After I Died, My Husband Went Mad - Chapter 41
“…Explain.” Dehart held Sebelia’s suicide note and said, “Her letter when you said she left nothing behind—how is it in your possession?”
His voice was eerie, echoing as if they were trapped in a cavern. Ryan lifted his bowed head.
“Tell me who within Hillend dared to deceive me again and insult my wife’s death.”
His golden eyes, stained with guilt and remorse, were suddenly filled with a pure light. Was it anger or betrayal that colored it? Ryan couldn’t tell, but it was better than Dehart withering alone. It was better than throwing everything away, even himself.
Staring at the golden eyes rimmed with bright white light, Ryan said, “…The letter was found in Lady Glenn’s chambers. It was hidden in the jewelry box she brought out from a burned room.”
Dehart narrowed his eyes at Ryan’s words. His grip tightened around the letter he held.
“My aunt.”
It rustled. Yet, the thin paper never crumpled in his hands.
“I’m not surprised,” muttered Dehart, looking down at the note.
He bit his lower lip, his gaze fixed on the first line.
[Dehart, to you who were once my hope.]
Once her hope.
What had he meant to her, her momentary hope—he could not imagine. Dehart swallowed a sigh and slowly closed his eyes.
“…”
As he reached the last line, a dull light flashed over his clear golden eyes.
With an expression of intense anguish, Dehart lowered his head. Ryan couldn’t bear to watch him in such distress.
A long moment passed before Dehart called out to him. “Ryan.”
His voice was frighteningly calm. A shiver ran down Ryan’s spine. It felt like he was hearing the call of the dead.
“Yes.”
Nevertheless, Ryan immediately lowered his head. The palpable tension in the air was unmistakable. The man who had just roamed the realm of dreams to glimpse the specter of his deceased wife was no more. Ryan sensed something firm and chilling had settled within him. And his intuition proved correct.
“As soon as daylight breaks, close Hillend Hall. All of the manor, including the hunting grounds and garden, will be off limits to anyone. No one comes in and out without my permission.”
Dehart’s authoritative voice continued to issue swift commands. “And the knights currently guarding the manor are to be relieved of their duties and placed on probation for the time being. At the same time, recall the knights waiting at the port to fill in the vacancies at once.”
Ryan realized Dehart had drawn his sword. Closing off Hillend Hall and dismissing the knights was clearly meant to cripple Lady Glenn.
Extreme measures, some might say.
But Dehart had no intention of stopping there. From the moment he chose the apparition of Sebelia in the burning room rather than an exit, he had already embarked on the path of extremes.
“Find out if there’s any evidence that Sebelia’s death could have been a murder.”
“My Lord.”
“You don’t have to inform the servants. Push them into fear and extract what we need.”
Ryan looked up at him in disbelief, but Dehart did not rescind his orders. This decision would undoubtedly poison them to him as well. But what difference did it make?
I suppose it’s the price I pay for arrogance.
Having only realized her value after losing her he trod the same unwise path. So it was safe to say that this was not the judgment of a duke, but the vengeful streak of a foolish man.
Or perhaps he had truly gone mad.
With a derisive tone, Dehart spoke of his mental state as if it belonged to someone else.
“My aunt and uncle did all sorts of vile things to drive a wedge between her and me.” The ferocity in his eyes flashed in and out as he spoke. “Who knows if they even deprived me of the truth of her death.”
“But, my Lord, didn’t the physician confirm that the Lady passed away from an overdose?”
“Not if that Peter Hansen fellow was bought off as well.” Dehart’s icy eyes bore into Ryan.
“That’s…!” Ryan’s face stiffened. He hadn’t considered that possibility.
“Maybe they realized their scheming had been exposed, and in a fit of desperation, they orchestrated her death.”
When he thought about it, it all seemed suspicious. Sebelia, driven away to the secluded cottage away from prying eyes, the sudden disappearance of the physician after examining her body, and…
“Otherwise this…they wouldn’t have hidden away her final letter like this.”
Dehart’s voice quivered with anguish. He turned his head and dropped the note with a bloodied hand.
[It was Wheddon who drove me to despair, but it was everyone in Hillend Hall who drove me to death. Glenn, Flora, Roger, and you, who were once my hope.]
The neat handwriting became more and more sloppy towards the end.
[May my final scream reach your ears.]
It felt as though someone was clutching his heart with both hands, pounding away.
