Page 57 of A Body, A Baron, and Miss Mifford
“My lord,” she said breathlessly, “I have been thinking and thinking all night, and—”
Rob’s heart stilled. Was she going to say yes?
“—There must be someone we overlooked; there has to be! Do you have time to spare before breakfast to discuss matters?”
Rob allowed his shoulders to sink in disappointment as his heart resumed its usual tattoo.
“Indeed I do,” he replied, hoping his voice did not betray his dismay, “I’ll just fetch my coat.”
He hurried back to the dressing room, where Higgins—who had obviously been eavesdropping—handed him both his coat and the rag-doll that was found at the scene of Lord Albermay’s murder.
“You’d best return it to his son,” the valet said as he helped Robert shrug on the merino garment, “Word at the servants’ table this morning is that the new viscount intends to leave today—once the worst of last night’s excesses have worn off.”
“I forgot I had that,” Rob replied as he tucked the doll into his pocket.
Higgins muttered something that sounded like “head” and “screwed on”, but when questioned he offered Rob an innocent look.
“Just clearing my throat, my lord,” Higgins fibbed as he deftly brushed lint from Rob’s shoulders whilst simultaneously pushing him toward the door.
Eudora was waiting for him at the end of the hallway, where she stood looking absently out the window.
“You can really see the thaw,” Rob commented.
The garden was no longer concealed by drifts of snow; vast patches of the lawn were now revealed, a little bedraggled but defiantly green against the fading white. Even the fountain at the top of the driveway had resumed its trickling, allowing a few brave robins a chance to bathe.
“I think I can see someone riding along the Bath Road,” Eudora exclaimed, pointing at a small figure a distance away.
Robert shared her excitement; the rider on horseback, though an indiscernible dot at best, was their first glimpse of the outside world in days.
“Will we chance a turn around the courtyard?” Eudora asked, excitement filling her eyes at the idea of stepping outside.
“I don’t see why not,” Rob replied, though he knew Higgins would have a choice word to say about muddying up his freshly shined boots.
“I expect the ground will be quite muddy. Are you wearing the right shoes?” he inquired solicitously as he offered Eudora his arm.
“Yes, they’re Emily’s,” she answered, leaving Rob somewhat bemused.
As they made their way through the house to the entrance hall, they saw not a soul, but once outside, they spotted several stablehands clearing the path from the stables to the driveway.
“Everyone shall leave over the next few days,” Eudora commented as she watched them work.
“I expect so,” Rob agreed, wishing that he could somehow steer the conversation toward the question of his proposal rather than the itineraries of the other guests.
“Amongst them, our murderer,” she continued, coming to a halt at the edge of an ornamental maze, its low hedges still partly concealed by snow.
She looked so beautiful, staring thoughtfully off into the distance, that Rob found it almost painful to look at her. To spare his heart, he turned and fiddled with the bare branch of a nearby tree.
“We must have missed someone,” Eudora sighed as she turned to face him.
“One of the servants, perhaps?” Rob guessed.
“The last viscount of Plumpton Hall was equally as repugnant as Lord Albermay,” she shrugged, “I expect if one of the servants was capable of murder, we would have discovered it during his tenure. Besides, the only servant I can think of who might be up to murder is Mable, and we know she was otherwise occupied on the night.”
A little shocked at her bald statement, Rob let go of the branch he was holding, which snapped back and thwacked him in the face.
“Oh, dear,” Eudora said, as she proffered him a handkerchief from her pocket to wipe the muck from his face, “Are you alright?”
“Just my dignity,” Rob answered gamely. He reached into his pocket for his own handkerchief but instead drew out the rag-doll Higgins had insisted he carry.
