“We?”
“Aye, we. I will nae let ye do this alone, nor will yer Auntie Caroline when she hears word o’ yer faither’s passin’.”
Cleo turned startled eyes toward Mrs. McGrath’s face. “Auntie Caroline…I had forgotten about Auntie Caroline. She will be devastated.”
“Aye, she will, as we all are, but she will help ye. I am certain o’ it.”
Cleo nodded slowly. Her hands still trembled, but it helped to have a purpose to focus upon. “I will send word to Auntie Caroline immediately. She will wish to have a say in the funerary arrangements of her brother, though for the most part they have been laid out in detail since the death of my own dear mother.”
“Aye, he will wish tae be laid out next to yer sainted maither in the kirkyard. I will lay out his best suit, but ye will need tae speak with the undertaker about everything else. Do ye wish tae wait for yer auntie for that? I dinnae believe she will be able tae get here in time for it, but I could be wrong.”
“Nay, you and I will go and see to it ourselves. We will let Auntie Caroline plan the wake.”
“Aye, it is a grand idea.” Mrs. McGrath nodded, swiping the tears from her cheeks. She had loved the professor like a son, and it struck Cleo that his death was just as hard on Mrs. McGrath as it was on herself. “It will give her a way tae deal with her grief.”
“Is such a thing even possible…” Cleo murmured, not actually desiring an answer as it was not a true inquiry, but a bitter tide that swept over her being with violent force.
“Aye, it is, but it is nae a thing that comes easy tae anyone, and certainly nae tae a daughter who has just lost her faither. Give it time, love, it is all that ye can do.”
“I will not rest until I have found my father’s murderer,” Cleo swore, balling her hands into fists, willing herself to calm her torrential tears. “I will find who has done this or I will die in the trying.”
Chapter 3
Arthur MacDonald, Earl of Irondale, sat at the breakfast table with his friend and former classmate, Jacob Glickman. “Have you seen this?” Jacob asked, handing Arthur the morning’s paper. “It says that Professor Henry Wallace has committed suicide.”
Arthur frowned and took the sheet of paper from him. “That cannae be so. He would ne’er commit such an act.”
“The two of you became close friends during our time at university, did you not?”
“Aye, we did at that, two Scotsmen who had been required tae leave our Scottish homes tae make a new life for ourselves in England, Henry for his faither’s work and me tae become my maternal grandfaither’s only heir.”
“The professor must have moved at a young age, as I do not remember him having an accent such as your own.”
“Aye, he did at that, but my faither hailed from the Clan MacDonald, once the Lords of the Isles, so even if Henry had retained an accent, it is unlikely that it would be as braw as my own.” Arthur smiled briefly at the thought of his friendship with the professor, but his smile faded as he read the words upon the paper in his hands. “I dinnae believe this,” he announced shaking his head. “I dinnae believe it at all. Henry was nae the kind o’ man tae do such a thing, especially nae tae his daughter.”
“Are you acquainted with the bereaved?”
“Nae, I ne’er had the pleasure o’ meeting the lass. I always met with Henry in his office or in a pub. All he had remaining in this world was his daughter and a sister I ne’er met either, but tae whom I should pay my respects.”
“Will you do so today? The paper says that the death occurred last evening.”
“Aye, I will. I ken that it is soon, but if I can be o’ aid tae his family in their time o’ need, I would like tae do so.” Arthur felt tears sting the back of his eyes as he spoke. The loss of his dear friend did not seem real and he needed to find out the truth of the matter before another day had passed. “Would ye care tae go with me?”
“I would do so gladly if I did not need to work to survive.”
“Ye could always come and work for me,” Arthur offered not for the first time.
“I must follow in the family business, as you well know much as you have had to do yourself, though I will admit that there is a great deal of difference between my being a businessman and you being an Earl.”
“I suppose that there is, but I was nae born tae the Earldom. It was tae be my maither’s brother afore he died leaving nae heirs behind tae take his place. Grandfaither was heartbroken.”
“But he had you, just as my father has me, to carry on his legacy. It is important work that we both do on behalf of our families. It is good that you wish to help Professor Wallace’s family in his absence, to honor his legacy.”
“It would have been better had Henry had a son tae care for those he left behind, but as he did nae, I cannae in good conscience leave his daughter tae suffer alone.”
“You are a good man, Arthur, much like your namesake of old.”
“I would nae go so far as that,” Arthur shook his head, “but if I can do even the smallest thing tae ease the lass’ grief, then I will.”
