Lady Violet Investigates by Grace Burrowes

Author:Grace Burrowes [Burrowes, Grace]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781952443916
Publisher: Grace Burrowes Publishing

The morning was still a pretty, English summer morning. Off in the distance, a cowbell tinkled, and a soft breeze sent the potted salvia gently bobbing in their urns. Sebastian’s recitation left me physically sick, to know a child had been put to death, and a terrible death, for the sake of making an example.

Worse yet was the brutal mercy Sebastian had felt compelled to extend to the condemned.

“Sir Randall would tell you,” Sebastian went on, “that in times of war, harsh measures are sometimes necessary to ensure discipline in the ranks. He’d say the youth could just as easily have fallen to an enemy bullet. If the boy was innocent, his death helped restore order; if he was guilty, then his execution was necessitated by justice.”

Like most self-serving tripe, that reasoning rested on a foundation of illogic. “The ranks were not in disarray, were they? Nobody acquired a firmer grasp of the rules for having seen that child die.”

“The men always grumbled, but the military is exquisitely designed to protect the interests of those in a position to buy their commissions, and to do so at the expense of those taking the king’s shilling of necessity. Here comes the brave knight now.”

Sebastian rose, as manners required, while I wanted to slink off and consider what manner of justice rewarded a murderer with a knighthood—if Sebastian’s version of the facts was accurate. That conclusion was hard to support, given the smiling, polite man who sat down at the table with us.

“Unfortunate business yesterday at the lake,” Sir Randall said. “But then, unfortunate business seems to plague this gathering. Lady Violet, what can you tell me about Miss Clara Putnam’s mishap?”

“Not much,” I replied. “Lord Dunkeld was good enough to escort me to the lake so I might spy out where water lilies are blooming. One white blossom is on the list for today’s scavenger hunt. We’d just arrived at the shore when Miss Putnam climbed into her boat and began rowing for the center of the lake. By the time she reached the middle, her boat was sinking.”

Sir Randall turned a politely curious expression on Sebastian. “Anything to add, my lord?”

“Her ladyship noticed the boat was sinking before I did. I cannot say if the leak started the moment the boat was put into the water, or if the trouble began only as Miss Putnam reached the center of the lake.”

A snippet of conversation with Clara came back to me. “She said every one of the boats was recently repainted and inspected.”

“Samuel himself confirmed that fact,” Sir Randall said. “I cannot like this. A few trinkets going missing is troublesome, while stealing a widow’s mourning locket has an obvious element of malice about it. Sabotaging a boat and putting a young woman’s life in jeopardy escalates malice to attempted murder. What I cannot for the life of me deduce is the motive behind these occurrences.”

“You are making prodigious assumptions on very little evidence,” Sebastian said quietly.

“My lord, with all due respect, the boats had recently been inspected.

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