It was a quiet night with a lovely cool breeze drifting through the open window, carrying the scents of flowers. Meredith let out a sigh and allowed herself a moment to be. She did not think of the ball or the dance with the Prince Regent, however. Instead, her thoughts drifted to Uncle Ben, and how he’d been the one to teach her to enjoy a moment like this.
A soft glow of light in the distance caught Meredith’s attention. It was in the Crell house, beyond the garden wall. The light moved into the bedchamber that faced the back of Darius’s house. Meredith retrieved her opera glasses and lifted them up, spotting the lamp more clearly.
The person who carried it was Mr. Crell, the tall dark-haired man with silver at his temples. He moved past an empty bed that had been stripped of its sheets. Meredith frowned. Why had the bed been stripped? Where was his wife?
After meeting Mrs. Crell today, Meredith had asked her maid what she knew of the woman. Nell had mentioned that morning that Mrs. Crell usually remained in bed or in a chair most of the time, but could walk on better days with the help of a cane. The staff at Darius’s house rarely saw her outside except on nice days.
A sliver of unease pricked at Meredith and she shuddered. It wasn’t without an innocent explanation. He could have had his servants washing the linens, and he and his wife were sleeping in a different bedchamber. It was simply hard to believe that the task not been completed by the end of the day.
A hand clasped her shoulder, and Meredith shrieked, leaping to her feet.
“Hush!” The palm covered her mouth and she was pulled back against a hard body. “It’s only me.” Darius slowly lowered his hand from her mouth and released her.
Meredith whirled around. “Darius! You frightened me!” she whispered.
“I apologize. When I knocked, you didn’t answer.” His blue eyes glowed in the lamplight.
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” She glanced back out the window. “I was just…” Her voice trailed off.
Darius joined her. “What were you watching?”
“The Crell house. You have a decent view of some of their rooms, you know.” She handed him the opera glasses.
“Spying on the neighbors?” he asked with a laugh. “How scandalous.”
“I’m not spying, I’m just curious. I noticed tonight that the sheets have been stripped off the bed in the master bedchamber. I haven’t seen Mrs. Crell today either.”
A sudden terrible thought struck her, and she clutched Darius’s sleeve as he peered through the glasses at the other house.
“Darius… You don’t suppose…she’s passed away?”
“It is possible, she was very ill.”
“But she looked well enough when I met her today in the gardens.”
Darius’s gaze softened. “Death can steal upon even the most healthy-looking souls, Meredith. Would you like me for me to have Mr. Chelsea inquire about her health tomorrow?”
“Could you?” Meredith asked.
“I will speak to Chelsea about it tomorrow morning.”
Meredith turned her gaze back to the gardens when a new… and far more sinister thought crossed her mind.
“What is it? You’ve gone very pale suddenly.” Darius asked as he handed her back the opera glasses.
“That scream tonight… That perhaps…” Lord, she was being too melodramatic to even think it, let alone say it.
Darius’s gaze sharpened. “Perhaps what?”
“That something happened to Mrs. Crell? Nell mentioned that she was an invalid and rarely left her bed or her wheelchair. Now her chamber is empty, and I saw two people struggling in the mews, and I know that scream I heard was no horse. It sounded female.”
Please don’t think I’m mad.
“You think that something befell Mrs. Crell?”
“Yes,” Meredith replied, shivering.
Darius lifted the glasses up again and looked at the house.
