An Unexpected Pleasure (The Mad Morelands #4)(59)

“It’s soft you sound about these people. I figure the next thing you’ll be telling me is Theo Moreland is innocent.”

“No,” Megan said, with an unconscious sigh. “I don’t think he is innocent. But I have not been able to prove it yet. I haven’t found a trace of a pendant or anything else that he might have taken from Dennis. I have tried to ask him a few questions about the trip, but he’s very close-mouthed about it.”

She related their trip to the museum and the way he had acted there, the few things he had said about his trip up the Amazon.

“Where have you looked in the house?” her father asked.

“Everywhere,” Megan replied dispiritedly. “Well, everywhere I could get in. There is a locked room by the butler’s pantry where they keep the silver, I think, and there is a safe in the duke’s study, but I don’t know how to break into either of those. I did check the duke’s collection room, which seemed the likeliest place to me, but everything there is Greek or Roman.”

“What about his bedroom?” Deirdre asked.

Megan looked at her sister, hoping that no blush would creep into her cheeks to betray even a hint of what had happened in Theo’s bedroom. “Yes, I looked there, but I found nothing. I—I didn’t have much time. It’s difficult to find a chance to go in there without getting caught. But I will go back some night when he is out of the house. I just wish we knew more about what I’m looking for.” She paused, then asked, “Have you had any more dreams?”

Deirdre nodded. “Yes, Dennis has come to me twice more. But he said nothing more than what he’s already told me.”

“Couldn’t you ask him a question?” Megan asked. “What this thing is we’re looking for, maybe?”

Her sister gave her a disparaging look. “Megan, it’s not like that. I’m not even conscious. Mostly I just feel these emotions coming from him—grief and loss and a need for our help. Believe me, I wish it was all clearer.”

“I wish I could talk to Mr. Barchester again,” Megan mused.

“Why, we can ask him,” Frank said. “Next time he comes over. What is it you want to know?”

Megan looked at her father in surprise. “Mr. Barchester has been here?”

“Yes. He has come to call three times now.” Frank smiled, casting a glance over at his other daughter. “I’m thinking ’tis Deirdre he’s coming to see, not me.”

Megan’s gaze went to Deirdre. “The man’s courting you?”

Deirdre blushed. “No, of course not. Da…don’t exaggerate.”

“What? Exaggerating, is it? Why else would he keep popping in?” Frank Mulcahey’s eyes, so like his daughter’s, twinkled merrily.

“Are you interested in him?” Megan asked Deirdre, happy to be diverted from the subject of Theo and the search for incriminating evidence.

“I scarcely know the man,” Deirdre protested, but the small smile that played about her lips belied her attempt at indifference.

“You are interested in him!” Megan cried and leaned closer to her sister. “All right. Tell me everything.”

Deirdre chuckled. “There is nothing to tell. Really. He’s come over here a few times, and he is very nice and polite. But he’s done nothing to indicate any particular interest in me.”

“I should think not, with your own father sitting right here,” Frank said.

“His coming here three times when there was no reason for him to come even once is a pretty clear indication of a particular interest in you,” Megan retorted. “What I want to know is whether you have any particular interest in him.”

“Of course not. Don’t be silly,” Deirdre admonished.

“What’s silly about it?”

“He lives in England, for one thing,” Deirdre pointed out. “I’ll be going back to New York soon, and that will be the end of that. So ’twould be foolish to have feelings for the man.”

“Sometimes you have feelings whether it’s foolish or not,” Megan responded, and was aware of a sudden small stab of pain at her own words. She knew all too well how difficult it was to control one’s feelings.

“Well, I don’t and I won’t,” Deirdre said firmly. “But I will ask him something for you, if you like. What is it you want to know?”

Pulled back to the subject of Theo’s crime, Megan said, “I’m not sure. I would like him to think it over again and see if any more thoughts occur to him. Any more memories. If I just had some idea what the pendant looked like, or any more details of how Dennis was killed, maybe I could ask Lord Raine some pertinent questions. It would help a great deal if I knew exactly what I was searching for.”

“I will ask him,” Deirdre promised. “Now…let’s just put all this away and have a nice afternoon together. It has been so long since I’ve seen you.”

“I know. I’ve missed you terribly,” Megan agreed. “Both of you.”

So they settled down to a hearty meal, followed by an afternoon spent talking. The time passed quickly, and all too soon Megan had to start back to Broughton House. She bade goodbye to her father, and Deirdre followed her out the door.

As soon as they stepped outside, Deirdre laid a hand on Megan’s arm and said in a quiet voice, “I have to tell you something.”