house, or was tormenting the cook. I enjoyed looking at Esther while she murmured platitudes about the weather. The gown showed off her neat figure wonderfully. I loved the way she moved – elegantly but businesslike – the way she cast a sideways glance at me. She had a smudge of ink on one cheek that I longed to rub away . . .
‘Have you solved the mystery?’ she asked.
I dragged my thoughts back. ‘I visited the mother.’ I told her about my trip to the hovel where the woman lived, and about my encounter with the girl (though without mentioning the other world) and her desire to become my apprentice. Tom brought the brandy and disappeared again. To my surprise, Esther gave the girl some serious consideration. ‘It is impossible, of course—’
‘Of course.’
‘But one has to admire the girl for her desire to better herself.’ She sipped her brandy. ‘Do you think Mr Orrick might be able to do something for her?’
I couldn’t imagine the curate being effective in dealing with young women. ‘I’ll ask,’ I said without conviction. The conversation had taken a serious turn so I regaled Esther with my adventures at the Jenisons. Esther shared my views of Mrs Jenison’s feather pictures, chuckled at Jenison’s raptures over the ladder dancer, and admitted, slightly ruefully, to pitying Mrs Annabella.
‘I don’t,’ I retorted. ‘She’s the worst kind of elderly spinster.’
‘I was a spinster too until three weeks ago,’ she pointed out.
‘Only in the sense of being unmarried,’ I said. ‘Nothing more. You could never be as coy and fawning as she.’
‘She has to placate the people on whom she is dependent. She cannot afford to do otherwise. There was a time, not so long ago, I was in a similar situation.’ She looked at me shrewdly. ‘What else are you not telling me?’
She knew me too well. Ruefully, I told her about Cuthbert Ridley. She listened with a frown growing between her eyes. The sort of frown I longed to kiss away.
‘You can’t suspect a man simply because of his initials, Charles!’
‘He’s not a nice man,’ I said, remembering that last look he’d cast me.
‘Neither is the fishmonger but he is a man of appalling rectitude.’ She pondered for a moment. ‘I am acquainted with the family, of course. Ridley’s, I mean, not the fishmonger’s. The mother is a very good woman. The elder son is not well, I think, and the other is perfectly ordinary and dull. The father is away somewhere.’
‘Narva, according to Heron. Negotiating with timber merchants, apparently. Who else do you know with the initials CR ?’
She shook her head. ‘No one. But that is nothing to the purpose. The horseman could have been a visitor to the town.’
‘Heaven forbid!’ I said. ‘In that case, he’ll be long gone and we’ll never catch him.’ I looked at her curiously. ‘You believe me, don’t you? About it being murder. What changed your mind? This morning you were accusing me of overreacting.’
She nodded. ‘I have had time to think about it. I trust your judgement, Charles.’
I could find nothing to say. I caught my breath, looked into my brandy. It was a greater compliment than I’d been prepared for.
Esther started to say something, stopped. I sipped my brandy, pretended I hadn’t heard. She said, with sudden vehemence, ‘Charles, we cannot go on ignoring this problem.’
I fell from joy straight into anger. ‘There’s no problem. Give me the relevant papers and I’ll sign them.’
‘I believe you would find it more satisfactory if you were to understand the workings of the estates.’
‘Alas,’ I said lightly. ‘I was never one for financial dealings.’
‘Nonsense,’ she retorted. ‘Any man who can survive on no more than sixty pounds a year without falling into debt understands financial matters very well.’
I felt cornered. ‘You’d hate to give up the management of your estates.’
‘ Your estates.’
‘I’m quite happy to let you
‘Have you solved the mystery?’ she asked.
I dragged my thoughts back. ‘I visited the mother.’ I told her about my trip to the hovel where the woman lived, and about my encounter with the girl (though without mentioning the other world) and her desire to become my apprentice. Tom brought the brandy and disappeared again. To my surprise, Esther gave the girl some serious consideration. ‘It is impossible, of course—’
‘Of course.’
‘But one has to admire the girl for her desire to better herself.’ She sipped her brandy. ‘Do you think Mr Orrick might be able to do something for her?’
I couldn’t imagine the curate being effective in dealing with young women. ‘I’ll ask,’ I said without conviction. The conversation had taken a serious turn so I regaled Esther with my adventures at the Jenisons. Esther shared my views of Mrs Jenison’s feather pictures, chuckled at Jenison’s raptures over the ladder dancer, and admitted, slightly ruefully, to pitying Mrs Annabella.
‘I don’t,’ I retorted. ‘She’s the worst kind of elderly spinster.’
‘I was a spinster too until three weeks ago,’ she pointed out.
‘Only in the sense of being unmarried,’ I said. ‘Nothing more. You could never be as coy and fawning as she.’
‘She has to placate the people on whom she is dependent. She cannot afford to do otherwise. There was a time, not so long ago, I was in a similar situation.’ She looked at me shrewdly. ‘What else are you not telling me?’
She knew me too well. Ruefully, I told her about Cuthbert Ridley. She listened with a frown growing between her eyes. The sort of frown I longed to kiss away.
‘You can’t suspect a man simply because of his initials, Charles!’
‘He’s not a nice man,’ I said, remembering that last look he’d cast me.
‘Neither is the fishmonger but he is a man of appalling rectitude.’ She pondered for a moment. ‘I am acquainted with the family, of course. Ridley’s, I mean, not the fishmonger’s. The mother is a very good woman. The elder son is not well, I think, and the other is perfectly ordinary and dull. The father is away somewhere.’
‘Narva, according to Heron. Negotiating with timber merchants, apparently. Who else do you know with the initials CR ?’
She shook her head. ‘No one. But that is nothing to the purpose. The horseman could have been a visitor to the town.’
‘Heaven forbid!’ I said. ‘In that case, he’ll be long gone and we’ll never catch him.’ I looked at her curiously. ‘You believe me, don’t you? About it being murder. What changed your mind? This morning you were accusing me of overreacting.’
She nodded. ‘I have had time to think about it. I trust your judgement, Charles.’
I could find nothing to say. I caught my breath, looked into my brandy. It was a greater compliment than I’d been prepared for.
Esther started to say something, stopped. I sipped my brandy, pretended I hadn’t heard. She said, with sudden vehemence, ‘Charles, we cannot go on ignoring this problem.’
I fell from joy straight into anger. ‘There’s no problem. Give me the relevant papers and I’ll sign them.’
‘I believe you would find it more satisfactory if you were to understand the workings of the estates.’
‘Alas,’ I said lightly. ‘I was never one for financial dealings.’
‘Nonsense,’ she retorted. ‘Any man who can survive on no more than sixty pounds a year without falling into debt understands financial matters very well.’
I felt cornered. ‘You’d hate to give up the management of your estates.’
‘ Your estates.’
‘I’m quite happy to let you
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