From Governess to Countess (Matches Made in Scandal #1)(16)
Aleksei drummed his fingers on his thigh, frowning off into the distance. ‘Felix was the first person to call on me to pay his condolences, though he was so grief-stricken himself, it was I who consoled him in the end. Michael’s man of business had fetched him from Peterhof Palace, some distance down river of here, where he had been staying when my brother died. It fell to my cousin, as Michael’s nearest male relative, to take charge of the funeral arrangements in my absence. Felix fully expected to take custody of the children too, and when he was informed of the change of guardianship it came as quite a shock.’
‘But if your logic is correct,’ Allison said, clearly struggling to keep track, ‘if this cousin did not know your brother had changed his will, then surely that makes him the prime suspect?’
‘Aside from the Orlova woman, you mean? Yes, I’m afraid that it does,’ he agreed heavily. ‘I find it very hard to believe, but as you point out, the logic is inescapable. I would give almost anything to prove his innocence, however.’
‘You must care a great deal for your cousin.’
‘The truth is I care more for what my cousin can do for me,’ Aleksei replied, ‘which is take my wards off my hands. Felix understands the workings of the palace and the court, and he’s much more familiar with the family estates than I am.’
‘Yet your brother clearly thought he was no longer suitable.’
‘I know, dammit. But until I find out why he changed his mind I cannot discount the possibility that it is somehow connected with his death.’
Allison was toying with one of her hairpins, absentmindedly bending it to form a circle. ‘Do you suspect anyone else?’
‘No one.’ Aleksei grimaced. ‘And everyone. I have gone through Michael’s accounts with a fine toothcomb and found no evidence of extortion, of shady dealings, property transactions or unusual payments or deposits. The political posts he held were much coveted but they now lie within Nikki’s gift—or mine, at the moment. No, if it was murder, and if it was not committed by either the Orlova woman or Felix, then the field is wide open. Assuming that we rule out a crime of passion which, believe me, knowing my brother, we can, the motive could be anything—revenge, a personal vendetta. Michael would have been privy to any number of potentially explosive secrets. Was he killed to silence him? Who knows?’
‘My head hurts,’ Allison said, screwing up her eyes.
Aleksei threw himself back heavily in the flimsy chair. ‘A disappearing governess, an ambiguous doctor’s report, a late change to my brother’s will. I know, it is not much to go on. I’ve had weeks of enforced incarceration in this great barrack of a place to reason it out, to tell myself that I’m being illogical, that everything is exactly as it seems, but I simply can’t bring myself to believe it. What it comes down to is that my gut is telling me something is not right, and I owe it to Michael to establish the true facts surrounding his death, no matter what that turns out to be. Can you help me get to the truth?’
*
She wanted to, very much. Aleksei might not have been close to his brother, but he was an honourable man who wanted to honour his brother’s memory, and a desperate man. She was entirely unprepared for the impossible task he had thrown at her, but what was it The Procurer had said, something about making the impossible possible? That mysterious woman had believed in her when all of London scorned her. And Aleksei believed in her too. So Allison had better start believing in herself.
She stared down at the hairpin which she didn’t remember mutilating. ‘Let me get this straight. You want me to establish whether or not your brother could have been poisoned?’
Aleksei nodded encouragingly. ‘And if he was, what was used, and how was it administered.’
Away and boil your heid, ya tumchie, was how her grandmother would have responded, but Allison did not have that luxury. Start from the basics, she told herself. ‘Is there a physic garden here at the palace?’
‘I know there is a herb garden, if that is what you mean?’
‘It could serve. I need to understand what plants grow locally, and whether they are different from what is available at home. But I’ll also need to know what can be purchased from an apothecary. I can easily visit a few, under the guise of stocking up my own herb chest.’
‘But surely apothecaries sell medicines not poisons?’
‘Some can act as both. Arsenic, for example, is used in many treatments including a whitening powder for the skin, though that is one of the most common poisons we can dismiss, because the symptoms don’t match. I shall compile a list, once I have studied the doctor’s report in more detail.’ She frowned. ‘How any poison could have been administered is a much more complicated question. I take it no one else in the palace displayed any symptoms similar to your brother?’
‘No. So if it was something he ate, only he alone ate it.’
‘There are other methods—but that is for me to investigate.’
‘Excellent!’ Aleksei clapped his hands together. ‘Which brings us to the second part of your duties, which is to take charge of my wards while I try to locate the missing governess. I plan to start with a visit to her family home, which is about three days’ travel from here. I have no idea how long I will be gone, a few weeks at most. I will have it put about that I’m touring the Derevenko estates, which are numerous and far flung. Don’t worry, I’ve made arrangements—’