally come up with an idea.
Mary Rose turned toward Lord Kipper when he came into the drawing room. He said, standing on the threshold, "Barnacle seems to have taken a brief conge from his post at the front door, Thomas, so I allowed myself to come in."
"Welcome, Niles," Thomas said. "You are just in time for tea."
Lord Kipper opened his mouth, doubtless to say something amusing, when he stopped cold. He stared at Mary Rose, who was standing with her back to the window. The afternoon sun was pouring in, making her hair look like fire.
"By God you are beautiful," he said slowly, and strode toward her. "Who are you? Where have you been? I-"
Tysen rose and stepped in front of his wife. "Excuse me, sir, she is my wife. I am Lord Barthwaite, Meggie's father."
Lord Kipper came to a complete and very chagrinned halt in the middle of the drawing room.
"Ah, your wife. I see."
Meggie, who had never before heard her father introduce himself by his Scottish title, gaped. Here was her father, facing down another man who very much wanted to poach on his preserves. Every bit of Sherbrooke arrogance sounded in his voice, every ounce of Sherbrooke blood in him was ready to boil. Her father, she realized, was ready to take Lord Kipper apart. It was an amazing thing.
Mary Rose suddenly leapt into action. She held out her hand. "I am Lady Barthwaite, sir. And you are?"
Thomas said, "This is Lord Kipper, everyone. Niles, you will doubtless meet Meggie's almost cousin a bit later. He is right now at the stables, eyeing my stock."
It was then that Lord Kipper noticed Libby was there, seated quietly some twelve feet away. She didn't look at all happy with him. Actually she looked ready to shoot him. Lord Kipper was a man of great experience, a particularly fine thing when, upon rare occasion, he made a sterling gaff, such as now. He didn't pause a moment, didn't appear the least embarrassed. He swept down upon Libby, took her hand, caressed her fingers, lightly touched his fingertips to her lips.
"He is amazing," Meggie said to the room at large.
"Of course," Madeleine said. "What would you expect?"
When finally everyone was drinking their tea, Thomas cleared his throat and said, "Mother, why do you think someone wants Meggie dead?"
The sound of sudden silence was deafening. Everyone froze in place and stared blankly at Thomas.
Thomas didn't look away from his mother. She slowly set her cup back onto its saucer. "I have thought about it," she said at last, the look in her eyes very sharp, very cold, "as I'm sure everyone else has as well. I think it must be a man who followed her here from her home. He is jealous because she chose Thomas over him. It is this man who is now enraged because she won't leave you, my son. He wants her dead. He is deranged. Ask her, my son, who this man is."
Thomas said, "Meggie, who is this man?"
"I haven't seen him, Thomas. If he had followed me, surely I would have seen him. Also, wouldn't a stranger stick out like a Stonehenge boulder around here? No, it can't be him."
"She is mocking me, and I won't have it."
"Forgive me, ma'am," Meggie said, "you're right. That wasn't well done of me. However, there is no man."
"Humph. What about this Jeremy Stanton-Greville who plays whist very well but had rotten cards, just as I did last night?"
"No, ma'am. It isn't Jeremy. He's quite in love with his wife."
Thomas felt positively mellow at that.
"Aunt Libby," Thomas said, "why do you think someone is trying to kill Meggie?"
"Madeleine is the one," Libby said with a voice filled with spite, "but she's torn about it. She doesn't want to be replaced, particularly by a little twit like Meggie, who's always laughing, and is young and beautiful. However, she also wants you to have an heir. She is betwixt and between. Perhaps Meggie is still alive because Madeleine is uncertain about what she really wants."
"You witch!" Madeleine yelled, leaping up from her chair. "You betraying cow! I want you to leave Pendragon this very instant, your murdering son with you! You called me a pernicious tart, and now this! Out, out, I say!"
"Actually," Libby said, "I called you a pernicious old tart."
"This," Thomas said to his wife, an eyebrow elevated upward a good inch, "isn't turning out to be quite what I expected."
Tysen Sherbrooke held up a beautiful hand and said in his deep compelling vicar's voice that brought immediate silence, all eyes now on him, "I think it could be very helpful, Thomas. I would like as well to hear what everyone has to say. Lord Kipper, why do you think someone is trying to kill my daughter?"
Lord Kipper walked to the fireplace, where he leaned his shoulders against the mantel. He looked immaculate in his riding clothes, those black riding boots of his so shiny he could see his face. He looked as calm as the sea at dawn, and utterly beautiful. He said, "I believe it to be someone who perhaps despises Thomas, someone who wishes him ill, someone who knows that if he kills Thomas, he will be discovered, thus he is trying to kill Thomas's wife, in order to have Thomas blamed for it. That is the most likely. Perhaps it is revenge this man wants. Even though he is very young, Thomas has certainly made enemies, inevitable since he is ruthless and successful, particularly in his shipping endeavors."
Tysen said, "Can you think of anyone in your business dealings who would wish you ill, Thomas? Who would hurt my daughter rather than you? As punishment or revenge?"
"No," Thomas said.
Tysen turned to William, who was standing still as a stick of furniture against the far wall, obviously wanting to go unnoticed. He said, "What do you think, William?"
"I don't know, sir. But I do believe that it must have something to do with Jenny's disappearance. Don't you think?"
"It seems likely," Tysen said slowly, "since everything is happening at the same time."
"Perhaps this someone," William said, more forcefully now, the worry plain on his face, "didn't want Thomas to marry, but since he did, now he's trying to get rid of Meggie. In my case, he doesn't want me to marry either, thus he's taken Jenny away. But who would want both Thomas and me not to be married?"
"That," Thomas, said, giving his half-brother a look of respect, "is a very good question."
"I agree with William," Meggie said, and that set both Madeleine and Libby off. "Someone wants two unmarried men in the house. But why?"
"Perhaps the two mothers," William said, and took three more steps away from his own mother. Predictably, voices went up, tempers rose and tangled, a teacup smashed to the floor.
Once again Tysen said in a voice of honey and iron, "That is quite enough. Thomas has given us a lot to consider. I suggest we do just that." He paused a moment, looked briefly at his son-in-law, and said, "One of the persons in this room is very deeply involved in this. I wonder which one of you it is."