By the time Wayland’s driver deposited her in front of Dorchester House, the early evening had deepened into a winter night. A lantern lit over their door meant that the staff yet awaited her return, or that of her father. Katherine didn’t know whether she should hope for the latter.
After she handed off her garments, she retreated into the sitting room, where she was told a fire awaited her. She accepted the offer of tea and asked for Harriet to bring it. Perhaps before Katherine confronted her family, she would speak with her close friend and maid in order to garner her opinion. Once again, Katherine dipped her fingers into her reticule and emerged with the earring.
She swallowed hard, curled her fist around the piece of jewelry, and strode into the sitting room. This room, allotted to family use, was warmly decorated in splashes of red and gold. A fire crackled behind a fire screen, shading the settee from its scorching warmth. Susanna perched on the edge nearest the fire, her hands resting on her stomach. As Katherine stopped short in the doorway, she glanced up.
“Katherine, you’re home.”
Her heart thundered so loud, she scarcely even heard her stepmother’s greeting. “Forgive me, I didn’t mean to intrude.”
Indeed, she’d wanted to speak with Harriet before ever confronting her stepmother.
Straightening, the woman frowned and patted her black hair. “What are you nattering on about? This is your home, too, for as long as you want it. You aren’t intruding.”
Tentatively, Katherine took another step inside. The back of the earring bit into her palm, anchoring her to the moment. “Is Papa at home?”
“No. He left for a meeting to arrange his next job.” Susanna rearranged her skirts. “You’ve never balked at being alone with me before. What’s wrong? Is it the baby?”
“It’s not the baby.”
“Then what?” Susanna patted the seat beside her. “Please, come sit.”
Numbly, Katherine crossed the distance to sit next to her stepmother, leaving a foot of space between them. The warmth of the fire soothed her but not enough.
Trying to don the impersonal observant state that aided her as a detective, Katherine raised her gaze to meet her stepmother’s. “Where were you last Tuesday night?” Perhaps, without Papa around, this time she would receive the correct answer.
Susanna’s delicately arched eyebrows pulled together. “I was at home.”
Perhaps not. If Susanna was going to insist on lying to her, that left only one course of action: to present her with evidence that she could not deny.
Katherine opened her hand between them. “This found its way into my possession.”
“My earring!” Susanna’s face lit up with a smile as she took it out of Katherine’s hand. “I thought I’d lost it. Actually, I’d suspected Emma might have stolen it again,” she added with a laugh.
“She didn’t.” Katherine’s voice was flat. “It was found in Lady Dalhousie’s house. On the same floor where Lady Rochford plummeted to her death.”
Susanna turned white, the glow from the fire giving her complexion a sallow look. She clasped one hand to her stomach, the other around the earring, which she pressed to her chest. She didn’t say a word.
“Tell me the truth,” Katherine demanded. “You should have done so from the very beginning. Why were you at Lady Dalhousie’s ice ball? It wasn’t to socialize, or I would have seen you.”
Susanna’s chin trembled, her eyes filling with tears as she brought both hands to cover her stomach protectively. “I didn’t harm my friend. I would never…”
A wash of guilt turned Katherine’s insides cold, but she held firm. Her stepmother still hadn’t given her a definitive answer. “I withheld this evidence from my friends, my companions in this investigation. I am putting my reputation on the line for you, Susanna. Tell me: why were you there, and why haven’t you told Papa of it?”
“It was for the baby,” Susanna whispered. The tremor in her lips muffled her words, as did the catch in her voice from emotion. Tears welled at the corners of her eyes, overflowing to drip down her face unimpeded.
Katherine steeled her spine, trying to appear unaffected. Her resolve crumbled in minutes. She loved Susanna with all her heart. Shuffling closer, she slid her arm around her stepmother’s slender shoulders and offered her comfort.
“I don’t mean to distress you. Please, I only want the truth.”
Susanna sniffled and offered her a watery smile. “I know. You’re a good girl, Katherine. You always have been. And a good detective. I should have known you would uncover my presence at the ice ball.”
Still emotional, Susanna cried into Katherine’s shoulder. For the moment, Katherine allowed her the solace, but even if it broke her heart, she couldn’t allow her stepmother to sidestep the question again.
“Did you meet with Lady Rochford at the ice ball?”
“Yes.” Susanna lifted her head, sniffling. Her eyes were round and red rimmed. “But she was alive when we finished and parted ways.”
“Finished with what, precisely?”
Susanna twisted her skirts in her hands. “It’s been seven years since Margaret was born,” she said, her voice small. “Seven years, and four pregnancies in between. None lasted past three months.”
The agony in her voice was plain. To say that she hadn’t known of Susanna’s difficulties in conceiving would be a lie. Katherine was far too good a detective not to realize that her stepmother had miscarried more than once. She hadn’t counted the number to four, however. “I’m sorry. I’m certain that won’t be the case this time.”
“Celia had trouble too. So when Lord Bath came to town…”
Katherine stiffened. “Lord Bath?”
Susanna nodded and wiped her eyes. “Bath has healing waters. We thought they might help with the pregnancy, to keep us from losing our babies. I arranged it all by letter, and he assured me he brought a trunkful of water if I’d care for it. He only had two vials on him at the time, one for me and one for Celia, but we were arranging to obtain more.”
“That’s why you were at Lady Dalhousie’s ball? And why Lord Bath was seen following Lady Rochford upstairs?”
Susanna nodded, still a bit tearful. “We met on the third floor. I didn’t want to be seen, and Celia didn’t want to be parted from Lord Rochford for long. It was only long enough for Lord Bath to give us the vials. Please don’t tell your father. I hadn’t wanted him to know of my fears. I know how it weighs on him every time I miscarry and go into doldrums.”
“I won’t tell,” she said softly. “However, I must make certain that you’re telling the truth this time. Do you still have the waters?”
“No. I drank them.” Susanna clenched her hands in her skirts, looking ready to wring them apart. She brightened as she lifted her head and exclaimed, “But I spilled some on my cloak! The black one with the ermine trim. I don’t know what is in those waters, but it left a crystallized white stain that I haven’t been able to get out.”
At last, Katherine had found the cloaked woman, but it gave her no peace. “I’ll look in the closet before I go up. Don’t strain yourself getting up. Can you tell me something else? How did you gain access to the house without being seen?”
“I went in the servants’ entrance, of course. I exited the same way. I instructed the carriage to wait around the side, where the servants accept deliveries, so it wasn’t far, and scarcely anyone was around to see.”
Katherine nodded. Susanna was telling the truth. The maid had seen the ermine-cloaked woman go out the side door, and Susanna would have no way of knowing that. Except the cook had seen the cloaked woman near the scullery. That was in the opposite direction, but perhaps the snow made her take a circuitous route. “And did you have to go past the garden to get to the side street because of the snow?”
Susanna frowned. “No. I don’t think so. I’m not sure where the garden is. I followed the path the servants follow.”
Katherine closed her eyes, trying to remember the path. Did it pass the scullery? It must since Susanna was admitting to being there, and Lady Rochford would not have been wearing a cloak as she came from the ball.
“And Lady Rochford? You said you and she collected the waters from Lord Bath at the same time. But she would not have come from outside.”
“That’s right. Celia was attending the ball,” Susanna said. “I provided the introductions, as she had never met him before.”
“After you took the waters, did you leave him alone with her?”
“No. He walked down after me. Celia was going to the withdrawing room, except...” Susanna’s expression clouded. “She mustn’t have made it. I heard someone yell. I thought it was Lady Dalhousie being dramatic about something as usual, but now I wonder if it was... if it was...” Susanna buried her face in her hands and sobbed.
Katherine clasped her stepmother’s hand. “Thank you for telling me the truth. I am so, so sorry for your loss.”
Susanna nodded, weeping openly. “Me too, Katherine. She was my dearest friend. Please, bring her justice. She deserves that much.”
“I will,” Katherine whispered, her heart breaking. “I have only one more question. I’ve uncovered rumors that Lady Rochford might have had a lover. Do you know if those rumors have any merit?”
Susanna’s eyes widened. “Celia? No, she was trying to conceive the baron’s heir! But…” Her lower lip trembled, and she bit into it.
Katherine squeezed the distraught woman’s hand. “You’ve thought of something.”
“A few months ago, I was searching for houses for sale around St. James’s Square—for you, dear. You’d have the garden to walk Emma, and I believe your monthly meeting takes place on Pall Mall Street, not far…”
“It’s a wonderful idea,” Katherine said, mustering a warm smile. In fact, it was even more ideal than Susanna knew. Once Pru was married, she would reside mere blocks away.
When she was in London.
“What happened while you were near St. James’s Square?”
Retracting her hand, Susanna leaned forward and used it to cover her face. It muffled her voice as she confessed, “I saw the Rochford coach around the corner from Norfolk House, on Charles Street. When I left my carriage behind to see if Celia was in and say hello, I saw her hurrying down the lane with her cheeks flushed and her hair a bit disheveled, I thought from the wind. But she refused to acknowledge me when I called out and jumped straightaway into her carriage and left before I reached it. She seemed… she seemed as though she might be avoiding me.”
Susanna dissolved into fresh tears, and Katherine eased her arms around her stepmother’s shoulders, pulling her close once more. “I promise, I will find the person who did your friend harm. They will pay for the sorrow they’ve caused.”
The murderer had taken two lives. As Katherine laid her hand over Susanna’s slightly rounded belly, she vowed that it would not be three.