“It’s Judith I feel for,” Adalyn sighed. “She seems so young to have all this trouble dropped into her lap.”
“I will see if there is anything we can do to help, Adalyn.” Daniel spoke quietly. “We are neighbours, after all. No matter the situation between Fivetrees and Wolfbridge, such an occurrence must override any kind of disagreement or animosity.”
There was a general murmur of confirmation amongst the men.
Which raised a question in Adalyn’s somewhat scrambled mind. It was probably nothing, but she thought it worth mentioning.
“Daniel,” she caught his attention. “Have you…or any of you for that matter…any idea of who will inherit Fivetrees?”
There was silence for several moments.
“No I don’t,” he finally replied. “Why?”
She tilted her head. “Well, for one thing, I believe it is customary to look to the heir in the case of a suspicious death? If Sir Amery was indeed the victim of poison, we must ask ourselves who might benefit from his passing?”
Five pairs of eyes remained on her, betraying their surprise.
For the first time, she found herself slightly irritated with her gentlemen. How could she remind them she had a perfectly good brain which had received a slight shock but was still working quite well?
Giles recovered. “That is an excellent question and an excellent deduction, Adalyn. Forgive me. I will never underestimate your thought processes.”
She chuckled. “A random notion only, Giles. But my reading taught me a few interesting ideas.” She turned to Daniel. “Here’s another question. Would Fivetrees be a good addition to the Wolfbridge estate?”
That question elicited five very clear dropped jaws and a group gasp that probably sucked a lot of air from the room.
“Good God,” said Daniel.
“You want tobuyit, Adalyn?” Jeremy’s neck twisted as he stared up at her.
“It’s a sensible question,” defended Evan.
“They have some damn fine stables,” added Trick.
“It was a mere passing consideration, but if there’s a possibility of pursuing it…” She sighed, and in spite of her efforts to hide it, a slight yawn emerged.
“Right. I think we should call a halt for tonight.” Giles rose, and the others finished their brandy.
Adalyn nursed hers in her hands, staring into the liquid as if it might reveal the future. “I’ll admit I’m a mite tired now. Too much drama this evening. Just too sad.”
“Sleep well, Adalyn,” Giles bowed. “We will certainly talk more tomorrow.” He looked at the gentlemen. “Evan, why don’t you sit with Adalyn for a little, to make sure she is comfortable and relaxed enough for sleep?”
Jeremy opened his mouth, but Giles shot him a little frown.
Adalyn wondered at it, but was happy that Evan could stay. If she were truly honest with herself, she’d have been happy to have any of them—or all of them—with her on this troubled night. She hoped for sleep, but given the turbulent evening, it might be a bit of a time coming to her.
So she bid the rest goodnight and watched Evan pull a chair to the bedside.
“In with you, Adalyn,” he smiled, pulling back the covers for her and plumping up the pillow.
“Thank you, Evan.” She chuckled as she slid from her robe and climbed onto the bed, pulling the blankets back up. “I feel as if I’m twelve.” With a quick sideways glance, she grinned. “Are you going to read me a story?”
He blinked, then pursed his lips. “Well, now you come to mention it…” He stood. “Don’t move. I’ll be back in two shakes of a lamb’s tail…”
“What…”
He was gone before she could finish her question, but true to his word he returned within a very few minutes clutching a book in his hand. “I began reading this a little while ago. It wasn’t easy to locate a copy, but I had a friend who had already finished it, so I asked for it—and here it is.” He held it out to her.
Taking it, she turned it over to read the title.
