Page 89 of Murder at Hambledon Hall
Uncle Ronald leaned his fists on the desk and lowered his head. “I see. Well. You are more ruthless than I’ve given you credit for, Cleopatra.”
“I wish it weren’t necessary.”
He straightened, but still did not look at me. He concentrated on some papers on his desk, or pretended to. He seemed to be moving them about with no real purpose. “You may see Armitage for the purposes of your mutual interest in criminal investigation. That’s all.”
I left his office without responding. Having him agree that I could see Harry after he’d learned that Miss Morris was no longer Harry’s sweetheart was a good first step. More steps were still required, but they would be made when the time was right. Now was not that time.
I was passing my aunt and uncle’s suite when the door opened and Aunt Lilian emerged. “Cleopatra. I was just on my way to speak to you. May I have a word?”
Blackmailing my uncle into letting me continue to see Harry was nowhere near as anxiety-inducing as facing my aunt again. I steeled myself. “Is there something you need, Aunt?”
“Yes.” Her voice quavered and her lip quivered. “I need to apologize to you.”
I took her hands in mine. They were ice-cold and trembling. “It’s all right.”
“It’s not. I was beastly. Please forgive me, dearest girl.”
“There’s nothing to forgive because it wasn’t you who said it. It was the cocaine’s effects.”
She flinched before giving the smallest nod, as if a larger movement would pain her. “You’re right. I haven’t been myself. I am notthisperson.” Her face crumpled. “I don’t want to be this person. But I don’t know how to stop.”
“I know, Aunt. I know.”
“Iwantto stop. Iwantto be myself again.”
It was the most heartening thing to hear. I squeezed her hands and smiled in encouragement. “I am here. You are not alone.”
For the first time in a long time, she smiled. “I will need your help. I don’t know how to begin, or where.”
“The first step is to throw away your tonic.”
“I tipped it out this morning.”
That was an encouraging sign that she genuinely wanted to get better and wasn’t simply saying what she knew I wanted to hear. “Good. The second step is finding a new doctor. I’ll do that for you. We can visit him together.”
She drew me into another hug with more force than I expected from her frail figure. I hugged her, too, squeezing a little too hard, perhaps, out of sheer relief and joy at having my sweet aunt back.
The following morning,Harmony was full of questions at breakfast. Not a single one of them was about the murder, after I told her I knew who committed it but couldn’t tell her any more.
“So? How did it happen? Did you spontaneously kiss in the heat of the moment or was it a decision you took with a clear head?”
“I see Victor has told you.”
“As much as he knows, which is not enough.” She tapped my arm. “Go on. Tell me how it happened.”
“We kissed on the threshold of his flat.”
“His flat!” Her eyes flashed with mischief. “I never thought you’d be that unconventional and daring.”
“It was a kiss, Harmony, nothing more. But it was a very good kiss. Wonderful, in fact.” I clutched my coffee cup to my chest and smiled. “So good that I lost track of time.”
“Those are the best sort. What happens now?”
“I call on him at his office after breakfast. I need to ask him some medical questions.”
“How romantic,” she said with a laugh.
I giggled, too. Indeed, I couldn’t stop my giggles. Despite knowing there would be headwinds ahead when it came to talking to my family about Harry, I felt utterly, ridiculously happy.
