The Dark Affair (25 page)

Thomas took a sip of his brandy; then his mouth worked as if the words in his throat tasted of poison. “Eva is in a madhouse.” He took another quick sip of brandy, his shoulders hunching. “Or rather, an asylum.”

The air in his lungs flew out of his chest with more force than any rifle butt blow could induce. For a moment, Ian could have sworn that Thomas hadn’t spoken at all. The blackguard’s mouth still worked, twisting, then pressing into a tight line as if that refuse he’d just spewed truly displeased him. “Explain,” Ian bit out, barely able to contain the sudden rage pumping through him.

Thomas took a long drink, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he gulped. He wiped his mouth with the back of his pale hand. “It happened after the boy. She simply went mad.”

Ian took a step forward. “What happened to Adam?”

“It was horrible. Absolutely horrible.” Thomas fiddled with his glass, then walked abruptly back to the silver liquor tray and poured himself another drink. As he dispensed another two fingers’ worth, he muffled, “Was her damn fault, you see.”

Her fault?

Ian dug his fingertips into his palms, tempted to go over and shake Thomas like the little rat he was. He’d imagined a thousand different outcomes to his homecoming. It had even struck him that Eva might throw him out of the house. “Thomas, I’m a military man. I need facts, not ramblings.”

“The facts?” He nodded. “It was November. Eva insisted on taking her curricle to the village for heaven only knows what reason. The stable hands tried to convince her the roads were bad from the rain. Only she wouldn’t listen. I think she was distraught over Hamilton’s death. Even then she wasn’t behaving quite right.”

How was a grieving widow supposed to behave? “Go on,” Ian said, breathing deeply to keep his voice even.

“Somehow she lost control. The wheel came off, I think, and the curricle crashed.”

Ian closed his eyes for a moment. It was almost easy to envision. The bodies flying in the air. The shriek of the crash and breaking metal and wood. “And Adam?”

“He was in a basket beside her on the front seat. The boy was flung from the vehicle. They found him not even ten feet from Eva. Her leg was broken and she was screaming for him.” Thomas coughed slightly. “All she did was scream.”

Opening his eyes, Ian swallowed back vomit. “Christ. But she was distraught. Her husband dead—her son, too.” Ian paused, barely able to believe the list of horrors unfolding before him. He’d thought nothing could shock him after his years in India. “Why is she in a madhouse?”

“Oh, Ian,” Thomas said softly. “You should have seen her. She walked the halls of the house nights on end. She screamed in starts. Sudden, violent fits. She insisted that someone else had killed Adam.”

Lord, he couldn’t even imagine. The little boy dead, thrown from a vehicle before the mother’s eyes. “Why would she do that?”

Thomas shrugged. “Guilt, no doubt. She couldn’t bear that if she had just listened, her boy would still be alive. After a few upsetting occurrences, I refused to be responsible for her. I could no longer guarantee her safety.”

“What in the hell does that mean?” Ian snapped.

“The gardeners found Eva walking into the lake. You know as well as I that Eva does not swim.”

“She tried to destroy herself—”

“Shh. To say such a thing . . .” Thomas took several steps forward and his shoulders tensed. “Most of the servants don’t know. The gardeners were paid and dismissed.” Thomas grimaced. “You may think I did wrong. But I had no wish to come across Eva hanging from a chandelier or sprawled at the bottom of the stair. Where she is now she can be protected.”

Ian lowered his gaze to the thick rug, woven no doubt in the land where he had just spent so many years. In the end, he’d betrayed both of his best friends, then. Hamilton and Eva. He closed his eyes for a moment, pain shooting through his skull. Ian crossed the room in a few short strides, towering over Thomas. “I want to see her.”

“Impossible.”

Ian grabbed Thomas’s lapel, his body so tense he thought it just might shatter. “You’re going to tell me where she is.” He shook Thomas hard enough that the man’s head snapped back. “And you’re going to tell me now.”