Lady Havenstone straightened. “Are you calling your wife a fool?”
He patted her knee. “Never, my dear. Good day, Lady Mary. I wish you safe travels back to London.” He tapped the ceiling of the carriage and shut the door. He lowered the carriage window and gave Perrin Manor one last look.
“This has been a most trying ordeal.” Lord Havenstone frowned. “Trapped with a killer, suspected of inhuman actions. The only good consequence is that Perrin can no longer cheat anyone else. He will not be missed.”
And without even a nod of his head, he raised the window and they were off.
“We won’t be inviting him to speak at Perrin’s funeral,” I said to the butler who stood next to me.
His lips twitched. “No, milady.”
Mr. Ryder left next. “Will you be all right here by yourself?”
“Perrin’s eldest should be arriving within a few weeks. And I won’t be alone.” I nodded to the butler.
Ryder took my hand and bent over it. “There is never a dull moment with you, is there?” He set his hat on his head, his eyes warm. “I look forward to furthering our acquaintance in London.”
I had no answer to that. Ryder was an irritant, a threat to my business. Yet a part of me would look forward to sparring with him again. I must be perverse to feel the slightest twinge of regret at my foe’s departure.
I had no such feelings at Miss Walker’s egress, and she was not as efficient at the taking of her leave as Mr. Ryder.
She wandered down the hall of Perrin Manor, a scone in her hand, poking her head into each room she passed and sighing deeply. “Poor Perrin. Such a tragedy.”
“Regardless of the size of one’s home, being murdered usually is.”
Miss Walker glared at me. “His boys, dear as they are, won’t know how to manage all this. I hope they know they can always depend on—”
“Your father must be most anxious to have you home.” I put my hand on the woman’s lower back and guided her toward the open front door. “You are his rock, as I understand it.”
“Yes.” She turned on the front terrace, looking up at the manor house. Regret flashed across her face. “So much wealth here when my father and I have so little. I had hoped—” She pressed her lips together. “Well. I must be off. Be sure to tell—”
“I will.” I tapped the tip of my walking stick against the top step of the front terrace until the woman was safely away. That only left Betram and my fellow conspirators.
Bertram I was sad to see leave. The loss of his wife and sister seemed to have wounded him more than I’d realized. He was paler and thinner than I remembered. Even his hair was thinner. I wondered if I would ever see him again.
I clasped his hand. “Even though this party turned to disaster, it was good to visit with you once more, Betram. If you should ever come to London, please call on me.”
“Of course, of course.” He turned and looked back at the house. “Same goes for you.”
My heart ached. It was another connection lost for the both of us. We might not have liked Perrin, but he had been the brother to both our spouses, and with him gone, there was oneless memory, one less string connecting me to Cavindish and Betram to Miranda.
I squeezed his hand. “Don’t you worry. I’ll see to it that Miranda’s gardens are maintained. She so loved her primrose and foxgloves, her cornflowers and monkshood.” I tried to remember the names of the plants in the Perrin gardens but could come up with no more. “I will make sure her sons know how important it is to maintain them.”
“Yes.” Bertram pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and coughed into it. “Very well. ’Til we meet again.” And then he was gone, as well.
I found the rest of our group in the dining room. Mr. Smith had piled his plate high with bacon and cakes. Katherine and Henry only had cups of tea and sat across from each other at the table, studiously avoiding eye contact.
“Everyone else has gone,” Katherine said. “We should be going, too.”
“I am going to fully enjoy Cook Clem’s last meal.” Mr. Smith licked a dab of icing off of his thumb. “Besides, we are only traveling to Exeter today. There is no great hurry to leave.”
“Why Exeter?” Katherine sounded suspicious. “We stayed at that lovely public house in Ilminster on our way here.”
“Exeter also haslovely public houses.” Henry directed his words to the father. “I will give you the names of a few I know to be quite comfortable.”
I made my own cup of tea and sat with them. I felt weighed down. Not only had all my suspects left the house, now Katherine and her beau were at cross-purposes. Perhaps the housewascursed, a sad phantom wandering the halls ensuring no one else could find happiness.
All too soon, Katherine managed to convince her father to make their departure. She gave me a fierce hug, ignored Henry’sattempt to assist her into the carriage, and left Perrin Manor with her father without even a backward glance.
