A Gentleman in Pursuit of Truth by Grace Burrowes

Author:Grace Burrowes [Burrowes, Grace]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grace Burrowes Publishing

“Tell me more of Thales’s upbringing,” I said to Mrs. MacNeil. “Was he truly allowed the status of a pet?”

We sat on the back porch of the steward’s cottage. I’d caught Mrs. MacNeil shelling peas, which she did with mesmerizing efficiency. She spared me a measuring glance, all the while splitting fat green pods, then pushing the peas free with her thumb.

“Curious question, my lord.” She’d given me an even more skeptical inspection when I’d asked to sit with her for a moment.

I snitched a whole pod and crunched it into oblivion. “I’m a curious sort of fellow.”

She took her time answering, while I enjoyed my treat. Produce picked not an hour earlier and at the peak of its ripeness. I snitched another.

“They’re good,” I said.

And that seemed to make up her mind about something, perhaps the fate of Bloomfield and its rightful owner, which could well hinge on her answer to my questions.

“That hound was treated like a royal lapdog,” she said. “Mrs. Maynard—that was Silforth’s housekeeper, before he came here—was at her wit’s end. Dog hair on the sofa, dog tracks on the carpet. Dog stink in parlors… Mrs. Silforth had some rules. The hound was not permitted in the nursery or in the formal parlor, but he had the run of the house otherwise, and nobody could say a word against him. He’s a fine animal, and Mac put some manners on him, but no housekeeper rejoices at the sight of a pet that size.”

“And he had the run of Bloomfield earlier in the year?”

“Not quite. Same rules—not in the public rooms, not in the nursery suite. Mac said it was foolishness, and Mrs. Fortnam nearly gave notice—she keeps house at Bloomfield. Thales is no longer a puppy, and he’d likely still be living like a king, sleeping next to Silforth’s bed, except Mac put his foot down.”

That anybody put a foot down with Silforth was interesting. “How?”

“Said a hound with a nose like Thales’s would be ruined for field work if he wasn’t allowed to dwell with his pack. A pack hunts as a pack, to hear Mac tell it. One individual might be good at finding a scent on damp earth, another is better at dry grass, and so forth. Together, they can follow a line over hill and dale and across water. Thales is a fine talent. Put him with his mates, and they are nigh unbeatable.”

For what amount of insurance money would Silforth kill his own favorite? Somewhere at Bloomfield was a copy of the policy, spelling out its terms.

I did not want Silforth to be guilty of insurance fraud, but that hypothesis explained the facts. With the aid of an accomplice, Silforth could easily have arranged for Thales to “disappear,” while Silforth himself remained in plain sight.

Then he’d imposed on his neighbors, loudly and at length, conducting a distraught “search” for the prodigal.

Next came the proud squire’s grudging willingness to let me poke about, confident that his scheme had been too well planned, and Banter too cowed, for my efforts to bear any fruit.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.