The Viscount Made Me Do It by Diana Quincy

Norman was waiting for Griff when he returned to his former guardian’s home.

The moment Griff stepped through the door, Norman appeared in the front hall, his wrinkled shirt untucked from his trousers. Norman’s rumpled appearance surprised Griff. The man prided himself in always looking neat and tidy. He said patients had more confidence in an orderly-looking physician than an unkempt one. “Where have you been?”

“Here and there.” Griff shrugged off his coat. “I had matters to attend to.”

“Were you with her?”

“Need I remind you that I am a grown man? My whereabouts are not your concern.”

“Please come to my library,” Norman said tightly. “I should like to have a word with you.”

“I’m exhausted.” Griff headed for the stairs. “Can we speak in the morning?”

“I would prefer that we talk now.”

Out of respect for all Norman had done for him, rather than fear, Griff turned in the direction of the library. As soon as they entered, Norman rounded on him.

“Have I been good to you?”

Griff edged around Norman to settle into a stuffed chair. “You know you have.”

“And yet you see fit to insult me before my peers, before all of London.”

Griff rubbed his eyes. “I gather this is about the medical journal.”

“You know damn well that it is.”

“What would you have me do, Norman?” he asked, exasperated. “You insulted her in public. Impugned her reputation. You practically called her a whore.”

“It might not have been my finest moment, but you are overreacting.” Norman perched on the edge of his chair. “She’s a member of the laboring class. It isn’t as if I insulted a lady.”

Griff clamped his mouth shut, struggling to keep his temper in check. “I don’t want to hurt you, Norman. You and I both know that you are the only family I have left.”

Norman flushed. “And yet, this is how you treat me.”

“I told the truth. I had to counter any damage to her reputation done by your attacking her in public.”

“I stood by you when no one else did.”

“Yes, you did. And I am grateful.”

“I don’t want you to feel indebted. You’re like a son to me. All I ask for is a little loyalty.”

“You have it. Unreservedly. But I will not stand by and watch you ruin the reputation of a woman who has done nothing to deserve it.”

“Can you not see that she is dangerous?” Norman entreated. “Or at the very least inept. She put out Mansfield’s wrist!”

“Maybe it was no accident.”

“What are you saying?” Norman squinted at him. “You believe the bonesetter intentionally dislocated Mansfield’s wrist? That is even more concerning.”

“I am not saying anything. All I mean to suggest is that you’ve only heard Mansfield’s side of the story.”

Norman threw up his hands. “I give up. There is no talking reason into you where she’s concerned. At least your association with the bonesetter is at an end. Your treatment is complete, is it not?”

“Yes.”

“Dare I assume you won’t be seeing her again?”

“I am a grown man,” he said coldly. “I alone decide who I wish to associate with.”

“Meaning you intend to continue to consort with the bonesetter.”

“Do not make me choose, Norman.”

“Make you choose?” Disbelief flooded Norman’s face. “As if there is a choice between a foreign woman you met a few weeks ago and me, who raised you as my own son since the age of fifteen.”

“What do you want me to do? Acknowledge the obvious? That I am in your debt? Pay you for all of the years?”

He tsked. “Certainly not. There is no debt. However, I cannot abide you going from my house to hers. It is the height of disloyalty.”

Griff rose. “Very well.”

Norman watched him carefully. “Very well what? We are agreed that you will not see her?”

“It is past time for me to stop taking advantage of your kindness.”

“What does that mean?”

“I’m moving out.”

Norman shot to his feet. “Don’t be ridiculous. Where are you going? Do you mean to set up house with that woman?”

He headed for the door. “No, I am going home.”

“To Bell Cottage, out in the country?” Norman followed him. “You’re leaving London?”

Griff paused. Turning to face his former guardian, he set a hand on Norman’s shoulder. “I thank you for your care of me. I shall be forever grateful. But the moment has come for me to stand on my own. We both know it’s long overdue.”

“But where will you go?”

“I am returning home to Cavendish Square. It’s time to reopen Haven House.”

“Still nothing. No one who paid for your father’s services with jewelry.”

Hanna looked up from the latest ledger containing Baba’s patient records. “There are plenty of more files to go through.”

She and Griff decided to meet at the dispensary to continue going through the ledgers. Both were eager to escape Citi’s critical gaze now that she’d returned from visiting her cousin.

He set a ledger aside. Hanna was acutely aware of Griff’s every move, every breath, every sigh. It would be easy to get carried away but for Lucy, who was sitting out front in one of the waiting chairs near the entrance.

“It would help if we knew when your father received the jewels,” Griff said.

“But we don’t know how long he had them.” Hanna turned the page, continuing her examination. “So we need to go through all of the records in the time period between your parents’ deaths up until my father died.”

Griff nodded. “Your father could have received the jewels at any time in those intervening years.” He tossed the ledger beside him on the examining table where he was sitting. “But I’m afraid we’ll need to take this up again tomorrow, if you are available.”

“You’re leaving?” Disappointment lashed through her. “So soon?”

“I’m afraid so. It’s moving day for me.”

Her stomach dropped. “You’re leaving London?”

“No, just Dr. Pratt’s house.”

“You are?”

“It is time,” he said briskly.

“It’s because of the interview you gave to the medical journal, isn’t it?” Hanna disliked Griff’s former guardian, but she understood that he was Griff’s only real family because his sisters chose not to be in his life. “I am sorry if this has caused a rift between you.”

“Don’t be. It is past time that I returned to Haven House.”

“Haven House?”

“My family home . . . erm . . . my townhome in Mayfair. I am used to regarding it as my parents’ house. But it is mine and has been for more than a decade. It is time to reclaim my heritage.”

“If you have your own house here, why do you stay with Dr. Pratt when you are in London?”

He grimaced. “Both Haven House and Ashby Manor, our country seat, were closed up after the murders. I couldn’t bear the thought of returning to places where I’d once been so happy.”

She followed him out of the office to the main floor. “Why don’t you see your sisters more often?” Hanna saw her own family all the time. Far too much. She often felt like she couldn’t get a moment alone. “You could be a comfort to each other.”

His jaw tensed. “As I mentioned previously, it wasn’t my choice. In any case, my things are being taken over to Haven House as we speak, so I must go.”

The bell over the door sounded. Evan came in carrying a package. “Another delivery. More supplies. Someone left it outside.”

“Evan, you remember Lord Griffin,” Hanna said.

Evan and Griff faced each other. “Yes, of course.” Evan bowed. “Good afternoon.”

“Hello.” Griff’s icy gaze traveled over him. “Are you here for an appointment?”

Evan flashed his teeth. “No, indeed. We are not seeing patients yet.”

“We?”

“Dr. Bridges is my partner,” Hanna said. “We shall be working together once we open the dispensary.”

“I hadn’t realized.” Griff wasn’t pleased. “And your grandmother approves?”

“Of course not. She also did not approve of my treating you, either, but I am hoping to nudge her along.”

“I see.” Griff kept his gaze on Evan, who returned it, unblinking.

“Griff,” Hanna said, “you mentioned that you must leave, did you not?”

“Yes, I must.” He spared Evan one final glance. “Good day.”

Evan peered through the bow window, watching Griff head down the street. “How much do you know about that man?”

“I’m not sure what you are getting at.” Hanna started unpacking books she’d brought from Baba’s office to the dispensary. “You know he’s a former patient.”

Evan’s brows lifted. “And that is all?”

“Is this an interrogation?” she asked lightly. Hanna didn’t know how to fully answer Evan’s question. She wasn’t going to mention the jewelry.

“I made some inquiries. Do you still wish to rearrange the examining tables?”

“Yes, I think so.” She watched him push the patient table. “What sort of inquiries?”

“I asked about the man and his reputation. How’s this?”

She surveyed the positioning. “Maybe move it a bit more to the left. You made inquiries into Lord Griffin?” She set down the book in her hand. “And? What did you learn?”

“His parents were murdered.”

“He told me.”

Evan shifted the table to the left. “Did he also tell you that it was a brutal knife attack? That they fought for their lives?”

“No.” She shivered. “Naturally, he wouldn’t go into that kind of detail. It’s hardly a subject for polite conversation.”

“Perhaps he prefers not to speak of it because most of society believes he committed the murders.”

“What?” She gave an incredulous huff. “That’s ridiculous. He was just a boy.”

“Fifteen years old. Young certainly, but not a child.” Evan straightened and surveyed the examining table. “Griffin claimed that he slept through the attacks. That he saw and heard nothing. Even though it was clear that the parents did not go quietly.”

“If my brothers are any indication, boys that age can sleep through just about anything.”

“There was no sign of forced entry. No broken windows or doors. The servants told the magistrate that the doors and windows were always locked before the household retired for the evening.”

“You are saying it was someone who was in the house at the time who was responsible? What about the servants?”

Evan gestured toward the table. “Good?”

She nodded. “Perfect.”

“Most of the servants were off. One of the footmen was getting married in the village, and the staff had a few hours’ leave to attend the festivities. The only member of the staff who was home that night was a housekeeper. She didn’t hear anything. Her quarters were far away from the family wing. A woman alone could hardly attack and kill two people who fought back. There wasn’t a scratch on her. But the same couldn’t be said for your viscount.”

“What do you mean?”

“There were fresh scratches on his back. He claimed he’d brushed up against some tree branches.”

“It seems like you’d get more than some scratches on the back if you attacked and killed two people with a knife.”

“You certainly are an ardent defender of the man.”

She looked away. “It is ghastly to assume a boy could kill his own parents in such a terrible way.”

“I just thought you should know.”

“It sounds like you went to a great deal of trouble to learn vile gossip about Lord Griffin.”

“He seems to be coming around you a great deal.”

Hanna declined to give Evan the details into their examination of the records. “We have some unfinished business. That is all. Once this matter is concluded, Lord Griffin will return to Mayfair, and you and I shall be here, treating patients.”

“Considering the way that man ogles at you, I doubt you will be rid of him so easily.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. He does no such thing.”

“If you say so.”

She studied Evan. His color was high. “What is the matter with you?”

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” Evan said lightly as he shifted the second examining table.