“Perhaps, but if you had not been connected to the Marsden family through your relationship to me that dreadful monster would not have taken any notice of you.”
“We have absolutely no idea if that is true.” Amity rose quickly and went to stand next to Penny in front of the fire. “I will not allow you to blame yourself for what has happened. We are dealing with a madman. Such creatures follow their own twisted logic. He must have seen my name in the papers any number of times. When rumors about me started after the Channing ball, he seized on that information as an excuse to focus his attention on me. There is nothing more to it than that.”
“I wish I could believe that.”
Amity grasped Penny’s shoulders, turned her around and hugged her. “You must believe it because it is the truth. I will not see you cast back into that dark pit of depression in which I found you when I arrived a few weeks ago. It was so good to see you surfacing from your grief. I know how much you loved your handsome Nigel. But you are my sister and I love you, too. I want you to be happy again and I know Nigel would have wanted that as well.”
“Do you think so?” Penny asked in an odd tone of voice.
Startled, Amity gently pushed Penny a short distance away and searched her face.
“Nigel loved you deeply,” Amity said gently. “He would not have wanted you to spend the rest of your life pining away for him. For heaven’s sake, Penny. You are still young and lovely and—I know this sounds crass, but it matters—you are financially secure. Widowhood gives you great freedom. You should enjoy life.”
“How can I enjoy life when I know there is a killer hunting for you?” Penny asked.
Amity was touched. “Oh, yes, well, I do appreciate your concerns, but I am sure Mr. Stanbridge and that very nice man from the Yard—”
“Inspector Logan,” Penny said deliberately. “His name is Inspector Logan.”
“Right. Inspector Logan. He seems very competent.”
“Indeed.”
The tone of her sister’s voice told Amity that something more was required by way of description.
“And intelligent,” Amity said.
“Quite. He is a great fan of the theater, you know.”
Amity took a flying leap in the dark.
“He is also quite attractive,” she added. She held her breath.
Penny blinked a couple of times and looked into the fire. “Do you really think so?”
“Yes,” Amity said. “Not in the same manner as Mr. Stanbridge, of course, but in his own way the inspector is a fine-looking man.”
Penny smiled wistfully. “Do you find Mr. Stanbridge handsome?”
Amity hesitated, groping for the right words to explain Benedict’s appeal. “Mr. Stanbridge is perhaps better described as a force of nature. But that is hardly the point. What I am trying to say is that I’m quite sure that with both Mr. Stanbridge and Inspector Logan involved it is only a matter of time before the killer is caught.”
“I hope you are correct.”
Penny slipped away from Amity’s grasp.
Amity watched her for a moment.
“Penny, are you concerned because you find Inspector Logan attractive?” she asked.
Penny did not reply. But she raised one hand to wipe tears away from her eyes.
“Dear heaven.” Amity touched her sister’s shoulder. “Why are you crying? I cannot believe that it is because you feel that Mr. Logan is beneath you socially. I realize that most people in so-called Polite Society would think so, but I know you. You do not judge people based on the accident of their birth.”
“It’s not that,” Penny said. She sniffed and blinked rapidly to suppress more tears. “I’m certain Mr. Logan is uncomfortably aware of the difference in our financial and social stations, so I doubt that he would even dream of approaching me in anything other than a respectful, professional manner.”
Amity thought about the cozy little scene she and Benedict had interrupted a short time ago. “Something tells me that Inspector Logan might be persuaded to consider a more personal association with you if he was given the right encouragement.”
Penny shook her head, very certain. “No, I’m sure he would never presume anything of the sort. His manner and demeanor are all that is proper.”
