Nathaniel patted her shoulder. “Very well, Mrs. Madge. We shall make the night a triumph.”
Mrs. Madge blew her nose. “Thank you, my lord, and now I’d best be getting on with the luncheon preparations.”
Neither of them could do justice to Mrs. Madge’s efforts at luncheon. When they left the dining room, Nathaniel put a hand on Laura’s arm. “Come to my study, sweetheart.”
He looked so stern. She followed him inside, her misery like a steelweight.
Nathaniel leaned back against the desk. “The day after the dinner party, I’d like you to leave for Wimbledon. Visit with your parents at home for a while.”
“But this is my home,” she whispered. He was sending her away. Her breath caught as she fought panic. Was this the end forthem?
“Home is where your heart is, Laura. Can you say your heart is here when you accuse me so?”
Laura blinked away tears. She placed her hands on his chest, searching his face. “You’re sending me away because we had an argument?”
“No, Laura. Don’t think this has anything to do with you and me. It does not.” Nathaniel stepped away, but his gaze remained on her as he tugged the bellcord.
Did he expect her to fight him? When he was in this mood, she knew it was useless. She’d been stupid to accuse him of dishonesty when he may well have been trying to protect her. Would she never learn patience? If only he’d allow her to share his worries. But he was right. There was danger here; she could hardly refute it. Not aftertoday.
When Rudge appeared, Nathaniel said, “Bring down Lady Lanyon’s trunk from the attic. After the dinner party, she plans to visit her parents for a prolonged stay.”
A prolonged stay? Ignoring the satisfied look on Rudge’s face as the butler hurried out of the room, Laura turned to herhusband.
“Am I to be punished, Nathaniel?” she asked, hoping they might begin totalk.
“For what?” He sighed. “Don’t make it any harder, please. I need to deal with this without worrying about you.”
“Very well.” With a stiff nod, she left theroom.
Agnes awaited her in the bedroom. Rudge had wasted no time. Laura’s trunk was already there, lying open, awaiting herinstructions.
“Leave that for now, please. I shan’t be departing for a while yet,” Laura said. She still hoped Nathaniel would cool down and change his mind; he needed her now more thanever.
She had to speak to someone or she’d burst. Laura went to tell Cilla the news. She found Cilla working, the strong smell of oil paint lingering in the air. A canvas lay hidden from view beneath its clothcover.
“You’ve been working hard,” Laura said after she’d explained aboutMallory.
“Almost finished,” Cilla said. “I find it difficult to believe Theo’s dead.” She cleaned her hands with a pungent rag. “He was always so pugnacious. That kind seem indestructible.”
“Was he rude to you?”
“He knew I disliked the way he behaved around Amanda. But I didn’t care what he thought of me.”
Laura leaned back against the sofa. “He was disagreeable to everyone I suspect. He was certainly quite rude to me.”
“Mallory was arrogant and ambitious. If he saw a way to get ahead, he’d take it, no matter the consequences. A thoroughly bad type who has gotten his just desserts.”
“They don’t know what happened to him yet.”
“And probably won’t.” Cilla put the ragdown.
“We discovered his body at the base of the cliffs, in a similar spot to where Amanda had been found.”
Cilla nodded, her hands in the pockets of her smock. “The tides, I expect.”
“Did you see Mallory on Wolfram land? He was staying in the village at The Sail and Anchor.”
“No.” Cilla raised her brows. “Let the police deal with it, Laura.”
