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.’He snorted.‘Charles is no match for me, I assure you.’She could well believe that.Just as she knew Gabriel would have succeeded in seeing the danger of the unusual situation that existed at Faulkner Manor for himself if he were not so emotionally close to it all.If his displeasure at seeing Jennifer Prescott again had not clouded his powers of deduction…She gave a rueful smile.‘I doubt it matters either way now.’His gaze sharpened.‘How so?’She shrugged slender shoulders.‘If my suspicions are correct, and the lack of further medication succeeds in reviving your mother, then Mrs Prescott must know that we will quickly learn all about your mother’s life these past six years.’His expression was suddenly anguished.‘You seriously believe it is possible my mother has been lied to and deceived all that time? That she may have been kept as a virtual prisoner in her own home these past four months?’‘I think it is a possibility, yes,’ Diana answered carefully.‘With what purpose in mind?’ Gabriel shifted restlessly.‘What happened four months ago to bring about such a sudden change?’‘That is something only your uncle and his wife can answer…’‘Do you not have some other “theory” about that, too?’She flinched as she heard the bitterness in his tone.‘I do, yes.’‘I thought that you might,’ he sighed heavily.‘Obviously Charles and Jennifer have become accustomed to living here as your mother’s guests for six years, a comfortable and privileged existence that I am sure they greatly enjoy.You have also mentioned to me that your uncle is a man who likes to gamble and that he lost his own home because of it.’‘He did, yes.’‘So perhaps the answer lies there? Even larger gambling debts than in the past would mean they needed a tighter control of the estate? I really do not know the reasons why things changed four months ago, Gabriel.’ She spread her hands in apology.‘I can only say what I suspect.If I am wrong, then I shall apologise to all concerned.’‘You are not wrong.’ He spoke with flat finality, the bleakness of his expression now absolute.‘We cannot be sure—’‘Damn it, I can!’ His expression was savage.‘And the worst of it is that none of this would have occurred at all if I had persevered in visiting my mother after my father died.’‘Self-recrimination serves no purpose now, Gabriel—’‘It serves the purpose of easing some of my frustration with this situation.’ He began to pace the parlour.‘If all of this is true, and I have every reason to believe that it is, then I will strangle the Prescotts with my own bare hands.’‘Having her only son consigned to prison for the murder of his uncle and aunt will not aid in your mother’s recovery one little bit,’ she murmured.Gabriel’s eyes glittered vengefully.‘It would be worth it.’She crossed the room to lay her hand gently upon his arm.‘You know it would not.’ She smiled up at him gently.‘You love your mother very much, do you not?’He tensed.‘Always.’ His chin rose as if to challenge anyone who might dare him to make such a claim after the heartache his family had suffered on his behalf eight years ago.But it was a heartache Diana believed had never been of his making.‘I think, when you next speak to Mrs Prescott—’‘I do not intend doing anything so banal as speaking to her—’‘When you next speak to her,’ she repeated firmly, ‘you might also like to ask her who the father of her babe really was.’Gabriel became very still as he stared down at her, his expression changing from puzzlement, to shock, to total disbelief in the matter of only a few seconds.‘You cannot be suggesting—? You do not suppose it was Charles?’She raised her eyebrows at him.‘It is a thought, is it not? I am aware that it is not unusual for an arranged marriage such as the Prescotts’ was to find a measure of success, a mutual respect between them, at least.’ As Diana hoped that her own marriage to Gabriel would one day achieve.‘But I believe your uncle’s wife talks of her husband with more than just respect; I think that she is deeply in love with him.And she claimed earlier, very convincingly, that their marriage was a happy one.’‘I have every reason to believe that it is,’ he said thoughtfully.She gave a slight inclination of her head.‘My Aunt Humphries—who incidentally met both your mother and your Uncle Charles during her London Season almost thirty years ago—told me that he was then something of a charming rogue.Nowhere near the class of his disreputable nephew, of course,’ she teased.‘But a rogue, none the less.’Gabriel’s expression lightened only slightly.‘I can see that it is past time your aunt and I made each other’s acquaintance.’She laughed briefly.‘I doubt that would reassure her in the slightest!’‘Possibly not,’ he accepted drily, and just as quickly sobered.‘Do you really think it possible that Charles and Jennifer were intimately involved eight years ago and that the babe she carried was his all the time? Even worse, that they planned my disgrace together, knowing I would refuse to take responsibility for a child that categorically was not mine and so end up being disinherited by my father whilst Charles was paid handsomely to marry Jennifer?’Diana looked sad.‘I cannot answer those questions with any finality.But I do think all these matters are worth investigating further.’‘I really will strangle the pair of them if it should turn out to be the truth of it—’‘Gabriel…? Gabriel, is that you, my dearest boy?’He froze as if struck at the first sound of that soft and quavery voice calling from the adjoining room, his eyes widening with disbelief and his face becoming even paler as he registered his mother’s endearment.‘Go to her, Gabriel,’ Diana urged huskily, squeezing his arm briefly in encouragement before she stepped away from him.‘Come with me,’ he pleaded.She shook her head.‘I shall be waiting for you in my bedchamber when you and your mother have had a chance to talk together.’ She smiled up at him.‘No matter what time it is.’ Diana knew she would be unable to go to bed, let alone sleep, until she had heard whether or not he and his mother had managed to resolve their lengthy and, she suspected, completely unnecessary estrangement [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]