Page 10 of Lady in Ruby
“Evidence, Miss Garland? Do you consider the snowman’s disappearance to be a crime?”
She made a face at him. “I know he wasn’t murdered.”
“Could have been,” Snowdon suggested with a raised eyebrow. “Cold-hearted individual like that would have made enemies.”
She said, “You are mocking me, sir.”
He shook his head. “Nonsense. I admire your commitment to discovering the truth of your chilly neighbor’s disappearance.”
Caroline snapped back, “Oh, you think he was stabbed to death with an icicle?”
“And it melted before anyone found it, thus preventing a murder weapon from being discussed during the inquest.”
He looked totally serious, and she tried to match his expression, but when he raised one eyebrow, she couldn’t hold back a laugh. “Oh, this is silly.”
He paused, then answered, with every appearance of thoughtfulness, “I don’t ever think it is silly to wonder when something strange happens. And what you’ve described is rather strange.”
“It’s cruel, is what it is.”
“Also that. If it was a deliberate act of violence.”
It occurred to Caroline that he was taking the matter seriously. “You believe me.”
“You don’t seem like the type of person who makes things up. But I also believe that you should go back home where it’s warm. Come, I’ll escort you.”
Caroline allowed him to do so, curling her gloved hand into the crook of his offered arm, and they began to walk. She realized that he wasn’t nearly as tall as she’d assumed—their strides were almost equal. It was just that he projected such an air of authority that he seemed physically taller as well. She wondered just for a moment what brought a lord out so early into the cold and snowy woods.
She was afraid to ask, considering her own dubious reasons for being outside. And Snowdon looked forbidding in that moment. He was looking ahead, and she covertly observed his face in profile. His brow was a bit furrowed, either in deep thought or some unpleasant emotion. Combined with the aquiline nose and a strong jaw, the overall effect was that of a man not to be crossed. Tiny wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, and then at the mouth, seemed to be less the product of age (for he could not be that old), but rather an excess of care, as if he was a person weighted with some great matters. Perhaps that was linked to his rank? Caroline always thought of the aristocracy as being without care, but she didn’t actually know any lords or ladies. Maybe their very titles brought burdens she couldn’t imagine. She said softly, “I wonder…”
He turned to look at her. “What is it?”
“I was just wondering…you look quite preoccupied, my lord. I had meant to ask you what was on your mind, but that is presumptuous of me. We hardly know each other.”
“How long do you have to know someone to wish to know their mind?” he asked.
“I’m not sure. I do know that it sometimes takes only a very short acquaintance to learn that you never want to know a certain person’s mind.”
His laugh was as sudden and bright as a beam of light cutting through clouds. “True!”
Caroline was dazzled by his smile. It transformed him from untouchably distant to warm and human.
“I was puzzling over your snowman,” he said. “No obvious solution is coming to me. Or even a nonobvious one. But I do have to say that at least it’s a novel problem. Much better than my usual.”
“What is your usual?” she asked curiously.
He opened his mouth to reply, then hesitated. “I’m sorry, but I really can’t say. The issues are often of a…sensitive nature.”
“Oh. Forgive me for asking.”
“There is no harm in asking. I wish I could tell you some of them. You’re obviously quite good at solving problems.”
Previous suitors had praised Caroline’s hair, eyes, figure, bloodline, and (once) her taste in Welsh cheeses. No one had ever called her a problem-solver.
Maybe that was why she suddenly flushed with pleasure and felt faint.
One foot in front of the other, she told herself. Solve the problem of getting home before you fall over Lord Snowdon and embarrass yourself.
Fortunately, not many people were stirring when Snowdon walked Caroline up to the front door of Hollydell. However, she didn’t want to risk an awkward conversation, so she said impulsively, “I think we should use the side entrance.”
