your nap, too, Olivia.'
Her daughter didn't want to leave. Jade insisted. She took Olivia's hand and pulled her along.
'I'm not a baby, Mama.'
'I know you're not, Olivia,' Jade answered. 'And that's why you only take one nap a day. Joanna takes two.'
Alesandra sat down on the settee and watched Jade drag her daughter out of the room. Nathan stood in the doorway.
'Do you want me to go after Catherine?' he asked.
She shook her head. 'I'm just a worrier, Nathan. I'm certain it will be all right.'
The front door opened just then and both Caine and Colin walked inside. Caine stood in the foyer talking to
Nathan, but Colin immediately went into the salon to his wife. He sat down beside her, hauled her up against him, and kissed her.
'Well?' she demanded when he began to nuzzle on the side of her neck and didn't immediately tell her what happened.
'He's probably guilty,' Colin announced.
Caine and Nathan walked inside to join them. Alesandra nudged Colin so he would quit nibbling on her earlobe. Her husband let out a sigh before straightening away from her. He smiled when he saw her blush.
'He had motive and opportunity,' Colin remarked then.
Caine heard his brother's comment. 'I think we're trying to make this more complicated than it really is. I'll admit it's… convenient.'
Colin nodded. He pulled out his list. 'All right, sweetheart. Here are your answers. First, Neil denies that he went with his sister to meet a man calling himself her admirer. Second, he swears he didn't know anything about an insurance policy. And third, he vehemently denies being involved with Lady Roberta.'
'I expected those answers,' Alesandra announced.
'He wasn't much of a brother to Victoria,' Caine interjected. He sat down and let out a loud yawn.
'What about my other question to Neil?'
'Which one was that?' Colin asked.
'I wanted the names of the suitors Victoria turned down. He mentioned there were three when he visited me and I thought those rejections might be important. Honestly, Colin, did you forget to ask him?'
'No, I didn't forget. There was Burke-he's married now so he wouldn't count-and Mazelton.'
'He's getting married soon,' Caine interjected.
'And?' Alesandra asked when Colin didn't continue. 'Who was the third man?'
'Morgan Atkins,' said Caine. Colin nodded. Alesandra glanced over at Nathan. He was frowning. 'Colin, isn't Morgan a friend of yours?' he asked.
'Hell, no,' Colin answered. 'He probably wants to throttle me about now. He blames me for a situation that developed and he messed up.'
Nathan leaned forward. 'Would he blame you enough to come after your wife?'
Colin's expression changed. He started to shake his head, then stopped himself. 'It's a possibility,' he admitted. 'Remote, but… what are you thinking, Nathan?'
His partner turned to look at Alesandra.
They said her name in unison. 'Catherine.'
Chapter 15
'We did not panic.'
'Yes, we did,' Alesandra replied. She smiled at her husband while she contradicted him, then turned her attention back to her task.
Both she and her husband were in bed. Colin was stretched out on his back and had pillows propped behind his head. Alesandra knelt at the foot of the bed. She wrung out another long strip of cotton and applied it to her husband's leg. The heat from the water made her fingers red, but the mild discomfort was certainly rewarded by Colin's loud sighs of pleasure.
Her husband had barely grumbled when she had handed him the list of suggestions Sir Winters had made. He refused both pain medication and liquor, but he took the time to explain why. He didn't wish to become dependent on either and so he went without, regardless of how painful the leg became.
The hot cloths helped take the cramp out of his calf, however, and as long as she kept him busy thinking about something else, he forgot to be sensitive or embarrassed about the scars.
He certainly wasn't embarrassed about the rest of his body. He was a bit of an exhibitionist, too. Alesandra wore a prim pink and white high-necked sleeping gown and matching robe. Colin wasn't wearing anything. His hands were stacked behind his head, and when he let out another long sigh, she decided her husband was thoroughly uninhibited with her… and just as content.
'I will admit Caine did run around a bit, but only because there was the slightest chance Morgan might somehow be involved.'
'Ran around a bit? Surely you jest, Colin. The man picked up his wife and tossed her into his open carriage, then went racing toward the park after Catherine.'
Colin grinned over the picture. 'All right, he did panic. I didn't, however.'
She let out an inelegant snort. 'Then I didn't see you leap over the side of their carriage so you wouldn't be left behind?'
'Better safe than sorry, Alesandra.'
'And all for nought,' she said. 'Catherine would have died of mortification if Caine and you had caught up with her. Thank heaven Morgan took her home before her brothers spotted her. This is all my fault, by the way.'
'What's all your fault?'
'I got everyone all worked up,' she admitted. 'I shouldn't have made your relatives so worried.'
'They're your relatives, too,' he reminded her.
She nodded. 'Why do you think Victoria turned Morgan down?'
The switch in topics didn't throw Colin. He was getting used to the way his wife's mind raced from one thought to another. She was an extremely logical woman-damned intelligent, too-and for those reasons he no longer shrugged off any concerns she might have. If she wasn't completely convinced Neil was the culprit, then he wasn't completely convinced either.
'Morgan's up to his neck in debt and could very well lose his estates.'
'How do you know that?'
'Richards told me,' he answered. 'Maybe Victoria thought she could do better.'
'Yes,' Alesandra agreed. 'That is possible, I suppose.'
'Sweetheart, let's go to bed.'
She scooted off the bed and put the bowl of water on the bench near the window. Then she removed the wet strips from his leg, folded them, and put them next to the bowl.
'Colin, are you feeling guilty because you wouldn't listen to me when I tried to talk to you about Victoria?'
'Hell, yes, I'm feeling guilty. Every time you brought up the topic, I told you to leave it alone.'
'Good.'
He opened one eye to look at her. 'Good? You want me to feel guilty?'
She smiled. 'Yes,' she answered. She took off her robe, draped it over the edge of the bed, and began unbuttoning her gown. 'It's good because I now have the upper hand in negotiating.'
He grinned over her choice of words and her expression. She looked so serious. 'What exactly do you want to negotiate?'
'Our sleeping arrangement. I'm going to sleep in your bed all night, Colin. It won't do you any good to
