I exchanged a look with Brodie. That did seem a bit sharp.
“If ye dinna mind, Mr. Brodie, I would like to attend the meeting with ye. His Highness may have questions about the drawing,” Lily pointed out.
She had a very valid point, in spite of Munro’s comment. None of us had seen the man, and there might very well be questions about the drawing that we would not be able to answer.
I looked over at her. So many changes since she’d arrived from Edinburgh, along with that reminder from Brodie that she had matured a great deal since then. She was extremely intelligent, self-confident, and was quite determined to have her own way in things. The word there was stubborn. Not that I hadn’t heard that before about myself.
“Ye canna change her,” Brodie told me at the time. “Ye should well know that.”
He was right, of course, and I had become very aware in the past year that she was determined to make her own way, no matter what I or anyone thought or said. That shoe was now on the other foot, as the saying went…
“Of course you should accompany us,” I replied, much to Munro’s obvious disapproval, though he did not say it. However, a Scottish sound was worth a hundred words.
“I’ll go with ye as well,” he announced. “Then I can escort the chit back to Sussex Square.”
I caught Lily’s reaction at being thought of as no more than a wayward child— that sudden lift of a dark brow, and the set of her chin. There was most definitely trouble there between the two.
Much like that previous evening at Marlborough House, the grounds and the mansion itself were well lit.
There were now substantially more guards at the entrance to the park surrounding the formal residence that also served as the formal office of the Prince of Wales.
Another set of guards waited at the entrance to the courtyard, with still more royal guards at the main entrance. I was not the only one to notice the increased presence.
“I’ve never seen so many,” Lily commented.
Brodie had brought the sketch my sister made from Lily’s description of the man she saw and chased that previous evening. And I had brought my notebook along with that note that was found on the young man’s body, along with the first note that was found on the body of the son of Lord Salisbery.
We had discussed what we knew before leaving the office, along with several aspects that we could only speculate on.
There were now two deaths of sons of prominent members of the peerage, and three notes, one left on each of the bodies, and the last one with that cryptic message.
“And then there were two…”
We were met by Sir Knollys, the Prince of Wales personal secretary, at the main entrance to Marlborough House.
“Am I supposed to bow or curtsy?” Lily whispered as we followed him to the library that also served as the office for His Highness, where he conducted official business of the Crown, and on behalf of the Queen.
The walls were covered with portraits, including one of Prince Albert, his father, and another of the Queen hanging on the wall between those two arches. His desk was enormous, although it was difficult to see much detail because of the mountain of papers that covered it.
Over the hearth was a portrait of His Highness in a naval uniform from his earlier years with the Royal Navy, while about the room, on a side table below a set of windows and at shelvesthat lined the other walls, was a collection of artifacts from places he had traveled.
We were greeted first by a scruffy terrier that leaped up and charged over to greet us as we entered the library.
“There now, Ulysses,” His Highness called out.
The name did seem a bit misplaced for one so small.
The dog was far more obedient than Rupert, the hound who occupied the alcove below our office. It was obvious that Ulysses was immediately taken with Lily.
She reached down and scratched the dog’s ears and told him what a good boy he was. When he’d received the attention he was after, Ulysses returned to sit by the desk of the Prince of Wales who stood as we arrived.
“Lady Forsythe and Mr. Brodie, I do appreciate you meeting with me this time in the evening.”
Brodie nodded. “Aye, yer note explained the circumstance, sir.”
“Please, be seated,” His Highness said then. “We are past any formalities in this matter.”
We sat before the hearth, Lily as well, although Munro chose to remain just outside the study.
