is our next step?”
He turned back to me, his lips drawn in a thin line. “I’ve been wondering about that myself,” he said. “I should be able to get an update from”—he paused mysteriously—“my contact. Find out what the police have learned from their canvass and from the coroner. They may have found some useful evidence from her home and spoken to her family.”
I felt a sudden surge of excitement. “I could speak to her family. As a friend of Mary’s, I must call on her sister when she arrives in town, and it would certainly be reasonable for me to pay a condolence call on her late husband’s family as well. After you find out what the police learned, you can tell me if there is something you still need to know. As a social equal, I may be able to wheedle those personal details the family may have held back from the police.”
“I don’t know if they would consider themselves your social equals, Countess,” he said with a grin.
“They are new money, to be sure, but our social lives intersect a great deal.” I gave him a careless shrug. “And if they view me as a step above them, it will be only that much easier to gain answers to impertinent questions.”
He pursed his lips again, the muscles in his jaw tightening.
“What?”
“I don’t want you to put yourself in any danger. Right now, we only know Mrs. Archer was murdered; we have no idea why. Just because the police have a theory, doesn’t mean it’s correct. What if one of the family murdered her? I don’t want you asking leading questions of a murderer.”
“I think you are rather putting the cart before the horse. Why not wait and see what you find out by tomorrow and what you still need to learn? I promise not to ask any questions of potential suspects before discussing it with you first. Will that make you feel better?”
He gave me a suspicious smile. “It might if I didn’t think your promise rather ambitious for you. Don’t forget, the last time you investigated on your own someone tried to murder you.” He raised a brow. “You will consult me before taking any action?”
I widened my eyes in an expression of innocence. “This is your investigation. Just the fact that you’re willing to let me participate will keep me on my best behavior. I promise to abide by all your rules and have a care for my safety.”
I caught a glimpse of self-satisfaction on his face. What was he up to? “I hesitate to look a gift horse in the mouth, George, but I must know why you’re willing to cede some of your responsibility to me.”
He picked up my hand in his. Turning it, he placed a kiss on my wrist, just above the lace of my glove. “I like the idea of you working with me, Frances. I think you’d make an excellent partner. And in this particular matter I truly need your help.”
His words and actions confused me beyond all measure. When he said partner, did he mean in the investigation, or something more?
“Will you be able to help Charles?” I asked.
He nodded. “This will be a difficult case. Perhaps the only thing worse than no suspect is too many suspects. It would be far too easy to make a case against Charles and forget all about the potential blackmail issue.”
“Unless I find a more likely suspect among Mary’s notes.”
“That’s my hope.”
So, we were to be partners for this investigation. How silly of me to imagine otherwise. But if it was only my imagination, why was he still caressing my hand?
Chapter 5
Stepping into my library the next morning, with the hope of a few quiet moments to review my accounts, I found it occupied by every member of my household, including my seven-year-old daughter, Rose, and her nanny.
I dropped a kiss on the top of Rose’s head. Her dark, glossy waves, usually contained with a length of ribbon, were now pulled back in two severe braids. “I missed you at breakfast, dearest.” After receiving a soap-scented hug, I cast a glance around the room. “I wondered why I had the dining room to myself this morning. Why are you all hiding in here on this lovely day?”
I turned to Lily and Lottie who were browsing the bookshelf behind the desk. “Didn’t the two of you have some outing planned for this morning?” Even I had to admit my tone was a little peevish, but this was my library after all and I’d hoped for a bit of privacy.
Lily’s blond curls bounced as she turned around. “We do. Leo’s obtained bicycles and we plan to ride through Hyde Park.”
Bicycles? I hoped Lottie was more competent on wheels than on her feet. “Do be careful.”
“I’m waiting for Uncle Graham.” Rose clung to my hand, bouncing up and down on her toes. “He’s coming to work with Aunt Hetty, and Nanny and I are going back in the carriage to his house to play with the boys.”
The boys were her cousins, Graham’s sons. They were a few years older than her but because Graham’s family had moved into the old manor with us, while in mourning for my husband, the children had become close. Rose would be eight soon, putting her only two years behind Graham’s youngest. She loved following them around and I daresay they enjoyed showing off to her.
For my part, I was thrilled she had playmates. Most families kept their younger children in the country. Even her kitten, a gift from Lily’s fiancé, preferred the country life. She went into hiding when Rose and I returned to London from Harleigh Manor a few months ago, and we had to leave without her. From all reports, she was growing and earning her keep as a mouser in the stables. Lovely for her, but Rose missed her little companion. Perhaps I should consider finding another pet for her.
I glanced at Hetty, seated behind my desk. “I’d forgotten you planned to work with Graham today.” Graham was not the spendthrift my late husband was, but his genius was in agriculture, not finance. That was Hetty’s area of expertise. The last time he asked her for a loan, she offered to help him organize his finances instead. A strategic move on her part.
“I take it you’ll be working in here?” Lovely. Now I’d lost access to my own library.
Hetty sank down in her chair. “Sorry, Frances. I hate to be an inconvenience but we really have nowhere else to work. In the future I’ll check with you first before scheduling time here with him.”
I tamped down my disappointment. “Don’t mind me. I can make do elsewhere.” I took a seat across the desk from her as Rose took Nanny’s hand and slipped out through the French doors to the back garden.
“You’ve been working with Graham for a week now. Just how complicated are his investments?”
“I can’t be sure until I sort out his records”—she let out a tsk—“which are in a terrible state of disarray. Graham didn’t want to trouble his steward with the task as the man had his hands full with estate business, and he didn’t want to go to the expense of hiring a secretary.” Her lips twisted in a grimace. “So, he managed his investments and their records himself.”
“I take it keeping records isn’t his forte?”
“Far from it, and sorting through all the documents has been quite a task. I’m becoming rather frustrated.”
