The letter had not even been sealed. It would seem that whoever sent it wanted to leave no traces that would connect to his identity.
Clever man, he acknowledged quietly.
He broke through the wax and unfolded it slowly, looking for clues within it.
Or maybe a hidden trap?Oliver mused with a slight smile.Perhaps I have read too many novels.
The notepaper was made of rather cheap paper with no identifying marks. He held it up to the light to see if there were any other indentations made on the smooth surface and found none, save for the rough scrawl on it.
Stay away from Lady Rowley.Else I will make you regret it.
Oliver angrily crumpled the paper in his hands and made to burn it but then quickly thought better of it. Clearly, it was linked to the disappearance of the Marquess and the attack on the ladies yesterday.
The constable might know what to make of this, he thought.
“Take this to the constable,” he said instead, handing over the crumpled note to Smithson. “As soon as you can manage it, if possible.”
Smithson accepted the distorted stationery and look at him in confusion.
“It is a threat,” Oliver clarified. “Warning me to stay away from Lady Claire.”
The footman gaped at the letter in his hands. “Could it be another one of Lady Claire’s suitors, Your Grace?”
“Quite possibly,” he bit out. “Word has already leaked out of her inheritance and her dowry. It seems that somebody is willing to stoop to underhanded means to gain it for themselves.”
Smithson nodded and pocketed the note. “I shall deliver this to the constable posthaste.”
With a polite, respectful bow to Oliver, he left the study quietly and closed the door behind him, leaving the Duke to his thoughts.
As Oliver stared out of the window his mind churned, going over the past few weeks and the numerous suitors that called upon Claire since.
He would need to ask Suzanna for help in determining those men who expressed an interest in Claire prior to his confession of love. Perhaps, he had been entertaining that vile criminal in his own home forweeks!
As he sat staring out into the gray clouds overhead, another thought struck him.
Maybe they had it all wrong… Maybe the true target of the attacks was Claire herself and it was the Marquess—now myself—that got in the way.
In that case, he would need to exert more effort to keep her out of harm’s way. He had sworn to the Viscount that he would care for both sisters and his love for Claire demanded that he kept her safe at all costs.
Hopefully, the constable will know how to proceed with this. This man…whoever he is, he is more dangerous than I initially thought.
He hoped that Mr. Harrold would be able to ferret out whoever was behind all this before something else happened.
Chapter 27
Over the course of three days, Oliver continued to receive a steady stream of threats, ranging from warning him to stay away from Claire, to surrender her or the rest of the family would go down with her. Every day, he instructed Smithson to deliver those letters to the constable.
Still, Mr. Harrold could not make out what to do with them and as the days passed, they were beginning to lose hope of even finding the Marquess alive.
There were no ransom notes or anything of the sort and even Mr. Harrold feared that whoever took the Marquess had already dealt with him.
The thought that they were dealing with such a madman and that he was after Claire made the blood in Oliver’s veins run cold.
He sighed in frustration as he looked out of the window. The rains were starting to get more frequent and soon, it would render the country roads difficult to traverse.
A quiet knock roused him from his thoughts and he looked up to find his sister looking at him anxiously.
“I did what you have instructed me to do last night. I have made a list of all the suitors that called on Claire in the past few weeks,” she told him. “It is a good thing Marley has a good memory as well. I cannot say for certain any one of them did it but it might help to narrow down the search.”
