“Yes. That is probably clever. I cannot believe Father’s papers are safe here.” Her voice quaked. “That is truly a birth certificate?” She shook her head slightly. “I cannot imagine who it could be. Family births are all recorded in our Bible.” She walked to the end shelf and retrieved the Bible. “I’d best take this.”
They heard Lady Worsley and Nizal’s voices coming down the hall, growing louder. “I should put this back.” She pointed at the secret shelf.
“Yes, you are right. It may behoove us to keep some secrets secret.” He winked and helped her put the shelf in order.
Maggie quickly closed up the shelf, and the two of them moved quickly to the desk. Max kept the box tucked under his arm.
“Before they arrive, let me apologize for making light earlier. I was only trying to change the mood for you, Meg.” And now I know your mother’s ghost is here with us, he thought to himself, unaccustomed to the eeriness the thought evoked within him. He had been a skeptic, but no more.
She smiled and locked eyes with him. “You have always had a way of making me smile, and I enjoy that about you. I am just unused to having my life so upended. And I miss my parents.” She wiped a tear away.
“We have not mentioned your husband, but I would like to know more, if you will tell. I want to help.”
She winced. “I think of my husband as a nightmare of my uncle’s making. To me, they are the same. I know I should not say that, but it is how I feel. Maybe I will speak more about it to you later.”
The sound of boots and rustling petticoats ushered Nizal and Lady Worsley into the room.
“Lady Tipton, did you find what you were seeking in this room?” Nizal motioned to the box tucked under Max’s arm.
“Yes. I found my father’s papers,” Maggie responded.
“We shall return with them to Hambright to have better light and more time to read them,” Max added. “There are some interesting items among them, to be sure.”
“Well, that’s great. What do you say we proceed to the barn and have a look?” Nizal suggested.
“Marvelous. The sooner, the better. I have gained a fuller appreciation of hot tea and a warm fire. It is deuced cold in here.”
The party quickly moved to the barn. There were no animals and not much to see since most of what had remained had been disbursed years before. Mr. Nizal pointed toward evidence that horses had stayed recently. The most curious finding was Max’s discovery of both Meg’s and her father’s saddles. They remained where they always kept them, but the girth on her saddle had been cut so close to the billet that one might easily miss it if the horse was being saddled in a hurry.
“The thought of someone doing this to you, my dear, sickens me to the bone. Who would have done such a thing?” Lady Worsley huffed.
Mr. Nizal stood there for a long, quiet moment. “Lord Worsley, would there be any way to determine where the carriage that Viscount and Lady Winters rode in that day might be?”
Max turned to his mother. “If I recall correctly, you had that towed to our yard, did you not, Mother?”
“Yes. I could not bear the thought of Maggie seeing it. I had it taken away. We eventually returned the one horse that survived the accident, but the carriage remained in the shed behind our stables. I have not thought of that in ages.”
Mr. Nizal frowned. “Lady Worsley, how were you able to make that happen? It is rather unusual.”
“Lady Winters and I were closer than many sisters. No one questioned my having it taken to my estate, especially considering the pain and suffering left behind.”
“Did anyone inquire after it?” Nizal arched a brow.
“No. The new viscount arrived a few days later, but no one ever inquired. Why do you ask? Surely no one would think I stole it.” Her voice was almost shrill in response.
“No, no. That is not where I am going with this. But if my suspicions are correct, the accident was no accident and the evidence could still be perfectly viable.”
They met his words with a collective gasp.
“I suggest we keep all of this to ourselves for now.” Max offered. “Perhaps we should first return to my house, and then we can go see the carriage.” He turned to Maggie. “I do not believe this would be the best thing for you to do. Would you mind allowing me to look in on this? You and Mother need not come.” He read the terror in Maggie’s face. “Please.”
Maggie wiped away the tears that kept falling. “Of course. And I apologize for becoming a watering pot, but I never properly got to digest what happened to my family. Now I am facing the fact that what I suspected could have really happened.”
Max drew Maggie close.
“And what is that, Lady Tipton?” Nizal urged.
“That my family’s accident was possibly intentional.” She buried her face in her hands and wept as Max gathered her close and gently rubbed her back. Shep nudged her leg with kisses, seeming to know she needed him.
“We must get back. Now. I want to make sure that if there is a problem, the magistrate sees it,” Max added purposefully.
“I will make sure of it,” Nizal responded.
Max summoned the carriage and the little group boarded. As they pulled around the front drive, he glanced up at the attic window. A woman in a white dress with dark hair waved at them. It appeared to be Maggie’s mother. He would have sworn she wore a smile on her face.
Chapter 10
“My dear, you need your
