The Sign of Death (Victorian Book Club Mystery 2)

ing a woman.

* * *

The next night, William assisted Amy and Lady Margaret from his carriage in front of the Assembly. After their lunch, they had all decided to attend the Assembly, since Lady Margaret had graciously offered to help with their search for Harding’s killer. Actually, she’d announced loud and clear her desire to seek justice for his death, even though she described Harding as an arse.

It was noteworthy that she described him in such a way before William and Amy had even told her the entire story of Harding’s duplicity. When they were through with their account, she shook her head and commented that “once a scoundrel, always a scoundrel.”

They went over the list of names from the files Harding had hidden in his home. William knew Mr. Montrose from his club, and Lady Margaret mentioned that the man occasionally attended the Assembly. William would watch out for him. Lady Margaret also said there was a chance that Mrs. Whitney would be there as well. If not, she added, looking pointedly at Amy, Mrs. Whitney usually attended the rounds of afternoon social calls.

Amy groaned at that one and stated—quite emphatically—that she did not enjoy sitting around drinking tea with women whose only purpose for being present was to share gossip. But she had reluctantly agreed that if it was the only way to speak with Mrs. Whitney, she would accompany her aunt the next time she made her rounds. Unlike Amy, Lady Margaret was quite the social butterfly.

The Assembly was well under way when they arrived. Since William and Amy were so easily accepted by their circle of friends as a couple, he began to ruminate on their very comfortable relationship. What had been relaxed and happy these past few months now seemed to have reached a point where he needed to consider making it more.

Perhaps much more.

But Amy had mentioned several times that she had no intention of binding herself to a husband who would then dictate her life. Now, with his mother taking up residence at his house, living and breathing her intention to marry him off and be blessed with grandchildren, William wondered if perhaps he should try to change Amy’s mind.

Amy was intelligent, high-spirited—sometimes a bit too much—and certainly easy to look at. He felt she would be a wonderful wife if he could convince her that he would not stifle her in any way. Well, he would certainly forbid her from buying a gun.

They approached the small group from the book club who also frequently attended the Assembly. Miss Sterling, Mr. Davidson, and Mr. Colbert all greeted them, as did Miss Gertrude and Miss Penelope, who seemed to have joined the little group as well.

“Where is Lady Wethington?” Mr. Colbert asked, looking behind Amy.

“She had intended to join us, but she had a megrim and stayed home with a cold cloth and a tisane from our cook,” William said.

Mr. Colbert’s shoulders slumped. “Oh, that is too bad.” The man looked as though he’d lost his favorite puppy.

Amy snorted, trying her best to hold in her laugh, but William failed to see what was funny about Mr. Colbert’s interest in his mother. She was far too old to be courting. And so was Mr. Colbert.

He took the opportunity to move away from any discussion about his mother. “Miss Gertrude, Miss Penelope, how are you this evening? I don’t remember seeing you at these events before.”

“No.” Miss Penelope grinned. “We never have attended, but now that we are venturing out to the book club each week, sister thought it a good idea to also engage in other social activities.”

The music started up, and both Miss Penelope and Miss Gertrude looked in his direction. Bloody hell, did they expect him to push them around the dance floor? Amy’s elbow in his side reminded him that dancing with Miss Gertrude might bring information they needed.

He held out his hand and bowed slightly. “Miss Gertrude, would you care to dance?”

She giggled and turned bright red. William did his best not to sigh. Apparently Mr. Colbert thought to follow his lead, as he asked Miss Penelope to dance as well. Mr. Davidson, as usual, just stood and watched the rest of the group. William had never seen the man dance, even though he was at the Assembly just about every Saturday.

He was grateful for his height, since Miss Gertrude was tall for a woman as well as quite slender. She was stiff in his arms, but if he was going to suffer dancing a waltz with her, hopefully he would gain some information.

“How are you enjoying the book club?” That seemed like an innocuous start.

“Very much, my lord. I particularly liked The Sign of the Four. Very mysterious, I must say.” The woman was also a decent dancer, which helped. If he didn’t have to guide her around the dance floor, it would leave his brain clear to ask questions.

“I was surprised to find that you and your lovely sister are interested in mystery stories.”

“We never were before, but we suddenly developed an interest in how these things are done.”

William stumbled and almost stepped on the woman’s foot. Could she be so naïve or unconcerned? He cleared his throat. “What things?”

“Oh, book clubs and such. We always wondered how it worked.” Before he could respond to that, she said, “Will we see you at church tomorrow?”

That question seemed to come from nowhere. Unless she was trying to remind him that she was a devoted churchgoer and therefore would never consider killing a man. He had no idea what Miss Gertrude was attempting to do, but he knew she would remain on their suspect list.

He had to find a way to delve into her past to discover what it was that Harding had used for blackmail. “You and your sister have been members of St. Swithin’s Church ever since I can remember. Have you always lived in Bath?”

She nodded vigorously. “Oh yes. Always. I dislike London.” She wrinkled her nose and shook her head. “Very much.” He noticed a flicker of fear in her eyes, which disappeared so quickly that he wasn’t sure he’d seen it.