She had a sickening suspicion what it might be and whose room it might have ended up in. That suspicion began to grow into an alarming certainty.
She wanted, needed, to know who he was speaking with. Should she go outside and peer in through the window? No,he’d see her pressing her face to the glass. Better to hide herself somewhere nearby and see who came out.
Anne walked down the corridor, planning to conceal herself behind the library door. As she reached it, she heard shouts and running feet.
Jane came panting up the stairs. “Oh good! There you are. Mrs. Pratt sent me to find you. Kezia cut herself. Looks bad.”
“Oh no.” Anne hesitated, torn between staying to see who emerged and helping the injured girl. In the next instant her feet were moving toward the stairs. “Let’s go.”
Anne hurried belowstairs, the housemaid on her heels.
She found Joe Webb’s daughter on a stool, a kitchen towel wrapped around her hand.
There was a fair amount of blood, but after Anne ran water over the wound and pressed a clean cloth to it for a time, the bleeding slowed, and she was relieved to see the cut was not as bad as they had feared.
“Thank you for tending to her,” said Mrs. Pratt. “Cut herself on one of the knives, poor girl.”
“She’ll be all right. I don’t think it requires stitches, but she’ll need a respite from washing dishes for two or three days so it can close up and heal properly.”
“Of course.”
“I’ll come back in a few minutes with some liniment my father swears by.”
On her way up to her room for her medicine case, Anne first returned to the billiard room but found the door open and the room deserted.
Buxton passed by, and Anne asked him if there had been any callers earlier.
“Not that I know of, though Toby may have answered the door.”
“Where is everyone?”
“I don’t know, miss. Saw Mr. Dalby on his way upstairs not long ago, but I’m not certain where Miss Fitzjohn is. Perhaps in her room.”
“And Colonel Paine? Has he returned?”
“I’m sorry, miss. I have not seen him.”
“That’s all right, Buxton. Not your responsibility to know the whereabouts of everyone in the family.” She said it kindly, casually, even as dread churned in her stomach.
Anne went upstairs, hoping to find Miss Fitzjohn and Rosa still busy together as she had left them, but Katherine’s room was deserted as well, so she couldn’t rule out Katherine as the person Mr. Dalby had been talking to.
She found Rosa in her own room, sewing black lace trim onto one of Katherine’s gowns, and asked, “Where is Miss Fitzjohn?”
Rosa shrugged. “She left. Said she had something important she had to do. I don’t know what.”
“When was this?”
“Oh, an hour or so ago. Not long after you took Louie out.”
That didn’t help much. Anne was curious what importantsomethingMiss Fitzjohn had to do.
“She’ll be back before dinner,” Rosa added. “She’s asked me to arrange her hair again.”
Now that Lady Celia was not there to forbid her, Katherine had invited Dr. Marsland—as well as Dr. Finch and Anne—to join them for dinner. She had not asked Mr. Palling. Anne wondered why, and she wondered again where Jasper Paine had gone. She hoped he had not met with some accident. Or worse.
After delivering the liniment to Kezia as promised, Anne returned to her own room and changed her dress. She waiteduntil Mr. Dalby went downstairs an hour or so later, likely to help himself to the whiskey before dinner.
Then she slipped into the corridor and approached his door. She was about to let herself in when Dr. Finch appeared and demanded, “What are you doing?”
