Page 67 of Lord Ashley's Beautiful Alibi
“Madamestayed with you?”
“At first, oui, in the hayloft in our stables. She insisted on it. But that was only for a few days. Later, she took a room in a nearby auberge. Then she left and promised to return.”
“Did she return?”
“One day,oui. With a man who had asked for her earlier.”
“A man.” Gus sent a glance toward Kane. He kept his tongue, but she could see he was eager to ask Madame Verne questions himself. “Did she introduce him?”
“No. He stayed down the lane, watching her. She said he was her friend and not to worry about him. She came to me to ask if anyone had recently asked after her.” The woman wiped her hands on her apron. Her face drained of color. “Why do you ask me all this? Ismadamehurt? Or…in trouble?”
“No. But my friend and I do not know where she is or where she went. We must find her. It is urgent.”
*
Kane stepped forward.“Did anyone come and ask for her?”
“Oui, monsieur,” said Madame Verne. “Two men. The one who was with her when she came last to see me. The other, different, came yesterday.”
“What did they look like?”
The lady got a look of distaste upon her pretty features. “The one yesterday was short and fat, with a long, sharp nose. He was a pockmarked, ugly man.”
“He looks like a carrot,” the little girl sitting upon the chair in the corner of her kitchen piped up. She was ten or eleven, old enough for Kane to credit her memory.
“Ho-ho!” Gus said to the child, lured by her funny remark. She had greeted her when they arrived with a hug. “Why is he a carrot, Solange?”
“His nose,mademoiselle. It is a long carrot.” Solange giggled.
Gus froze.
“Is his hair orange, too?” Kane noticed Gus’s distress, but had to encourage the girl to give him more, give him anything.
“No. Like straw. Dirty, too. Mama would not allow that for anyone in the house. Bugs in the hair, you know.”
“I do,” Gus agreed. “Your mama is very wise.”
“And the man who asked for Madame St. Antoine weeks ago?” Kane asked the girl and her mother. “Do you recall his looks?”
The lady smiled at Kane. “Oh,oui. Handsome. Hair like yours,monsieur, but with fire in it. Tall and fine. A gentleman.”
Ramsey. Let it be Ramsey!
“Do you know what happened to that man?” Kane smiled at the lady, thrilled his friend might have found Amber.
Gus absorbed his smile with a question in her eyes.
Madame Verne shook her head. “He stayed at thePetite Aubergeat the crossroads. He was particular about his bedding. Liked it very clean. Thepropriétairetold me days later that Madame St. Antoine was with him.”
Triumph fired Kane’s blood. He grinned at Gus in reassurance. Ramsey insisted on cleanliness, especially bedding. So he had been here—and Amber had been with him!
The girl said, “Madame St. Antoine went away with him.”
“Solange!” her mother said. “How do you know?”
“I saw them together, Mama. And Olivier, who works at thePetite Auberge, told me they slept together in the same room and left together one morning before dawn!” The girl had a glint in her eye that told them all she had an inkling that when a man and woman slept together, more went on than resting. “Oliviersays they laughed together. A lot.” She raised her brows, happy with telling them her secret.
Madame Verne knitted her brows, confused at this news.
