Forever My Love (Berkeley-Faulkner #2)(62)

“He’s coming this way—it’s clear that he intends to speak to you,” Melbourne said, and Alec’s mouth quirked in a cryptic half-smile.

“I wonder why.” God knew they’d had nothing to say to each other for years, not even at Holt’s funeral.

“Hello, Alec,” Carr said as he stopped in front of them, shaking hands with a sturdy grip.

After brief introductions were made, Melbourne took a step back and regarded them uneasily. “I must dance with my wife before I earn her disfavor with my inattention,” he said, looking from one Falkner to the other with unconcealed amusement. “Good to have met you,” he said to Carr, then turned to Alec with a wry smile and a nod. “My best wishes.”

“My thanks,” Alec said, his eyes resting thoughtfully on Melbourne as he left, knowing why that gentleman had been so perturbed. There were more than a few physical similarities between Alec and Carr, for they both possessed an abundance of Falkner traits. Like Alec, Carr had jet-black hair, strongly marked brows, a slight golden cast to his skin, brutally molded cheekbones, and an unyielding jaw. But Carr’s eyes were dark green instead of wintry gray, and Carr was shorter and slighter. His appearance spoke more of graceful elegance than of Alec’s solid power. “Dressed like a swell,” Alec commented, his gaze missing no detail of his cousin’s new and fashionably altered appearance. The unruly black locks had been shorn to a shining, immaculately trimmed crop, while his clothes of black, white, and buff were arranged to perfection. Quite different from the tumbled youth who had pored over piles of books.

“I should hope so,” Carr drawled, affecting a dandyish accent. “But this deuced getup cost me a sweet fortune, don’t you know.” “How was your journey?” Alec inquired flatly, and Carr sobered immediately.

“Pleasant. No, just tolerable.” His dark green eyes met Alec’s, and a brief flash of desperation illuminated Carr’s gaze. “Bloody awful,” he said. “I have to talk with you.”

“Talk your problems out with someone else,” Alec said softly. “You know as well as I that we don’t get along well with each other… and furthermore, I’m not generally regarded as the compassionate one in the family—”

“No, you’re not,” Carr interrupted, his expression twisting in self-doubt, as if he wondered why he had approached his cousin in the first place. “But you’re the only one who’ll understand.”

Conscious of the many pairs of eyes on them, Alec hesitated and then nodded slightly. “If you’re willing to risk the possibility of eavesdroppers.”

“No one is close enough to hear,” Carr said, his glance flickering around the room and then returning to Alec’s face.

“Go on, then.”

“The trip was miserable. With all the sights and sounds of the Continent spread before me, I couldn’t see anything. I couldn’t hear anything. I couldn’t sleep. Every night I thought about it, until I nearly tore my hair out in frustration. The unanswered questions are killing me, very slowly.”

“Holt?” Alec asked softly, and Carr nodded.

“Yes… Holt. I could accept his death if there was a reason for it. But there was no reason, there was no explanation at all for what happened to him and why he was…” Carr stopped and forced himself to speak more calmly. “I’ve got to find out why, I’ve got to find… Why are you looking at me like that?”

“You’re just a little too sincere about this. I’m wondering what you’re really after, and what these theatrics are really about.”

“Theatrics! Is it that difficult to believe that I cared for my own brother?”

“Yes. I know you, and I know how things were between you and Holt. You rarely had a word to say to each other.”

“I couldn’t talk to him,” Carr said, his gaze round and sincere. “I was too awed by him. You don’t understand how it really was… all my life everyone talked about how perfect he was… I tried to measure up to the standards he set… I failed every time. But I did care for him, and I’ve got to find out who killed him or I’ll wonder about it for the rest of my life. If I don’t at least try, I’ll never find any peace. You don’t know what the past months have been like—”

“I do,” Alec interrupted. There was a raw note in his voice that momentarily silenced the younger man. “But there were no leads. No clues.”

“We can search for them.”

“Do you think,” Alec inquired coolly, “that it is going to do either of us any damned good to dredge this over and over? It’s taken long enough for me to accept what happened—”

“I haven’t even been able to get that far,” Carr said miserably. “Alec, you’re the last one I thought I’d have to convince to help me look for Holt’s killer. I thought you cared for him as much as—”

“Damn you,” Alec said, his eyes suddenly flashing. “If you’re going to fling words so foolhardily, you little pup, then we’ll continue this conversation outside. Holt was more a brother to me than my own. Another comment like that and I’ll thrash you damned cheerfully… or call you out, which is probably more what you deserve.”

“I’m sorry,” Carr said, hanging his black head. The sight brought him back so many memories of a penitent Holt that Alec looked away and gritted his teeth.