Page 56 of A Body, A Baron, and Miss Mifford
She seemed to realise that both Rob and Lord Crabb were waiting for her to admit to murder, for she threw back her head and gave a throaty laugh.
“I did not kill my husband, my lord,” she said, once her mirth had subsided, “I’m afraid you’re pointing the finger at the wrong girl.”
“But, the blood on the dress?” Rob burst out, the most damning of clues.
The viscountess did not have a chance to explain the bloodstain away, for the door to the drawing room was thrown open, and Eudora rushed in.
“Lord Delaney,” she called breathlessly as she spotted Rob, “We were wrong about the bloodstains.”
Eudora waved a gown in the air, which Rob recognised immediately, for his hands had roved all over it the night before.
“It’s from the mahogany panelling on the wall; it must have been revarnished only recently.”
“The morning of the party, actually,” Jane interjected, with a wry look to her husband, “A last-minute job, though I had been asking for it to be done for months.”
“There is a whole house of repairs to attend to,” Lord Crabb blustered, then—Rob suspected to get himself out of a pickle—he turned to look at Eudora curiously, “Did you fall against the wall, Eudora? I don’t understand how you managed to get so much of it on your dress?”
Eudora turned bright red and cast a guilty glance at Rob. He blushed in turn as comprehension dawned on Lord Crabb’s face.
Lady Crabb laughed lightly at their collective embarrassment, saying, “Don’t overly press them, Ivo.”
“If the stains on your dress came from…” Lord Crabb trailed off, turning from Eudora to look at Lady Albermay, “Then the stains on your dress came from..?”
It was Lady Albermay’s turn to cast a guilty look at her own paramour. Captain Ledger had the good grace to look abashed, and the viscount gave a curt nod.
“Right,” he said brusquely, “Everyone has been very busy, I see—far too busy for murder, at any rate. Lady Albermay, I pray you will forgive me for insinuating that you killed your husband.”
“It would be a lie to say I had never considered it,” Lady Albermay answered dryly.
“Finally, Lord Delaney,” the viscount turned to frown at Rob. “I expect we’ll have some happy news to celebrate soon.”
“I am just waiting on the lady’s answer,” Rob assured his host, not wishing to cap the night off by being called out for rakish behaviour. He had no intention of compromising Eudora and leaving her in the lurch; quite the opposite.
At his words, every eye in the room turned to Eudora, who squirmed under the scrutiny.
“I am mulling the proposal over,” Eudora answered, glaring at her sister, who threw up her arms in surrender.
“I didn’t say a thing! And it is your prerogative to think carefully on such a big decision,” Lady Crabb said, stifling a yawn behind her hand, “And it is my prerogative to declare myself too big and too tired to stay awake one moment longer. Ivo, would you mind?”
Lord Crabb rushed to assist his wife with standing, while Lady Albermay and Captain Ledger also readied themselves to leave.
Rob had hoped that he and Eudora would be allowed to linger and discuss things, but his host was wise to his intentions.
“I’ll ring for a footman to snuff the candles and grate the fire,” Lord Crabb said firmly as his guests began to leave.
“What about the murderer?” Eudora asked, her brow drawn in confusion, “If it wasn’t Lord Albermay and it wasn’t Lady Albermay, then who did kill the viscount?”
Everyone shifted uneasily as they realised she was correct. They had all—Rob assumed—collectively been so delighted that Lady Albermay was innocent that they had forgotten no one was yet proven guilty.
“I think that’s something best left ‘till tomorrow, Eudora,” Lady Crabb said, as she placed an arm around her sister’s shoulders, “Now come, walk me to my bedroom. I have a few things I wish to ask you.”
With that, Eudora was whisked away from sight, and Rob had little choice but to retire to bed to spend the whole night thinking about her.
Higgins had just finished helping Robert dress the next morning when he heard a quiet but urgent knocking on the door.
“I’ll get it,” Rob said, stepping out of the dressing room and into the main bedroom to open the door.
There, as he had hoped, stood Eudora.
