The Bloomsbury Murder (Augusta Peel Mysteries Book 3) by Emily Organ

Author:Emily Organ [Organ, Emily]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-04-29T16:00:00+00:00

“How did it go?” asked Philip when Augusta joined him in the Woodstock public house close by. They were seated in a wood-panelled booth and the air was thick with tobacco smoke.

“We can’t tell her parents where she is. They want her to marry that awful Hugh Farrell.”

“The chap you poured that cup of tea over?”

“Yes, him. I felt rather sorry for her, quite honestly. I can fully appreciate why she wanted to get away from them.”

“But surely they can’t actually force her to marry him?”

“Who knows what hold they had over her in the past? I suppose we should be happy that we’ve found her safe and well. Although she has to work hard in a shop now and doesn’t earn a great deal of money, she has her independence, at least, and she’s not in any danger.”

“Hopefully you’ll be able to tell her parents that and they’ll be content just to hear that she’s safe.”

“But what if Mr Bewick insists on telling them her exact whereabouts?”

“He already knows she works in a clothes shop on Oxford Street, so I should think her parents know it, too. He did say that he would inform them.”

Augusta felt a pang of regret. “I wish I hadn’t told him that now. I did so before I realised she was trying to escape her parents.”

“You weren’t to know the reason behind her disappearance, Augusta. You undertook the assignment based on the understanding that you were being paid to help find their daughter. That gives you an obligation to tell the lawyer where she is, does it not?”

“But I feel so sorry for her! She just wants to be left alone. She’s entitled to that at twenty-one years of age, isn’t she? I told her it would probably be best if she wrote them a letter to reassure them. I said I’d keep quiet about her whereabouts for a few days while she considers the idea.”

“A few days? The lawyer will want to know as soon as possible that you’ve found her. That’s what you agreed.”

Augusta couldn’t deny that Philip was right, but why couldn’t he see that the poor girl deserved some sympathy? “Yes, I realise that’s what I agreed to do but I’d assumed I was searching for a girl who was in danger, and who would want to be found or rescued. In hindsight, I realise that was a foolish assumption.”

“It does seem a little foolish. Perhaps you should have asked more questions before taking the case on.”

His patronising response made her teeth clench. “Perhaps I shouldn’t have got involved in the first place! I didn’t really want to. I’m trying to run a bookshop! I’d much rather be there than chasing around London after lost causes.”

“You are helping, Augusta.”

“Helping who?”

“You’re helping me with the investigation into Elizabeth Thackeray’s murder.”

“I can’t really see what I’ve done to help with that.”

“You’re good at this, Augusta.”

She felt a snap of anger. “Actually, I don’t think I am. Do you know what annoys me more than anything? People being evasive and not telling the whole truth.

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