Sleeping Engagement

XI. Plans

Calan motioned with his head and moved through the crowded ballroom. Margaret followed, still in disbelief.

Cressida was standing with Mary and Belinda, facing two black-haired ladies, as Margaret walked past. Calan Haverston's wife gave her a reassuring smile before she turned her attention back on Belinda who was saying something to who Margaret guessed were the Prewitt sisters.

Her mentor swiftly escaped the ballroom. Margaret saw him turn to the right and quickly followed. The corridor was not empty, but after another turn, she found herself entering a small garden devoid of guests. It was poorly situated between a wall of rocks and the side of the house, allowing lesser air for breathing.

Calan's voice was mild and emotionless as he spoke. "The League is aware of your history with Cole Devitt."

Her eyes widened with surprise. She tried to ignore the feeling of betrayal that rose inside her but found it hard to do so.

"We always make certain that we know the story of everyone who joins the League before anything else."

"I gave you no right to—"

"You gave us privilege into your affairs when you joined us. You knew that from the very start."

Margaret glared at him, the bitter taste of perfidy still in her tongue. "I am starting to not like you, my lord."

A small smile quirked his lips. "It is also part of the work."

Margaret's jaw tightened. He was right.

She knew that there were gossips about her having her heart broken by a man, but that person had always remained a mystery to many. Her courtship with Cole was too private to begin with, and their engagement short-lived. Any chance sighting of them was merely perceived as friendship, considering Cole's closeness with her brother, Benedict. To many, it was just like seeing Samuel Theobald with Ysabella or Emma. They never even graced the gossip column. Not once.

"If the League is so excellent in digging pasts, should you not have found something on Cole Devitt's as well?"

"Unlike you and many others in the League, Lady Margaret, Cole Devitt seems to be a man who knows how to keep his secrets." Calan moved out of the shadows and fixed her a look. "Use your history with the man and find out what he's up to." His eyes did not waver as he added, "Or what he did."

Margaret scoffed in disbelief. "Cole Devitt is capable of many things, my lord, but I doubt murder is amongst them." She paced before him. "And if you truly know my history with the man, then surely you are aware how it's impossible for me to do my task."

"You have a different understanding of the man. You can read his thoughts in ways no other Leaguers cannot."

"And how certain are you that I still can? He left me, my lord. It never crossed my mind that he would leave me, but he did. It merely proves that I did not know him well enough then, and most certainly not now." Her voice began to waver as she talked, her heart getting heavier by each word.

She had joined the League not only to serve the Town, but also to forget Cole Devitt. And now, they wanted her to infiltrate his life. Famous!

Margaret sighed. "We do not even have enough evidence to link him to the murder. You found his brooch in Osmond Trilby's room, but you are not certain how long it had been there. Anyone could have planted the brooch in the room, Edmund Trilby included." When Calan looked away, Margaret frowned. "Or is there more that you're not telling me?"

Calan's emotionless face did not change as he addressed her question. "The very fact that Devitt managed to get close to Edmund Trilby, a young man one can easily fool, tells us more. We have managed to collect very little connection between Devitt and Osmond Trilby but the one we gathered provides us a clue that Trilby's connection with Devitt may root from the past."