A Study in Murder (Victorian Book Club Mystery 1)

Despite her annoyance at the situation, Amy had to laugh when she turned and looked at herself in the mirror. Yes, she was a clothing disaster. “Help me straighten this out, please. Try your best to cover the fading bruises. Lord Wethington will be here shortly to escort me to the book club meeting.”

“Maybe you should choose another dress, or maybe take a shawl with you.”

“No. The book club room is always over-warm. Just see if you can adjust the sleeves a bit, and maybe add a lace collar to the bodice. There is one in my armoire that would go nicely with the dress.”

Lacey retrieved the collar, placed it around Amy’s neck, and began to move it in various ways to cover the fading mark on her upper chest. “We are seeing quite a bit of Lord Wethington lately.”

“What does that mean?” Amy said as she watched Lacey in the mirror.

The maid tried very ineffectively to hide her smile. “Nothing.”

Amy bent her head so she could see Lacey’s face. “What you said was not nothing. Every word has a meaning, and complete sentences have an even greater meaning.”

Lacey smiled. “My goodness, you are a tad touchy about his lordship.”

Touchy? She was touchy? She could only be described as confused. For goodness’ sake, although they’d not been much more than friendly acquaintances before the murder, she’d known the man for years. They met each week at the book club, they shared ideas, they’d danced a few times at the Assembly Rooms.

Now she was spending a great deal of time with him, and he was escorting her places where only a few weeks ago she would have gone by herself. The Assembly Rooms, the book club. For heaven’s sake, last week he’d even arrived on Sunday morning to escort her to church! And joining them for lunch after church had become a weekly ritual.

Not that she was complaining. She found his company extremely enjoyable. He was always dressed as a gentleman and even smelled good. William was witty, charming, and possessed of a smile that had on occasion done strange things to her insides.

“I would not say I am touchy. I am merely attempting to keep everything in its … proper place.” She fumbled the words, grunting as Lacey tugged on the sleeve of her dress. Even she had no idea what that ridiculous statement meant.

“There!” Lacey stood back and looked at Amy’s reassembled outfit. “I think you look lovely, and his lordship will think so as well.” Before Amy could retort with another unintelligible, clever sentence, Lacey raced from the room, the sound of her laughter trailing behind her.

* * *

When she and William arrived at the Atkinson & Tucker bookstore that night, most of the other members had already assembled. William joined a group of men and Amy headed toward Lady Carlisle, who stood with Mrs. Miles, Lady Abigail, and Mrs. Morton.

Amy noted that Lady Carlisle’s appearance and demeanor were significantly better than they had been the last few times she had seen her. She appeared very relaxed, almost sleepy. “Good evening, Lady Amy; how nice to see you.”

“And you as well, Lady Carlisle.” Amy turned to the other ladies and nodded a good evening to them, then turned her attention back to Lady Carlisle. “You are looking so much better than the last time we met.”

She waved her off. “I must apologize for that. I’m afraid I was having a bad day. You need not concern yourself.”

As the group conversed, Amy studied Lady Carlisle, amazed at the difference in the woman. She was quite cheerful, smiling and nodding at the story Lady Abigail was relating. She seemed to find things funny in Lady Abigail’s story that no one else thought amusing.

Lady Abigail and Mrs. Morton cast curious glances at Lady Carlisle, but Mrs. Miles seemed oblivious to the woman’s behavior. Almost as if she didn’t see anything odd about it, or didn’t notice that Lady Carlisle’s behavior that evening was in serious contrast to the way she’d behaved on the streets of Bath when she had raced away from them in an extremely agitated state.

Shortly after the last of the members arrived, Mr. Colbert called the meeting to order, and they all moved toward the chairs. William sat next to Amy, with Mrs. Miles on the sofa across from them and Lady Carlisle next to her, whispering to Mrs. Morton, giggling like a schoolgirl.

William turned to Amy with raised brows.

Amy shook her head and shrugged.

The discussion of their latest book began, but didn’t hold Amy’s interest. Contemplating a pretend murder was not as interesting as pondering a real one. Especially when she had no reason to believe the police had uncovered anything in their investigation that would point to someone other than her.

On another note, she was certain that once Papa discovered his man had bowed out of the investigation and Amy had not secured the services of the replacement Sir Holstein had referred to her, there would be repercussions from London. Something she was certainly not looking forward to. If Papa learned of Sir Holstein’s defection, it would be much more pleasant if he sent Michael in his place to chastise her and see to hiring a replacement. She could manipulate her brother better than she could Papa.

She did feel a twinge of guilt, knowing that Papa remained in London with peace of mind because he thought Sir Holstein was on the job and therefore looking out for her. He would be livid when he learned she had placed herself in danger by ignoring the investigator’s advice.

Her mind was drawn back to the discussion at hand. Lady Carlisle didn’t seem interested in the book either, and it appeared most of the other members were also drifting away. Either the book they were discussing—thank goodness it wasn’t one of hers—was boring, or Lady Carlisle’s silliness had infiltrated the group until no one much cared what was going on.

Amy caught Mr. Colbert glowering at Lady Carlisle every once in a while. Eventually, Mr. Miles stood and took Lady Carlisle by the elbow and escorted her out of the room. By this time, no one was following the discussion, and Mr. Colbert called an end to the meeting.

“Well, that was surreal,” William said as the members stood and began to avail themselves of the refreshments laid out. “Would you care for some tea or lemonade, ladies?”

Amy and Mrs. Miles both asked for lemonade, and William headed toward the table. Lady Carlisle and Mr. Miles returned. Lady Carlisle was a bit more subdued now, but still not her normal self. Mr. Miles said something to her and left to speak with the other men.