Page 74 of Black Widow

“Don’t keep us in suspense,” Clarke said. “Who isit?

“Mrs. EllieSpencer.”

The men stared at her.Each was wearing some variation of a frown, although she noticed Clarke’s was contemplative as if he was mulling over heridea.

Gideon, she noticed, did not look convinced. “Are you certain? Ellie Spencer always struck me as…simply ornamental. A charming companion for Sir Clarence in his old age. I’ve never seen her do anything out ofline.”

She scowled at him. “Except for spreading rumors about you murdering SirClarence.”

“Ah, yes, well in my view that’s something quite in character for a member of theton.”

“Isn’t that the truth?” Crispin said with asnort.

“I think I see some of Amelia’s logic,” Clarke said. “It always struck me as a bit odd that someone as conscious of the proprieties as Sir Clarence would have his mistress living with him openly in town. Few said anything because of their respective ages—Mrs. Spencer is hardly a debutante and she claimed to be a widow. When she first arrived in town, Sir Clarence kept a hired companion on hand to observe the proprieties, but once the sticklers became accustomed to Mrs. Spencer, the old woman was quietly dismissed and no one batted aneye.”

“Tightfisted Clarence wouldn’t pay an additional servant wage if he could get away with it,” Crispin observed, and Amelia nodded. “Even to stop the tongues wagging—after all, it’s Mrs. Spencer who would have been savaged by the gossips, nothimself.”

“Regardless of whether he was concerned with his own reputation, why would Sir Clarence ally himself with a woman like Mrs. Spencer?” Amelia pointed out. “As attractive and presentable as she is, she has no fortune, no connections to any notable families. No one knows anything about her. And I don’t believe Sir Clarence would sponsor any mistress, no matter how charming, unless it benefited him in someway.”

Gideon pursed his lips. “Love, I understand you’ve been a bit sheltered, but there are many ways a woman like Mrs. Spencer can make herself indispensable to aman.”

“Really?” she asked with sarcasm. “To a man like Sir Clarence—the man you called the biggest prig in allEngland?”

He shrugged. “The thing about prigs is that they tend to be hypocrites aswell.”

Amelia sighed. She knew she was correct about Mrs. Spencer, but men—even her loving husband—did tend to underestimate the females around them. Includingherself.

“I believe Amelia may be right,” Mr. Clarke said, his eyes distant. “There isn’t another reasonable candidate. Sir Clarence had no friends aside from a few cronies at his clubs, and from all accounts, those relationships were superficial. In the last months of his life, when we were keeping a close watch on him, he had no visitors of note, no tradesmen who came and went with any regularity. And it makes sense his magical mercenary was someone he kept close at hand. And Amelia’s point about Mrs. Spencer’s background is a valid one. She’s known to be tight-lipped about her family and only mentioned in a vague way she was fromSomerset.”

“A magical mercenary and mistress in one. You may be right,” Gideon told Amelia, rubbing his chin. “That’s a convenience even a miser like Sir Clarence would value, enough to sponsor a woman through the high cost of the season. Mrs. Spencer always dressed in the height of fashion—a very expensive proposition for someone like Clarence. And clearly, Mrs. Spencer benefited from the arrangement in other ways. She was accepted in the best homes and was seen everywhere. Though of mysterious and most likely humble origins, she has taken to the ton like a duck to water and would be loath to leavetown.”

That fit with what Amelia knew of her. “Which means she should be easy to find,surely?”

Clarke held up a hand. “I’m afraid I have some bad news. As you know my information network is still hard at work. They’ve been monitoring Mrs. Spencer, and she disappeared from town around the same time you departed. At least she was not seen afterward. Enough people noticed for them to make a few more nasty insinuations about you,” he said with a nod to herhusband.

Gideon humphed. “This makes sense. She may have realized she overplayed her hand by using her golem to strangle one of my greys.” He drummed his fingers on the table. “Sir Clarence said he met her in Bath. Is there any chance that’s where she isnow?”

Clarke conceded the point with a nod. “I would guess so. Most people retreat to familiar stomping grounds when they run from trouble. We do have some connections in Bath and can send more men to do some discreet questioning. One thing working to our advantage—I doubt Mrs. Spencer will attempt to live quietly wherever sheis.”

Amelia hoped that was the case. Privately, she didn’t agree about the reason for Mrs. Spencer’s sudden departure from town. Her instinct told her the woman had lost control of the creature she had raised. It made more sense that she had run fromit—and not out of fear for a single earl’swrath.

If they were correct, Mrs. Ellie Spencer was a witch, one unprincipled enough to harass an innocent member of her own sex. Amelia doubted someone like that would decamp from her hard-won position in the ton over guilt or fear of reprisal. Nevertheless, she couldn’t argue with theplan.

The witch had to befound.

Chapter 28

“Areyou certain she’s in there?” Gideonasked.

“According to the tradesmen, she is. She’s been using Sir Clarence’s existing accounts, though she hasn’t been spending freely or lavishly,” Clarkeconfirmed.

“No. If she did, they’d suspect Sir Clarence was not actually authorizing the purchases. She can’t do anything too out of character lest they ask questions. As it stands, I’m surprised she hasn’t been discovered in the lie before. Sir Clarence’s murder was in thepapers.”

“She must have some ready cash, enough to keep up appearances,” Clarkeguessed.

Mrs. Spencer’s hideaway was a suite of apartments in Bath, a place she had frequented with Sir Clarence years ago, one in keeping with his uncle’s spendthrift ways. The street was not the most fashionable, but that didn’t seem to concern Mrs.Spencer.

While many in Bath were aware of Sir Clarence’s death, Mrs. Spencer hadn’t done anything to call attention to it the way she had in London. Indeed, she was living quietly, but in plain view. She had not done any entertaining since arriving intown.

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