Beatrice (The Tipton Hollow 2)

“Now ladies, Isaac and I are going to escort everyone home tonight. We are all going to go together and will drop Mrs Dalrymple and Constance off first, then go around to Tuppence’s house, then Eloisa’s. Then I am going to take Harriett, Babette, and mother; you are staying with us tonight.”

Hetty opened her mouth to speak only to close it again with a snap.

“If everyone is ready?” Mark prompted once the bags were packed, and everyone had their coats on.

“We won’t all fit in one coach, surely?” Harriett asked. “Why don’t we stay here until you have taken some of the ladies? Then you can come back to take us home.”

“Because we have another carriage outside,” Mark assured his wife. “I have borrowed David’s carriage for an hour so I can get you all home.”

There was little anyone could say to that, so the ladies said their goodbyes in rather more sombre tones than they had when they had arrived, and quietly left.

“Are you alright?” Ben asked when the carriages had turned out of the driveway and the door was closed and bolted.

“I am off to bed now,” Maud sighed wearily. “I will clear the pots away in the morning. Good night, both of you.”

“Night,” Beatrice and Ben called as they walked into the sitting room.

“I am horrified that Sigmund Hargraves is dead,” Beatrice whispered with a shiver.

Ben sighed and followed her over to the sofa. He didn’t say as much to Beatrice, but he had already stored his carriage away in the lean-to at the side of the garden, and left his horse in the field next door for the night because he had absolutely no intention of going anywhere for the time being.

Gossips could go to Hell in a hand basket; he would risk their censure to make sure that the killer didn’t claim either Beatrice, or Maud, as their next victim.

“We don’t know if the killer is Richard Browning, darling. Although he didn’t answer the door to us, and pretended to be Archibald Harrington, we have no proof that he has committed any one of the murders. You cannot lose sight of the fact that Bernard Murray lurks somewhere in all of this.”

That was enough to make Beatrice groan. She glanced at him with eyes that were haunted. “I really hate this, Ben. The ladies from the Circle shouldn’t have to have a police escort to get home, it is not right. How much longer can this go on for? I cannot live under house arrest, and simply wait here for the killer to call upon me next.” She didn’t add that her fears were more for his safety than hers. Just the thought that Ben could be hurt in all of this made her want to sob helplessly. Instead, she settled against him with a sigh and slid her arm around him to hold him just that little bit tighter.

“We aren’t going to, darling. Mark has several men now investigating this. Tipton Hollow is swarming with police. Anyone who has killed three times is most probably well away from the area by now, so don’t worry yourself. I am right here, and I am not going to go anywhere until this is all over.”

She turned to stare at him. “The gossips will have a field day if anyone hears about you staying over.”

“I don’t care what anyone thinks,” Ben declared flatly. “We are going to get married, just as soon as the danger has passed and you are ready. If the gossips get wind of the fact that I have been staying here, they will also learn about Caroline Smethwick’s attempt on your life. As far as anyone knows, I have been here trying to protect two single women from being alone and vulnerable because there isn’t a neighbour close enough to hear you if there is a problem. If the gossips don’t like it, well they can just get on with it. I am sure that they will have Mark to answer to. However, I do think that once they learn about Caroline Smethwick’s activities, their attention will be suitably diverted by the resulting court case.”

Beatrice studied him and had to admit that he was right. The same thing had happened with the fraudulent clairvoyants. People were avidly following the newspaper accounts of the court case, and gossip about it could be heard practically in every shop you went into.

While she was glad that he was going to stay, and was more than a little relieved and thrilled at his determination to protect her, she was a little disappointed that he had still not made any deep declaration of his feelings toward

her.

Although they had been vague acquaintances for several years now, they had only really known each other properly for about a week, yet were already far closer than most couples were. It was still a little surprising that he was talking about marriage this early on in their relationship but, given the circumstances they had been faced with over the last several days, she could understand his desire not to waste time on etiquette. It was safe to say that the one thing they had both learned over the past week was that life was precious; and could be snuffed out at any moment by circumstances far beyond anyone’s control. But was that enough to base a marriage on? After all, marriage was a lifetime commitment; something one usually ever did once in their lifetime. Could she stand being married to Ben knowing that he didn’t love her as much as she loved him?

Unfortunately, he broke into her thoughts before she could find an answer.

“I want to know why your uncle made that list of names in the first place.”

Beatrice sighed and turned her attention back to his comment. “Do you think that he knew that they were up to something, and made a list of the people he suspected?”

“Given the cultivation notes were with the list of names, I think he knew exactly what they were up to. Whether or not he was involved is an entirely different matter. I take it your uncle died of natural causes?”

“Maud found him dead in his bed. It appeared that he died in his sleep. He was seventy six, and had been frail for some time, but refused to give in,” Beatrice announced sadly.

“I think that we have to rule out anything suspicious about Matthew’s death. He died several months ago now anyway. The plant had probably not even been cultivated then.”

“I think a plant like that would take several weeks to grow; certainly not months. It may have been around when he was still alive, I just don’t know.”

“I do firmly believe that the answers we need lie in Matthew’s study, only they haven’t been found because you have yet to move any of the papers. That room is full of all sorts of things; all sorts of secrets could be lurking within its depths.”

Beatrice sighed and wanted bury her head in her hands. “If we cannot find the answer until we look through it all then we are never going to get to the bottom of this mystery.”