Alaric knew of the spot; he could see the sense in choosing it. “So she slipped away…from the drawing room?”
Percy nodded. “She went out via the terrace—no one but me saw her go. Then I went upstairs with the other men—well, I had to, because Edward was there, and his room is along the family wing, so I had to go into my room and wait until his door shut, then I came out again and went down the west stairs and around. Glynis was waiting for me in the gazebo.”
“And later, when she left?”
“We left by different routes, just in case someone looked out and saw us leaving the shrubbery together. I went out via the shrubbery’s rear entrance, the one the gardeners use, and circled around the hedges, then cut across the forecourt and walked around the house to the west door. Glynis went back toward the shrubbery’s main entrance…” Percy’s voice faltered; he drew in a long breath, then continued, “She intended to go back onto the lawn and return to the house via the front door.” Percy looked at Alaric. “But some blackguard met her and murdered her.”
Percy’s head drooped, and he put up a hand to shade his eyes.
Alaric allowed several minutes to elapse, giving Percy a chance to compose himself. Then Alaric asked, “Do you know what it was that Glynis was wearing on the chain around her neck?”
Percy nodded. Looking down at his hands, now clasped between his knees, he replied, “I assume it was Mama’s original engagement ring. Mama had given it to me—her fingers had swollen, and she’d had my father get her another ring, and she gave me the one he’d originally given her…to encourage me to find a suitable young lady on whose finger to place it.”
That sounded exactly like the viscountess.
Finally, Percy raised his head and looked Alaric in the eye. All life seemed to have leached from Percy’s face, replaced by deadening sorrow. In a flat tone, he said, “The last sight I had of Glynis, she was about to walk into the avenue leading to the shrubbery entrance. She turned and smiled at me and waved…” Percy’s voice gave out, and he looked down.
After a long moment, he lifted bloodshot eyes to Alaric’s face; he met Alaric’s sharp gaze with absolutely no screens or veils. “And now she’s dead, and they—the inspector and the Adairs—think I did it. And I must have been the man Rosa saw, and so they’ll think I killed her, too. What am I to do?”
Alaric studied all he could see in Percy’s eyes, then he straightened and rose and reached for Percy’s arm. “Come with me.” He drew Percy to his feet. “You need to tell Stokes and the others all you’ve just told me.”
Percy looked frightened, but didn’t resist as Alaric towed him out of the alcove.
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Chapter 8
Constance had reached the small parlor to find it empty. For a second, she’d dithered, then she’d hurried through the busy kitchens and a neat kitchen garden to the stables. There, she’d found Vine, her grizzled groom, and towed him back into the house. Constance found Mrs. Carnaby in her room and requested a maid to conduct Vine to Mrs. Macomber’s room, so he could assist Pearl in protecting the old lady.
At present, the tale of the secret betrothal rested on Mrs. Macomber’s testimony.
Then Constance had begged the use of the housekeeper’s master key and quickly climbed the back stairs.
After looking out of a window and confirming that the house party’s guests were still engaged in knocking balls through hoops, Constance hurried into and down the corridor that served the ladies’ wing.
On reaching the door of the room Rosa Cleary and Glynis had occupied, Constance inserted the key and tried to turn it, but the mechanism wouldn’t shift. She frowned, then eased the key the other way and felt resistance; the door was already unlocked. Carefully and silently, she withdrew the master key and gently gripped the knob. When it turned, she held her breath, then, having no idea who she would find, she drew in air, opened the door, whisked inside, and shutting the door, placed her back to the panel and stared across the room—
“Oh.” She took in Stokes’s, Barnaby’s, and Penelope’s curious faces.At least they aren’t laughing.She straightened. “I looked for you downstairs, then borrowed the housekeeper’s key.” She held it up.
“Searching this room is one of those must-do things on our investigation list,” Stokes dryly said. “Especially after we learned that Rosa and Glynis shared it.”
“Alaric and I just learned the same thing.” Constance glanced from Stokes to Penelope and Barnaby. “Have you found the letters?”
“What letters?” Penelope’s eyes lit, and eagerness infused her expression.
Constance opened her mouth to answer, but before she could speak, a sharp rap on the door had her stepping smartly away.
The door opened, and Alaric entered—dragging Percy Mandeville after him.
“Ah,” Constance said. “This should explain all.”
Alaric had focused first on her, then he looked at Stokes, Barnaby, and Penelope. “There are several things Percy has to tell you that you need to hear.”
Alaric stepped back and closed the door, leaving Percy exposed to the interested—and at that point, unthreatening—gazes of Stokes, Barnaby, and Penelope. Indeed, if there was any emotion visible in their faces, it was encouragement and curiosity—a willingness to listen.
Percy, apparently, saw that. He drew himself up, seemed to search for words, then confessed, “I…ah, haven’t, I regret, been entirely forthcoming”—Percy glanced at Constance and warily dipped his head—“regarding my relationship with Miss Johnson.”
Constance listened without comment as Percy falteringly—with the occasional prompt from Alaric—explained the circumstances of his engagement to Glynis and the reasons he had asked and she had agreed to keep their understanding a closely guarded secret. None of the others interrupted, either; given Percy’s rambling style of explication, any question risked delaying the moment when they would have it all clear in their heads.
