by Ella Edon
Jane hoped so. She didn’t feel like interacting with her friend anytime soon. She reached out and took Claire’s hand.
“I’m glad you’re here, Claire.”
“I’m glad I’m here, too.” Claire giggled before schooling herself into a calmer demeanor. “Forgive me, I shouldn’t be laughing at something so serious, but I haven’t had this much excitement in years.”
“You’re calling this excitement?”
“Three bodies in one day is certainly exciting.” Claire cleared her throat as Jane stared at her. “Of course, I’m sad that people are dead, but it’s thrilling to know we’re involved in a murder.”
“We’re not involved,” Jane pointed out. “Lord Surrey is just making sure everything is covered.”
“We’re told to stay on the estate and we’re not allowed to leave until Lord Surrey says we can. That’s being involved.” Claire paused. “I wonder who killed them.”
“A madman,” Jane declared. “Only a madman would kill nice people like them, especially Rosemary. That woman was lovely.”
“Maybe she wasn’t a complete saint that she made herself out to be.”
“She was a nun, Claire, not a saint.”
“You know what I meant.” Claire’s eyes widened, and she leaned towards her mistress. “Do you think it’s something to do with Lord Crawley?”
Chapter Eighteen
Jane blinked.
“Something to do with Father? Why do you say that?”
“I’ve seen it several times. Whenever there’s a scandal happening, it often ends up being a big secret from the person you least suspect. Lord Crawley would be the one you would least suspect having a secret.”
“When has that ever happened?”
Claire giggled. “You’re the one in Society. Surely you keep an ear open?”
“I’m not gossip-hungry, Claire.”
“Well, I am. Maybe your father’s got a dark secret from years back. One that he doesn’t want to get out into Society. It could be why he’s such a recluse.” Claire’s eyes lit up as she started ticking off the victims on her fingers. “Megan White, Mr. Elliott and Rosemary Wray all found out about this secret and threatened to reveal it to everyone else, so Lord Crawley had someone get rid of them.”
Jane arched an eyebrow.
“I notice you said he had someone get rid of them.”
“Well, he can’t exactly do it in his old age, can he? He’s a strong gentleman, yes, but your father could be easily overpowered, even by Rosemary.”
Jane wasn’t sure what to make of Claire’s suggestion that her own father was involved in this. She was aware that Lord Crawley wasn’t exactly a popular gentleman, but to imply killing people to keep a secret? Jane didn’t quite believe that. Something wasn’t quite right in that regard.
“If one of them had been killed and you made that suggestion, Claire, I might have agreed with you. But all three of them? It would have to be a badly-kept secret.”
“Maybe they were involved in the dark secret,” Claire went on excitedly. “And they’re getting picked off one by one.”
That last suggestion had a shiver going down Jane’s spine. She fixed Claire with a glare.
“Claire, you’re going too far. Do you remember who you’re talking to?”
That was when the light dimmed a little in Claire’s eyes. Her excitement faded, and she shifted in her seat.
“Forgive me, Lady Jane. I forgot where I was. I didn’t mean to get so excited.”
“You’re forgiven. Partly.” Jane shook her head. “Anyway, Father wouldn’t be involved in this. He’s not the type to have a dark secret.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Claire…”
“My apologies.”
Then something caught Jane’s eye. She turned to look into the garden just in time to see Alexander walking across the lawn towards the house. Lord Surrey was with him and the two gentlemen were in deep conversation. Jane couldn’t take her eyes off Alexander. Any angle of him was fascinating to watch, and it certainly warmed the fire in her belly. Her mouth was still tingling from his kiss.
She found herself licking her lips and stopped herself. Hopefully, Alexander wouldn’t look up and see her at the window, otherwise she was going to end up being caught licking her lips at him. She needed to calm herself down. A kiss didn’t mean anything, no matter what Rachel believed.
Did it?
“You’ve been taking a lot of interest in him lately,” Claire commented.
“Hmm?” Jane jerked her head back to her maid. “I beg your pardon?”
“I presume you were watching Mr. Harrison coming back to the house.” Claire’s smile was sly, her eyes glinting. “You’ve been watching him a lot.”
“I…”
Jane hadn’t realized that she had been doing that. She knew she looked at Alexander a little more than she should, but she hadn’t thought anyone else had noticed. If Claire had noticed, there was a good chance everyone else had too.
Just what she didn’t need.
“I don’t blame you for looking, My Lady,” Claire went on. “He’s very handsome. It’s a shame that my heart’s already taken.”
Already taken? Jane blinked. When had that happened? It couldn’t have been that serious, seeing as Claire was still talking with that light-hearted tone she often used. But then Jane remembered something from a previous encounter with a certain young gentleman, and it all came together.
“Oh, I see.”
“What?”
Jane giggled. “Lord Surrey. I seem to remember the first time you met a few months ago. You seemed quite taken with him.” She couldn’t stop giggling. “If I recall correctly, you were bright red for quite a while after literally bumping into him.”
Claire’s eyes widened. Now she was getting flushed in the face, her sly grin fading rapidly.
“No!”
“Why not? He’s a handsome gentleman, and you certainly noticed.” Jane winked. “And from the way he reacted when he first laid eyes on you, I’d say he noticed you.”
That had been an interesting sight. Lee Wilkes had stared at Claire like he had never seen a woman before. Jane had almost burst out laughing at the sight. Thankfully, no one else had noticed, otherwise there would have been a lot of questions. Claire had kept out of Lord Surrey’s way for the rest of the evening, even while the Marquess tried to subtly seek her out. Jane had found the evening very entertaining.
Claire huffed and shook her head. All the mirth was gone now.
“It’s just a passing fancy, My Lady. Nothing more. I’m a maid. He’s the Marquess of Surrey and a magistrate. It’s not going to happen.”
“Stranger things have happened in Society.”
“Not with us.” Claire pointed out. “It may happen with you and the reputed rake, but it won’t happen with me and the Marquess. That’s far too much.”
“Nothing is going to happen with me and Mr. Harrison,” Jane protested.
Although something had already happened. They had been in an embrace, and Jane could just not get it out of her head. Even now, she could remember every detail, and found herself wanting to kiss him again.
No. It must not happen.
“Are you sure about that?” Claire sniggered and nudged her mistress. “Maybe you can tell me that once you’ve stopped blushing.”
* * *
Alexander was worn out. He and Lee had spent most of the morning walking around the town, talking to various people further about Megan White. No one had anything much to add, and Alexander felt like the same questions were going round and round in his head until they were spinning into a blur. How Lee managed to do this without losing his patience, Alexander had no idea.
Being a magistrate was certainly not a job for him, and Alexander was glad about that.
They parted ways when they got back to the house. Lee wanted to go and talk to the head stable lad one more time, and Alexander was planning on sneaking into the kitchen to
get some food. He had purposefully missed breakfast, so he wouldn’t have to interact with anyone, and his stomach was growling. The cook was already charmed by him, so there was a chance that she would let him have something to eat to tide him over until lunch.
Then he would head up to his room and wait until Lee sent for him, just as he promised. Perhaps he would try to sneak in and see Jane again. Just to make sure she was all right. But this time he would make sure her maid was there as a chaperone. After kissing Jane the night before, Alexander didn’t think he would be able to control himself. Jane was undoing him faster than he thought possible.
She was someone any male would consider a good catch, and that was just her title. But Alexander had had a taste of her, and he wanted more. More from a lady he should stay away from.
He was in serious trouble.
Alexander managed to get a bit of food from the kitchen before the cook playfully shooed him out, promising to send him up a tray with his lunch later on. His stomach a little better, Alexander headed towards the stairs. After walking in fields and on paths that were still relatively muddy, his clothes were not in a fit state to be worn. He needed a bath and a change of clothes.
Alexander was passing Lord Crawley’s study when he heard the old gentleman’s voice from inside the room. He hadn’t realized that the door was open.
“Mr. Harrison. Get in here. I want a word.”
Alexander debated walking away, pretending that he hadn’t heard the Earl, but he went against it. His parents had raised him better than that. Taking a deep breath, he entered the study. Lord Crawley was sitting at his desk, leaning back in his chair as he openly glared at Alexander.
“Close the door.”
Alexander did as he was told then crossed the room.
“Is there something wrong, My Lord?”
Lord Crawley pursed his lips. “I’m not happy about this, Mr. Harrison.”
“Neither am I. Nobody likes to be around dead bodies.”
“I mean that I’m not happy about you being here in my house.”
This again. Alexander didn’t want to go through this again. It was frustrating. He put his hands behind his back and did his best to keep his composure.
“We’ve already established this, Lord Crawley. You don’t want me here, and I understand that. I don’t want to be here, either, when I’m treated with less respect than I should for my social status. I’ve tried to be respectful to you as the Earl of Crawley, but it isn’t easy when the same respect isn’t bestowed on me in return.”
Lord Crawley stared at him like he had gone mad. Then he snorted rudely.
“Respect? What have you done to deserve it?”
“If we’re going to go down that path, My Lord, you haven’t done anything that deserves respect from me. But I was raised to respect my elders, even if I have to do it through gritted teeth.”
They glared at each other. Lord Crawley did not appreciate Alexander’s response. Clearly, he had been expecting some sort of groveling now that Lord Surrey wasn’t there to back him up. That was not Alexander’s style. He did not like groveling.
“I don’t like that you’re helping the Marquess of Surrey with this.” Lord Crawley sat forward, jabbing his finger into the desk. “This is family business, and you are not family.”
“I didn’t realize three murdered people ended up being classed as family business,” Alexander sneered. “Unless you have something to hide? Maybe one of your sons…”
Lord Crawley snorted. “Don’t be ridiculous. My sons never did this. They wouldn’t kill anyone.”
“My cousin didn’t think his twin brother was capable of murder, but he was.”
“And look what happened to him,” Lord Crawley said. “We’re better than that.”
“I beg to differ.”
The Earl of Crawley’s jaw tightened. He rose to his feet, wavering a little before drawing to his full height.
“I want you out of my home by the end of the day, Mr. Harrison. I refuse to have you here. And as the bodies were killed long before you arrived, that puts you in the clear. I want you out.”
Normally, Alexander would happily do as he was told, and he would happily leave as quickly as he could, but then he thought of Jane. Alexander knew he wouldn’t be able to leave until he knew that Jane was safe. Only then would he walk away, and at Jane’s request.
After the way she had kissed him and melted into his arms the night before, Alexander was confident that Jane wouldn’t be forcing him to leave anytime soon. Arrogantly, he believed that she would be practically begging for him to stay.
He took a deep breath.
“Normally, I would agree to your decision and I would leave, My Lord. But I can’t leave.”
“Why?” Lord Crawley narrowed his eyes. “Because my daughter has supposedly asked for you to stay? She wouldn’t ask a cad like you to stay any more than I would.”
“Lady Jane is more forgiving about people’s pasts than others.”
“Who would forgive what you’ve done?”
Alexander did his best to ignore the sting in the old gentleman’s voice. He didn’t want to fight the Earl over this and trying to stand on his ground regarding his lack of reputation was not going to get him anywhere. Not that Lord Crawley would listen to him, as it was.
“Anyway, I can’t leave until Lord Surrey gives his permission. There is an investigation going on, and he doesn’t want anyone leaving the estate.”
Crawley snorted. “You weren’t even here when Mr. Elliott was killed.”
“I’m still considered a suspect until it’s confirmed,” Alexander replied evenly. He smirked. “And, even then, who’s to say I wasn’t here at the time of the murders?”
“Because you weren’t.”
Alexander sniggered. “How do you know that?”
He felt some satisfaction at seeing the old gentleman pale. Alexander knew he was innocent of the murders as he had been in Derbyshire at the time, and that could be easily proven, but Lord Crawley didn’t know that. He just wanted to make the Earl squirm. Alexander had to fight back a smile.
“I promised Lord Surrey that I wouldn’t leave until he’s sure that I didn’t have anything to do with these deaths. It’s up to him. And we can’t get a Marquess angry, can we?”
The look on Lord Crawley’s said everything. Even though he was at least fifty years Lee’s senior, Lord Crawley wasn’t about to upset the man. He bared his teeth, looking like an old dog trying to look frightening but it wasn’t quite working.
“You’re a snake, do you know that?”
“I’ve had a lot of practice.” Alexander gave Crawley a bow. “My Lord.”
Then he swaggered out. It felt good making the Earl scowl and have steam coming out of his ears. It made his current situation worth it.
But Alexander knew he had to be careful. If he pushed a little too much, the Earl’s family would make sure he was forced out, whether Lee liked it or not. While Alexander wanted to get under their skin, he needed to keep a low profile as much as he could.
Which was going to be easier said than done when it felt like everyone was watching him.
* * *
“Are you sure about going out riding?” Claire asked as Jane led her horse, saddled up, out of the stall.
“I’m sure.” Jane drew the beautiful mare into the courtyard. “I’m getting fed up having to sit in my room until Lord Surrey comes to talk to me. And I’m not interested in conversing with my family.”
Not after what they had said the night before about Alexander. Jane was not going to sit down and listen to them say such cruel things about him. It made her feel nauseous hearing it. The one thing she could do that would make her feel better was go riding. The day was warmer, and it was looking less wet. As long as she kept to higher ground, Jane was sure she wouldn’t get stuck or caught out.
But her maid did not look happy.
“Lord Surrey said we weren’t to go out alone.”
“He said
not to go off the property, and I’m just going for a ride around the estate.” Jane hoisted herself up and into the saddle. “I want some air and some quiet. I’ll be fine.”
“If you’re sure.” Claire still didn’t look happy. She hovered near the horse’s side. “Because if something happens to you…”
