Page 61 of Garden of Lies

Lady Fulbrook flinched as if she had been struck. Astonishment flashed in her eyes. It was followed by rage. She was not accustomed to taking return fire from someone who occupied a much lower rung on the social ladder.

“How dare you talk to me of such things?” she snapped.

“I would remind you that you were the one who raised the subject by saying that it was obvious that I was Mr. Roxton’s mistress.”

“I was trying to give you some sound advice,” Lady Fulbrook said tightly. “A man of Roxton’s wealth and connections will never consider marriage to a woman of your sort. Even though he’s a bastard son and his mother was an actress, he can nevertheless afford to look much higher—and mark my words, he will—when he decides it’s time to marry. But I doubt that you will take my warning seriously. Just as Anne Clifton failed to abide by my advice.”

Curiosity overcame Ursula’s temper. “You gave Miss Clifton similar advice?”

“The foolish woman thought she was so clever seducing a man who is far above her reach.” Valerie started drifting along the aisle formed between two workbenches. “That’s what killed her in the end, you know.”

Ursula followed at a cautious distance. “No, I didn’t know. Please enlighten me.”

“She must have concluded that her dreams could never become reality.” Valerie reached out and snapped the bloom off a flower stalk. “I’m sure that’s why she took her own life.”

“You seem to know a great deal about Anne’s state of mind at the time of her death.”

“Miss Clifton and I spent a great deal of time in each other’s company during the past several months. We often spoke of love and passion because my poetry deals with such matters. She got in the habit of confiding in me.”

That was hard to believe, Ursula thought. Anne had been clever, resourceful and ambitious—a determined survivor who had learned the hard way not to trust anyone who held power over her. She had once confided that at the age of seventeen, while working as a governess, she had been raped by the husband of her employer.

The wife had blamed Anne and turned her off immediately. That outcome was only to be expected in such situations. What had enraged Anne and made her forever wary of all future clients was that her employer had refused to pay the quarterly wages Anne was owed and also refused to provide a reference. That had made it impossible to find another post for a time. Anne had come very close to selling herself on the street in order to eat.

No, Ursula thought, it would have been very unlike Anne to confide in Valerie.

“Are you certain that Anne was involved in a love affair?” Ursula asked.

“I didn’t say it was a love affair.” Valerie snapped off another bloom and continued along the aisle. “It was a seduction or, rather, an attempted seduction. The object of her desire was barely aware of her existence. She was no more than a servant to him. I will not say that I sympathized with her but I understood her.”

“In what way?”

“I know exactly how she felt.” Valerie picked up a pair of shears and cut off the drooping frond of a palm tree. “I am no more than a servant in my husband’s eyes.”

A bell chimed somewhere behind Ursula. She was so intent on the conversation that she started at the unexpected sound.

“I told Beth that we were not to be interrupted,” Valerie said, annoyed. She looked down the length of the green tunnel toward the door, frowning. “It’s the housekeeper. Excuse me, I’ll be back in a moment.”

She went back through the green tunnel, heading for the door of the greenhouse.

Ursula waited until she heard the door open and then she whisked up her skirts and went quickly along the aisle formed by the plant beds, potted trees and workbenches. In the distance she could hear Valerie speaking in sharp tones to the housekeeper but she could not tell what was being said.

She did not see any leaves or flowers that resembled the dried ones she had brought out of Rosemont’s laboratory. When she reached the end of the aisle, she turned to the right and went along a narrow gravel path.

“Mrs. Kern?” Valerie called. “Where are you? I can’t see you.”

“I was just enjoying some of the specimens,” Ursula sang out. “This is an extraordinary collection. I would be honored if you would give me a proper tour.”

“Come here at once. You must leave now. I won’t be needing your services any longer.”

Damnation.Valerie was going to let her go. She would never be able to get back into the conservatory.

“Coming,” Ursula said. “Rather difficult to find one’s way around in here, isn’t it? I can’t even see the front door.”

“Stay right where you are, Mrs. Kern. I will find you and escort you out.”

Ursula kept moving, trying not to betray her location with the sound of her footsteps. She continued to scan the foliage but none of it resembled the dried herb material.

“Mrs. Kern, where are you?”

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