In fact, Richard’s one protest had been about the marriage itself and the worry that he and Christiana might not suit. After all, the woman did seem to dislike the Dicky she thought she was married to.

Daniel had understood, but pointed out that some time might ease that should Richard treat her well. He’d then suggested that if he wished a little time to decide one way or another they could always remove George’s body for now and keep him handy. That would give Richard at least a day or so to get to know Christiana better and decide if he could bear marriage to her. If he did decide they would do well together, they could get rid of the body. If not, they could place George back in his bed and then Richard could go to the authorities as if he had only just now returned to England.

Daniel had barely finished making the suggestion when Richard was striding out of the ballroom, determined to make his way to the townhouse to find said body and move it before the women returned from the ball and realized something was amiss. It wasn’t as easy as it sounded. First of all, they could hardly walk in the front door when the dead George hadn’t walked out and was thought to be ill in bed by the servants in the house. On top of that, since Richard’s townhouse had burnt to the ground, George had purchased a new one, and they hadn’t known the layout. They’d had to survey the house, guess at which room might be the master bedroom, and had then climbed a tree to get in the window.

It hadn’t taken more than a look to establish that George was definitely dead, but they’d quickly run into the second problem when Richard had noted the scent of bitter almonds by the man’s mouth. It seemed the imposter hadn’t died of natural causes as the women seemed to think. Poison was the culprit. Deciding that was a worry to consider later, they’d stripped George of his clothes which had been sopping wet from the melting ice, wrapped him in a blanket and started to cart him out, which had led to more problems. The women had apparently locked the door to the hall, no doubt to prevent servants from entering to find their dead lord. Forced to take the body out through the connecting bedroom which happened to be occupied by a sleeping maid, Richard had hefted his brother’s stiff body in his arms, leaving Daniel to lead the way and handle the doors.