'How so?' Faro prodded him gently.
Dewar took a deep breath. 'Well, sir, the class she comes from, actresses and such like. Can't see one of her kind settling down to be a proper wife to His Lordship. Stands to reason, his family's one of the oldest in the land, older than any royalty.' With a shake of his head he added pityingly, 'Her so young, five years married and not a bairn, much less an heir. Just ain't natural.'
'Presumably Sir Archie wasn't worried by this?'
'You can never tell with that class of people, sir.'
'He does have an heir, I gather.'
'Yes, Mark, his first wife's son. But it's not the same, is it, sir?'
'I understood that they were close kin.'
'Yes.' Dewar sounded doubtful. 'The first Lady Elrigg was Sir Archie's cousin, so the lad had a right by blood. I was one of the witnesses to the will, sir, I tell you that in confidence. That in the event of the laird dying without issue, it would all go to Mark.'
Dewar frowned for a moment, before saying in the manner of one choosing his words carefully: 'It seems to me that Lady Elrigg isn't as grieved as is natural in the circumstances. Not like the example Her Majesty has set for widowed ladies. She's ordered mourning to be set aside and I hear tell that she and her companion have been heard playing the piano, singing comic songs. Now that's not nice.'
At Dewar's shocked expression Faro said gently: 'You mustn't forget that the two ladies are very young. At least having a companion who has known her for a long time must be a great help to Lady Elrigg at this time.'
'That's as maybe,' Dewar admitted grudgingly, 'But Miss Kent doesn't behave like a servant at all. Very grand with everyone in the village, too. Too good for the likes of us, you'd think. And it's time she was finding herself a man before it's too late...'
Faro felt a fleeting sympathy for Miss Kent at the village matchmaker's mercy as Dewar went on: 'Bowden tells me that one or two of his customers - young lads - have made, well, advances when she's been down on an errand. Nothing coarse or undesirable, you understand,' he added hastily, 'just friendly - a bit saucy like they are with the maids at the Castle. But this one just gives them a steely look, a frosty reply.
'What can you expect with stage folk?' He shook his head. 'Can't be doing with them. Mind you, I was sorry for that poor actor chap who had that nasty accident while staying at the Castle.'
'What kind of accident?' Faro asked innocently.
'Well, sir, it was all a bit mysterious, if you ask me. If it had happened anywhere else there would have been a full inquiry but here, well, it seemed to me that it was very hastily hushed up, the Chief Constable and the Coroner being close kin of Sir Archie -'
'Wait a moment,' Faro interrupted. 'You mean that there was something to hush up - like foul play?'
'Well,' said Dewar reluctantly, 'that's what I thought.'
'How so?'
Dewar shrugged. 'This actor arrives in the village and takes a room at the inn. He starts asking about Her Ladyship. Seems he was an old chum, they have been on the boards in London. Next thing we knew, he's cleared off in a carriage taking him to the Castle, to be the guest of the Elriggs, to entertain Mr Osbourne - on one of his visits. Must have been there for about a week, when he and Mr Osbourne went out riding together.'
He paused, frowning. 'Mr Osbourne came back alone, so we are told. They had parted company. No one took much notice of the fact that Mr Gray was missing at dinner that evening. It wasn't until next morning, when the maids discovered his bed hadn't been slept in, that the alarm was raised. The servants were a bit worried about that, especially the housekeeper, who thought he'd maybe gone off with the silver. You can never tell with that class of people, sir.
'We were alerted but we weren't permitted to question Mr Osbourne personally. All we had was what he told His Lordship, that he and Mr Gray had ridden as far as the pastureland at the edge of the estate and he, Mr Osbourne, was feeling tired and decided to return.
'That was all we had to go on. We set out and there he was, poor gentleman, lying dead in the copse beside the hillfort. He'd been gored by one of the wild cattle. There was no doubt about that. A dreadful accident. The Coroner and Sir Archie were all for having it cleared as quickly as possible. Didn't want it getting into the newspapers, with royalty involved.'
He looked at Faro. 'I've often thought that it was odd finding His Lordship in the same place. Died the same way too. A strange coincidence, don't you think?'
Faro made no comment, thinking that any other police than Elrigg would have thought it also suspicious enough to merit immediate investigation.
At that moment they were interrupted as Mrs Dewar came out of the house, drying her hands on her apron.
'Food's ready, Sandy.' And, seeing Faro, she smiled. 'Is this the gentleman you were telling me about?'
She bobbed a curtsy as they were introduced, looking very impressed. 'Won't you take a bite to eat with us, sir?'
'Aye, do that,' said Dewar. 'Jessie can beat the inn for anything they might produce. And it's steak pie -'
'Go on with you, Sandy,' said Mrs Dewar. 'Can't have Mr Faro expecting too much. It's all simple food.'
As they led the way into the house, he heard her murmur to her husband, 'He's younger than I thought
