Winterset (12 page)

“I am glad to see that you are all right,” Reed said at last.

“It was something of a shock,” Anna admitted. “Still, it was not a complete surprise, I suppose, since Estelle has been missing for several days. I had hoped that everyone was right in saying that she had simply run away, but…”

“But you thought it was something more. Why?”

Anna looked at him. “I—I’m not sure.” She had told no one about what had happened to her in the woods. She certainly was not about to admit her odd feeling to Reed. She cast about in her mind for another explanation for her uneasiness. “Perhaps it was because we found that dog in the woods the same day.”

Reed’s eyebrows lifted. “You think they are connected?”

“No. Well, I don’t know. I did not really connect the two things. It is just that the way the dog was so badly wounded made me feel a little uneasy. And then, when I came home, I learned that Estelle was missing. I didn’t really think at the time that they had anything in common, but I think that the feeling of uneasiness carried over when I heard about Estelle.”

“At the time?” he repeated. “Do you mean that now you think that they do have something in common?”

“I’m not sure. It was just that when the doctor described the marks on—on Estelle’s body, it occurred to me that the wounds on the dog’s side looked something like that. I assumed he had gotten into a fight with a larger dog, but the marks were rather far apart to be a dog’s claws. I didn’t really think about it then, but when Dr. Felton was talking about how they were wide-spaced, I realized that what he said could apply to the twins’ dog, as well.” She shook her head deprecatingly. “It’s probably nothing.”

“But it could be that whoever killed your maid might have injured the dog, as well.” Reed studied her for a moment, then said, “I noticed that when the doctor was talking about the claw marks, you exchanged a look with your brother.”

Anna glanced at him, startled. Her heart began to beat a little faster in her chest. “I don’t know what you mean. I—I don’t remember looking at Kit particularly.”

“You did. I wondered if the claw marks meant something to you.”

Anna stiffened, her expression turning chilly. “Just what are you saying? That I know something about the murders?”

“No, of course not,” Reed said quickly. “Damn my tongue. I always seem to say the wrong thing to you. All I meant was that you seemed to pay particular attention to that detail. As if something about it was familiar or—”

“That’s ridiculous,” Anna snapped. “I looked at Kit, I suppose, because he hates those tales of the Beast. He thinks them ignorant and foolish, and he dislikes the fact that people continue to repeat the legend. This will only further confirm people’s belief in it.”

“I see.” Reed looked at her for a moment. Her gaze was direct and challenging. After a moment, he glanced away. “Anna, I hope you will take care where you go, what you do. I know you have always loved to tramp about, but…well, that doesn’t seem very safe at the moment. I hope you will take someone with you when you go out.”

Anna gaped at him. “But this has nothing to do with me. No doubt it was the man Estelle had been meeting, as everyone says. There isn’t some wild animal roaming the countryside looking for victims. And even if there were, it did not happen in the woods or anywhere around our house. They found her clear over at Hutchins’ farm.”

“I know. But there is no reason to take any chances. The consequences are too horrendous. It is little enough trouble to take a groom with you when you ride or your maid when you walk—”

“That is easy enough to say when you are not the one who has someone following your every step,” Anna retorted. “The whole point of my long walks is to be alone, to—to think and look at the world around me.”

Anna did not know if it was because her mother had died and she had taken over the reins of the household at an early age or merely because her father was a most understanding man, but she had, since she was an adolescent, been allowed to go around the countryside on her own. She cherished that freedom—valuing it even more so when she had seen her friends like Miranda had been plagued with the propriety of never venturing out without a companion. The idea that anyone would try to take away that freedom was enough to arouse her anger; the fact that it was Reed seemed to make it even worse.

“I cannot believe that you, after all the things you told me about your mother and how you were raised, would be advocating—”

“Blast it, this isn’t about propriety!” Reed retorted, stung by her words. “It is about your safety.”

“But that’s absurd. There is no reason why I am not safe,” Anna said flatly. “Do you plan to go about armed, or take a servant with you?”

“No, of course not. But I am able to take care of myself.”

“Against a man with a gun?” Anna asked, looking at him coolly. “I don’t think the fact that you are a man or even your size would help you there.”

“I’m not likely to meet up with a man with a gun.”

“I am not likely to meet up with a murderer, either,” Anna shot back.

“I just want you to be safe!” His voice rose in anger.

“It is no concern of yours!” Anna cried. “There is nothing between us!”

His chin came up a little, as if she had hit him, and there was a flash of hurt in his eyes before they turned blank and cold. “You do not need to remind me that I have no connection to you,” he told her, his words clipped. “No right to protect you. You have made that amply clear. I can only wonder at my own stupidity that I even care about your safety.”

Anna had seen the wounded look that had touched his eyes, quickly repressed, and regret pierced her. “Reed…” She took a step toward him, instinctively reached toward him. “I am sorry.”

He stepped back, out of her reach. “No. Do not apologize. No doubt I overreached myself.”

“I never wanted to hurt you,” Anna continued in a low voice.

“Fortunately, I no longer love you, so you cannot hurt me,” Reed told her, and the lack of emotion in his face confirmed his words. “I did not ask you to be careful because I was trying to assume some right over you. I was concerned, as I would be concerned about any young woman who might come into a killer’s path. I apologize if my concern offended you.”

“No, Reed, it—” Anna stopped. She looked down at her hands. It was ridiculous, she told herself, to feel so rebuffed. After all, there was nothing between them. She had just told him so a moment before. It was foolish of her to feel hurt by his abrupt words. Of course he did not love her. It had been three years. She did not
want
him to love her still. It was best to just leave the matter alone.

“I will take my leave now,” Reed went on. “Kindly give my regards to your brother.”

“Of course.”

Anna stood, watching him walk across the room, her heart heavy within her chest.

At the door, he stopped and turned and delivered his parting blow, “It did not seem that you believed there was ‘nothing between us’ last night when you were in my arms.”

He turned and walked out the door. Anna sank down into her chair, her legs suddenly trembling too much to hold her up. She clasped her hands together in her lap and stared down at them. It shamed her to think how readily she had given in to passion last night. Reed could certainly be forgiven for thinking that she was a woman of easy virtue—to claim that she did not care for him, yet to practically swoon at his kisses.

She was still sitting in the same position a few moments later when Kit came strolling back into the room. “I saw Lord Moreland on his way out,” he said cheerfully, his voice dying as he took in Anna’s posture. “Oh, Anna…”

He strode across the room and squatted down beside her chair. “Don’t worry. I know what you were thinking when Felton said that about the claws, but I am sure that you are wrong.”

“Am I?” Anna looked at her brother. She glanced out the window of the drawing room toward the massive upthrust of Craydon Tor. “He could not have done such a thing. Surely not.”

“Of course not.”

“But if anyone knew…”

“No one does. No one will.” He slipped his hand around hers and squeezed it reassuringly.

“No doubt you are right,” she said.

“Of course I am. Now, promise me you will stop thinking about this murder.”

Anna summoned up a smile for him. “All right. I will.”

Despite her words, Anna could not keep from glancing out the window again.
What if they were wrong?

A
nna discovered that her promise to her brother turned out to be one more easily made than kept. She could not banish thoughts of what had happened to Estelle from her mind any more than she could stop thinking about Reed and the words they had exchanged that afternoon.

It seemed to her that she should do something, find out something, about what had happened to Estelle. She knew, as Kit had pointed out, that she could not have kept the girl from coming to harm, but still, she could not help but feel responsible for Estelle. She could not simply sit back and wash her hands of the matter. It was her duty to do what she could to help bring the girl’s murderer to justice. And besides…there was the suspicion, the horrible thought that had sprung up in her mind at the doctor’s words. She could not rest until her mind was easy on that score.

She had little idea how to go about tracking down the killer, but there was one area that she knew she could explore—the identity of the man whom Estelle had been sneaking out to meet at nights.

Therefore, that evening, when she was seated in front of her vanity, as Penny took Anna’s hair down from its pins and was brushing it out, Anna looked into the mirror, catching her maid’s eyes in the glass.

“Penny…?”

“Yes, miss?”

“Did Estelle ever talk to you about this man whom she was meeting?”

The girl’s eyes welled with tears, and she quickly looked down at her task. “I should have asked her more. I feel so terrible. It’s all my fault, isn’t it? I should have told Mrs. Michaels what she was doin’.”

“You couldn’t have known,” Anna assured her, reaching up and curling her hand comfortingly around Penny’s. “You thought you were helping her. I will tell you something—I didn’t tell on Estelle, either.” She told her maid about seeing Estelle sneaking into the house one morning, and when she was through, Penny visibly relaxed, breathing out a sigh.

“Oh, miss, I’m that glad to hear you say that. Mrs. Michaels says I’m a terrible person not to have told her. She says I’m a sinner and—”

“Never mind that. I am sure that what you did was not a sin. You were trying to be a good friend to Estelle. It isn’t your fault she was killed. It is the person who killed her who is to blame.”

“You think it was the man she was seeing?” Penny asked. “John the footman thinks it was the Beast. He says he got her because she was out alone in the woods at night, going to meet that man.”

“I don’t believe in the Beast. I have never seen it. Have you?”

“No…”

“And if it is the sort of thing that kills people like this, don’t you think it would do it more often? Or that it would kill animals the same way? But I’ve never heard of a farmer losing a cow or a sheep or even a dog to this creature.” Anna pushed from her mind the thought of the wounded dog she had taken to Nick Perkins.

“No. I haven’t, either,” Penny agreed, although she did not look entirely convinced.

“Kit thinks that there was a lovers’ quarrel, and he killed her, maybe even accidentally, but then he tried to make it look as if the Beast had done it, just to avert suspicion from himself.”

Penny nodded. “Master Kit has always been a brainy one.”

“So I thought, if we just knew more about this man she was meeting, perhaps they would be able to find him,” Anna went on persuasively.

“Yes’m, but the thing is—I don’t know much about him. She never told me his name. Fact is, she was dead quiet about him—” Penny sucked in a breath, looking shocked “—ooh, I didn’t mean that. That’s an awful expression, isn’t it, miss?”

“Yes. I guess we frequently say things without thinking about them. But, Penny, if Estelle never said his name, surely she must have said something else about him—how he looked, for instance, or where he lived.”

Penny frowned, concentrating, and her hands stilled on Anna’s hair, the brush poised above her head. “She kept him a secret, miss, and that’s the truth. I asked her about him. I was curious, like. But she wouldn’t tell me anything ’cept that he was a gentleman.”

“A gentleman?” Anna asked, surprised.

Penny nodded. “I was that surprised. I told her she was fibbing, but she swore it was true.” She hesitated. “I think it was the way he talked and dressed. She told me he looked as fine as Master Kit, and he treated her real polite, like she was a lady.”

Anna nodded. It made sense that Estelle’s judgment of a man as a “gentleman” would have had more to do with his manner of speech or his way of dressing, rather than his status in life. Estelle might have labeled anyone from a lawyer’s clerk to a dancing tutor as a “gentleman.”

Moreover, while she had been assuming that the man lived nearby, the fact was that he could even live in a neighboring village rather than right here at Lower Fenley. He could easily have ridden a few miles from Eddlesburrow or Sedgewick to meet with Estelle. Of course, she could not imagine how Estelle would have met someone from one of those villages, given the fact that she spent all but one day every other week working here at the Manor. But, then, Anna would not have thought that the girl could have kept up secretive meetings at night for weeks on end, either. Obviously Estelle had been more resourceful than anyone had realized.

Penny had nothing else to tell her, Anna felt sure. Therefore, she would have to ask someone else. The other people who seemed most likely to know anything about Estelle’s secret lover were her family. It would be expected of her to call on the family, anyway, Anna thought, to offer her condolences. She could easily ask them a few questions, as well.

The next afternoon, Anna embarked on her plan. She had just come downstairs, gloves and bonnet in hand, to have her trap brought around when there was a knock on the door and the footman opened it to reveal Lady Kyria on her doorstep.

“My lady!” Anna paused in the midst of pulling on her gloves. “What a pleasant surprise.”

“I am sorry,” Kyria said, glancing down at Anna’s hands. “You are obviously about to go somewhere.”

“Yes, I was going to drive into the village to call on Estelle’s family. But I can postpone it for a bit. Won’t you come in?”

“Oh, no, I wouldn’t wish to make you change your plans.” Kyria paused for a moment, then went on. “If you wouldn’t mind, I could go with you. My carriage is already at the door, and I would like to make my condolences to the family. I did not know her, I realize, but since we are living at Winterset, it seems as though I should.”

Anna understood doing one’s social duty. She had spent much of her life occupied with such things. “I am sure they would be honored, my lady.”

“Please, call me Kyria. I have spent the last year in America, and I have come to like the lack of ‘lady this’ and ‘lady that.’”

“All right. Kyria. And you must call me Anna.” Anna smiled at the other woman. She liked Kyria, and she suspected that if things had happened differently between her and Reed, she and Kyria would have become good friends.

They took Kyria’s open-air victoria into town, enjoying the summer day. They made a stop at the chemist first, for Kyria to pick up headache powder for Miss Farrington.

“Poor thing. I fear this killing has completely overset her,” Kyria said. “But your brother has been so kind—he quite took her mind off it for a while yesterday when he came to call. I believe they are going riding this afternoon.”

“Really? I did not know.” Anna felt another tug of worry.

As they left the chemist’s and started toward their carriage, they saw Mr. Norton standing beside the vehicle. The solicitor turned at their approach and bowed, smiling broadly. “Ah, my lady, Miss Holcomb. I thought this was your equipage, my lady. A very well-sprung vehicle, if I may say so.”

“Mr. Norton.” Kyria nodded toward the man.

Lawrence Norton was a thin, bony man, and though he was rather tall, hours spent hunched over books had given him a stooped appearance. Anna had never liked his obsequious manner, though she could not fault his competence, and she discovered as they talked that he was even more fawning with Kyria. After he complimented her carriage and horses, he went on to wax enthusiastic about the party she had given the other evening.

“Mrs. Norton and I were so honored to attend,” he gushed. “It was most generous of you. Such a beautiful affair—the musicians were excellent, the food divine.”

“Thank you, Mr. Norton,” Kyria said, continuing to move toward the carriage as they talked. “I am sorry that it had such a sad ending.”

“Oh, yes, terrible thing, terrible. It is awful that such a thing should spoil your visit here. I hope it will not leave you with a bad impression of Lower Fenley. Now that your brother is planning to remain here, I hope that you will return often.”

Anna felt the shock of the lawyer’s words all through her.
Reed was planning on living here?

It was all she could do to maintain her composure as Kyria skillfully extricated them from the conversational tentacles of Mr. Norton. She sat down in the carriage, feeling a little breathless, and they pulled away from the curb, Norton waving after them as if they were embarking on a long journey.

“Ree—your brother is intending to live at Winterset?” Anna asked, struggling to keep her voice light. “I had thought he was planning to sell it.”

Kyria looked at her. “I believe he has decided not to sell the house after all. It is such a pleasant place, don’t you agree?”

“Oh, yes. Yes, it’s beautiful.” Anna’s mouth felt dry as cotton.
What would she do if he stayed here?
She was so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she did not even notice Kyria studying her thoughtfully.

Somewhat numbly, Anna directed the coachman to the house in the village where Estelle’s family lived. Fortunately Kyria did not talk much as they drove or Anna would have had trouble following the conversation, for her mind was racing, considering the prospect of Reed living at Winterset.

When they reached the Akins’ house, Anna forced herself to put Reed out of her mind for the moment and went inside to talk to the grieving parents. She and Kyria visited with the family at some length, expressing their regret and sympathy, and listening to Mrs. Akins explain what a good girl her Estelle had been.

When Anna asked if they had known the man whom Estelle had been seeing, Mrs. Akins fired up, saying, “She wasn’t like what that Mrs. Michaels is saying. She wasn’t seein’ no man—I don’t care what that woman says. Estelle wouldn’t ’a’ been sneaking out like that.”

Anna nodded and murmured something consoling. Clearly she would not be getting any information about the man from Estelle’s family. However, as they were leaving the cottage, Estelle’s next-oldest sister caught up with them. “Miss?”

Anna turned, and the girl slipped out of the door, closing it behind her. “I wanted to ask you—when you asked about that man?”

Anna nodded. “Yes?”

“It could be him what killed her, couldn’t it?”

“It might be, yes.”

The girl nodded. “She was seeing someone, no matter what me mum thinks. Stell told me she was.”

“Did she say anything about him? His name? What he looked like?”

The girl shook her head. “Not much. She just said he was goin’ to change her life, like. She said she wouldn’t be cleanin’ houses forever. But she wouldn’t say who he was, even when I teased her.”

Anna asked the girl a few more questions, but she could learn nothing more from her. The girl went back inside the house, and Anna and Kyria strolled out to the carriage.

“She was certainly secretive about this man, wasn’t she?” Kyria commented.

“Yes. She told my maid that he was a ‘gentleman,’ though what that meant in Estelle’s estimation, I’m not sure. However, she refused to tell Penny—who was, I think, her best friend—what his name was or, really, anything about him. I am not even positive that he was from Lower Fenley. He could have ridden over a few nights a week from a nearby village.”

“Still, it makes one think that he must be from around here. Else why would she be so determined to keep him a secret? I would think it must be because he was someone her family or her friends would know.”

Anna looked at Kyria. “It gives one the shivers, doesn’t it? What if he
is
the one who killed her? What if it is someone we know?”

As they stepped up into the carriage, Anna turned and looked down the street. A horseman was riding toward them. Her throat tightened.

“Reed!” Kyria exclaimed.

He pulled up for a moment, then urged his horse forward, coming to a stop beside their carriage. “Ladies.” He swept off his hat. His eyes went over to Anna. She could not read his expression.

“Have you come to pay a sympathy call, too?” Kyria asked. “I did not know you were riding here.”

“I did not know you were, either,” he responded.

“Yes, I happened to catch Anna as she was leaving, so I came along.”

“Stay here,” he told them. “I will be back. I want to talk to you.” Again his eyes slid toward Anna.

He dismounted, handing the reins of his horse to the coachman, who had jumped down to take them. Kyria heaved a sigh.

“Well, if that isn’t just like him,” Kyria said. “He’s always been inordinately bossy. Much worse than Theo, and he’s the oldest. I’ve half a mind to tell Henry to tie Reed’s horse to that tree and drive on.” She shrugged. “Of course, he’d just catch up with us later, so it’s hardly worth the trouble.”