Chapter 26 #2
Milngavie blushed. “I’m flattered. I also think highly of Lord Cromarty. He’s done much to help the laboring man and those whose livelihoods have been threatened by the clearances.” His brow furrowed. “Much more than I can say of many who sit in Lords.”
As he’d presented an opening of sorts, I seized it. “This may be impertinent of me to ask, but I think you will understand why I must.” He met my gaze with interest. “Are you negotiating with Mr. Birnam for his daughter Matilda’s hand?”
His head reared backward. “No, my lady, I am not,” he stated firmly. “Though I think I understand how you might have been given that impression. Because Mr. Birnam did offer it to me.”
It was my turn to stiffen. “When was this?”
His mien was sympathetic, evidently aware that my brother had aspirations to marry Matilda.
“Sometime Wednesday afternoon, I believe. After the archery tournament. I turned down the proposition immediately.” He grimaced.
“Which may have been one of the reasons our discussion over port that evening grew so contentious.”
“I suppose he didn’t take your refusal graciously.”
“No. Though my refusal has nothing to do with Miss Birnam,” he hastened to add, lest I take offense on her behalf.
“She seems like a lovely young lady, and I’m sure will make some lucky chap very happy.
But…” His expression turned embittered. “I cannot align myself with Birnam. No matter what he offers in return.”
I might have asked him exactly what those terms had been had we not at that moment been joined by Philip and Alana.
Accordingly, our topic of discussion shifted to something more pleasant.
But I couldn’t help but continue to contemplate it, wondering if Birnam had offered the same thing to any of the other lords present.
Baron Foley was still a bachelor, and Lord Melbourne and Lord Strathblane were both widowers.
My anxiety for Trevor threatened to ruin my appetite and then the evening entirely.
It was with a great deal of relief that I finally retired, though then I had to face the realization that we had still not apprehended Miss Whitlock’s killer.
Gage took one look at my face when he joined me in the sitting room of our suite and called for Bree and Anderley to attend us. Then he bid us all to sit.
For a moment, none of us said anything, but simply gazed at one another as if hopeful that someone else had had some sort of stroke of inspiration or epiphany. When no one offered either, Gage took charge again.
“Clearly, we are missing something,” he surmised. “Or we’re being distracted by factors that may or may not be related to the murder.”
Such as Birnam’s rejection of Trevor’s courtship of Matilda. While my husband didn’t say so, I could tell when he glanced at me that this was one of the things he was referring to.
“So let’s return to what we do know.”
I nodded, taking this as my cue to begin.
“On the night in question, following dinner, Miss Whitlock pulled me aside as the ladies were adjourning to the drawing room. She then asked about my husband’s reputation as a gentleman inquiry agent and requested I meet with her later in a more private location. ”
“Ye said her demeanor was frightened,” Bree added.
“Yes. At the least, anxious and alarmed, but she definitely seemed afraid. Of what, I don’t know.
But her eyes kept darting around the great hall, as if someone might be listening to us.
We parted ways, and she asked me to make her excuses, pleading a headache, while I returned to the other ladies in the drawing room. ”
“Who were all present?” Gage confirmed.
“Yes. Alana and Lorna both said no one left the room until later.”
“And the only men who departed the dining room before we’d finished our port and joined the women were Jemmy, Thorndike, and Milngavie.”
“Jemmy was allegedly indisposed,” Anderley supplied.
“Yes, as several witnesses can attest,” Gage said.
“And presumably went directly to seek a chamber pot. Milngavie claims he took the staircase off the blue room upstairs to gain control of his temper. And Thorndike crossed the opposite end of the great hall to return to his office and depart the hall for the evening.”
Bree wrinkled her nose. “All of which may be true, but in terms of an alibi, they’re no’ verra good ones.”
I had to agree. “Any of them might have lied and found a way to eavesdrop on me and Miss Whitlock. Or perhaps no one did. That’s the trouble. We can’t be certain Miss Whitlock wasn’t simply allowing her fear to unnerve her.”
“Irrespective, you made arrangements to meet Miss Whitlock in the blue room…”
I shook my head.
“Excuse me,” Gage corrected himself. “In the office behind the morning room at midnight.”
“It was out of the way and certain to ensure us privacy, and the hour was late enough that I figured my hosting duties would be complete,” I said, explaining my reasoning.
“At some point…” Gage emphasized his words with his hands “…a note was slipped beneath Mr. Birnam’s door, asking him to meet Miss Whitlock in the blue room at 11:45 p.m.”
“However, Mr. Birnam didn’t return to his room to read the note until, say, 11:55 p.m.,” I recounted.
“So he was late,” Anderley deduced.
“As was I. Slightly,” I admitted. “But no more than two or three minutes.”
“At which point, you reached the blue room to find Birnam standing over Miss Whitlock’s deceased body.” Gage pantomimed. “Birnam picked up the empty bottle of acid, burning his hands, and then dropped it again.”
I pressed a hand to my chest. “I told him to go directly to the water closet through the morning room to rinse his hands. I then checked Miss Whitlock for a pulse and, finding none, went in search of a footman to send for you and your father, as well as Bowcott.”
“Where did you find the footman?”
“In the library. I’d noticed him when I was making my way toward the morning room. In fact, he was the only person I’d seen.”
“Neither footman on the main level confessed to seeing or hearing anyone except for a few men in the billiards room prior to you alerting them there was a situation,” Gage emphasized.
“Not even me?” I asked in surprise.
“Not even you.”
I frowned. “We speculated that the killer must have taken the staircase off the blue room in order not to be seen, but maybe we’re wrong. If they didn’t see me or Birnam or Miss Whitlock, then who else snuck past them?”