A Fiancée's Guide to First Wives and Murder Read online

  “She threw a rock at their party as they walked from the carriage to the house.”

  Three of us gasped at Delaney’s pronouncement. Miss Teskey pouted. George rounded on her.

  “A rock? What were you thinking?”

  “It was an impulse of the moment. I was passing Marlborough House, and by coincidence, a carriage arrived. I saw Michael and Sophie emerge and thought to speak with them.” Her face took on an angry expression. “I called out to them and approached, and then a groom took hold of my arm and pulled me away. They took no notice of me, as if I were no one. When the groom let me go, I picked up the tiniest of pebbles.” She whirled her dainty hand in the air. “And I may have thrown it at them.”

  The woman was demented. Truly demented.

  Delaney cleared his throat. “The size of the rock wasn’t noted in the report, but I’ll add that the Prince of Wales was a member of their party, and the sentry at the gate did not take kindly to Miss Teskey’s actions. A constable was summoned. He collected her and brought her to my precinct.”

  George cut a horrified glance at the woman. “Gad, Irena! Next time write the man a letter.”

  “As I said, it was just an impulse. I was angry Michael Mikhailovich wouldn’t acknowledge me.”

  “Did he even know who you were? After all, he would have no expectation of seeing you in such surroundings.”

  She shrugged.

  George released an impatient huff and turned to Delaney. “I understand why she was arrested, but how does she come to be here? What has Lady Harleigh to do with this?”

  “That’s a bit of a story.”

  My stomach was in knots. I couldn’t look at either man. I dropped my face into my hands, silently urging Delaney to ask the question.

  He cleared his throat. I peeked through my fingers. “I was at the precinct when they brought the young lady in,” he began, “and when I heard her mention your name—”

  George’s eyes widened. “My name?”

  “I thought it best to take control of the situation and brought her to your house.”

  “My house?”

  “For heaven’s sake!” I rose to my feet. “Is she your wife?”

  “My what?” George jumped away from Miss Teskey as if he’d been burnt. “Gad, no!”

  Hetty let out a gasp. “Frances, where did you come by such an idea?”

  Delaney and I turned our gazes to Miss Teskey, who stared up at George with her arms crossed, her haughty exterior crumbling just a bit. In a blink, her hand shot out and thumped him in the chest. “What do you mean, ‘Gad, no!’ ”

  “Did you tell Inspector Delaney we were married? You and I? Together?” The pitch of his voice rose with each word and held a distinct note of hysteria.

  “And what is wrong with being my husband?” She stabbed her finger into his chest again and again. Hetty scooted aside as George retreated.

  “What’s wrong with it? This for one thing.” He caught her finger in his fist. “Stop poking me.”

  By this point, my emotions had been put through a mangle and were now stretched and limp. Enough of this confusion. “Are the two of you married or not?”

  He jerked his head up, our gazes locked, and it seemed he finally noticed my anguish. His expression softened as he crossed the room to me and, with no regard for anyone else, placed his palm on my cheek. “My dear Frances, there has only ever been you for me. I’m so sorry this misunderstanding has caused you distress, but I can assure you, Irena and I are not married.”

  It felt as if I had been pulled from a raging sea and my feet set on solid ground again. I found myself in desperate need of the arm he slipped around my waist.

  Across the room, my rival stamped her foot. “Yes, we are.”

  “This is all very confusing,” Hetty muttered.

  “Some further explanation does seem to be in order,” Delaney added.

  As much as I hated to lose the sanctuary of George’s arms, I stepped aside and settled myself on the sofa, bringing him with me. Miss Teskey had shaken me to the core. I, too, wanted an explanation. As this was my home, I supposed I should take charge of the situation. Perhaps with George here, we could make some sense of her story.

  “Aunt Hetty, Miss Teskey, please join us. We’ll all have some tea and talk this out civilly.”

  “We’ll need something stronger than tea, my dear.” Hetty ambled over to the drinks cabinet and pulled out a bottle of brandy. “This should do.”

  “There is nothing to talk out. Hazelton is my husband, and I will not sit and chat with people who refuse to believe me.” With a scowl, Miss Teskey crossed her arms over her chest, as if daring anyone to make her speak.

  George took the dare. “Irena, you spoiled child, you’ve already caused enough trouble for these good people. Come over here this instant and explain yourself.”

  “I won’t!”

  Hetty stepped up to the tea table with a tray of glasses, all filled halfway with brandy. None of us would make any sense once we finished these. Delaney declined the brandy and took a chair at the end of the rectangular table. Hetty glanced over her shoulder at Miss Teskey who stood stubbornly apart from us. “If you’d like some refreshment, dear, I’ll leave it for you here on the table.” She gave the woman a nod and set the glass in front of an empty seat.

  Miss Teskey squared her jaw and pushed her hair behind her shoulder. “Thank you. I believe I will.” She took the chair and swept up the glass. After swirling the liquid under her nose, she took a sip and glanced at Hetty. “A very good vintage.”

  “Well, of course,” Hetty replied. “Drink up, dear.”

  How had I ever thought I had control of this situation?

  George slipped forward on the sofa and rested his elbows on his knees. “Let me see if I understand how this all came about.” He turned to Delaney. “After Irena was arrested, you heard her say she was my wife, so you brought her to my home to verify her claim with me. Is that correct?”

  “And to put a stop to any gossip as quickly as possible. You are not exactly unknown to the Metropolitan Police, and neither is your engagement to Lady Harleigh. I could imagine the rumors spreading.”

  “Thank you for that. I only wish I’d been at home when you called.” He drew my hand from my lap and caressed it. “I’m so sorry you’ve been imposed upon in this way.”

  “It was distressing, but I feel much better now. Can you explain why she claims to be married to you?” I lowered my voice to a whisper. “Is she insane?”

  I glanced up in time to see the woman in question glaring at me in haughty disdain. “So, you’ve had a difficult morning, have you? How do you think mine has been? And the two of you are not making it any better. Why do you comfort her while I am sitting right here? I, your wife. Remember me?”

  “I remember you perfectly well, Irena.” George held firmly to my hand. “I also remember you were a child when we met. No one would have married us, and I would have been a cad to have attempted it.”

  “She said you rescued her from an abductor.”

  He nodded. “Indeed. It’s a poorly kept secret that Irena is the daughter of Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich. Living in a small village, with only the Teskeys for protection, she was subject to abduction with alarming frequency.”

  Hetty sipped her brandy and frowned. “I can’t keep all those Romanovs straight. Which one is he?”

  “Brother to the last czar. Uncle to the current one,” George said.

  “Why should there be any secrecy involved?”

  Miss Teskey gave her a long look. “You British would say I am his natural daughter.”

  “I’m not British, my dear, but—oh—I see.” Hetty hid her pinkening face behind her glass.

  “Isn’t Alexei the naval commander?” I asked.

  “He is,” George said. He could hardly raise a child on board a ship, but he became responsible for her when her mother passed away.”

  “She was murdered,” Miss Teskey added, swirling the liquid
in her glass.

  George pressed a hand against his eyes. “She died in childbirth, which is bad enough. No need to make it more dramatic.”

  “I heard her husband murdered her in a jealous rage,” she insisted. “The Teskeys told me this.”

  “I’m not sure the Teskeys were the best of guardians.”

  Considering she’d been subjected to several abductions, I was inclined to agree. I was also inclined to feel a slight twinge of sympathy for her, raised without a father or mother, part of a royal family, but forced to remain outside of it due to her illegitimacy.

  Then I recalled the way she had tortured me over the past hour, trying to convince me she was George’s wife, and I hardened my heart. “She said the two of you spent a night on the road together. That’s why you married.”

  George released a tsk. “That story and the marriage exist only in her imagination. The criminal left a trail any fool could follow. He was holding Irena in a small cottage in the same village where she’d been living.”

  Miss Teskey frowned, as if giving this some thought, then shook her head. “No, that is not how it happened at all.”

  “Before we go into all that, I’d like to determine what we are to do about her attack on the grand duke.” Delaney had been quietly listening for so long, his words came as a surprise. “If Miss Teskey is his cousin, and it appears that she is, why did he allow her to be arrested?”

  The young woman examined her fingernails. “It’s possible he didn’t know who I was.”

  “Have you ever met one another?” George asked.

  “Many years ago. Long before you and I met.” She gave him a sweet smile. “He wouldn’t have known my face, but he would have recognized my name had I been given the opportunity and the common courtesy of an introduction. That guard overreacted.” She gestured to her admittedly small person. “Do I look as if I could hurt someone?”

  George rubbed his chest. “You do have dangerously sharp fingers.”

  “And you did throw a rock,” I reminded her.

  “A small stone, a mere pebble.” She sighed. “I simply wanted the man’s help. I was threatened, and I hoped he would offer his protection.”

  “Protection? Never say someone is trying to abduct you again?” Hetty leaned back to take the woman in.

  “No.” She paused, placing a slender finger to her lips. She looked the picture of innocence. “But someone has threatened my life. I have letters.”

  Delaney pinched the bridge of his nose. He must have thought he was on the verge of escaping this situation. Unfortunately, it did nothing but grow more complicated with each passing minute. “Why did you not mention this when you were at the police precinct? Do you have the letters now?”

  “They are at the theater.” She tipped her head, her gaze drifting upward, as she thought. “Or I may have left them in my rooms.”

  George broke in. “Why would you leave them at a theater?”

  “Not a theater,” she corrected. “My theater.”

  “She’s an actress,” I said.

  “And I own the theater.” She shrugged. “With a partner.”

  “Let’s return to the threatening letters,” Delaney said. “Do you know who they’re from?”

  She shook her head. “They are unsigned, but recently, I noticed a man following me. Perhaps they are from him.” She paused, her glass poised before her lips. “Or maybe they came in the post.”

  For someone who’d gone to such lengths to obtain assistance with this matter, she seemed wholly untroubled by it now. George and I shared a glance as Delaney continued with his interview.

  “What sort of threats were they, and when did you receive them?”

  “A week or two after I arrived in London, I received the first one. It hinted that it wasn’t safe for me to be here. The next one came the following week. It said, ‘Go away, or you will die.’ ”

  I stared, wondering if this was another of her fairy tales.

  Hetty looked incredulous. “And you never went to the police?”

  Again, she shrugged. I couldn’t discern if she was genuinely unconcerned or if that careless shrug of hers was just a habit, like a tic or a twitch.

  “Seriously, my dear,” Hetty continued, “you are taking this far too casually. The only help you sought was from your cousin, and as a result of that encounter, you were arrested?”

  “Exactly. This is what happens when I ask for help.” With a sigh, she tipped her head back and drained her glass.

  Delaney opened his notebook to a blank page. “What do you know of the man who was following you?”

  She spread her hands. “Nothing.”

  George released a groan. “He means, what did the man look like? How long has he been following you? Where have you seen him?”

  “Why are you snapping at me? I am the one who was threatened. I am the innocent party.”

  “Forgive me for snapping, Irena, but will you please answer the questions?”

  “I’m not sure I can. I’ve seen him around the theater, but there are always men milling about backstage, and I can’t tell one from the other. He was just an average man. Will that do?”

  “There you go, Inspector.” George’s words were clipped. “Simply arrest every average man in London.”

  I touched his arm, hoping it would remind him to moderate his tone. With a glance at me, he added a note of concern to his voice. “What made you feel threatened by him? Did he say anything to you? Did you see him anywhere other than the theater?”

  She seemed to have a difficult time recalling. “Perhaps. Why don’t you go to my rooms and look around for him?”

  George bounced his palm on the arm of the sofa. “Capital idea. I should have no trouble recognizing him with the vivid description you’ve provided.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “You are not being kind.”

  “I’m not feeling kindly at the moment.” He leaned forward. “You say someone has been following you, but you did nothing about it until you learned your cousin was in London. Are you just trying to gain your father’s attention again?”

  “Hardly. My father is fully absorbed in his own life. Between his loves and his travels, even his son cannot obtain his attention, and I don’t even bother. I tell you I have been followed and threatened. Check the theater or my rooms. You’ll find the letters.”

  “All right.” Delaney abruptly came to his feet. “Before I can investigate your claim, I need to find out if the Crown plans to file charges against you.”

  “Against me?”

  “Once I explain who you are, I suspect none will be filed.”

  “You tell Michael Mikhailovich I expect some assistance from him.” She tapped her finger on the arm of the chair as she issued the order.

  “I’m not likely to see him face-to-face, ma’am, to convey your message. I’m also afraid you’ll have to return to the precinct with me until we get this cleared up. Once we do, I’ll investigate those threatening letters.”

  Outrage surged into her eyes. The breaths she drew were probably meant to calm her but served only to fan her anger, until she slammed her palm on the table. “I refuse to go with you. You wish to lock me up, and I have done nothing wrong.”

  “He cannot take you back to your rooms and leave you to your own devices,” I said. “Besides, if you really are being followed, you won’t be safe.”

  She turned her wide eyes to Delaney. “But didn’t you bring me here to release me into the custody of my husband?”

  “Don’t start that again.” George came to his feet, shaking a finger at her. “I’m not your husband.”

  “You are my husband, and you will take responsibility for me, or I’ll make sure every policeman at this prison knows you are abandoning me.”

  “I’m not taking you to prison, ma’am.”

  If Miss Teskey had heard Delaney, she gave no sign of it. “Once I am released from prison, I will go to the papers and tell them you and my cousin have both turned your backs on me.”<
br />
  I groaned. Once a story like this took hold, it could take weeks before the truth came out, and even then, the stench of scandal could linger indefinitely.

  “Irena, you know you are not my wife.”

  “I know nothing of the sort. Either I stay with you, under your protection, or I tell all of London society that my husband is betrothed to the Countess of Harleigh.”

  Chapter Four

  George pinched the bridge of his nose. “Irena, Irena. I’d forgotten how exhausting you can be.” He dropped his hands to his sides. “Fine. If Inspector Delaney is willing to leave you in Lady Harleigh’s custody, you may stay.”

  “I beg your pardon?” I gaped at him, resentment stiffening my spine. What was he thinking? “Have you just invited your wife to stay in my home?”

  The little baggage preened. “I believe he did.”

  “You’re not my wife. She’s not my wife and—” With a sound of exasperation, he took hold of my wrist and drew me to my feet. “If you’ll all excuse us, we need a moment in private.”

  “I should think so.” Aunt Hetty returned to the drinks cabinet for the brandy bottle as George led me from the drawing room out to the hall. With a self-satisfied smirk, Miss Teskey watched us leave until he closed the door on our audience and turned to face me. I met his gaze with a very cold one of my own.

  “You cannot mean for that woman to stay in my home.”

  “Considering the alternative, that’s exactly what I mean. You don’t know the trouble she can cause for us. I do. When she says she’ll go to the press, she will.”

  I planted my hands on my hips. “You may recall I have some personal experience with the press. Anyone from Delaney’s precinct may have already sold this sordid little story. A reporter might even have been there when Delaney brought her in. Odds are the newspapers will find out all about Miss Teskey and her claims with or without her assistance.”

  “Perhaps, but without her confirmation, or mine, the most the papers can do is report that a woman calling herself Mrs. Hazelton was arrested. It can easily be put down to a misunderstanding, and the story squelched in a day. If Irena talks to them, there’s no telling what sort of tale she’ll concoct. The scandal will spread all over town.” He placed his finger under my chin, then tipped my head up to meet his gaze. “You’ve never been the subject of scandal, and that’s what this would be. To all of society, you’d be engaged to a man with a living wife.”