Page 41 of Beyond the Grave
I turned my head to see if he was smiling, since I swear I could hear a smile in his voice. But his mouth was as firm as ever, his face a mask, and his eyes hooded.
He opened the door and helped me inside. We drove back to Lichfield Towers, where Cook dished out soup and plied us with questions. We told him what we'd learned, then discussed what to do next.
"This is all very interesting," I said, "but I fail to see how any of this would matter to Andrew Buchanan."
Gus slurped his soup, drawing everyone's attention, then licked his lips. "He'd be angry, like his father. No one told him he had a nephew, and he never got to meet him."
Seth shook his head. "He wouldn't care."
"He might, if the child had lived," Lincoln said. "With his brother childless, he remains heir to the estate, but a son changes that."
"Do you think the child lived after all?" I looked at him in horror. "But that's not possible, according to Estelle. She cannot give life, just the appearance of it."
"Miss Pearson may not know everything about her gift. But you are correct, it's unlikely the baby came back to life. I assume they buried him. However, we now know that Lady Harcourt is capable of having children. If she did so once, she can do so again. That might worry Buchanan."
"But it's been years, and she hasn't been with child again."
"It ain't an exact science," Gus said, with all the authority of Estelle herself. "Some women just fall pregnant if you look at 'em—"
"I'm pretty sure that'snothow it works," Seth said, with a roll of his eyes.
"And some women can't have babies for years, and then suddenly, they have dozens."
"Dozens?"
"Shut your hole, Seth. What do you know about it? You ain't got brothers and sisters."
"I didn't know you were an only child," I told him.
Seth shrugged. "Did Miss Pearson say she spoke to Andrew Buchanan?"
"She never met him, but that doesn't mean he didn't learn that she was a midwife, after seeing her name in the journal, then put two and two together."
"I don't know if he's bright enough to work it out."
"Either way, it's obvious what has to be done next." Lincoln rose, and we all waited for him to elaborate. He didn't.
"Mr. Fitzroy?" I prompted as he headed for the kitchen door. "What are we going to do now?"
"You're not doing anything. I'm going to confront Lord and Lady Harcourt."
I exchanged glances with the other men. "He bloody well is not doing this without us," I muttered so that Lincoln couldn't hear.
"Go after him," Gus said, shooing me with his hands. "Tell him Cook wants to bake something special for fancy guests. Get him to invite them for dinner tonight so's we can listen in."
"Good idea. Even better, Seth, why don't you take an invitation to Harcourt House now, that way Fitzroy can't refuse."
The gazes of Seth, Gus and Cook drifted to the door behind me. All three turned pale then found their bowls of soup of utmost interest. I winced. Lincoln and his damned instincts.
I turned to see him leaning against the doorframe, his ankles and arms crossed as if he'd been there all along, waiting for me to walk into a trap.
Chapter 8
"I'll writethem an invitation now," Lincoln said, pushing off from the door. "It seems Seth will be delivering it, as plotted." He left again.
I stared at the empty space where he'd been standing.
"Did I just hear what I think I heard?" Seth asked.
