Page 34 of Affair

Baxter looked briefly startled by her reaction. “My half brother, Hamilton, is the current Earl of Esherton.”

“I’m relieved to hear that.”

Baxter’s brows rose above the rims of his eyeglasses. “Are you, indeed?”

“Most definitely. It would have made things ever so much more complicated, you see. The last thing I need is an earl running about the place.” A thought struck her. “What is your aunt’s name?”

“Rosalind, Lady Trengloss.”

“Good lord, another title.” Charlotte frowned. “Trengloss. I believe Drusilla Heskett mentioned her in passing.”

“As I said, Mrs. Heskett was a good friend of my aunt’s.”

Charlotte nodded wearily. “Quite natural that you would look into the matter of the murder on behalf of your aunt. I would have done the same in your place.”

Baxter smiled humorlessly. “Very understanding of you.”

“May I assume that you are telling me all of this because you have concluded that I am not a murdering blackmailer after all?”

“I was never convinced that you were a villainess in the first place.”

“Thank you for that much, at least.”

“But certain issues had been raised. My approach to such matters is to pursue the most logical line of inquiry until I discover evidence to the contrary.”

“It must be the scientist in you.” Charlotte studied the nib of her pen with great attention. “And what proof did you uncover that convinced you I was innocent, Mr. St. Ives?”

“For one thing, you did not seem to know your way around Drusilla Heskett’s house.”

Charlotte looked up sharply. “I beg your pardon?”

“Mrs. Heskett was murdered in her own home. Her bedchamber, to be precise.”

“Yes, I know.”

“When we reached the top of the stairs last night, you hesitated. You did not know which bedchamber was hers until we discovered the one that contained her personal possessions.”

“I see.” Charlotte swallowed. “Very logical.”

“Also, you did not appear to know what you hoped to find in the house. You stumbled across the watercolor sketchbook but other than that, you seemed uncertain about what constituted a clue. You were obviously not there to retrieve specific evidence that you knew might implicate you.”

No doubt she should have been pleased that his powers of logic had brought him to the conclusion that she was innocent of the crimes. But for some reason her spirits were still depressed. What had she expected to hear? That Baxter had taken one look at her and trusted her on sight? Ridiculous.

“So,” she said with what she privately thought was commendable aplomb under the circumstances, “having resolved the issue of my guilt in the matter, you naturally wish to resign your post and go about your own affairs.”

“Not exactly.”

“Perfectly reasonable, under the circumstances. After all, there is no need for you to continue your inquiries in my direction. You may as well—” She broke off as his words penetrated. “What do you mean,not exactly?”

Baxter released his grip on the chair and turned to walk across the room. He halted in front of the bookcase and stood with his back to her. “I wish to continue working with you on this matter, Charlotte.”

Her flagging spirits abruptly rallied. “You do?”

“The problem that brought us together still remains,” he pointed out. “There is still the matter of Mrs. Heskett’s murder to resolve. You and my aunt both want answers.”

“Yes.” She was suddenly feeling much more cheerful. “Yes, we do, indeed, sir. And there is certainly truth in the old saying that two heads are better than one.”

“But there will have to be a small change in our association.”

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