“Has the family questioned the servants about your intruder yet?”Brydie rubbed her hands and studied her surroundings nervously.She seldom visited the manor.
Verity could appreciate her friend’s discomfort, but Brydie was a squire’s daughter and about to marry—someday—a respected solicitor.She needed to learn she was not just a farm girl.
“The ladies are making lists of all the servants and checking it twice.The manor has any number of guests for the holiday, and their servants are all strangers to Rafe.That’s why we’re locked up here.”Verity opened her trunk and rummaged.“Color?”
“Green.Rafe is quite confident the soldiers aren’t dangerous?”Brydie peered over her shoulder.
“They drink too much.They aren’t always reliable.But they’re loyal to the captain, Rafe says.Patrolling, they know how to do, but it won’t help if the killer is among the guests or their servants.For them, we have Mrs.Upton, Paul, and Minerva snooping.”Verity understood that, knew she was the last line of defense, and prayed her friends would root out the villain before he tried again.
Once upon a time, she would have found it impossible to believe that fashionably dressed society contained killers.She had since been disabused of such innocence.
Brydie offered a sigh of awe at the jewel-toned Kashmir shawl Verity produced from her trunk.“My mother once wore gorgeous pieces like this, when I was very young.Kate and I did not appreciate them until too late, after the moths and old age destroyed them.It’s not as if we wear silk to feed the chickens.”
“Meera gave me that one.You should see her collection!But the colors are much too vivid for me and lovely with your auburn hair.”Verity handed over the shawl and rummaged for her jewelry box.“I lived in a cellar and had no chickens to feed, so I wore my mother’s gowns.I spent years adapting her wardrobe to suit me and fashion.In a way, it allowed me to feel closer to her.I lost most of it in the fire, but I’d hidden some of her jewelry and finery with my books thinking I’d one day run away.”
“You’re the lady and should be the one going to dinner.”Brydie swung the shawl around her shoulders and admired the fringe.“Kate and I tried to keep a formal table after mother died, but father wasn’t interested.We were young and gave it up.”
“He was the local squire, wasn’t he?”Opening her jewel box, Verity found a choker of seed pearls and showed them to Brydie.“You have every right to sit with gentry.My father was merely a sea captain.My mother was gentry and aspired for me, but she died, and I was never presented to society.These days, I’d far rather be with the children and Rafe.”
“There may be dukes and earls at the table,” Brydie whispered in horror, admiring the pearls but not touching them.“Look at my hands.”She held out fingers red and roughened from hard work.“I won’t be able to take off my gloves.”
“Then leave them on, if you wish.Tell everyone you’re subject to chilblains, which is the honest truth.Arm yourself andcatch a killer.”She shoved the pearls at Brydie.“I’m relying on you.”
“My suit of armor.”Reluctantly, Brydie accepted the necklace.“I need to go down for a fitting.Kate’s doing most of the sewing.I’ll send her up here to keep you company when she’s done.She says she’s still in mourning and has no escort and would rather be with Rob and Lynly.You have time to change your mind.If Kate’s here, you could go down with Rafe.”
Verity shook her head vehemently.“I am an innkeeper’s wife now.But there might be interesting single men down there for Kate.How long has it been since her husband died?”
“Just before last Christmas.It’s been over a year, but she’s...shy of men.Just having her here at the manor where she can watch gentlemen come and go, while she’s surrounded by Lavender’s sewing ladies, is helping.She’s spent far too long alone on the farm, with only me and the children for company.Once I’m wed, I’ll work on her.”
Brydie left, holding her treasures as if they were real jewels.
Rafe arrived a little later and hugged Verity, offering her the strength she needed.He’d brought Arthur with him.“The boy says he’d rather eat in the schoolroom than downstairs.And he can take Wolfie outside and feed him,” he murmured while the younger boys crowded around Kate’s eldest son, sweeping him away to excitedly point out their castle’s traps.
Verity showed Rafe the newly installed locks.“Arthur is good with the boys.But if he’s off to school in a few weeks, he ought to be downstairs, gaining a little polish.”
Following the boys, Rafe peered into the dark storage area next to her closet room.“Kate did a good job with him.And he’s a fast learner.Damien’s teaching him how to use a sword and fists.It can’t hurt to have one more layer of protection up here.”
“You really believe Daniel’sbad manis in the manor?”Verity whispered, keeping an eye on the boys as they balanced an ugly marble bust in the seat of a rocking chair on top of a three-legged washstand.
“Elton may have come to Gravesyde with kidnapping in mind, but whoever broke into the parsonage was most likely after the birth records Upton asked the Stratford curate to send.Fortunately, they haven’t arrived yet.Whether Elton knew about those remains to be seen, but it does appear the parsonage thief would need to read.”Rafe hugged her reassuringly.
Which did limit them to mostly gentry.
Verity buried her face in his shoulder and drank in his masculine scent, before straightening her spine and pushing away.“Catch the scoundrels so we may have the merriest Christmas anyone has ever known.”
“That’s my ferocious Verity.”He kissed her again and strode off, every bit the confident soldier she loved and adored.
Rafe would go after killers and thieves with fists and swords.
Verity suspected the boys had a better notion—defeat the sneaky snakes with deviousness.
Twenty-five
Minerva
“Verity saidthe attic intruder claimed to be a valet.”Still unnerved by having her cozy new home invaded by an evil miscreant, Minerva settled into one of her mother-in-law’s comfortable armchairs and scowled.As head housekeeper, Mrs.Upton had created a compact apartment for herself off the manor’s kitchen.“It would be so much simpler if she described a man who looked like Mr.Elton, or even Mr.Parsons, but her description simply isn’t enough for comparison.”
Mrs.Upton filled her teacup and settled into her own chair.She watched fondly as her son repaired the leg of a wooden table chair in her small dining area.“As I recall, Mrs.Russell said the valet had a Roman nose, fleshy lips, and possibly a hint of sideburns, but it was quite dark and she only had a glimpse.And if she was frightened, she might not remember rightly.Does Mr.Parsons fit this picture?Did you actually meet Mr.Elton or are you relying on description?”
