Sick of Shadows - M. C. Beaton [10]
“Delighted,” said Harry and bowed his way out.
Outside, he could still somehow smell the light flower perfume that Rose wore and he swore so loudly that a lady walking her dog stared at him in outrage.
Two days later, Brum, the butler, brought in the morning post as usual on a small silver tray and placed it at the earl’s elbow as his lordship was eating breakfast.
Rose looked at the little pile of letters. Had she been a man and not a girl, she thought angrily, any letters addressed to her would have been given to her unopened. Not that there was really anything personal addressed to her, but she lived in hope that perhaps Harry might write to let her know how the case was progressing.
The earl put down his knife and fork and riffled through the letters. Then he rang the bell. “Give these to Mr. Jarvis,” he said to Brum. “Nothing of interest here.”
“There is one letter addressed to Lady Rose,” said Brum.
“Is there? I didn’t notice. Let me have it.”
“I really think I am capable of reading it myself,” said Rose.
Her father paid no attention. He lifted up a letter and stared at it. Then he held out his hand and Brum handed him a letter opener from the tray.
“Harrumph, let me see. Good Gad!”
“What is it?” asked Lady Polly.
“Give me that letter, Pa!” shouted Rose.
“You go to your room, miss. You, too, Levine, and get Cathcart!”
“What can it be?” asked Rose, as she and Daisy sat in Rose’s private sitting-room.
“Maybe one of your admirers sent an over-warm letter and Lord Hadfield’s getting the captain to frighten him off.”
Daisy stood up and walked to the mirror. Rose had presented her companion with a morning gown of white lace decorated with little red roses. Daisy admired her reflection in the glass and then wondered if she would ever have a chance to show it off to Becket.
She had an idea. “Maybe the captain will bring Becket with him and Becket will wait in the hall. I could nip down and see if he knows what’s going on.”
“Good idea. But you know what Pa is like. The captain will have simply been summoned without any explanation being given.”
“I’ll watch from the window and see if I can see them arriving.”
Rose fidgeted while Daisy looked down from the window. At last, after what seemed like an age, she saw the captain’s car stop outside, with Becket at the wheel.
“They’re here!” cried Daisy. “Won’t be long.”
Daisy waited outside on the landing until she heard the captain being ushered into the breakfast room and then ran lightly down the stairs.
Becket was standing in the hall.
“Why, Daisy!” he exclaimed. “You do look like such a fine lady.”
“Pretty, isn’t it?” said Daisy, smoothing down her gown with complacent fingers. “What’s going on?”
“At first the captain refused,” said Becket in a low voice, “because he’s busy and he doesn’t like the way Lord Hadfield expects him to drop everything and come running. So the secretary, Mr. Jarvis, he phones back and says that Lady Rose has received a death threat.”
“Oh, my stars and garters!” said Daisy. “This is bad. Rose has had a bad shock. She looks as cool as anything but I heard her crying during the night. I hope they don’t decide to ship her off to India after all!”
“The story’s been in all the papers. Probably some nutter.”
“Probably a madman,” Harry was saying. “I’ll take this round to Scotland Yard. Kerridge will want to see if he can get any fingerprints off the letter. I mean, it must be from someone deranged.” He studied the letter again. It consisted of letters cut out from magazines and the message read, “Dear Lady Rose, Keep your mouth shut about what Dolly told you or you’ll be next. A Well-Wisher.”
“I mean,” Harry went on, “any sane person would assume that Lady Rose had already told Scotland Yard everything she knew.”
Matthew Jarvis, standing behind the earl’s chair, gave a slight cough. “If I may be so bold, my lord . . .”
“Go on. What is it?”
“There was an article in the Daily Mail yesterday which speculated that Lady Rose probably knew the dark secret of what had caused Miss Tremaine to say she was running away