too ill to come, so I thought I should make sure you were all right. I was afraid you might have taken something that didn’t agree with you.”
“Like poor Roderick?”
“Good heavens, Garnet, what a thing to say!” her mother cried.
“Mrs. Brandt isn’t easily shocked. Are you, Mrs. Brandt?”
“Not at all. And I was sincerely hoping you hadn’t suffered the same fate.”
“Your concern is gratifying, but I assure you, I am perfectly safe.”
“If you’re feeling unwell because of the child, I can suggest some things to do that will make you more comfortable.”
“My mother is ahead of you there. The two of you share a touching concern for my well-being. Did I tell you Mrs. Brandt is a midwife, Mother? She is a widow who earns her own bread.”
“Isn’t that really why you envy me?” Sarah asked.
Garnet widened her eyes. “Am I so transparent?”
“Not at all. Any woman could understand your interest.”
“Any woman who had been left penniless and helpless, you mean.”
“You aren’t penniless,” Mrs. Richmond said almost desperately.
“No, I’m not,” Garnet agreed. “At least so long as I stay here, in this house, at the mercy of everyone in it.”
Mrs. Richmond reached out and laid a hand on her daughter’s arm. “But he’s gone now, my darling. He can’t hurt you anymore.”
“Can’t he? And what about you? He left you penniless and helpless, too.”
From what Sarah knew about Mrs. Richmond, this was certainly true, but to her surprise, Mrs. Richmond stiffened and snatched away her comforting hand. “Penniless, perhaps, but not completely helpless.” For a moment, Sarah and Garnet stared at her in surprise, and seeing their reaction, Mrs. Richmond instantly softened her expression with a smile. “In many ways, we are the stronger sex, are we not, Mrs. Brandt?”
“Anyone who has seen a woman in childbirth would agree,” Sarah said.
“A woman will do what she must to protect those she loves,” Mrs. Richmond said. “My daughter is still learning this lesson.”
Mrs. Richmond and Garnet exchanged a look. Sarah would have given much to know its true meaning, but Garnet said, “And a bitter lesson it is, too.”
A knock at the door announced the arrival of the maid with their tea. Mrs. Richmond took charge of serving it, and like the proper hostess she had once been, she directed the conversation to trivialities. By asking Sarah about herself and her family with the skill of one who has been taught from birth how to fill the hours with conversation without ever touching on anything of real importance, she managed to pass the time until the maid came to inform them that the rest of the family had returned.
“Mrs. Devries wants you to help her greet the guests,” the girl told Garnet.
Garnet actually winced.
“Mrs. Paul couldn’t possibly stand on her feet for so long,” Sarah said. “Please tell Mrs. Devries that she will be available in the parlor for anyone who wishes to see her.”
“The
This time the maid winced, probably dreading Mrs. Devries’s reaction to this refusal. When she was gone, Garnet turned to Sarah. “Will you stay with me?”
Malloy had wanted her to report to him what happened at the house, and she would see little if she stayed with Garnet, but she said, “Of course.”
Garnet turned to her mother and took her arm. “We will be as brave as Mrs. Brandt thinks we are.”
An expression that might have been despair flickered across Mrs. Richmond’s face, and she gave her daughter a brief, fierce hug. Then, smoothing out her expression to cool unconcern, she walked out with Garnet into the hallway.
For the next few hours, Garnet held court in the family parlor. As Sarah had predicted, few of the guests found her there. To Sarah’s surprise, one of them was a handsome young man who greeted her warmly.
“Garnet, my darling,” he said, taking her hand in both of his. “How are you bearing up?”
“I’m so much better now that you’re here,” she said.
“Of course you are,” he said, winning from her the first true smile Sarah had seen that day.
From where she sat unobtrusively in the corner, Sarah was busily rethinking her opinion of Garnet, nearly convinced this fellow was her lover, when Garnet said, “Mother, allow me to present Paul’s oldest friend, Hugh Zeller.”
Hugh and Mrs. Richmond made all the correct responses to the introduction, and he accepted Garnet’s invitation to sit with her.
“Paul sends his most affectionate regards,” Zeller said, “and asks you to forgive him for not attending you sooner, but he will find you the moment the witch is done with him.”
“I know he will. She’s keeping him away from me as a punishment for not going to the funeral.”
“Of course she is, and for not standing at her side while people gush about what a wonderful man her husband was. I keep telling Paul to stand up to her, but the habits of a lifetime are difficult to break.”
“We all do what we must to protect those we love,” Garnet said with a meaningful glance at her mother.
“Now tell me, my darling, are you really ill?” he asked, studying her intently. “You are as ravishing as ever, but I’m afraid now it is more in the manner of the tragic heroine wasting away for love.”
“Not for love, surely,” she said.
He grew solemn. “Tell me the truth. Are you really ill?”
“Nothing that time won’t cure.”
She was exactly right, Sarah thought.
“You know we would move heaven and earth for you. All you need do is ask.”
Garnet smiled at him fondly and patted his hand. “I’m sure I won’t require anything so ambitious as all that. Paul might, however, if you don’t get him away from his mother soon.”
“Have you assigned me a quest, fair lady?”
“I most certainly have.”
He took her hand and bowed over it, then rose. “I will bring him back with his shield or on it.”
“What did he mean by that?” Mrs. Richmond asked when he was gone.
“I have no idea. He always says the most outrageous things.”
Sarah’s parents came in then, distracting her from her eavesdropping. She greeted them, then introduced them to Mrs. Richmond. They didn’t bother to express their condolences to Garnet, for which she was undoubtedly grateful. Sarah’s mother, who was also a master of meaningless conversation, managed to get Mrs. Richmond’s history in a few short minutes.
While the two women were chatting, Sarah’s father drew her aside. “I see Garnet is still alive.”
“Don’t tease, Father. If Roderick was killed because he knew who the killer was, other people might be in danger as well.”
“I wasn’t teasing. I’m as relieved as you are. I just can’t believe Paul or Lucretia would commit murder.”
“Maybe they don’t consider it murder if it’s just a servant.”
She saw her barb hit home, but he said, “Many in their place would not, I’m afraid.”
“I’m glad you aren’t one of them.”
Her compliment seemed to please him. “Where is Mr. Malloy?”
“He’s meeting with the medical examiner to make sure Roderick really was poisoned.”
“Then I assume he’ll question Paul.”
“Yes, but not until tomorrow.”
“Will he be able to find out the truth?”
Sarah didn’t know the answer to that question.
FRANK HAD TO WAIT FOR DOC HAYNES, WHO WAS IN THE middle of an autopsy when
