part0023

“ W hy the secrecy?” Tom whispered. “Couldn’t we have asked to see the room?”

Evie put her finger to her lips and held up the candle. She knew Larkin made the rounds to check doors and windows precisely one hour after the last guest left or retired for the evening. It had always been his habit and would remain so until the day he ceased to be a butler.

All the guests had gone to their respective rooms an hour before and Evie had already heard Larkin’s nightly vigil along the corridor. So, the way would be clear.

“Follow me,” she said in a hushed tone.

Clara, Duchess of Hetherington, had not returned from her trip. According to Bicky, she had telephoned to say she had missed her train. However, Evie didn’t recall hearing the telephone ringing at any time during the evening.

Their dinner had been filled with more suppositions about Evie’s enemies. Bicky had insisted he couldn’t be a target and everyone had concurred, murmuring they would be hard pressed to find anyone who didn’t like him. By the end of it, everyone had managed to have a say. Although, most of the suggestions had sounded ludicrous.

Everyone had then decided Bicky had simply been in the wrong place. That could only mean, Evie had been the real target. Not once, but twice.

She did not for a moment believe all the mamas from across all the English counties had joined forces to have her run out of the country.

Nevertheless, she’d had no idea her life had been filled with so much peril. According to some, she might be snatched at anytime and anywhere and held for ransom.

It seemed extraordinary. The thought had never occurred to her. Or maybe, she had been aware of the possible risks involved but had never made a big deal out of it.

How stifling would it be to always wonder if today would be the day when something dreadful happened to her?

They continued along the corridor until they reached the family wing. Tom walked beside her. She sensed him but she didn’t hear him. Evie had chosen to wear her slippers but she still walked with the greatest care. Tom, however, still wore his shoes and she knew for a fact some of the floorboards creaked. Yet, he managed to avoid them.

When they reached the room she wanted, she tugged his sleeve. Checking to make sure no one had seen them, Tom eased the door to the room open. Evie hurried inside, followed by Tom who then closed the door.

Once inside, she found the light switch and blew out her candle.

“Is that a good idea?” Tom asked.

Instead of answering, Evie grabbed a couple of cushions and placed them on the floor to cover the gap by the door. “Better?” she asked.

“Marginally.” He strode to the windows and made sure the thick velvet curtains were drawn properly.

She glanced around the Duchess’s room, cringing slightly at all the gold decorations. Even the cushions were embroidered with gold thread and embellished with gold tassels.

“There could be a hiding place,” Evie suggested. They had already decided they needed to find some sort of proof against the Duchess. Anything that might give rise to suspicion and perhaps incriminate her in a plan to get rid of Bicky.

The others might have been content to strike him off the target list, but not Evie …

They had no solid reason to be suspicious of the Duchess. At this point, she supposed they were working on a process of elimination. If the Duchess was innocent, then they wouldn’t find anything. Evie kept the thought to herself for fear Tom would find a hole in her theory. She could already sense one taking shape in her mind, but she preferred to leave it alone.

At Evie’s insistence, they hadn’t shared the plan with Bicky. In her opinion, Bicky had probably suffered enough. She had no doubt he had.

Clara had never pretended to care much for him. While Bicky had held on to the hope he might grow on her, saying his parents hadn’t been in love at first, yet they had learned to appreciate one another and eventually they had fallen in love.

Tom opened a wardrobe door and, to Evie’s surprise, he leaned in and smelled the coats. Tiptoeing her way to him, she asked, “What are you doing? Is this some sort of fetish?”

“I’m smelling her clothes to see if I can pick up a man’s fragrance.”

Even if they found traces of it, Bicky would never act on it. He would certainly never consider divorce. It simply wasn’t done. There were cases but few and far between among their rank. Although, she had heard a rumor about the Duke of Marlborough’s marriage heading that way, and perhaps it would be for the best since Consuelo Vanderbilt had left him in 1906.

“I think we might be wasting our time,” Evie whispered. If only they could find something substantial like letters exchanged between lovers. They might even find something that could be interpreted as collusion… Some sort of conspiracy to do away with Bicky. Even a wishful thought captured on paper might lead them along the right track.

Tom abandoned the hope of finding a man’s fragrance on Clara’s coats and began searching through the drawers. They had already discussed the issue of privacy and had dismissed it as inconsequential. Far too much remained at stake for them to be sensitive to the Duchess’s sensibilities.

Moments later, he drew Evie’s attention by tapping her on the shoulder and holding up a box of matches. Pocketing it, he moved onto the mattress and searched under it.

Evie found a leather bound book on a bedside table. She peered between the small gap in the spine and flipped through the pages but found nothing.

They had searched the entire room and had only found a box of matches which might or might not prove to be useful.

Could they cross Clara off the list of suspects?

Bringing their search to an end, they made sure they had left everything as they’d found it before leaving the room and heading back to Evie’s room.

If Caro knew she had invited Tom into her bedchamber, Evie would… Well… she would definitely have a lot of explaining to do to her lady’s maid.

Tom drew the matches out of his pocket. “It’s from the Criterion. Do you know it?”

“Yes. It’s in Piccadilly Circus. It’s quite an opulent restaurant and bar.”

“Would it be the type of place the Duchess would be seen in?” Tom asked.

“Yes, absolutely.” Evie wondered if the Duchess had gone there by herself or if she used the fashionable restaurant as a rendezvous point.

“She kept the matches hidden in the back of the drawer wrapped in a handkerchief.”

A sure sign she hadn’t wanted anyone to see the box.

Were the matches a keepsake? A memento from her first rendezvous with her lover who might, this very moment, be plotting to kill Bicky so he could have Clara all to himself?

Tom pocketed the matches. “Well, I suppose that’s that. We can’t point the finger of suspicion at the Duchess because she chooses to dine at a fine establishment.”

He couldn’t, but Evie had no qualms about reinstating the Duchess as a suspect .

Evie sat down at her dresser and opened the notebook she had used earlier. “I don’t recall you making any suggestions.”

He leaned against the wardrobe. “I’ve only been in your employ for a short time and you’ve mostly been keeping to yourself, stepping out of the house only once or twice a week.”

“You could take a wild stab.”

“There are seven house guests. I assume you knew them before coming here.”

Evie nodded. “I’ve only met Mark Harper a couple of time but I’ve known the others for years. There’s no reason why Mark would want to hurt me or scare me.” He wouldn’t have anything to gain.

Evie looked up at the ceiling. What if the shooter didn’t have a motive? He might only be targeting the landed gentry for sport.

“Are all the ladies married?” Tom asked.

“Yes. They don’t always travel with their husbands. And, before you ask, I have never given any of them reason to be jealous.”

Evie subjected herself to close scrutiny. Bicky remained the only man she ever had murmured conversations with. She spoke to the others with ease but she honestly couldn’t fault her behavior toward them. Although…

The Viscount and Mark Harper had recently teased her. However, their flirting still remained within acceptable boundaries .

“Even if I had my doubts, no one actually knew I’d be attending this house party. So, they could not have planned their assault on me.”

“Which brings us back to my earlier suggestion,” Tom said. “Someone must have been keeping an eye out for you.”

Evie surged to her feet and insisted, “But no one knew I would be here.” Drawing in a breath, she got herself under control.

“No one that you know of. What about your household staff in town? Do you trust them all implicitly? How do you know someone didn’t pay them to pass on information to let them know of your departure? The arrangement might have been made the last time you came here.” He looked at her for a long moment. Finally, he said, “It’s late. We’ll talk about it some more in the morning.”

Evie nodded. “If I make it to morning.” She turned and looked at her bed. Holding up a finger, she rushed to the bed and pulled back the covers.

“Looking for bed bugs?” he asked.

“At this stage… I have no idea what I’m looking for. But I feel I should now grow eyes on the back of my head.”

“That’s why I’m here.” He turned to leave, only to say, “Maybe getting a dog isn’t such a bad idea.”