“There were rumors that his father had lost money in a stock scheme.”
“Really?” Jasper looked at the other man. “The town house is in Lincoln Inns Field.”
“An expensive part of London for a man with no inheritance.”
“He has the money to tour Italy and Greece,” Jasper mused.
“And France.”
“What?” Jasper stopped.
It took a moment for Munroe to realize he’d paused. He turned from several paces ahead. “Matthew Horn was in Paris this last fall.”
“How can you know this?”
Munroe cocked his head, turning his good eye toward Jasper. “I may be a recluse, but I’m in correspondence with naturalists in England and the Continent. I received a letter from a French botanist this winter. In it he described a dinner party he went to in Paris. It was attended by a young Englishman called Horn who had been in the Colonies. I think this must be our Matthew Horn, don’t you?”
“It’s possible.” Jasper shook his head. “What would he be doing in Paris?”
“Seeing the sights?”
Jasper arched a brow. “When we are enemies with the French?”
Munroe shrugged. “Some would see my correspondence with my French colleague as subversive.”
Jasper sighed, feeling weary. “It’s a mare’s nest. I know I’m chasing possibilities that are vague at best, but I can’t forget the massacre. Can you?”
Munroe smiled bitterly. “With the memories engraved on my face? No, I can never forget.”
Jasper tilted his face to the breeze. “Why don’t you come visit us, my lady wife and me, in London?”‹Lon">“Children cry when they see me, Vale.” Munroe stated it as an unemotional fact.
“Do you even go to Edinburgh now?”
“No. I go nowhere.”
“You’ve imprisoned yourself in your castle.”
“You make it sound like a tragedy on the stage.” Munroe’s mouth twisted. “It’s not. I’ve accepted my fate. I have my books, my studies, and my writing. I am . . . content.”
Jasper looked at the other man skeptically. Content to live in a big drafty castle with only a dog and a surly manservant for company?
Munroe must’ve known that Jasper would argue the point. He turned back toward the mansion. “Come. We haven’t broken our fast, and no doubt your wife waits for you inside.”
He strode ahead.
Jasper cursed and followed. Munroe wasn’t ready to leave his safe nest, and until the stubborn Scot was ready, there was no use arguing. Jasper only hoped that Munroe would budge in this lifetime.
“THAT MAN IS sorely in need of a housekeeper,” Melisande said as their carriage drove away from Sir Alistair’s castle. Suchlike’s head was already nodding in the corner.
Vale shot an amused look at her. “You didn’t approve of his linens, my heart?”
She pinched her lips together. “The musty linens, the dust on every surface, the nearly empty larder, and that horrible, horrible manservant. No, I certainly did not approve.”
Vale laughed. “Well, we’ll stay on clean sheets tonight. Aunt Esther said she was eager to see us on our return trip. I think she wants to hear gossip about Munroe.”
“No doubt.”