A coughing fit racked his narrow chest, and Daniel reached to help him sit up while the valet found the cloth and covered the old man’s mouth. Gasping, the earl lay back and accepted, from the smell of it, a sip of brandy.

“I hated my son for having all the fortitude of a blancmange. I bullied him and pushed him, and he finally couldn’t take it any longer. He never knew about the other one. I never told him, and she never told him. But he got his revenge in the end. Now it’s all a mess. I’ve tried to keep it quiet, but it will come out when I’m dead. Do you think God will forgive me?”

From one moment to the next, the earl was awake and then asleep. It happened so suddenly Daniel grew alarmed that the earl had passed away.

The valet, with what must be a well-practiced maneuver, eased the man down and drew the coverlet up. A rattling breath moved the earl’s chest, and Daniel drew in his own.

“Sir,” the valet whispered, “if you will wait in the hall, perhaps I can answer some of your inquiries.”

Daniel went, frustrated that the earl’s mind was so far gone he could only ramble about things that happened such a long time ago. Daniel hadn’t gotten a single question answered.

The valet emerged, leaving the door to the bedchamber open so he could hear if the old earl needed him. “Sir, you asked about the young viscount.”

“Yes. He’s gone missing from his London residence, and his …” How could he frame this? Did his family know about the betrothal—or his near-betrothal? “His friends are concerned.”

“The viscount visited his grandfather last week, and the earl told him something the young man did not like. There was shouting, but I had been sent from the room, so I could not make out what they were saying. It was all over rather quickly, and the viscount stormed out. The last thing he shouted back over his shoulder was that he would not stand for it and would see the solicitors.” Sad wrinkles lined the man’s face. “Not long after that, the earl took a turn for the worse. He’s failing rapidly. The doctor says his heart is giving out. A few more days, a week at the most?”

“And you’ve no idea what they argued over? Or where the viscount may have gone?”

The valet shook his head, staring at the wall behind Daniel’s shoulder. “I do not know what they argued over, but I believe the viscount may have left the country. His lordship was rambling in the days after the argument, and he said to me, ‘The boy will be all right. I’ve given him the place in Jamaica.’ I think the viscount may have gone there.”