The Seven Dials Affair by Tracy Grant

Author:Tracy Grant [Grant, Tracy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781641972543
Publisher: NYLA

CHAPTER 27

"Odd," Malcolm said. "You'd think at this point I'd be used to my family's surprising me."

"I'm so sorry, darling." Mélanie had told Malcolm as soon as they returned to Berkeley Square. Julien had gone back to Carfax House to see what Kitty had discovered. Mélanie and Malcolm, were talking in the library while the children played lottery tickets. "But when I heard from Julien, all I could think was that we should talk to Judith as soon as possible."

"Of course." Malcolm dug his shoulder into the paneling. They were both standing, too keyed to sit. "That was the obvious next step in the investigation."

"Yes, but she's your cousin."

Malcolm met her gaze, his own level and direct. "She's your cousin too."

Mélanie gripped her husband's hand. On her first visit to England, when they'd stayed with Frances and she'd first met Judith, she hadn't been able to imagine how she could ever feel like a proper part of Malcolm's family.

"I didn't see this," she said.

"I didn't see it either. Not remotely."

"Yes, but—" She thought of countless dinners, evenings. Holiday gatherings this past year. Times Judith and Roth had dined at her table, talked in the library where they stood now. She had an image of Roth turning the pages of Judith's music when she sat at the pianoforte one night. She hadn't thought anything of it. "I'm good at reading nuances between people. My work as a spy depended on it. My writing is built on it. It never occurred to me Roth and Judith could be more than casual friends who saw each other at our house. I wonder why."

"They hid it well."

"Yes, but I'm rather afraid a part of me just didn't consider it. Because I had Judith in one category and Jeremy in another."

"Jeremy's married."

"And estranged from his wife. And Judith is a widow." Mélanie bent to pet Berowne, who was winding against the scalloped hem of her gown. "But I'm afraid it didn't occur to me that Judith would fall in love with a Bow Street runner or that Roth would fall in love with a duke's granddaughter. After everything we've been through. After the marriage we've built from backgrounds that are almost diametrically opposed. After everything we've seen from our friends. Breakfasting with Sandy and Bet almost every morning. How could I be so blinded by prejudice?"

"Judith's always been—conventional."

"I imagine Benedict Smythe was as well, before Nerezza. Sandy always struck me as conventional before I stumbled into a room in St. Giles and found him with Bet. I'm afraid much of the time when it comes to Judith, we were so busy trying to make sure we kept things from her that it didn't occur to us she might be keeping things from us." A ripple of laughter came from the lottery tickets game. Mélanie smiled at the children. They could be so clear-sighted. "I don't like to think of myself as someone who generalizes and makes assumptions."

"Nor do I. Nor do any of our friends. And yet I'm quite sure we all missed it.

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