“Not Duncan’s first choice of occupation, but it did afford him the opportunity to pursue the science of death, and I daresay he enjoys that far more than he would a standard surgical practice. His interest has always been in the science.”
“A researcher rather than a practitioner. Whereas your chemistry is more practical? Or more research oriented as well?”
Her lips twitch. “I do believe you have turned this conversation intosomething of an interrogation, Detective. Learning what you can about those around you. I will play along. My chemist’s trade involves both the sale of medicines and the study of new formulations. That poses problems for me professionally. Women may ply their trade as natural healers, with herbs and a mortar and pestle, but when it comes to proper chemistry, it raises the specter of poison. My products are primarily traded through third parties, like Mr. Bruce, who is a chemist in his own right, but not a very good one.”
“So he buys your medicine and passes it off as his own. Hope you charge him extra for that.”
She smiles. “I should. A surcharge for improving his professional reputation.”
“And you’ve been doing that since your husband passed? Or have you always done it?”
She shakes her head at me. “Youdowant all the sordid details. All right then. Let us get this out of the way. I married young. I married foolishly. A handsome classmate of Duncan’s who swept me off my feet, mostly by insisting that my family scandal did not matter to him.”
“Seems like a low bar.”
“A low bar,” she murmurs. “Yes, it should be the lowest possible bar for a suitor to vault, but he was the first to do it.”
I frown. “I’m sure your father wasn’t the only guy in this world with an illegitimate child. Is it because he brought your brother into the household?”
She glances at me and then at the door. “It is not…” She clears her throat. “It is not the fact of Duncan’s existence as much as the fact that we accepted him as an equal, given his…” Another throat clearing. “Unique heritage.”
“Ah, because he’s a person of color.”
“Is that what you call it? I might have hoped you’d have needed no special term, but yes. Our mother embraced him, and we followed her lead. Or I did and our eldest brother did. Our sister did, too, until she found that society accepted her far better if she distanced himself from her half brother and our unfathomable attachment to him.”
“Damn. Okay. So maybe it wasn’t such a low bar to hurdle after all. I didn’t realize it would be such a big deal for you.”
“It is a bigger deal to Duncan, and whenever I face scrutiny for myacceptance of him, I remind myself how much worse it is for him. So yes, accepting me in spite of that put Lawrence in very good stead. It did not hurt that he was handsome and witty and clever, and if Duncan warned me against him, well, that was my little brother being overly protective and so terribly sweet of him. It became far less sweet when Duncan tried to interfere with the courtship and brought our mother to his side, forcing me to elope.”
“Ouch.”
“Ouch, indeed. I look back on that girl and cringe. Duncan saw through Lawrence’s facade, as did my mother, and I found myself wedded to a medical-school dropout who hoped my wealthy family would underwrite his true calling as an explorer in the wilds of Africa.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Shockingly, they did not, and it was all my fault for not arguing his case eloquently enough. After all, I owed him for having married me, despite the family scandal.”
“Asshole.”
“I presume that’s an insult, and I can think of far worse. The sum of the matter is that when my father died and our older brother traipsed off to Europe, Duncan gave Lawrence the money he needed to travel to Africa, on the condition he would not expect me to accompany him, which suited us both. I moved back into the family home and began my chemist’s work, which made enough to allow Lawrence to remain in Africa.”
“Seems like an excellent use of income.”
“Thebestuse. That continued until I received word of Lawrence’s death. He did, however, kindly leave me all his debts, which I am almost done repaying two years later.”
That’s why Gray is so quick to hand over money for Isla’s expenses. It’s also why she’ll joke but won’t turn it down. An unspoken agreement between them that, as uncomfortable as their financial arrangement might be, her priority should be ridding herself of this last trace of her asshole husband.
“May we begin our investigating now?” Isla asks, waving at the papers. “Or do you have more questions?”
“I have so many questions, but yes, there’s a killer in need of catching. Let’s see what we can find.”