Page 9 of Long Live the Baron
When she checked the time again, Lily blew out sharply as her shoulders slumped in disappointment. First, Aidan had abandoned her the day before, and now Sophia was to leave her waiting.
Something must have happened.
Lily breathed in and decided that must be the case. Sophia would never deliberately leave her waiting without an explanation, so there must be a good reason for the delay. As she concluded this, she heard the rumble of a carriage on the roadway before it came to a stop, casting a shadow on the window of the entrance hall. Running over to the window, Lily peered out to find the Saunton carriage had finally arrived.
Without waiting for a footman to open the door, Lily pulled it open and almost skipped in her excitement to reach the carriage and depart.
The Saunton footman opened the carriage door, lowering the steps and assisting Sophia to step down. Lily bounded over, calling out, “There is no need to come in! I am here! We can leave immediately.”
Sophia failed to respond in kind, causing Lily to pause. Her cousin had a grim expression, her face pale in the sunlight. “I am afraid I cannot go to the bookshop today. There has … something has happened. I only have a moment to inform you of the change in plans.”
Lily’s spirits plummeted, her stomach clenching in trepidation about what would cause her cousin to appear so somber. Sophia was a warrior, a daring young woman who forged her own path. Whatever had happened must be a serious matter. “What is it? Is it the earl?” Then Lily had a worse thought. “Miles?” Surely nothing had happened to Sophia’s babe!
Sophia looked about the square before taking Lily by the arm and escorting her back into the townhouse. They headed into the dining room, and Sophia drew the door closed behind them. “Richard and Miles are well. It is Richard’s friend. Mr. Ridley.”
“Mr. Ridley?” Lily’s thoughts scrambled, veering off in different directions. She had just seen him a few hours earlier when he had fled Lady Slight’s home at dawn. Surely harm had not befallen him?
“He returned home this morning to find his father had …” Sophia bit her lip, evidently reluctant to impart the news. “The baron has been killed.”
Lily’s eyes widened, and she stepped back in shock. “What?”
“I hate to tell you such terrible news, but I am on my way to the Ridley townhouse to provide support to the duchess. Richard and the duke are there with her and Mr. Ridley to assist him with the authorities. She must be devastated.” Sophia had grown close with the duchess, Mr. Ridley’s sister. The earl and the duke were cousins and close friends, so she spent considerable time in the duchess’s company. Sophia’s eyes were stormy with her concern, her mind obviously on her friend’s plight.
“I must come with you!”
Sophia returned to the present, tilting her head in question.
“I can provide assistance. Mama expects me to be with you, and your coachman can return me home later.”
“Oh, Lily. What purpose would that serve?”
Lily straightened herself up to her full, though meager, height, with her arms akimbo. “Do not treat me like a child. I am twenty years old, Sophia Balfour! I am your friend, and I have a good head on my shoulders. The duchess is increasing, and she might have her son to attend to. Or I can provide comfort or … or … I can help.” It was not the most persuasive argument, but Lily was frustrated with her situation. Until now, Sophia had been the only one who treated her as a person in her own right rather than a vexing child. If she was not permitted to accompany her cousin in a time of family crisis, Lily would feel utterly useless. And wretched, worrying about Sophia and the duchess when she could be with them to help.
Sophia’s lips quirked into a smile, and Lily was relieved to see her cousin’s customary irreverence returning. “My, my, Lily Billy. Such fire!”
“So I can accompany you?”
The countess sighed. “Not a word to your mama about where we went, you hear?”
Lily bobbed on to her toes as some fraction of her good humor came rushing back. “We should leave, then. Before she comes downstairs to break her fast.”
* * *
Brendan sat slumpedin a mild state of shock. They were in the library because the study was … well … it had a corpse lying on the floor awaiting the coroner’s arrival. The metallic smell of blood in that room had quite given him a headache.
His brother-in-law, the Duke of Halmesbury, along with the duke’s cousin and one of Brendan’s closest friends, Richard, the Earl of Saunton, were talking with the runner who had arrived in response to Brendan sending a footman to summon the authorities.
They were standing a few feet away in the dim light, the blond duke towering over both men despite the earl being at least six feet. Even with his great height, the duke was small in stature compared to the large shelving and heavy furnishings of the room. The drapes and armchairs might have once been a rich green, but they had long since turned a greenish-gray, and Brendan reflected on how much he hated most of Ridley House, which had been decorated in a bygone era.
For some reason, the earl seemed to know the runner, Briggs. Brendan recalled vaguely that Richard had shot a man in his townhouse the year before, so perhaps that was how they had met.
“So Mr. Ridley—his lordship—found his lordship—the late baron—when he returned home this morning?”
Brendan grimaced at the awkward sentence. The runner was a stern, lean man in a crumpled great overcoat and a battered hat. He had the appearance of a man who had seen and done things that Brendan’s set could not possibly comprehend, but his gruff voice stumbled hesitantly over the words as he grasped for the correct descriptors.
Yes, the baron was now dead.
Yes, that implied that he, Brendan, was now the new baron, but that had still to be confirmed by the Committee for Priviliges.
