Page 32 of Death at Fournier Downs
The coroner stood up from his club chair, his hands clasped behind his back. “Officer Marsden wished to discuss a new element in the investigation into the countess’s death.”
“New element?” Audrey echoed, freshly riveted.
He turned his bespectacled eyes toward her. “Your Grace, it is a matter of delicacy and not suitable for such refined company.”
She frowned. That was the second time that day a man had decided something was notsuitablefor her. “I assure you, Dr. Wilkes, I am not the delicate flower you have mistaken me to be.”
“I must insist, Your Grace—”
“My wife will remain.” Although Philip’s voice was not baritone, he projected it with definitive ducal grandeur. The coroner immediately assented with a deep nod. “What is this new element?”
Hugh peered at the duke with something curiously like respect, though Audrey was certain the emotion would be difficult for him to reconcile with. She pressed her lips together to stop a grin.
“When I questioned Lady Bainbury’s maid, she revealed the countess was expecting a child,” Hugh replied.
Audrey’s heart plummeted. Her jaw softened. Hugh’s dark brown eyes found hers, and she recalled discussing Charlotte’s melancholy in his room above the inn just the day before.
Charlotte had been cheery at their last meeting, but not uncommonly so. She hadn’t been bursting at the seams with delight as Genie had been when she had finally announced that she would be giving Michael an heir soon. However, if Charlotte had suffered two other miscarriages recently, she might have had some reservations. She would have wanted to be further along before making an announcement.
“What bearing could this have upon the investigation?” Philip asked.
“Isn’t it obvious? If Charlotte was expecting a child there is no reason why she would have thrown herself from the quarry,” Audrey said.
“Or if she had recently suffered yet another loss, it could have pushed her toward self-destruction. However, first I must verify the countess’s state. I have come to perform an autopsy,” the coroner stated. Audrey cringed.
“Is that really necessary?” Philip asked, his aversion plain.
“It is, Your Grace. I must gather facts, not suppositions made by servants, even those closest to the countess.”
The duke sighed in resignation. “Very well. I take it you will be attending the procedure, Marsden?”
Hugh took his jacket from where he’d draped it over the oval fire screen next to the hearth. The fine wool still looked sopping wet. “I am.”
“Wearing that?” Audrey asked.
Hugh inspected his jacket, as if wondering what she found offensive about it.
“It is soaked.Youare soaked, crown to foot,” she explained. “And I assume you are performing the autopsy in the icehouse, Dr. Wilkes?”
The man nodded once in answer. He was brief, direct, and formal, though she found his formality more due to respect than arrogance, which she appreciated.
Audrey turned to her husband and widened her eyes. Philip sighed again.
“Verly,” the duke called, and because the butler had been standing just outside the study door, he appeared at once. “Have Officer Marsden turned out in something dry and suitable to a…medical procedure.”
“That isn’t necessary,” Hugh insisted, continuing to don his wet jacket.
“Don’t be stubborn,” Audrey said.
“That’s the pot calling the kettle black,” he muttered.
“You’ll be frozen within minutes wearing those clothes. The duke surely has something that will fit you.”
“I am not wearing the duke’s clothes,” he bellowed as he grabbed his hat and slapped it onto his head. Drops of water shuttled down his temples.
Audrey covered her mouth to stifle her sudden amusement. Hugh tucked his chin and glared at her, betraying himself with a twitch of his mouth. Only then, did she that recall Philip, Dr. Wilkes, and Verly were still present.
Philip’s narrowed gaze wiped the grin from her lips. Verly and Dr. Wilkes wore matching inscrutable expressions.
