“Please stay here with me.”

“Of course.” I smiled at the duke, who nodded in return and walked off.

“Learn anything?” Phyllida asked when we were alone in our area of the carriage. She looked at me intently, gripping my arm with one hand. She must have believed our journey would prove Gattenger’s innocence, else she would never have withstood this train ride. She was terrified.

“Sir Henry was in love with Clara. Did you know about him? What did Clara think of him as a suitor?”

Phyllida leaned toward me and lowered her voice. “I’d seen Clara and Sir Henry together a few times before her marriage to Kenny. The last time she and Kenny called off their engagement, I thought she would marry Sir Henry, but he was disappointed.”

“Were their feelings equal, or did Sir Henry love Clara more than she did him?”

Phyllida pursed her lips together for a moment. “Their loves were different. Clara loved him like a brother. Sir Henry’s feelings were more romantic.”

“Was Sir Henry angry enough at Ken Gattenger to hire the burglar to steal the blueprints?” I asked.

“But Clara was killed.”

“Not the result that was expected or wanted. But what if Kenny was the one who was supposed to die?”

Phyllida’s eyebrows rose to the ceiling of the train carriage. “Then the Germans might not have anything to do with the burglary and we’ve been looking at this all wrong.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

WE both jumped when Sir Henry pulled over a chair and sat at my side. “I don’t think I’ve properly expressed my condolences on the death of your cousin Clara Gattenger,” he said to both of us.

“Thank you,” Phyllida said. Her face looked like it would crumble at any moment, but her eyes were fearful as she looked at him.

“I accused Sir Henry of being in love with Clara. I should apologize,” I said. It was a clumsy way to interrogate him again, but I needed to learn more without making him suspect I was more than a penniless widow and a chance thief.

“Please don’t apologize. You’re correct. I was a little in love with her. Had been for years. Not that anything inappropriate happened,” he rushed to assure us. “She saw me as a friend of her father’s. Nothing more.”

“I’m sure we all loved Clara,” Phyllida said and reached out a hand to Sir Henry. He grasped it for a moment and nodded over her fingers.

When he let go of Phyllida, I said, “I hope Clara’s not the reason you haven’t remarried. That’s not something she would have wanted.”

“No. I’ve grown used to having my freedom to come and go as I want. But, like my close relationship with Clara, I would like your friendship, Mrs. Monthalf.” He gave me a fearsome smile, teeth showing.

“As I would like yours. I’m sure you and I and the duke and Lady Peters can all be good friends.” I smiled, hoping he got the message that I wasn’t entirely friendless.

Sir Henry smiled broadly. “I hope we’re better friends than you are with them.” He took my hand and clutched it.

When he didn’t let me go, I said, “Tell me about your shipyard. You said it’s the most modern in Britain.”

He gazed into my eyes, looking uneasy. “Yes.”

“Installing new machinery must have cost a fortune.” I tried to pull free and failed.

“But it will be worth it in the end. I’ll be able to build ships faster and better to satisfy my customers.”

“Including the queen.”

“Her Majesty’s government is my biggest customer.”

I jerked my hand free. “With your important position in the industry, of course you were called on to bid on building Gattenger’s new warship.”

“Of course.”

“Did you discuss the bidding with Clara?”

“No, with Gattenger. He knew how keen I was to build the ship. If that warship lives up to expectations, it will make the reputation of both Gattenger and whoever is chosen to build the first models.” He stressed the “if.”

“And I imagine a tremendous windfall for the builder.”

He nodded. “Only if it floats. Otherwise, the shipyard that builds it will be ruined.”

I lowered my voice. “I told you, Gattenger said the design is sound.”

He studied me for a moment. “I hope you aren’t lying to me. That would be unwise.”

“The Admiralty heard doubts and had Kenny check his calculations again. All is well.” He moved as if to get out of his chair and I set a hand on his arm. “Did Clara know about your doubts?”

“No. I’d never tell her. When I talked to her the night before she”—he swallowed and swiped at his eyes—“was murdered, I’d planned to see Gattenger. Not Clara.”

Across the railway carriage, Lady Bennett and Lady Peters laughed at something Blackford had said. Tamping down jealousy, I focused on Sir Henry. “You spoke to our cousin the night before she died?”

He looked embarrassed to have admitted it. Then he glanced around to make sure no one could overhear us. “Kenny wasn’t there that evening. Being old friends, Clara kindly invited me in.”

“So you two were quite alone,” Phyllida said, for the first time looking fierce.

Sir Henry reared back. “It was nothing like that.”

“You kept quiet to protect her reputation?” Phyllida sounded as if she were interrogating Sir Henry.

“Exactly.”

“Where was Gattenger? Was he expected home soon?” I asked.

“Clara didn’t know where he’d gone or when he’d come back. She seemed lonely. Frightened. It wasn’t hard to see something was wrong.”

“Did she tell you what was bothering her?”

“She only said she was distressed. She refused to give me any details. Said it had nothing to do with me, that it was personal. Between her and Kenny. If only I’d pressed her harder to tell me, perhaps I could have done something to save her.”

“You think Gattenger killed his wife.”

“Isn’t it obvious, with something between her and Kenny upsetting her? Scotland Yard thinks so, too.”

“You’ve talked to Scotland Yard about your talk with cousin Clara the night before her death?” I’d have been surprised to learn he’d volunteered any information. He seemed to want to use anything he discovered for his own benefit.

“Of course not. The police would see it as another nail in Gattenger’s coffin. And Britain needs Gattenger alive designing ships.”

“Could your doubts about Gattenger’s warship design have led to her death?” I pressed him, not knowing how much longer I had until we’d arrive in Cheltenham Spa.

“If I thought I had done anything to lead to her death, even indirectly, I’d shoot myself. I adored Clara.” The pain in his eyes spoke of his honesty. I hoped the pain was real.

“When you saw her that last time, did you tell Clara how much she meant to you?”

Sir Henry blinked at my question. “No. Never. Gattenger was the one who wandered before their marriage. Clara stayed true to him, although I told her how much I cared for her while she was still free to choose me. In the end, Gattenger returned to her and I lost the love of my life.”

“I’d imagine Clara blamed Ken for their breakups if she blamed anyone. It usually is the male who’s the pursuer,” Phyllida said.

He glanced at Phyllida. “Not this time. Lady Bennett deliberately came between them, causing Clara to break off their engagement for the second time. That estrangement wasn’t as long as the first one, only a few weeks, but I took the opportunity to court Clara again.”

“‘Again’?” I was beginning to sound like a parrot. Hopefully Stanford would mark my verbal clumsiness down to being a middle-class colonial.