First and foremost was the clear implication that her father's death was not of natural causes. Could he have been killed in an accident, or at the hands of footpads? But in that case, there would be no reason for her uncle to conceal the fact. Could Max have died in a whore's bed? Not only was that unlikely, but such an occurrence was not scandalous enough to require such extraordinary efforts to suppress.

Try as she would, the best interpretation Maxie could find was that someone had murdered her father.

But why would anyone want to kill charming, feckless Max?

Money and passion were the usual reasons for murder. Since Maximus Collins had scarcely had a penny to bless himself with, no one would have murdered him for gain.

Yet lethal jealousy seemed even less probable. Her father had never been a womanizer, and he had been away from England so long that ancient feuds were unlikely to be still smoldering.

Lady Collingwood had mentioned an inheritance. Maximus had been disinherited by his own father, but perhaps he was heir to some distant relative, and he had been killed to prevent his claiming the legacy. If so, was she herself in danger since she was her father's heir? Maxie shook her head in disbelief. Such things belonged only in melodramatic novels, not real life.

Could Max have made money from some mad scheme, then been murdered for it? The night before leaving for London, he had said cheerfully that their financial problems would soon be at an end. His darling daughter could be a lady and have the life and grand husband she deserved. It was not the first time he had made such statements, so Maxie had only laughed and said that she was quite content as she was.

It was hard to imagine any legitimate way that Max could have made a large amount of money.