A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Murder

by Dianne Freeman

  I told him about climbing through the window after sending Tuttle for an ax to chop through the door.

  He choked back a laugh. “Seriously, once inside you didn’t think to unlatch the door?”

  I straightened my back. “Things were moving rather quickly. I needed to assure myself you were alive, and need I remind you there was a fire closing in on us? I thought of it eventually.”

  By then he was laughing wholeheartedly, and I’ll admit I was pleased to see him in this mood.

  “I shall forever have an image of you wriggling through the window,” he said. “And putting the fire out with dishwater and lemonade.”

  “It was wet and available. And it didn’t put the fire out, just bought us a little time.” I huffed in exasperation. “Are you truly going to criticize my methods?”

  He brought my hand to his cheek. “You very likely saved my life. I shall never question your methods or your resources. I should have told you about the letter when I received it, and from this moment on, I shall trust you with my life.”

  Well. That brought on a warm glow.

  “All right, I suppose I’ll forgive you this once. But I want it understood this is never to happen again. I’ve already experienced a marriage in which husband and wife led separate lives. I won’t do that again. You are never to keep things from me in the name of protecting me.”

  “You have my word.”

  “Then I’ll marry you.”

  He sat up in alarm. “I thought that was already a settled matter. Was there still some question in your mind?”

  “Not a question, exactly.”

  His brow furrowed. “Then what, exactly?”

  Hmm, my turn for a confession. “I was a little worried that as your wife, you’d shut me out of your investigations—that you’d bid me to stay quietly at home.”

  He gave me a skeptical look. “I am under no illusion that I could bid you to do anything and expect you to comply. However, I may be forced to ban you from further investigations if you continue to outshine me as you did on this one.”

  I let out a huff. “My concern was in keeping you alive, not competing with you.”

  “Now you say you can best me without even trying.” He paused, waving a hand toward me. “And you laugh at my plight.”

  Indeed, I was laughing—and coughing.

  He reached out and took my hand. “I’ll always want to keep you out of danger, but I’ll also want you by my side. Surely we can find some middle ground that will satisfy your sense of adventure without giving me palpitations.” His expression was so hopeful I had to smile.

  “I believe we can. In fact, after this week, I see that you need me to keep you on your toes. If that’s not reason enough to marry, I have yet another.”

  “I’ll take every reason you have to offer.”

  “I’ve told my mother.”

  He pulled back, sucking air in between gritted teeth. “I can’t imagine she approved.”

  “It doesn’t matter if she does.” I pressed his hand. “She told me she discouraged you from courting me all those years ago.”

  “Ha! That’s quite an understatement. She made it clear I was not in contention for your affections.”

  “But why did you believe her? Why didn’t you ask me?”

  “I didn’t know you then. I thought she spoke for you, and if she objected to me, would you have had the fortitude to defy her?”

  A fair question. “I hate to admit it, but I’m not sure. Fortunately, I’ve grown up enough to think for myself.”

  “Dare I bring out the ring again?”

  “You have it with you?”

  He shrugged. “I carry it in my pocket. Woodrow put it in that drawer.”

  I opened the drawer in the bedside table and handed him the ring. He slid it on my finger and glanced up at me. “Are you certain? I can wait until we’ve had a chance to speak with your mother if you like.”

  “She already knows I intend to marry you, and while she objected at first, she seemed to be more amenable to the idea by the time I left her at her room just now.”

  “What changed her mind?”

  I told him about the way we apprehended Jamie Bracken, which sent him into peals of laughter. “I think she realized I am every bit as determined as she is.”

  “You and your mother stopped a criminal with a pitchfork and a bucket of water. The two of you are even more formidable than I thought.”

  I smiled. “And now it appears you have both of us on your side. Aren’t you the lucky one?”

  * * *

  Bridget had a bath ready for me when I finally returned to my room. If only I could just lie in the hot water and have a good soak, but there was still so much to do. Yes, Mr. Winnie, or rather Mr. Bracken, had been taken into police custody, thus the threat had been removed, but did everyone know that? Not to mention the fire may have been the last straw for some of the guests. Had anyone already left? The only way to find out was to climb out of the tub.

  Within half an hour, refreshed and dressed, I ventured out of my room to see what had happened with the rest of the guests. Crocker awaited me at the foot of the stairs to inform me that the guests were all still in residence, Mr. Kendrick was awake and planned to come down for dinner, and Mr. Bradmore had called and was waiting in the blue salon.

  “Not the drawing room?”

  “Mrs. and Miss Price are using the drawing room at present.” His pursed lips told me they were likely using it for another of their arguments. I decided to see to Bradmore first.

  “Lady Harleigh,” he said, coming to his feet as I entered the salon. “May I congratulate you on a successful apprehension? I must say I’m impressed with the way you took charge.”

  “Considering you did your best to keep us out of it, I’m rather impressed myself.”

  He gave me a helpless gesture. “That wasn’t my decision to make, and I had no idea you were conducting an investigation of your own.”

  “Didn’t you?” I scoffed. “Even after I questioned you about your aunt? My, my, Mr. Bradmore, perhaps your detecting skills are lacking.”

  He grinned. “They are sharp enough for me to observe you and Hazelton are ready to make your intentions known.” He looked pointedly at my ring. “I’m pleased to have the chance to wish you well before I leave. I’ll be accompanying the prisoner back to London.”

  “Has he confessed then? All the accidents he orchestrated, were they meant for Mr. Hazelton?”

  Bradmore cocked his head. “Not all of them. If he wanted to get close enough to Hazelton to cause a fatal accident, he had to eliminate the steward first.”

  “Of course. With Mr. Gibbs supervising him, he’d never have been able to set his traps. He’d have no reason to be in the house either.” I heaved a sigh at the thought of the mayhem the man had caused. “How did he manage to poison the sherry?”

  “A packet of the stuff in his coat pocket.”

  “And none of us noticed.”

  “From my understanding of the situation, it was a celebratory moment. You had no reason to be on your guard.”

  “I don’t suppose he mentioned anything about a luggage cart at the train station.”

  He lowered his brows. “No. Should he have done?”

  “That might have been an accident. We may never know.” I blew out a breath. “What a misguided young man.”

  Bradmore nodded. “He’s been stewing about his father’s arrest for years now. And every time he visited Bracken in prison, the man would stir the pot some more.”

  “I’ve been wondering why Winnie, I mean Bracken, didn’t pursue Mr. Hazelton in London. Wouldn’t that have been easier?”

  Bradmore shook his head. “The old man left a great many enemies in London. Cohorts who’d been sacked but not arrested, and others still on the force. Some of them would have been more than happy to take some revenge on his son. Bracken didn’t want his boy anywhere near London.”

  “I see. Yet coming to the earl’s estate mea
nt playing quite a waiting game.”

  “The man was in prison. He was willing to wait for his revenge. It was the elder Bracken’s idea for the boy to take a job here. He even forged a letter of reference, assuming Hazelton would visit at some point.”

  “As it turned out, he didn’t have to wait very long.”

  “No.” Bradmore consulted his pocket watch. “Speaking of time, I ought to be going. It was a pleasure meeting you, my lady. Hazelton is a lucky man.”

  I walked him to the door and headed to the drawing room where Ben, the first footman, waited outside the door.

  “Mr. and Mrs. Kendrick have arrived, my lady.”

  Lovely. Bracing myself, I entered the room to find the Kendricks, my mother, Lily, and Leo, who looked pale and drawn, but much improved from the last time I saw him.

  I greeted Leo’s parents and joined my mother and Lily on the sofa. Between the four of us, we managed a modified and brief explanation of the past several days and how two of their children had come to be injured.

  “Well, that settles it,” Mr. Kendrick stated. “Patricia, we are not purchasing a house in the country. It is far too dangerous. And here we thought you were all having a jolly time of it.”

  “Some of it was lovely,” Lily said, smiling sweetly at Leo.

  “And the wedding is still planned for tomorrow, isn’t it?” Leo asked.

  Mother watched the interplay of glances between the two of them. “I suppose since we have endured so much in the effort of organizing it, we might as well carry on as planned.”

  “I find it terribly romantic,” Mrs. Kendrick agreed, gazing fondly at Lily and Leo.

  If one could dismiss a depraved murderer wreaking havoc on one’s wedding party, I supposed she was right; it actually was rather romantic.

  Chapter 23

  At last the wedding day had arrived. And a lovely day it was considering we were well into October. The sun shone brightly, the air was crisp, and the little village church had never looked prettier. Lily and her attendants, Anne and Clara, waited in the vestry with Alonzo, who stood ready to walk his sister down the aisle. I felt a twinge of regret on my mother’s behalf. Father should have been here. Lily and Alonzo barely noted his absence, but I knew Mother felt it. No wonder she spent so much energy trying to organize her children’s lives. I shook off the doldrums. This was a joyous occasion and his loss for missing it. As everything seemed in order, I stepped outside to watch for the rest of our party.

  The first to arrive were the Kendricks and the Durants. After a warm greeting, I invited them to take their seats in the church. Patricia Kendrick waved the group inside and took hold of my arm, drawing me away from the door. She wore the look of a woman on a mission, which caused me no little alarm.

  “Is something wrong?” I asked.

  She glanced around to assure we were quite alone before facing me. “I’ve had no opportunity to speak with you or Lily privately since we arrived, and this may be my last chance before they go off on their wedding trip.” She paused and took a breath. “Forgive me for coming straight to the point, but I must know. Is Lily expecting?”

  Dear heavens! How did she know? I parted my lips. Then clamped them shut. I had no idea what to tell her.

  She nodded, then patted my arm. “You needn’t say a word. I have my answer.” She pressed her lips together and lowered her head while I cursed myself for being the worst liar in the world. Or at least the slowest. Why could I never think fast enough?

  I stared at the confection of ribbons and flowers nested atop her hair until she raised her head, her eyes shining with tears. Her compressed lips burst open with a gurgle of laughter, ending with a brilliant smile. “I’ll be a grandmother,” she said in a whisper.

  It took a moment for my brain to catch up. “You are happy about this?”

  She dashed a tear away with her gloved fingertips. “Well, of course, I’d rather they’d waited, but we haven’t had a child in the house for fifteen years. I must admit when we received Leo’s note about changing the wedding plans, I wondered if this was the reason.”

  Perhaps it was due to relief, or just pure joy, but I couldn’t stop myself. I pulled her into a hug and laughed along with her.

  “We will have to keep this from Mr. Kendrick, of course. When they return from their wedding trip, perhaps we can devise a reason to send them from town on some business or other.”

  “I’m sure Mr. Durant will be happy to step in for Leo while he’s away.”

  “Yes, that will do very well.”

  I glanced back at the church to see more guests arriving. “We had best go, or we may miss the wedding.”

  We arrived at the door just as George walked up the path with my mother and Aunt Hetty. The ladies turned him over to my custody and went inside with Mrs. Kendrick. Hetty turned back to give me a wink.

  “I believe Aunt Hetty is delighted with our engagement,” I said. “And Mother seems to be coming around, too.” George and I had discussed our plans to marry with Rose last night. She was quite happy with the idea and as expected, she did not keep the news to herself.

  George tipped his head toward me, revealing the bandage his homburg didn’t quite cover. “I assume once this wedding is over, nothing stands in our way?”

  “Not a thing.” I smiled. “We can begin making plans at the wedding breakfast if you like.”

  “Plans?” He looked concerned. “Are you thinking of a large affair?”

  “Definitely not. I was referring to our future life together—where will we live and just how large a role will I play in your future assignments?”

  “Ah. Those plans I’ll be happy to discuss, but we had better go inside and get this wedding out of the way first.”

  We took seats in the front pew. George might have been better off remaining in bed—his head was still wrapped in bandages, and he allowed himself to lean, just a little, on my arm. But I was delighted he insisted on attending.

  The organist struck the first chords, and we all came to our feet. Leo, his arm in a sling, stepped out from the sacristy and took his place before the altar. His best man, Treadwell, stood beside him, the blackened eye Leo gave him, now a purplish green.

  Rose was the first to come down the aisle, dropping flower petals in her wake. I turned to the door as the bridesmaids approached and caught a glimpse of Charles in the pew behind us, balancing partly on a crutch and partly on Lottie. Anne smiled as she passed by. Clara came next, her arm in a plaster cast.

  My mother blotted her eyes as Lily, wholly unscathed and radiant, floated down the aisle on Alonzo’s arm. I watched the scene unfold through a haze of happy tears. This was my family, and George would soon be a most beloved member.

  Life couldn’t possibly get any better.