Page 66 of Snowbound with the Scoundrel
What if it was his wife, Rosalind?
Clarissa pretended to be absorbed in the paper while she picked at her breakfast.Her thoughts were so scattered that she could not possibly have kept up the thread of a conversation.
Now that she thought on it, even the attempts on Mr.Baxter’s life at the house party seemed suspect.It was Rosalind Baxter who had been pacing in the garden before the stone was pushed from the battlements above.Her husband had only joined her seconds before the stone fell.
No attempts had been made on Mr.Baxter’s life while his wife remained sequestered in their rooms.Then, as soon as she emerged, the shot had been fired in the woods.Clarissa had assumed that Mr.Baxter was the target, but Rosalind had been standing next to her husband…
Clarissa somehow made it through breakfast in her distracted state without spilling tea down the front of her dress.She consulted the clock on the mantelpiece.She didn’t need to meet Rupert for another fifteen minutes, but she decided to head over to the orangery to gather her thoughts.
As she was exiting the breakfast room, she spied Rosalind Baxter coming down the corridor.
Deciding she had enough evidence that a warning was needed, Clarissa hurried up to her.She dropped her voice low.“Mrs.Baxter, might I have a word with you?There has been a material development in the case.One that concerns you.”
Her eyes went wide.“Of course.What have you—”
“Anything that concerns my wife concerns me,” a man’s voice said firmly from over Clarissa’s shoulder.
She turned and saw Oliver Baxter, his forehead creased into a frown.
Clarissa gestured with an open palm.“Of course, Mr.Baxter.Let us find a place where the three of us can talk.”
She checked a handful of rooms, but they were all occupied.Sensing the annoyance radiating from Mr.Baxter, Clarissa gestured to the back doors.“It’s cold out, but this won’t take long.Let’s speak in the gardens.”
At least the gardens were deserted.Clarissa led them toward the entrance to the hedge maze.She turned to Rosalind.“Something occurred to me this morning.A piece, falling into place.You, Mrs.Baxter, are in grave danger.”
Rosalind gasped, but Mr.Baxter scowled.“What is this nonsense?”
Clarissa ignored him.“I fear we have been wrong.We have been wrong from the very beginning, and the killer’s true target is—”
“Cease this nonsense!”Oliver Baxter shouted.
“It isn’t nonsense,” Clarissa insisted, keeping her eyes fixed on Rosalind.“Consider the first attempt.The poison was put in the crawfish soup.But your husband cannot eat crawfish soup.He—”
“That is hardly common knowledge,” Mr.Baxter snapped.“They probably slipped the poison in whatever dish they could lay hands on.”
Clarissa ignored him.“And then the shot through the window.Which one of you spends the most time in the morning room?”
“I do,” Mrs.Baxter said.“I was at my writing desk, as I often am at that hour.Oliver happened to have come in to ask me a question, and—”
“You’re being delusional,” Oliver barked.“The idea is absurd on its face.Why would anyone want to kill you?You’re not important enough to justify the effort.”
Rosalind flinched, looking wounded.Clarissa glared daggers at Oliver Baxter.“That is your opinion, sir,” she said in a voice as frosty as the snow-encrusted gardens.“One that does you no credit, might I add.But I intend to follow the evidence.”She turned to Rosalind.“The curricle—which of you drives it more frequently?”
“I do.”Rosalind gasped.“In fact, on the day of the accident, I was the one who asked for the horses to be harnessed.I was going to take a turn about the park, but Oliver received an urgent summons from Lord Liverpool, so he wound up commandeering it!”
Clarissa seized her hand.“Surely you see the reason for my concern.That the soup was poisoned could have been an accident perpetrated by an ignorant assassin.But when you look at the three attempts altogether—”
Oliver Baxter stepped forward, snatching Rosalind’s hand away from Clarissa.“I will not have you filling my wife’s head with this nonsense!”he roared.“She is frightened enough as it is.It is cruel of you to prey upon the fears of a hysterical woman.”
“She has never struck me as hysterical,” Clarissa countered.“And I say this not to frighten her, but so that, armed with knowledge, she can take necessary precautions.”
“Iwill decide what is necessary for my wife!You are not to speak to her again, Miss Weatherby.And you should know that I intend to ask Lord and Lady Helmsley to remove you from this house party.”He huffed.“As soon as I return to London, I intend to speak with the Home Secretary.I am appalled that the Home Office employs such incompetent agents!”
Clarissa ignored him, locking her eyes on Rosalind’s.“Go up to your room.Go up to your room and lock the door.Admit no one but myself or Lord and Lady Helmsley.”
Rosalind nodded and started back toward the castle.
Oliver cast a poisonous glare at Clarissa, then turned and stalked after his wife.“Rosalind!Come back here this instant!”
