Page 99 of Death at a Highland Wedding
I say, “If Violet has stretch marks, then she either had a baby or went through most of a pregnancy. Her parents must have known, and it might explain why she hasn’t married. It’d be hard to hide those marks from a husband.”
“It would.”
“That could explain why marrying Ezra would have been out of the question. But shedidplan to marry Hugh. Which leads to a very awkward conclusion.”
He frowns, and I wait, knowing the answer will hit. When it does, his eyes widen. “You believe Hugh was the father?”
“That’s the logical answer, Duncan. She was going to marry him. Then,after he ends it, she goes into what seems like a depression and withdraws from society. I thought that was because of the broken engagement but this fits, too. Maybe even better.”
My hands fly up. “Not that Hugh broke it off because she got pregnant. He’d never do that, and it doesn’t make sense anyway—if they’re to be married, pregnancy is fine. Which is actually my point. They were getting married, so they’d see no problem with an early wedding night or two, and even when she got pregnant, it’d just be a matter of getting married before she showed. But what if Hugh didn’t know she was pregnant? If he ended it without knowing, and pride wouldn’t allow her to tell him, because she knew he’d marry her, which is a terrible way to start a married life.”
Gray goes quiet. He sits there, staring out over the sloping hill leading to the lakes.
“I wouldn’t judge him for that,” I say softly. “I’m sure he’s careful, but mistakes happen.”
He shakes his head. “That is not the issue. I am only trying to think of a way to say that I know Hugh was not the father, without sounding as if I am merely defending a friend.”
He looks at me. “Is there achancehe was the father? Of course. I would be naive to think otherwise. But he had no contact with Violet outside of chaperoned visits. Of course, young couples do find ways around that. However…”
He glances toward the house again. “Intending no insult to Violet, Hugh was not a smitten young man, eager to bed his bride. She is pleasing enough that he would have—” He clears his throat, cheeks flushing.
“Not found his marital duties overly onerous.”
More flushing. “Yes. But there was no reasonnotto wait. He respected her too much to risk her reputation in that way, and if he wanted such companionship, he found it easily enough.”
“So, while there’s the faintest chance they had an early wedding night, it’s very unlikely.”
“Exceptionally unlikely. If such a thing happened, even without a resulting pregnancy, he would have felt honor-bound to marry her.”
“Because she was no longer a virgin.”
“Yes. It is not as if any future husband would definitely reject her for such a thing. It is exceedingly unlikely one would even realize it.”
I look at him. “Realize she wasn’t a virgin, yes. Realize she’d had a baby, though, with those stretch marks?”
“That would have been much more difficult.”
Gray and I continue hashing it out. If Violet was pregnant—either carrying to term or close enough to have those stretch marks—then she would have needed to go away. Yes, a young Victorian woman going to visit an aunt in the countryside for a few months really is a thing, and I have to wonder how women in the past did legitimately go to visit rural relatives for an extended staywithouteveryone thinking they had a baby.
Abortion is another option. It’s illegal, and it’d be hard to find a doctor to perform it, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. It has always happened. We know a woman—Queen Mab—who is known for her abortifacients. She prefers to sell birth control methods, but guys aren’t exactly beating down her door for Victorian-era condoms. And the only women who partake of her services are sex workers and widows. Young women carrying on premarital affairs don’t dare go looking for help… until they’re pregnant and desperate.
What does happen is women who—having no other options—give birth and then end the baby’s life. It’s common enough that courts don’t necessarily consider it murder. They seem to often turn a blind eye, tell themselves it was a tragic accident, and give thanks for one fewer orphan “draining” the public coffers.
Being upper middle class, Violet is unlikely to have known where to obtain an abortion. She’s also unlikely to have been able to avoid her parents discovering the pregnancy. She’d have been whisked off to the country, and if she had a live birth, the baby would… go somewhere. Gray is a little fuzzy on the process. It’s not something he’d ever considered, being a man. To give him credit, I know—from an awkward conversation with Queen Mab—that he takes all steps to avoid accidental pregnancy.
Gray doesn’t know Violet well enough to be able to say, with any certainty, when she might have popped off to the country for a few months. Could it have been recently? Is it possible thatSinclairwas the father? Maybe that’s why they were meeting in secret—if he was the father and her parents had forbidden a marriage. But even if, somehow, Sinclair being the father ofher child didn’t make the alliance acceptable, Cranston would never have stayed best friends with the guy who knocked up his sister. Sure, it’s possible Cranston didn’t know, but then her parents would have refused to let her come here, where she’d be with Sinclair.
The baby daddy is almost certainly no one at this party, given that the only remaining possibilities would be Frye or Gray himself.
I put the pregnancy—and how it could be connected to the murder—on the back burner for now. I need to speak to Mrs. Hall, and Gray needs to delicately bring up the pregnancy to McCreadie.
I take Isla to speak to Mrs. Hall. The housekeeper seems to like Isla. I’m not surprised. When I was a housemaid, I don’t think I really understood how good a “lady of the house” Isla was. She was an easy boss to serve, and she is an easy guest as well. She’s considerate of the staff in a way that others aren’t.
Fiona and Violet are kind and gracious, but they also make more demands. They grew up in normal Victorian upper-middle-class households, where the point of having domestic staff is for someone to clean up after you and bring you tea. Fiona and Violet remind me of some friends I had growing up, who’d never think to take their dishes into the kitchen or make their beds after a sleepover.
On the other hand, Victorian domestic staff would be horrified and even offended if their employers did everything themselves. They can be downright territorial. Our housekeeper adores Gray and Isla, but she still bristles if they try to fix themselves a snack in her kitchen.
I will point out that I am just as good a houseguest. However, my odd position means I’m still considered staff, and so I’d damned well better not be ringing for snacks or leaving my room a mess. Being extremely low maintenance doesn’t win me any brownie points with Mrs. Hall. It’s just proper behavior.
