emotions threatened to overwhelm her. “I made tea if you would like some.”
“For now I shall skip that tea, let me hear all about your adventure.” Her longtime friend leaned forward and patted Mia on the leg.
“Perhaps we shall call it an ordeal instead of an adventure,” Mia began. She went through the witness of the murder, leaving out the most horrific details so as to not upset Rachel too much.
Rachel grabbed Mia’s hands in hers, pressing a handkerchief into them. “My dear friend, what a horrible thing to have witnessed. You were so very brave to go and speak to him about what you heard. I have no doubt that Lord Carrington will make things right and bring justice to that poor girl.”
“He is an honorable man,” Mia agreed. “If not a little too starched.”
“Well, he does bear a weighty title and with that comes extreme responsibilities,” Rachel said. She was silent for a moment. “And he is relatively new to the title. He was a military man, I believe, when his brother and the previous duke passed away.”
“Yes, I do recall you reading something from
The Times
about such a thing,” Mia agreed. She had forgotten that. Clearly that was why he was in such a rush to find himself a duchess. The last duke had failed to produce an heir and Alex must have felt the weight of the situation and intended to rectify it.
“He is taking your story to the investigators, then?” Rachel asked.
“Yes, I believe so. I don’t think he completely believed me when I first arrived at Danbridge after it had happened. In truth I can hardly blame him. I must have looked a fright. I’d been standing in the freezing rain, hiding and then ran straightaway to tell him. No wonder his mother told him I was mad.”
“Did she, now?” Rachel asked. “Fools, the lot of them. Bunch of proper prigs.”
“Well, I have no idea what my own mother told them about me and why I had to live in the cottage. Perhaps that was her excuse. It matters not now, I suppose.”
“No, I suppose not.” Rachel was quiet for a few moments before she spoke again. “Mia, you can continue talking about it if you need to, there is no reason to try and protect me from the details. I can assure you I have a rather strong constitution and you certainly look as if you need to say more.”
“Are you certain?” Mia asked.
“Absolutely.”
Mia started talking then, the details pouring from her as if they’d been waiting in her mouth to tumble free. She wasn’t certain if she spoke in chronological order of how things actually happened; she merely spoke as she remembered things, trying to once again rid her mind of the terrible ordeal.
Mia shook her head, then took a sip of tea. It was warm now, no longer steaming from the earlier brewing. She had spoken so long about the girl’s death that her tea had nearly cooled.
“I know that look on your face,” Rachel said.
“What are you talking about?”
“You’re not going to let this go. Despite the fact that Lord Carrington has said he will take care of it, you’re not going to simply walk away, are you?”
“You well know that I cannot.”
***
Alex sat at his desk again, flipping through the one invitation after another, and it was beginning to get tedious. The pile of envelopes to his right had yet to be opened, while the pile to his left were invites he would woefully decline, and the ones directly in the middle were the few he would attend. Who could have known that being socially available would take so much work? He’d spent more time attending parties and dinners in the last two months than he had managing any of his properties.
Despite the fact that he wasn’t actually looking for a woman to court, him pretending to be available whilst in mourning was taking up a considerable amount of time. If he was to have this “arranged” marriage, he wished they could simply get on with things.
It wasn’t as if he were foolish enough to look for love—he didn’t even
“For now I shall skip that tea, let me hear all about your adventure.” Her longtime friend leaned forward and patted Mia on the leg.
“Perhaps we shall call it an ordeal instead of an adventure,” Mia began. She went through the witness of the murder, leaving out the most horrific details so as to not upset Rachel too much.
Rachel grabbed Mia’s hands in hers, pressing a handkerchief into them. “My dear friend, what a horrible thing to have witnessed. You were so very brave to go and speak to him about what you heard. I have no doubt that Lord Carrington will make things right and bring justice to that poor girl.”
“He is an honorable man,” Mia agreed. “If not a little too starched.”
“Well, he does bear a weighty title and with that comes extreme responsibilities,” Rachel said. She was silent for a moment. “And he is relatively new to the title. He was a military man, I believe, when his brother and the previous duke passed away.”
“Yes, I do recall you reading something from
The Times
about such a thing,” Mia agreed. She had forgotten that. Clearly that was why he was in such a rush to find himself a duchess. The last duke had failed to produce an heir and Alex must have felt the weight of the situation and intended to rectify it.
“He is taking your story to the investigators, then?” Rachel asked.
“Yes, I believe so. I don’t think he completely believed me when I first arrived at Danbridge after it had happened. In truth I can hardly blame him. I must have looked a fright. I’d been standing in the freezing rain, hiding and then ran straightaway to tell him. No wonder his mother told him I was mad.”
“Did she, now?” Rachel asked. “Fools, the lot of them. Bunch of proper prigs.”
“Well, I have no idea what my own mother told them about me and why I had to live in the cottage. Perhaps that was her excuse. It matters not now, I suppose.”
“No, I suppose not.” Rachel was quiet for a few moments before she spoke again. “Mia, you can continue talking about it if you need to, there is no reason to try and protect me from the details. I can assure you I have a rather strong constitution and you certainly look as if you need to say more.”
“Are you certain?” Mia asked.
“Absolutely.”
Mia started talking then, the details pouring from her as if they’d been waiting in her mouth to tumble free. She wasn’t certain if she spoke in chronological order of how things actually happened; she merely spoke as she remembered things, trying to once again rid her mind of the terrible ordeal.
Mia shook her head, then took a sip of tea. It was warm now, no longer steaming from the earlier brewing. She had spoken so long about the girl’s death that her tea had nearly cooled.
“I know that look on your face,” Rachel said.
“What are you talking about?”
“You’re not going to let this go. Despite the fact that Lord Carrington has said he will take care of it, you’re not going to simply walk away, are you?”
“You well know that I cannot.”
***
Alex sat at his desk again, flipping through the one invitation after another, and it was beginning to get tedious. The pile of envelopes to his right had yet to be opened, while the pile to his left were invites he would woefully decline, and the ones directly in the middle were the few he would attend. Who could have known that being socially available would take so much work? He’d spent more time attending parties and dinners in the last two months than he had managing any of his properties.
Despite the fact that he wasn’t actually looking for a woman to court, him pretending to be available whilst in mourning was taking up a considerable amount of time. If he was to have this “arranged” marriage, he wished they could simply get on with things.
It wasn’t as if he were foolish enough to look for love—he didn’t even