A Perilous Perspective (Lady Darby Mystery #10)(92)

Liam blinked several times and turned his head to the side.

“I just thought you should know.”

He bobbed his head, and I did the only kind thing I could for him. Leave him to grieve without my looking on.

“Nay, lad,” I heard Uncle Dunstan respond to Gage’s request that he escort me and Miss Ferguson back to the manor. “You go while I handle matters here.” His gaze flicked toward me. “You and Kiera have visitors.”

It was on the tip of my tongue to ask who when he answered for me.

“The Campbell sisters.”

My surprise must have been perfectly evident, for a smile cracked my uncle’s somber face.

“Aye. Ne’er thought I’d live to see the day. ’Least no’ while my uncle was still alive.” He waved us toward the path. “Go on.”

Gage’s expression was pained. “I warn you, it’s not pleasant.”

Uncle Dunstan was unfazed. “I imagine no’. But we’ll manage just the same. We’re transportin’ him to the icehouse?”

To lie beside his daughter until their burials.

Gage confirmed this and then pivoted to have a quiet word with Anderley about securing the painting and bringing it to the manor. I gestured for Miss Ferguson to join us, ushering her toward the trail as Gage finished his instructions. Then I issued my own brief directive to the dark-haired valet, for I’d not missed the unpleasant scowls he’d periodically aimed toward the second footman—Bree’s friend Callum.

“Behave yourself,” I murmured with a warning glare.

The look he gave me in return was one of complete innocence, but I strongly suspected Callum would not finish this task with unsoiled livery.





Chapter 25




We were silent for much of our trek back to the manor, with Miss Ferguson marching in front of us while Gage led Titus by his reins. Once the trees thinned and the manor came into view, the governess cast a defiant glare over her shoulder before diverting her steps down a different path, presumably one that led toward the servants’ entrance. I only just resisted the urge to roll my eyes at her insolent behavior. She certainly wasn’t winning any points from me.

I would need to say something to Rye. After all, she was the governess to his children. The difficulty was in knowing exactly how much to reveal. If she was guilty, then I didn’t want her anywhere near my cousin’s children. But if she wasn’t, I didn’t wish my hasty judgment to jeopardize her position. However, the children’s safety had to come first. Perhaps confining them all to the nursery with the other nurserymaids and Brady’s children’s governess would solve the problem temporarily. Then at least she wouldn’t be alone with them.

“Do you think she did it?” Gage asked once Miss Ferguson’s angry stride had carried her far enough away that she wouldn’t overhear.

I darted a glance at the unpleasant governess out of the corner of my eye. “I think she’s covetous and exceedingly unpleasant.” I heaved a sigh. “But those things don’t make her a murderer.”

He nodded, and Titus’s bit jangled as he adjusted the reins in his hand. “The discovery of that painting certainly alters things. But I’ve been thinking. If it was the motive for the murders, then why didn’t Miss Ferguson, or whoever killed him, remove it from the cottage before the body was found? After all, you estimated he’d been dead for approximately eighteen hours. That’s a large window of opportunity for them to have taken it.”

“Yes, but they probably weren’t aware who knew of its existence, and whether that might complicate their efforts to sell it. Not to mention, where would they store it? Miss Ferguson couldn’t just waltz up to her room and hide it under her bed. She would have needed someplace dry and secure. Someplace where no one would stumble upon it by accident.”

Gage gripped my elbow to help me navigate around a large puddle in the middle of the path while he and Titus strode straight through it. “Maybe they’d had a place in mind, but then your discovery of the forgeries in Barbreck’s collection and our subsequent investigation complicated matters.”

I looked up from examining the hem of my gown for splatters. “You’re thinking of Alisdair’s cottage?”

“It fits all your parameters.”

I had to concede he had a point. I pressed my hand to my head, which had begun to ache. “I don’t know what to think just now. It’s all a bit of a muddle.” I lifted my gaze hopefully toward the pale stone of the manor. “Maybe whatever has brought the Miss Campbells to Barbreck will help to make sense of it.”

We found everyone gathered in the drawing room, including Lord Ledbury with his pinched face and Lord Barbreck with his long one. The marquess sat stiffly in the chair he seemed to prefer near the hearth, watching Miss Campbell out of the corner of his eye while trying to appear as if he was not doing so. For her part, Miss Campbell also seemed determined not to glance in his direction and, by all appearances, was more successful at it.

I was most surprised to see Miss Margaret seated next to her sister, her shoulders bowed but her eyes alive with interest as she took in everyone and everything. I wondered when she had last left the confines of Poltalloch. Our prior conversations seemed to imply it had been years if not decades. As such, I couldn’t blame her for her curiosity.