Page 19 of One Last Whisper

Would he harm his nephew as well?

I am grateful when Theresa has chores for me to complete. I need to give my mind a break. As always happens when I stumble onto a mystery, I have found more questions than answers.

I fear that those answers will be even more frightening than the questions.

CHAPTER NINE

The next morning brings with it another surprise. I awake after a night blessed with easy sleep free of nightmares and head downstairs determined to learn more of the history of this house. I’ll enjoy my breakfast and see if I can get Theresa to myself for a while to ask her about previous disappearances that she might know of. I know she’ll resist talking to me, but I feel we are close enough now that I can convince her that it’s safe to share her secrets with me.

I don’t get the chance, though. When I arrive in the kitchen, I find Theresa talking to a tall, bearded man of around forty. He wears the uniform of a constable, and I realize when I see him that Lord Edmund has indeed enlisted help in learning what happened to Sarah.

Or help covering it up.

The constable frowns at me. “Who are you?”

Theresa answers for him. “That’s Miss Wilcox,” she says, “our new governess.”

“When did she arrive?”

“A few days ago. Thursday.”

“I see.” The constable lifts his eyes to me. “I’ll be with you in a moment, Miss Wilcox.”

I blink. “All right. Um… His lordship expects breakfast at seven. Perhaps you two could use another room while I—”

“His Lordship can wait,” the constable replies.

His tone is brittle. My earlier belief that the constable is here on Edmund’s behalf changes. Perhaps the constable is here because he shares my own suspicions regarding Lord Edmund.

I bow slightly. “Of course, constable.”

I leave the kitchen and nearly collide with Franny and Matilda. The young maids have eyes as big as dinner plates. Theygrab my hands and practically drag me from the kitchen into the empty parlor.

“Did you see him?” Franny asks.

“The constable? Yes, I saw him.”

“Big as a horse, he is,” Matilda opines.

“We’re not here to talk about how fine he is,” Franny scolds. “He’s asking about Sarah.”

“Do you think he’ll find her?” Matilda asks. “Oh, I hope so.”

“Have you talked to him yet?” I ask Franny.

“Not yet. I only overheard the start of his conversation with Mrs. Pemberton.”

“Do you think she’s been taken by her beau?”

Franny doesn’t answer. They both stare at me, and a moment later, I realize they’re waiting formyresponse.

“No,” I reply honestly. “It seems the police have investigated, and Sarah never even reached the theater. They have the young man on camera waiting for her before giving up and returning home.”

Matilda’s eyes pop open. “Really? So she was taken before she even got to her date?”

“It seems that way.”

“It’s just terrible,” Franny says, shaking her head. “And with her being so young.”

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