A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Murder by Dianne Freeman

Author:Dianne Freeman
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Kensington Books
Published: 2020-04-09T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

I resolved on two things as I made my way upstairs—I’d let George decide what to do about Ben’s information, and I’d interview the maids again, this time in private. It would have to be later in the day though as Lily and Rose were having dress fittings and Lily had asked me to stop in. I’d just turned into the south hallway at the top of the stairs when I caught a glimpse of a man slipping out of one of the guest rooms. He closed the door carefully and quietly, then moved away from me to the servants’ door midway down the hall. Behind it was a stairway to the gallery below. In only trousers and a shirt, his coat draped over his arm, I couldn’t tell if he was a gentleman or a servant.

Odd though. All the gentlemen were still out in the field; at least they were supposed to be. And why would a guest use the servant’s stairs? Stupid question. Because he didn’t want to be seen, that’s why. For some guests, the entire point of a house party was to carry on with someone other than one’s spouse. But in this case, the guests were all family, or at least soon to become family. That led me to assume the man was likely a servant. But who was he visiting?

As usual, I had far too many tasks to juggle. I’d have to file this bit of information away for consideration at another time. With a tap on the door, I let myself into Lily’s room.

“Frances! Please do come in.” Though one glance told me Lily felt much better than she had this morning, her voice was strained, as if she were trying very hard to control some emotion. Whatever was wrong? I glanced around the large room, done up in white and rose. Sunlight streamed through the south-facing windows and glowed like a beacon on my mother. Perhaps what Lily was trying to control was her temper.

She stood on a footstool while the seamstress made some adjustments to her waistband. Rose and Mother were seated on the bench at the end of the bed, Rose smiling and swinging her legs, my mother, with brows lowered and lips pursed. Ah, yes, she did appear to be the source of Lily’s distress.

I stepped forward. “Leo is going to love your gown, dear. You look absolutely breathtaking.”

“Hmph! A waste if you ask me.” Mother punctuated her opinion with a snort. A snort! Good heavens, what was wrong with her?

Lily turned around, causing the poor seamstress to scramble forward or risk tearing the dress. Clearly, I’d walked in on an argument.

I held out a hand to Rose who bounced off the bench and with a sniffle, came to my side. “How was your ride this morning?”

She wrinkled her nose and sneezed. “We saw a ruined castle.” She shrugged. “But the ride was fun.”

I handed her a handkerchief. “Why the sniffing and sneezing, dear? Are you feeling well?” She nodded, and I put a hand to her forehead, which felt cool enough.

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