Page 52 of A Body, A Baron, and Miss Mifford
“Yes, let’s not make the same mistake twice,” Highfield chortled before hastily apologising as he noted Rob’s pained wince.
“Do you really think she will marry me?” Rob asked, directing his question to Emily.
“Yes,” the marchioness gave a firm nod before adding, “As long as you don’t muck things up any further.”
Easier said than done, Rob thought, though the glimmer of hope within grew stronger at her words.
Feeling somewhat more positive than when he had arrived, Rob took his leave of the pair to search for Lord Crabb. With any luck, they would have the murder resolved before dinner, leaving Rob free to concentrate on marriage.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
THOUGH EUDORA’S INTENTIONhad been to skip dinner, by the time the gong summoned out through Plumpton Hall, her stomach was rumbling. As her desire for food far outweighed her desire to hide from gossiping eyes, Eudora reluctantly made a stab at making herself presentable.
You can’t eat dignity, she sternly told herself as she pulled a hairbrush through her chestnut curls.
With most of the gowns purloined from Jane now returned, Eudora’s only choice was to don the dress she had worn the first fateful night of the party. A night which now seemed like a distant memory. Eudora gave a slightly bitter laugh as she recalled the excitement with which she had recounted the tale of the body in the woods to her sisters, little knowing that there would soon be another corpse to investigate.
Two bodies and no culprit; she was further away than ever from catching up with her sisters.
Aware that she was in danger of slipping back into melancholic self-pity, Eudora quickly finished her toilette. She was far too hungry to wallow in her own despair; experience had taught her that crying into one’s pillow was far more comfortable with a full stomach.
Eudora hurried from her room, allowing her stomach’s needs to take precedence over her fear of Mrs Canards.
Her journey to the dining room took her past the door of Ivo’s library, which was slightly ajar.
Eudora slowed as she heard voices from within. She came to a complete stop when she realised that one of those voices belonged to Robert.
“I hope you will forgive me, my lord, for keeping such information from you. Given that we now know Lord Albermay spent that night with Mable, I felt I could keep it from you no longer.”
“Are you certain they were bloodstains?” Ivo answered, his voice sounding hopeful to Eudora’s ear.
“You will have to speak with Lady Albermay’s maid, but I am almost certain.”
“Yes, I will speak with her. Thank you, Delaney.”
“My lord.”
With that, the conversation between the pair ended, and Eudora started at the sound of Robert’s approaching footsteps. Feeling cowardly, she lifted her skirts and fled toward the dining room. Shame tugged at her heart, not for her earlier rebuff of Lord Delaney’s proposal, but for dragging him into a murder investigation and leaving him in the lurch when it became too hard—she did not know how she’d ever look him in the eye again.
Unfortunately for Eudora, Jane’s seating arrangements for dinner meant that she had no choice but to meet the baron’s gaze.
“I swear that I did not engineer this,” Robert said as he slipped into the seat beside her.
“I would never suspect you of such things,” Eudora replied lightly before surreptitiously glancing toward her mama. It was not beyond reason to imagine Mrs Mifford had bribed a footman into switching the place names on the table.
Mrs Mifford caught her youngest daughter’s eye and delivered a wink so saucy that Eudora rather feared that her suspicions were correct.
“Did you speak with Lord Crabb?” Eudora ventured, though she was already aware that he had.
Robert nodded, his boyish face suddenly solemn.
“Thank you,” Eudora whispered, reaching a hand out to briefly squeeze his. “I should not have left you to bear such an onerous task alone.”
“I was glad to take the burden from your shoulders,” Lord Delaney answered stiffly.
Eudora felt her shoulders slump a little; the ease they had previously shared had all but vanished, replaced by a formality that felt decidedly cold.
A silence fell between them, filled slightly by the chatter of the other guests, who were far gayer than previous evenings.
