Of course, there is no doubt that would have immediately sent me to jail.
My first instinct as the coach drew to a stop before the steps to the manor was to find my aunt. At eighty-six years of age, she had outlived a great many people. She was for the most part hale and hearty, and was planning to depart for safari the following month.
However...
I raced up the steps with Lily and the hound behind me, and encountered Mr. Symons at the entrance.
“Miss Forsythe,” he greeted me in a quiet tone.
“My aunt?”
“Oh, quite all right. And yourself?”
I was better now.
“We do have guests,” he continued with a glance toward to the front parlor.
“Yes, I encountered two at the gates.”
“A word of caution, miss?”
I nodded. “Noted, Mr. Symons,” I replied as Mrs. Ryan appeared.
“Mr. Abberline arrived some time ago,” she informed me. Her eyes narrowed and lips thinned with disapproval, no doubtremembering his lack of interest when her daughter, Mary, had gone missing and was then found murdered.
“He has taken it upon himself to question her ladyship quite thoroughly.”
“How is she doing?” I asked as I heard some of the conversation from the parlor—Abberline’s insistence.
And my aunt’s calm response.
“I have no idea what you are speaking of, Mr. Abberline. As I have said, my niece is here to visit as she frequently does. I know nothing about this other business.”
Mrs. Ryan smiled. “She has him talking in circles. He is here to speak with you as well. The man is most abominable—a word of warning.”
Not that I was not aware of that. I glanced at Lily, who stood nearby along with the hound.
“Lily might do with a bit of supper,” I told her.
“I ain’t hungry...” she started to protest.
“We shall remedy that,” Mrs. Ryan assured me. “And the hound? A bit of Mr. Abberline’s trousers, perhaps?”
“Something for the hound as well, other than that,” I replied, then asked, “Is Mr. Munro about?”
“He is with her ladyship and Mr. Abberline. To make certain the Chief Inspector doesn’t overstep himself.”
Lily protested again about being sent off. I convinced her that she was needed to make certain Rupert didn’t attack one of my aunt’s‘guests.’
“I’ll go along,” she finally replied. “But I’ve had experience with the constables when they used to come round the house in Edinburgh.”
I could only imagine, still I thanked her for her care of Rupert. When they were off to the kitchens with Mrs. Ryan, I turned toward the front parlor.
My aunt was seated in her usual chair. She wore a satin gown in a deep shade of blue that I had seen when she hosted her annual Christmas party attended by the Prince of Wales, his wife, and other titled acquaintances this past season.
Her ensemble included an enormous number of jewels on her wrists, fingers, and about her neck that were almost obscene, along with the wooden staff she held before her. An heirloom, set with the blue sapphire the size of a goose egg from that original ancestor from France—William the Conqueror, according to family legend.
She looked as if she was holding court, and meant to put Abberline in his place. Never let it be said that Lady Antonia Montgomery didn’t have her moments.
