Free Garden of Lies by Amanda Quick Page B

returned to London he and Brice had managed to avoid chance encounters.
    The only reason he was here tonight, waiting in the mist-bound shadows, was because the club happened to be one of Fulbrook’s favorite haunts.
    The hansom squeaked a bit when Griffith shifted his weight on the driver’s perch above and behind the cab. He spoke through the opening in the top.
    â€œHis lordship’s been in there a good long while now.”
    â€œAre you bored, Griffith?”
    â€œWhen you told me that you wanted to play detective tonight I thought it would be a bit more exciting.”
    â€œSo did I,” Slater admitted. “Blame Fulbrook. It appears he lives a rather conventional life.”
    â€œDo you really think he might have murdered Mrs. Kern’s secretary?”
    â€œI have no idea. But Mrs. Kern won’t be convinced that her employee was not murdered until we find the truth. At the moment she suspects that the killer might be connected to the Fulbrook household so I thought it might be useful to gain some idea of Fulbrook’s habits.”
    â€œHe’ll probably follow the same pattern as the rest of his sort. Spend a few hours at his club playing cards and drinking and then go off to visit his mistress or a whorehouse. It’ll be dawn before he goes home, which means we won’t get any sleep tonight.”
    â€œIt might be useful to discover the address of his mistress or his favorite brothel, assuming he has one or the other.”
    â€œThey all do,” Griffith said with world-weary wisdom. “They marry a respectable lady for her family connections or her fortune or both and get themselves an heir. But there’s always a mistress on the side.”
    That was, Slater thought, an excellent summary of his father’s lifestyle. Edward Roxton had married twice before he succeeded in fulfilling his responsibilities to the family name and the title but throughout the decades he had never given up the liaison with Lilly. As far as Slater could tell, his parents had, in their own fashion, been devoted to each other. He had no idea how his father’s first wife had felt about the situation. He had never met the woman, although, as a boy, he had seen her occasionally from a distance. Like other ladies of her station, she had pretended to be unaware of her husband’s other life. For his part, Edward had gone out of his way to keep Lilly and Slater in a separate sphere.
    Edward’s second wife, however, was a very different matter. Judith had been remarkably clear-headed about the marriage. She’d had her own reasons for wedding a man several decades older than herself. It had been a business bargain for both parties and each had fulfilled the terms of the agreement.
    Slater watched the door of the club open. An elegantly dressed man emerged from the front hall and paused at the top of the steps. For a moment his aquiline profile was visible in the glary light.
    â€œThere’s Fulbrook,” Slater said. “Prepare to follow him and make damned sure he doesn’t notice us.”
    â€œHe won’t pay any attention to us,” Griffith said. “It’s just one more cab in a fogbound night. Doubt if he’ll even look back. Why would he? Not like any of his associates will care that he’s off to visit a woman.”
    â€œNevertheless, I think it best to be cautious. Fulbrook will know that I have not frequented this club since my return to London. If he were to see me in the vicinity tonight, he might think it odd, especially after having made it obvious that I have taken a personal interest in his wife’s new secretary—always assuming he is aware of Mrs. Kern.”
    â€œYou think he knows that we collected Mrs. Kern from the Fulbrook residence earlier today?” Griffith asked.
    â€œSomeone watched Mrs. Kern leave the house,” Slater said.
    Fulbrook came to a halt at the bottom of the steps and contemplated the row