“Oh, quite right. I shall just lock up my lips and toss the key. Such a bother, my mouth sometimes.” Lady Harriet made a show of using an imaginary key to lock her lips.
“John courted you until then?” Mark asked Lady Arabelle.
Lady Arabelle nodded. “Yes, some of the time. Before that he seemed as if he might be keen on Molly.”
Mark furrowed his brow. “Molly? Molly Lester?”
“Yes, he’d danced with Molly a few times and we both thought he might offer for her.”
“I’d never met Miss Lester before today,” Lady Harriet interjected. “She seems like a fine girl.”
“Oh, she is,” Lady Arabelle replied with the hint of a smile on her otherwise sad face. “I’ve known her for years.”
“Did you have other suitors?” Mark asked, pointedly ignoring his aunt this time.
A blush stained Lady Arabelle’s pale cheeks. “Yes. I had another offer, actually.”
“Two offers in one Season?” Lady Harriet’s mouth formed an O. “Good for you, dear.” She patted Arabelle’s hand again and smiled at her approvingly.
Mark cleared his throat and his aunt looked properly chastised again. He steepled his fingers in front of his face. “Who was your other offer from, Lady Arabelle?”
“Lord Hillenbrand.” She uttered the name so quietly that Mark barely heard it.
“Hillenbrand? My, he’s a good-looking one.” Lady Harriet pulled her black handkerchief from her bosom and fanned herself with it.
Mark didn’t need to say anything this time. LadyHarriet put her handkerchief over her lips and mumbled, “I’m so sorry. I’m rubbish at keeping my mouth shut.”
Lady Arabelle gave Harriet a patient smile.
“And you turned Hillenbrand down because of John?” Mark continued.
“Oh, no.” Lady Arabelle sat up straighter. “Not because of John. I mean, I fancied John, of course, but I didn’t want to interfere with his pursuit of Molly. It wasn’t until I realized he didn’t fancy Molly that I truly allowed myself to care for him.”
“Wise, dear.” Lady Harriet nodded sagely, briefly closing her eyes. “Quite wise.”
Mark narrowed his eyes on Lady Arabelle. “How did you know he didn’t fancy Molly?”
Another blush from Lady Arabelle. She glanced away. “He told me.”
Lady Harriet gasped before covering her mouth (and her eyes this time) with her handkerchief.
“And that’s when you refused Hillenbrand’s offer?” Mark prodded.
“No. I’d already refused it,” Lady Arabelle replied. “Lord Hillenbrand is quite nice, but I feared we would not suit.”
“Also wise,” Lady Harriet mumbled from behind the mass of her handkerchief.
“Was Hillenbrand angry with your refusal?” Mark continued.
Arabelle twisted the handkerchief in her hands. “I’m certain he wasn’t pleased, but he never seemed angry.”
Mark leaned forward and searched the young woman’s face. “He didn’t say or do anything that made you think he was displeased with either you or John?”
“No.” Lady Arabelle shook her head and her curly golden locks bounced. “We all remained friends. I hoped he might fancy Molly. I thought perhaps they might suit.” Arabelle took a deep breath. “You don’t think anything untoward happened to John, do you?” she asked breathlessly.
Lady Harriet made a funny sort of strangled noise, but otherwise kept her lips sealed. She’d lowered her handkerchief to her mouth again. Mark was convinced her next move would be to stuff the thing inside of her mouth. He would not object.
Mark shifted in his seat. “I need you to think back to the night he died. The dinner party. Did you see anything out of the ordinary that night? Did John say anything? Mention anyone?”
