Bound By Their Secret Passion

‘At the last minute.’ To be as cruel as possible, Dell suspected.

Tinmore knew Lorene was devoted to her sisters. She’d married Tinmore so her sisters and brother would have advantages denied them when their father left them penniless. Tinmore knew she would want to share Christmas Day with them.

God knew Dell would have done anything to share another Christmas with his family. Nothing would have kept him apart from them.

Nothing except death.

Tinmore sputtered. Dell had forgotten him for a moment.

‘You seek to evade the truth, Penford,’ Tinmore accused. ‘That you are making love to my wife behind my back!’

Dell leaned down to glare into Tinmore’s rheumy eyes. ‘This is nonsense, sir, and you well know it. I’ll hear no more.’

Dell turned away and strode to the door. He made it to the hall before hearing Tinmore’s cane tapping after him. ‘Do not walk away without my leave! I have more to say to you—’

Dell glanced to the stairway and saw Lorene still standing there. How much had she heard? He hurried on to the door which was opened by the butler.

‘Wait!’ shouted Tinmore, advancing on him.

Dell walked outside on to the stone steps. Tinmore still came after him.

‘You stay away from my wife!’ Tinmore swung his cane at Dell.

Dell caught it before it struck him in the head.

Tinmore released his grip on the cane and clapped his hands against his head. He uttered a high-pitched cry as he stumbled backwards. Dell reached out to catch him, but Tinmore slipped on the snow-slick surface and tumbled down the steps. He hit the cobbled ground, his head smacking against the stones.

And he was still.

Chapter Two (#u46812283-97f3-5860-b942-d959e964a403)

Dell leapt down the steps to the stricken man.

‘My lord!’ The butler dashed out of house right behind him.

‘What happened?’ Lorene appeared in the doorway.

Dell turned to her. ‘He fell.’

‘Fell?’ the butler cried. ‘I think not! You pushed him.’

One of Dell’s coachmen jumped down from the carriage’s box. ‘Lord Penford did nothing! I saw the man fall.’

‘You’d lie if he told you to,’ the butler shot back.

Dell’s heart pounded as he pressed his fingers against Tinmore’s neck, but he already knew he’d feel no pulse. As a British army captain in the Peninsular War Dell had seen enough death to recognise it instantly. He opened one of Tinmore’s eyes. It was blank and dilated. There was nothing he could do.

He glanced up at Lorene. ‘He’s dead.’

She covered her mouth with her hand.

‘Dead?’ The butler kneeled at Tinmore’s side and took his hand. ‘Dead?’ He glared at Dell. ‘I am sending for the magistrate!’

This would not be easy. ‘Send for the coroner, too. And a physician. The coroner will want to know the physician’s opinion as to the cause of his death.’

‘There can be no dispute.’ The butler sounded near tears. ‘You pushed him!’

Lorene came down the steps and stood at Dell’s side.

‘I did not push him,’ he said to her. Would she believe him? Would any of them? ‘He tried to strike me with his cane. I grabbed it. He clutched at his head and fell.’

She knelt down next to Tinmore’s body and tentatively touched his hair. ‘He was so angry.’

By this time two footmen stood at the door.

Dell gestured to them. ‘Come. Carry him inside.’

The two men did not move.

The butler swung round to the footmen. ‘Do not move him! The coroner will wish to see his lordship where he lay.’

‘We cannot leave him here!’ Lorene cried.

Dell spoke to the butler in a commanding tone. ‘It is already late and it is Christmas night. The coroner is not going to come. We will not leave Lord Tinmore out in the cold all night. He deserves some dignity.’

Lorene faced the butler. ‘We will move him, Dixon.’

The butler’s face was red with anger. ‘Then you must stay, sir. I’ll not have you escaping to the Continent!’

‘Enough, Dixon!’ Lorene’s eyes flashed. ‘Do not speak to Lord Penford in that manner!’

The butler clamped his mouth shut, but his expression was unrepentant.

‘He is right,’ Dell addressed Lorene. ‘I should stay. It will simplify matters when the coroner arrives.’ He stepped over to his coachman. ‘Jones, return to Summerfield House and leave word of what happened. Lady Tinmore will need her sisters here in the morning. Make sure they know that. And I expect the coroner will want to speak to you and Samuel, so you both bring Lady Tinmore’s sisters in the carriage.’ Samuel, the other coachman, held the horses, but nodded his agreement.

Jones gestured for Dell to step away from the others. Dell walked him back to the carriage.

The coachman frowned. ‘I did not actually see what happened, my lord. I saw the man fall, though.’

Dell could not think about that now. ‘Very well, Jones. When the time comes just tell the coroner precisely what you did see.’

‘As you say, m’lord.’ He climbed back on to the carriage.

Lorene twisted around to face the footmen. ‘Why do you stand there? Carry Lord Tinmore to his bedchamber and lay him on his bed.’

The butler, still thin-lipped, nodded to the footmen who scrambled down the steps to pick up Tinmore’s lifeless form.

Dell helped Lorene stand.