An Unexpected Pleasure (The Mad Morelands #4)(79)

Megan sat in silence for a long moment, then said, “That is the most bizarre story I have ever heard.”

Theo sighed. “I know.” He turned. “I can understand why you would have trouble believing it. But I swear to you that it is the truth. I would never have hurt Dennis. In that short time he had become like one of my brothers.” He ground his teeth in frustration. “If I had had any idea what your family believed, I would have come to your father and told him the tale in full.” He paused, then said quietly, “I am not a murderer, Megan. I could never have killed your brother.”

Megan sighed, looking at him for a long moment. There were doubtless a hundred reasons why she should not believe Theo’s story. Her father, she knew, would simply assume that Theo was a smooth liar.

But deep inside, Megan knew that Theo was telling her the truth.

No matter how peculiar or unlikely the story he told was, he was not lying. It was there in his face, in his eyes.

Theo was not a murderer. She had known that, really, on some level, from the moment she’d met him. That was why she had had to struggle so hard to remember that he was a villain.

“I believe you,” she told him simply.

Theo’s brow went up in surprise. “Just like that? Really?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“For one thing, you are a terrible liar. For another, no one would ever have made up a story like that. If you were going to lie about it, you would have invented something much more plausible.”

The beginning of a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Perhaps you are right about that.”

“But why did Mr. Barchester lie about it? Why did he tell us that you killed Dennis?”

“I don’t know.” Theo looked as puzzled as Megan felt. “It makes no sense. He wasn’t even there when it happened. He was back at the base camp. All he knows is the story I told him—that Dennis had fallen, that he had died in an accident.”

“He did say that he couldn’t believe your story, that he questioned you and he was certain you were lying. Having seen you try to tell that story, I can understand why he thought you were lying.”

Theo grimaced. “But why make the leap from that to my murdering Dennis?”

“He was quite definite about it. He told us that you and Dennis had quarreled, and that you had stabbed Dennis,” Megan told him.

Theo stared at her. “He is lying. I cannot imagine why, but he made up that entire story.” He paused, shaking his head in disbelief. “I thought Andrew was a good man. He had been my friend. Even though we are no longer friends, I wouldn’t have thought he would spread such lies about me. And to what purpose?”

“I agree. It makes no sense. I plan to question him about it.”

Theo gave her a sharp look. “Not without me, you won’t. I was furious and sad about Dennis’s death, but I was certain that the priest who had killed him must have believed that Dennis was harming the village somehow. They were a peaceful, gracious people, and they had not harmed us. Indeed, they had taken care of me. I knew that whatever caused the fight, it had to have been a mistake. Besides, the whole village did not deserve to be punished for one man’s sin.”

“So you kept silent to keep the village’s secret.”

Theo nodded. “We agreed not to tell anyone, even Barchester, about what we found. We made up the story about the accident, and that is what we told Andrew. We used my illness as an excuse for packing up our camp and leaving immediately. And we returned to civilization.”

He stopped and turned to look at her. “You cannot know how much I have regretted what I did. I wished I had never taken that trip. I failed Dennis. I could not save him, and then I left him there. I should have brought his body back. I could never forgive Coffey for making me leave. I couldn’t forgive myself either. And now, I see how much I failed you and your family, too.”

Megan ignored the comment. “But I don’t understand. Why did you lie to Mr. Barchester about what happened? Why didn’t you just tell the truth?”

He sighed. “Looking back on it, maybe we shouldn’t have made up that story. I wasn’t thinking very clearly. My fever was still high, and even when it subsided, I was weak as a cat. It was all I could do to stay on my mount. Julian and I talked about it as we rode back to the base camp. The thing was, we didn’t want to reveal anything about the village. If you could have seen it—it was so pure and untouched by the modern world. We did not want it to be destroyed, as it surely would have been if word had gotten out about the fabulous treasure they had concealed in their cave.”

Theo came back to sit down beside her and took her hand in his. “Dennis was dead, and whatever we did could not bring him back.”

Megan curled her fingers around his. “You did your best, Theo. You were ill and weak. What else could you have done?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know. But it seems as though I should have done something.” He sighed. “That is why I had so much trouble writing to your father about it. Just to think of it was like a knife in my gut. It pained me to even see Andrew or Julian. We had been friends, but…” He shrugged. “It was never the same after that. I resented Coffey for making me leave. I could barely stand to talk to him after that. Unfair, I know, but…” He shrugged. “Every time I saw one of them, I thought of Dennis and his death. And how I had let him down.”