Chapter Thirteen #2
“Nigel loved you deeply,” Amity said gently.
“He would not have wanted you to spend the rest of your life pining away for him. For heaven’s sake, Penny.
You are still young and lovely and—I know this sounds crass, but it matters—you are financially secure.
Widowhood gives you great freedom. You should enjoy life. ”
“How can I enjoy life when I know there is a killer hunting for you?” Penny asked.
Amity was touched. “Oh, yes, well, I do appreciate your concerns, but I am sure Mr. Stanbridge and that very nice man from the Yard—”
“Inspector Logan,” Penny said deliberately. “His name is Inspector Logan.”
“Right. Inspector Logan. He seems very competent.”
“Indeed.”
The tone of her sister’s voice told Amity that something more was required by way of description.
“And intelligent,” Amity said.
“Quite. He is a great fan of the theater, you know.”
Amity took a flying leap in the dark.
“He is also quite attractive,” she added. She held her breath.
Penny blinked a couple of times and looked into the fire. “Do you really think so?”
“Yes,” Amity said. “Not in the same manner as Mr. Stanbridge, of course, but in his own way the inspector is a fine-looking man.”
Penny smiled wistfully. “Do you find Mr. Stanbridge handsome?”
Amity hesitated, groping for the right words to explain Benedict’s appeal.
“Mr. Stanbridge is perhaps better described as a force of nature. But that is hardly the point. What I am trying to say is that I’m quite sure that with both Mr. Stanbridge and Inspector Logan involved it is only a matter of time before the killer is caught. ”
“I hope you are correct.”
Penny slipped away from Amity’s grasp.
Amity watched her for a moment.
“Penny, are you concerned because you find Inspector Logan attractive?” she asked.
Penny did not reply. But she raised one hand to wipe tears away from her eyes.
“Dear heaven.” Amity touched her sister’s shoulder.
“Why are you crying? I cannot believe that it is because you feel that Mr. Logan is beneath you socially. I realize that most people in so-called Polite Society would think so, but I know you. You do not judge people based on the accident of their birth.”
“It’s not that,” Penny said. She sniffed and blinked rapidly to suppress more tears. “I’m certain Mr. Logan is uncomfortably aware of the difference in our financial and social stations, so I doubt that he would even dream of approaching me in anything other than a respectful, professional manner.”
Amity thought about the cozy little scene she and Benedict had interrupted a short time ago. “Something tells me that Inspector Logan might be persuaded to consider a more personal association with you if he was given the right encouragement.”
Penny shook her head, very certain. “No, I’m sure he would never presume anything of the sort. His manner and demeanor are all that is proper.”
“Hmm.” Amity summoned a mental image of Logan and could not recall seeing a ring on his left hand. “Please don’t tell me that he is married.”
“No,” Penny said. “He told me that he was engaged at one time but his fiancée and her family concluded she could do better than to wed a policeman.”
“Well, in that case, I see absolutely no reason why you should not feel free to explore any romantic feelings that might develop between yourself and the inspector.”
A wary hope flickered to life in Penny’s eyes. It vanished almost at once. “I have only been in mourning for six months. Society—not to mention my in-laws—would be horrified if I abandoned my widow’s weeds so soon.”
“Do you really care for Society’s opinion?”
“At one time I did, yes.” Penny clenched one hand into a small fist. “But no longer.”
“And as for your in-laws, forgive me, but I got the impression that you are not overly fond of them—nor they of you.”
“They never approved of the marriage. They wanted Nigel to marry someone who could bring more money into the family. There is certainly no love lost between us. I think, in a way, that they blame me for Nigel’s death.”
“That is ridiculous,” Amity said. “Nigel broke his neck going over a fence. How could anyone possibly blame you for that?”
Penny’s mouth curved in a rueful smile. “You don’t know my in-laws.”
“I suspect that what really annoys them is that you wound up with so much money from Nigel’s estate.”
“You’re right, of course.”
“As I recall, there are two other sons, a daughter and a vast fortune. They should not begrudge you the money and the house that you inherited from your husband.”
“I appreciate your support more than you can ever know,” Penny said. “It has been very lonely here with you out of the country for weeks and months at a time.”
“I can only imagine how much you must miss your dear Nigel.”
Penny took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “No, actually, I don’t miss him a bit. I hope the bastard is burning in hell.”
Amity stared at her. “Sorry, I think I missed something. What did you say?”
Penny looked at her. “I thought he was the love of my life. But Nigel Marsden proved to be a monster.”
“What?”
“I was plotting to leave him when he very conveniently broke his neck.”
“Good heavens, Penny. I . . . don’t know what to say. I’m stunned.”
Penny closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, Amity could see remembered pain, fear and rage.
“At first I believed him to be merely overprotective,” Penny said.
Her voice was low and even, almost detached.
“It was rather charming for the first few months. I told myself that he loved me so much he wanted to take great care of me. But gradually he took away every piece of my life—my friends, my little pleasures such as the theater and walks in the countryside.”
Amity was aghast. “You never gave me so much as a hint in your letters.”
“Of course not. He insisted on reading every letter I wrote to you before it was mailed. He hated you. He said you were a bad influence on me. He said that about all of my friends, too. There was always something he did not like about everyone with whom I was accustomed to associate. Within three months the only visitors I was allowed to receive were his dreadful mother and his sister. He beat me if another man so much as spoke to me. He claimed that I was trying to seduce his male acquaintances.”
“I do not know what to say,” Amity whispered. “I am beyond horrified. Father would have been so angry.”
“It was not long before I found myself alone in the household all day and most nights with only the servants. I could not trust any of them. I knew Nigel asked them what I did while he was gone and whether I had left the house or received any callers.”
“I would kill him if he were not already dead.”
“I seriously considered poisoning him but I was afraid I might fail in the attempt. If that happened I knew that he would very likely murder me instead. I intended to disappear. He gave me no money, of course, but there were valuables everywhere in the house. I was going to take some, pawn them and buy a ticket on a passenger ship to New York. I planned to telegraph you as soon as I was free and beg you to meet me.”
“Why didn’t you send for me? I would have come at once.”
“I was afraid of what he might do to you if you actually came to stay with us. I told you, he hated you. I think, deep down, he saw you as a threat. But knowing that you were out there in the world—free—is what kept me from sinking into the abyss. I told myself that if I could just escape the house and disappear, I would be able to find you.”
Tears blurred Amity’s vision. “Penny, my beautiful little sister. When I think of what you must have gone through. So alone. No wonder you sold the big house and dismissed all the servants. Hah. I imagine that came as a shock to that lot. I do hope you turned them out without any references.”
“I did precisely that.” Penny gave her a misty smile. “I will admit I took some pleasure in telling them that their services were no longer required.”
“I can certainly understand why you are not on good terms with Nigel’s family.”
“In fairness, I’m not sure they knew exactly what was going on.
Nigel always put on a great show of being an attentive husband whenever his mother was around.
So much so that I think his mother was actually jealous of me.
She made a few attempts to convince me to let her solicitor manage my finances after Nigel died. ”
“But you knew you could not trust her to look after your best interests.”
“Definitely not,” Penny said. “One of the first things I did after the will was read was dismiss Nigel’s solicitor and hire Mr. Burton to oversee my business affairs.”
“Burton handled Papa’s affairs and now he handles mine. You can trust him. He’s getting on in years and is semiretired, but his son is taking over the business and doing a fine job.”
“I admit I don’t find it easy to trust anyone except you these days.”
“You have taken back your life,” Amity said. “I am in awe of your strength and bravery. You are an inspiration, Penny, a fine example of the modern, independent woman.”
“Bah, I am no shining example. I was a fool for allowing myself to believe in a fairy-tale kind of love. You are the one who set out to see the world and now you are going to publish a travel guide for other adventurous ladies. You are the shining example of modern womanhood, not me.”
“I disagree,” Amity said gently. “What I have done requires no particular strength of character, just a deeply ingrained streak of curiosity. But let us not quarrel over which of us is the more modern woman. I am just so very sorry that I did not know what you were going through in your marriage.”
“You did not know because I could not risk telling you. I feared that if Nigel found out that I had confided in you, he might actually murder me and possibly you, as well, when you showed up to save me.” Penny smiled. “Which I knew you would do, of course.”
Amity shuddered and wrapped her arms around Penny. “It infuriates me to know that if he had killed you, he likely would have gotten away with murder. I expect that there would have been a story about how you came to fall down a flight of steps or some such nonsense.”
“And his wealthy family would have protected him from any police inquiry that you might have tried to launch.”
Amity thought about that for a moment.
“Just as someone in Society is very likely concealing the identity of the Bridegroom,” she said.