Arabella (Shackleford and Daughters #2)
Chapter 1
‘Looking at the finances, Bella, I think she almost certainly married him for his money.’
‘She didn’t deny it, Alex, but that doesn’t mean she has no feelings for the old buffer. I mean, most would consider him lucky that she’s not already gone through his entire fortune.’
‘She definitely appears to have exercised a little restraint, though I can’t imagine that is entirely through sentiment.
More likely common sense. There is after all nearly forty years difference in age, and should he actually elect to leave her his fortune, it will have to last her a deuced long time. ’
‘Do you think he will?’ Arabella questioned, her tone a little wistful. ‘I may be na?ve, but I have to say I hope he does. I actually rather liked her, despite the general consensus being that she’s nothing more than an unscrupulous fortune hunter.’
‘Well, since it’s the authors of the current widely held sentiment who are paying for our services, I think perhaps you might well be wise to keep your private opinion very private indeed,’ Alex retorted drily.
Bella frowned. ‘I would not wish to see her cast out through any action of ours.’
‘Oh, I’ve no doubt Mrs Cavendish is wilier than you’re giving her credit for,’ Alex chuckled. ‘Old Mr Cavendish is very clearly besotted with his young bride, despite his nephew’s attempts to blacken her name, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to discover the will has already been changed.’
‘She told me she’d take care of him.’ Arabella sighed pensively and shook her head. ‘I think if it was left to his relatives, he’d be grinning at daisy roots within the year.’
‘I wouldn’t be too swift to cast Elsie Cavendish in the role of saviour,’ Charlotte scoffed from the doorway. ‘After all, taking care of someone certainly has more than one connotation.’
The twins turned to regard their aunt. ‘I thought you were accompanying father to Torquay to interview Mrs Pettigrew,’ Alex frowned.
Charlotte pursed her lips as she pulled off her gloves and unpinned her bonnet.
‘One more minute in the presence of that fopdoodle and I wouldn’t have been responsible for my actions.
Be grateful I had the foresight to withdraw when I did, else I’d have almost certainly have been taking care of your father… ’
Both young women sighed in unison. ‘Really, Aunt Charlotte, you both promised faithfully after the last argument that you would do your absolute best to work together harmoniously,’ Alexandra groaned. ‘What the devil was the collie shangle about this time?’
‘Don’t call me Aunt,’ Charlotte grumbled before seating herself on the chaise longue in the corner of the morning room turned office.
‘Be a dear and ring for some tea, Arabella,’ she continued, ‘otherwise I shall be taking to the brandy decanter, and at only eleven in the morning, there’s no saying where that will end… ’
‘What happened, Charlotte?’ Alex persisted after her sister had ordered the tea.
‘Oh, nothing that a good box round the ears wouldn’t have solved,’ the matron declared.
‘It’s just that your father is so sanctimonious he puts my teeth on edge.
If I’ve told him once, I’ve told him a thousand times, he’s not a deuced peeler any longer.
There are times when he can’t always follow the law to the damn letter. ’
‘He spent thirty years doing just that,’ Bella countered. ‘You can’t expect him to throw the rule book out of the window immediately. After all, it’s only been eight months since Shackleford and Daughters opened for business.’
‘I kn…’ Charlotte was interrupted by a knock on the door. Seconds later, their maid, Peggy, entered with a tray of tea.
‘Mrs Williams has put three slices of gingerbread, warm from the oven, to go with your tea,’ she smiled, putting the tray down on the nearest desk.
‘Ooh, tell her thank you, Peggy, it’s exactly what we need on such a cold day.’ Bella wasted no time pushing her chair back.
‘Manners, young lady,’ her aunt barked when Arabella would have popped the entire piece of cake into her mouth. The matron eyed her nieces with something approaching despair. What was the world coming to when a young person didn’t even bother with a plate and a fork?
‘So, what did you want Papa to do?’ Alex quizzed, handing her aunt the last piece of gingerbread. ‘Was it something that didn’t follow the letter of the law exactly, or was it completely illegal?’
Charlotte gave a sigh. ‘It depends on your definition of illegal…’
Shackleford and Daughters Detective Agency had been open eight months, two weeks, and six days, to be precise.
And in all that time they had taken on exactly two cases, the first of which was to locate a missing pedigree cat named Archibald IV whose owner went to great lengths to explain that the cat disappeared after taking offence at being mistakenly called Archie by one of her newly employed servants.
Naturally, the servant was dismissed on the spot, just as Archibald the IV disappeared off into the distance.
The fact that the purebred feline had been in pursuit of a rather feisty female tabby by the name of Tiger had no bearing on the matter, according to Miss Havers.
Happily, Archibald IV had been found and brought home less than two days later, and they’d since been informed that he was now the proud father of Archibalds V, VI, and VII. Unfortunately, none of his offspring were in possession of quite such an illustrious pedigree.
Their second case was to basically dig up some dirt on the honourable Mr Cavendish’s wife of less than six months.
Which was easier said than done, since, despite Mr Cavendish’s nephew claiming there was enough dirt on the trollop to start an allotment, it appeared that Elsie Cavendish, née Higginbottom had actually led a relatively sheltered life and had simply been beyond fortunate to bump into her now husband after being taken on as a maid.
Was she after her employer’s money? Well, given that she’d grown up in a one-bedroom tenement together with five siblings, one could be reasonably certain that his fortune had contributed to her decision to accept a proposal of marriage from a man 42 years her senior.
That said, as Arabella had discovered, the former Miss Higginbottom was actually an affable young lady with a very kind disposition.
So, while both Alex and Bella were content that they’d done all they could in this particular case, they were fully aware that their report would be unlikely to find much favour with the man who’d employed them.
Which was why the visit to Mrs Lavinia Pettigrew to discuss her missing emerald necklace had been of the utmost importance, especially as there were no more cases awaiting their attention…
‘I really don’t know why they find it so deuced difficult to get along,’ Arabella sighed an hour later. ‘It’s almost as if they enjoy all the bickering.’
‘Oh, they do,’ Alexandra assured her twin. ‘When Father was in the police force, Charlotte was left to deal with Cliff House as she saw fit. Unfortunately, they’re both accustomed to running things, and now they both think they’re in charge.’
The sisters had decided to forgo lunch for some fresh air up on Roundham Head – a decision the family golden retriever, Aggie was definitely not in favour of, if her dragging on the lead and longing looks back towards the house were anything to go by.
Though Alexandra had been married for more than half a year, she’d continued to visit Cliff House regularly, as she had since the founding of Shackleford and Daughters. Indeed, her involvement was no surprise to anybody, least of all her husband.
The newlyweds had settled in a large, elegant villa in Goodrington named Simla House.
Situated in extensive grounds and possessing several fine reception rooms, not to mention eight generous bedrooms, it had a delightful aspect towards the sea, and last but certainly not least, was within walking distance of Cliff House.
Rhys Gould, Baron Tavistock, had been well aware that his young wife would not be content to remain at home and had been more than happy to support her involvement in the burgeoning detective agency that had come in the wake of the destruction of the Winner Street orphanage.
Indeed, the Baron had become almost as involved as his wife after making the decision to turn his ancestral home of Tavistock Manor into a trust for not only the orphans of Paignton but also other homeless children throughout South Devon.
The main fly in the ointment – aside from the undeniable fact that making a success of a detective agency with the word Daughters in it was always going to be a challenge - there had been no further developments in the Winner Street Case which was the primary reason for the Agency’s inception in the first place.
Muriel Pemberton remained stubbornly elusive, having seemingly disappeared into thin air after boarding the train to London.
Despite exhaustive inquiries, there had been no sightings, and nothing to confirm the bogus medium’s connection to someone named Jacob.
Unfortunately, after the untimely death of Lionel and Violet Pemberton, they had very little to go on, and the Exeter police had had no further luck in discovering who had slipped into the prisoners’ respective cells, leaving both suspects with a macabre grin from ear to ear…
‘Do you think Mrs Pettigrew will be willing to speak with Father alone?’ Arabella asked, waiting as her twin continued to drag an unwilling twenty-five-pound dog up and over the crest of the headland.
‘Let’s hope so,’ Alexandra puffed. ‘Mrs Pettigrew might have asked for a female presence during the interview, but I very much doubt she had Aunt Charlotte in mind when she said it.’
Bella gave a low chuckle. ‘She doesn’t know what a lucky escape she had.’