However, he knew from personal experience that the most negative and spiteful of people usually had the biggest mouths, and were habitually the quickest to condemn the work of others. It galled him to think that he had given Mrs Underwick the time of day because, as far as he could see, everyone had benefitted from the Circle’s endeavours. Those who had purchased raffle tickets, and hadn’t won anything, had received the satisfaction of knowing that they had at least contributed to an extremely worthwhile charitable cause. Who on earth could possibly object to that?
Mrs Underwick, Ben thought ruefully and realised then that Beatrice had already finished her tea and was rifling through another of the books.
An hour later, the grandfather clock in the hallway chimed noon. Beatrice realised then that she had not had any breakfast, and grimaced when her stomach rumbled loudly. She dropped the last book onto the pile at her feet and sat back to wait for Ben to finish trawling through his book.
“Nothing.”
“Not for me either.”
“I don’t know about you,” Beatrice sighed. “But I really don’t think that we are going to find what we are looking for in these books.”
Ben had to admit that he agreed with her. “Where do we look though? I hope you don’t plan to go through all of the papers in your uncle’s study?”
She turned such a look of horror on him that he grinned at her. “I am not that foolish,” she retorted flatly. “No, I think that we need to wait for those translated cultivation notes, and then go and visit at least one person on the list.” She sighed when she read the look of wariness on his face. “I know that Mark said to stay out of it, but if we had taken the notes to the scholar at the university first thing this morning as we planned to do, we could have at least asked him if he knew the people on that list my uncle made. After all, if they are botanists, and experts in their field, it isn’t inconceivable that they have close ties to someone at the university. Someone there might know everything about that plant, and be able to tell us everything we need to know so we don’t need to visit anyone else.”
Ben had to admit that he agreed with her. He thought about it for a moment and really knew that she was right. If the people on the list did all turn out to be botanists, and could be vouched for by someone at the university, then surely there would be no risk involved with calling by any of their houses – could there?
He really couldn’t see any botanist resorting to murder to get his hands on a plant he most probably had the skills to cultivate in the first place. No, whoever killed the man at the end of the garden had to be someone else. But who?
“I have no idea what is going on with that plant, Beatrice, but I cannot help but feel that Hargraves has nothing to do with botany. I rather suspect that he is working for someone.”
Beatrice was already nodding. “I agree with you, and I would much rather leave that part of the investigation to Mark to deal with. However, I have to know what is in my house. If it is just someone’s work that is of no real importance, and merely someone’s possession they want back, I have no qualms about handing it over to Hargraves, or anyone else for that matter. I would be happy to get the horrible stench out of the house and be rid of all of the problems it brings us. However if, for some strange reason, it turns out to be a rare plant, and one of its kind that is incredibly expensive, then I think we need to decide what to do with it. I am not altogether sure that I want to be guardian of the wretched thing, especially with the likes of Hargraves sniffing around.”
“It is hardly something you can just plant outside in the borders,” Ben replied quietly.
The more he thought about her suggestion, the more he could see absolutely nothing wrong with what she was suggesting. He was glad now that he had taken the time to copy the notes before he had given them to Mark, and took a moment to lean under the couch to retrieve it.
Once he had carefully unfolded it and smoothed out the crumples once again, he showed B
eatrice his drawings. He felt rather pleased with himself when he saw the delight on her face, and was even more rewarded when she suddenly gave him a fierce hug.
“You clever man,” she beamed.
He couldn’t prevent himself from dropping a quick kiss at the base of her neck, and leaned back to smile at her. They were so close that their noses almost touched, but neither of them made any attempt to move away. She knew from the look in his eye that he was thinking about the kiss they had shared earlier, and was nothing short of thrilled when his head lowered toward hers. This time though she knew what to expect, and sighed happily when his lips settled firmly over hers.
His hair really is as soft as it looks, she thought to herself as she slid her fingers in the short strands at the back of his neck.
At first, the faint noise in the hallway didn’t register through the thick cloud of wondrous sensation that had settled over them. However, when the door squeaked, Ben suddenly leaned back at the same time that Maud appeared, fully dressed, in the doorway. Beatrice was left to right her clothing and tuck her hair back into the bun at the back of her neck.
“There you are,” she croaked. “I have the luncheon ready, if you are able to carry it through into the dining room?”
“Maud,” Beatrice gasped, a little stunned that she had been so ensnared by Ben and his kisses that she hadn’t even heard the housekeeper rattling around in the kitchen. “You should be in bed. You are not well enough to be up and about, much less making anything for anyone,” she scolded. “We are perfectly capable of preparing our own food, thank you. Now get yourself back to bed.”
When Maud opened her mouth to object, Beatrice speared her with a determined look that was enough to make the housekeeper shuffle off toward her rooms with an affronted huff.
She tried to ignore the hand that visibly trembled when she swept it along her hair and, for some reason, couldn’t bring herself to meet Ben’s gaze. Before Maud had interrupted them, Beatrice had felt so close to him that she was certain nothing could separate them. Now, she felt awkward and off-balance, and wasn’t quite sure what to make of what had just happened.
“Shall we eat in here?” She suggested when she couldn’t stand the silence a moment longer.
Ben studied her and wondered if he had crossed an invisible like somewhere along the way, and made her worry that he was pushing for more than she was prepared to give. However, he had asked for nothing more than a repeat of the kiss they had shared in the kitchen, and she had enjoyed that. They had certainly done nothing to cause her alarm in any way. So why did she suddenly look as though she wanted to crawl under the table and hide?
“I think that’s a good idea,” he murmured.
They collected the trays of food and, after ensuring that Maud had indeed gone back to bed as instructed, they took a seat on the sofa in the sitting room and began to eat.
“You seem thoughtful,” Ben declared when the silence had gone on far longer than he was comfortable with.
Beatrice studied him for several long moments. “Can I ask you something?”