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“And I saw the beautiful Justina. I invited her to dinner and miraculously she accepted. We were married three months later.”

“Lucky you.”

“Yes.” He didn’t seem bothered by my veiled hint that the luck was all on his side. “I’m very lucky.”

Then he excused himself, ostensibly to answer the call of nature. He was gone a long time.

He eventually returned at the same time as Phillips, who announced that dinner was served. Sir Alastair offered me his arm as we walked to the dining room. It was like something out of one of those BBC costume dramas.

To my surprise Lady Justina was waiting for us in the dining room.

Sir Alastair introduced her to Casper. Then, turning to me, he said, “I believe you’ve already met Justina.”

Her eyes widened in alarm. Why didn’t she want him to know we had met?

Quickly I said, “It wasn’t exactly a meeting. I was taking a walk in the wood and so was Lady Justina. We said hi, that’s all.”

She seemed relieved.

I extended my hand to her. “I’m pleased to meet you properly.”

“I am pleased to meet you,” she replied in her odd hoarse voice.

“I’m glad you’re feeling better,” I said.

She seemed surprised by my question. Nervously she glanced at Sir Alastair. He gave her an almost imperceptible nod.

“I am feeling better,” she said. She smiled, too, but her hands were clenched so tightly the knuckles were white.

It didn’t take a genius to see that Sir Alastair had some kind of hold over her. She hardly dared move without glancing at him for approval.

Seeing them side by side emphasized the forty year difference in their ages. Once again I asked myself what would make a beautiful young woman marry such a man. Money was the obvious answer, but Lady Justina exhibited none of the extravagant tastes of a gold-digger.

She was simply dressed in a long black gown and wore no jewelry other than her wedding ring. For a moment I was tempted to believe she had married Sir Alastair for love. Then I remembered how she had looked at him. It was the way a prisoner looks at her jailor.

“Shall we sit down,” said Sir Alastair, taking his place at the head of the long elegant table.

Lady Justina sat at the other end while Casper and I sat opposite one another about halfway down. If the four of us were going to have any meaningful conversation we would have to speak up. This could work in my favor. If I turned to Lady Justina and spoke quietly there was a good chance Sir Alastair wouldn’t be able to hear what I said. Yes!

As Phillips served beef consommé from a tureen, Sir Alastair said, “I believe, Ms. Fairweather, that your stepfather is a senator.”

How had he found that out? I hadn’t taken my stepfather’s name and Mom liked to keep my relationship to both of them a secret. She didn’t think having a paranormal investigator as a stepchild would help The Senator’s career.

Sir Alastair was smiling. He had scored a bull’s eye and he knew it. He also couldn’t wait to tell me how he had found out.

“I had you investigated,” he said. “As soon as you arrived in Furness. I like to know what’s going on in the village.”

I might have been nervous if I’d had anything to hide but, with the exception of my friendship with Casper, my personal life was so boring it was hardly worth a mention.

Pretending I didn’t care that Sir Alastair had found out about my relationship to The Senator, I said, “Your investigator did a good job. Sadly, my profession is an embarrassment to my stepfather, but I guess you already know that.”

“There’s no need to be embarrassed about your profession,” he began.

“I’m not,” I snapped. Bugger. He’d got under my skin but I couldn’t stop now. “It’s The Senator who is embarrassed. I’m very proud of my ability to solve paranormal mysteries.”

“You should be. You have a 99.5% success rate.”

So he’d heard about the one case I’d failed to solve. Damn that White Lady of Willingthorpe.

“I do my best,” I said, as calmly as possible, “but it isn’t always enough.”

He smiled indulgently, as though he was addressing a school kid. “I imagine most