“Mr. Nizal and I rode back to your house.” He placed his napkin down and looked up at her. “There are some things we need to discuss, Meg.”
“Such as?” Her bravado was threatening to quit on her. She needed to stay strong. If she thought a life together was possible for them, she might convince herself to stay. She would not endanger Max and his family. Her uncle and Slade were both reprehensible people. She already knew her uncle was smearing her name for a reason she did not understand, but Slade—he was scary. She wanted no more pain to come to Lady Worsley. She had already caused enough. But this dinner…this time was hers. It had to be special.
* * *
Max was happy to have this meal with her. Quiet, almost alone. Meg was brimming with more energy than she had this morning. She seemed excited. She caught him studying her and broke into a big smile.
“Why are you looking at me like that? It is as if you are a cat and I am a bird.”
“Ha! I know you would give me a merry chase. I might never catch your tail feathers.”
She leaned her head back and laughed. Tears of mirth leaked from the corners of her eyes. It was so good to see her smile.
“If I knew you wished to fly about like a canary, I would have only had to mention it to Mother. She would have ordered all of your dresses in yellow.” He grinned and stirred his soup with his spoon.
“I hate yellow with my hair, I confess, but to fly about would be lots of fun.” They both laughed at the ridiculousness of it all. Max sensed she was finally relaxing. He hated to change the subject, but they had to discuss things.
“We found something.” He pushed his chair back slowly and studied her face. Could she handle this?
“Tell me. Nothing you could tell me is worse than what I have imagined.” Maggie put down her spoon. Her excitement evaporated. This would be a terrible evening because what he had to say was horrible. “The carriage. It was a lucky stroke that Mother had it moved here. Nizal and I found several things wrong with it, and they all looked to be intentional.”
Maggie’s eyes darkened with pain. “You are telling me that someone intended to murder my family? Who would do such a thing?” Her voice shook. “How do you know?”
“Someone cut both the traces and an axle on the carriage but attempted to make it appear an accident.” He stopped. “Look, I feel like we both had different ideas about how this evening would go. You came in happy, and I have ruined the evening by forcing you to relive the worst day of your life.”
“You are doing what must be done.” Her lower lip trembled as she spoke.
He resisted the urge to kiss her pain away. Meg was distraught, and he needed to comfort her. “Should we take a few moments away from dinner and perhaps sit on the settee?”
Meg shook her head. “I will be fine. I have lived through worse.” She sniffed and sat up straighter in the chair. “Your family has been kind enough to shelter me from whatever has been happening. We must see this through. Please continue.” She clasped her hands in front of her on the table.
“The problem was that the carriage was fairly new, and the wood had no bad places.” He reached over and clasped her frozen hands in his, squeezing them gently as he continued. “The person who did this severely damaged the rear axle and the traces, the straps connecting the horse to the carriage through the breeching bar. The breeching bar hangs between each horse and the vehicle. Either breaking would ensure a horrific accident. The rear axle succumbed first, probably because of the rough roads. When it broke, it sent the carriage careening off the bridge and into the overflowing river. Mother’s quick action probably preserved the evidence without the perpetrator realizing it still existed. The remaining axle shows sabotage, but not enough to have created an accident. And a piece of axle my footman salvaged from the river shows a clean cut. Meg, the person who did this planned the accident.”
She lost her ability to contain her tears. “That is horrible. Perfectly horrible. My little brother was only just learning to swim. My poor mother could not swim. If I had been there, I could have helped.” Her throat clogged with emotion. “I was told my father drowned trying to save them both.” Tears streamed down her face. “I lost my family only days before Christmas. I have never celebrated the holiday since.” A cry escaped her.
Max removed his handkerchief from his waistcoat and handed it to her before continuing.
“The water was frigid. One horse drowned and the other only made it because it stayed afloat, although no one could explain how. It would have been a challenge for the best swimmers. The person who planned this seemed to know your parents’ habits. They must have known they would be together in the carriage.” Max grasped her hands over the table and rubbed them. “This is important, Meg. You are in danger.”
“Me? But why? Who?” Her voice trembled with fear. “Slade? He has never hurt me, and when he was in the house, he left without hurting me… It makes no sense. This is all so evil.” She became pensive.
“I read your father’s will, and I could read the birth certificate. Some very important things came to light that we need to discuss. Once I discovered these facts, Nizal, and I returned to the house.” He squeezed her hands lightly. “The box was the key to your life. That it stayed intact and hidden all this time is a miracle. We can continue this discussion in the morning, if you would rather.” He lifted her hands and swirled his fingers around in her palms, hoping to calm her even more.
“No. Despite my show of tears, my spine
