That mollified her. “Whose business would this be then?”

Mine, of course. There was no alternative that would pass muster in the world. Men would never engage them if she were the owner. Women would engage him if he owned a service in which a woman supplied some of the services.

It certainly couldn’t be hers. That would make him the employee. A gentleman who conducts inquiries was one thing, a man who works for wages was another.

Her mind must have been traveling the same paths, because she shook her head. “I don’t think it would be a good idea.”

“Probably not.” He eased her back into his arms. He could not avoid the next topic any longer. “I need to tell you something. A Mr. Monroe called on me.”

Her eyes opened, wide. She sat up and turned to him. “What did he want?”

“He saw you at the concert. He came to tell me about you. He thought I should know about your history.”

“That nuisance of a man. He was always there, following me, poking his nose into my life, watching my home.”

“He was hired to find evidence of a lover.”

She lowered her eyelids. “How like Algernon. First he accuses me of being cold and less than a woman, then he decides I am engaging in orgies with another man. There was no lover, of course. Monroe was wasting his time and, as I said, being a nuisance.”

“He said Finley was shot while out riding. That it was not a normal death. He said the magistrate speculated on your involvement.” He said you carried a pistol. He said it was a pistol ball to the heart, which is an unlikely accident. He swallowed the new revelations while he looked at her. Did the army officer doubt her? Did the man who conducted private inquiries? If not, there was no reason to insult her with questions about those details.

He wished he could say he did not think she could ever kill. There were those who couldn’t. Even the army had some, and they died on the field fast. Minerva was not such a person. Given the right circumstances, to protect herself or her own, he could see her doing it. Was her danger from that husband of hers reason enough?

She was eyeing him sharply now, watching him while his mind worked. “I was wondering why you had not found a way to see me the last few days. I think you have decided to end this liaison.”

“I have decided nothing of the sort.”

“I would decide it for you, if I were brave enough. If this becomes known—when it becomes known—any friendship with me would compromise you in several ways. Mr. Monroe told you that I was suspected in Algernon’s death. That alone would make me suspected again in the duke’s. You know I am right.”