Page 23 of A Wallflower Never Forgets
As they made their way down the dimly lit corridor, the men were caught off guard by the sight of the door slightly ajar. It seemed someone had left in haste.
Jonathan cautiously pushed the door open and stepped inside, his heart racing. Across the room, just beyond the far end of the bed, a delicate foot adorned with a red satin slipper peeked from the shadows. “It’s Diana,” he gasped as he rushed over.
Worsley, quick to assess the situation, felt for a pulse. “Gone,” he confirmed. “But what could have happened? Was she poisoned?”
Jonathan’s gaze swept over the scene, taking note of the wine glasses carelessly left on the bedside tables. His eyes landed on the half-empty bottle of wine sitting next to one of the glasses. Why was the bottle so familiar? “Could she have been poisoned?” His mind raced as he attempted to piece together what had taken place.
“Perhaps, given that I don’t see any other tell-tale signs of murder—” Worsley said. “No blood, no visible wounds, no strangulation marks around her neck, no bumps or swelling on the back of her head. The way she died would have been quiet. If she’d screamed it would have alerted someone in a neighboring room or a maid,” Worsley added. He picked up each glass and sniffed. “Hmm… Can’t detect any poison.” He leaned down and sniffed the dowager duchess’s face.
“What are you doing?” Jonathan asked.
“Not what it looks like, I assure you,” Worsley said. He gave another sniff. “I think arsenic. I smell garlic on her—a telltale sign of arsenic, I’ve learned. And as far as I can see, there’s no garlic around. Just a trick or two that I picked up from Shep, Sr.
A sudden chill ran down his spine as he recalled where he’d seen an identical bottle of the same wine. “Rochester, Worsley—that’s the same wine Talbot had been drinking when I confronted him at the French tavern in Paris. He mentioned how he’d favored it.”
“Talbot?” Rochester said, his eyes widening. “Damn and blast!”
“We need to get back to the manor house. Now!” Jonathan seethed.
Fool! How could I have been so stupid not to have seen it?
Diana was X. And Talbot had escaped and was in Bath. Melanie’s life was in danger.
Chapter Ten
The entire ride back was in silence, except for the sound of horses’ hooves pounding the road. When they turned into the drive, the three men handed the reins of their horses to the footmen and rushed up the steps.
“Where’s Melanie?” Jonathan asked as Rupert opened the door.
“My lord, the ladies and Shep decided to scour the woods for the Yule log and asked that you join them when you returned,” Rupert replied.
“Thank you, Rupert,” Jonathan said. “Do you recall the direction they went?” His heart hammered with uneasiness. He needed to see her and make sure she was safe. Logically, he knew with Diana gone, the danger had passed. But still couldn’t shake the feeling of impending danger. Was he simply overreacting in light of Diana’s murder? Who knew? But he wasn’t taking any chances.
“We talked about looking behind the stables this year,” Rochester said. “It’s heavily wooded, and with the storms we’ve had of late, we thought there would be felled trees to choose from.”
“Lord DeLacey,” Rupert said, holding out a silver salver. “Your valet handed this missive to me. He said it came shortly after you left this morning, and he seemed most anxious that you receive it as soon as possible.”
Jonathan nodded and took the note, tucking it into his waistcoat pocket. He’d look at it after he made sure Melanie was safe.
They found the women exactly where Rochester said they’d be. “Melanie,” Jonathan called out to her, relieved to see her. Melanie stood and waved, beaming at him. She was a vision in red. Wearing a red and gray pelisse, her head was adorned with a red woolen hat tilted at a jaunty angle, a matching red woolen scarf was wrapped around her neck, and her hands were sheathed in matching red woolen mittens.
His first instinct was to enfold her in his embrace, but he couldn’t allow himself to do that just yet. Make such a public declaration. Not until Talbot was caught. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that Talbot had killed Diana. But realizing that Talbot was on the loose made Jonathan even more worried.
He had to deal with the issue of Talbot, but he owed Melanie an explanation about Diana. He needed to tell her everything, but was there time to do that today?
Melanie stood and smiled, waving, and gestured that he join her. “I’m glad you made it back so quickly,” she said as he reached her side.
“It appears you’ve picked out the Yule log,” Jonathan said as Worsley and Rochester perused a huge log with numerous branches sticking out from its core. “That didn’t take long.”
“There were a lot of good prospects, but that one was clearly the winner,” piped up Lady Angela Wilde, Worsley’s younger sister.
“And what made you determine that?” Rochester asked with an arched brow.
“It’s the biggest and, therefore, clearly superior over the others,” the lovely brunette said.
“Really, biggest is best then?” Rochester said.
Jonathan bit back a laugh. Rochester’s meaning was lost on Lady Angela, who gazed up at the tall earl with bright blue guileless eyes. Jonathan had observed his friend over the past few days looking decidedly at odds whenever Lady Angela was nearby. Poor Rochester. Known for his quick temper, his constant cursing, and his preference for buxom widows, Rochester had had several vociferous exchanges with the outspoken yet naïve beauty over the past few days. If he’d noticed the sparks between the two, he wondered if Worsley had noticed.”
