Page 11 of Nature of the Crime
Cassie cast a quick glance at Audrey from over her shoulder. It was not as subtle as the young woman might have imagined it to be. Hugh did not miss it, nor did he seem to overlook Cassie’s chilly tone. He frowned as he peeled off his gloves.
Audrey’s pulse began to even out, though it still rattled in her throat as Michael shed his outer trappings. He handed them to Becky, who’d been waiting silently.
“I thought it would be prudent,” he answered, then through clenched teeth, “If they’ve been treating you poorly, I will have their heads.”
Audrey emitted a small cough before speaking, to be sure her voice didn’t tremble. “Mrs. Plimpton is an excellent hostess, and the accommodations are adequate. It is the situation that is untenable. Have you spoken with the magistrate yet?”
Hugh remained silent and stony as he handed his coat to the chambermaid. He had not changed in the months they’d been apart. If possible, he was even more handsome than Audrey recalled. Belatedly, he removed his hat, and his dark brown hair fell over his brow in a mussed flop. She released a breath, the urge to hurry forward and fall into his arms threatening to overtake her good sense. But his detached air kept her sober. He would barely even look at her.
Why had he come? Michael must have persuaded him, and he didn’t appear happy about it.
“We’ve just left the baron’s office. The man is incompetent boor,” Michael answered.
Becky bobbed a curtsey to the duke before turning to leave, but Audrey caught the widening of her eyes at Michael’s pronouncement. The guard who had come to stand within the entrance to the sitting room did the same before changing his expression to appear unfazed. She wondered if the baron was well liked in town. He’d struck her as bloated on his ownimportance, something she imagined townspeople would not be fond of.
“I had no reason to kill this man, Vaillancourt. I did not even know him,” Audrey said while attempting to shake off the shock of seeing Hugh. He held himself tautly, his irritation cutting a furrow between his eyebrows.
“You are being framed,” he said, his voice raspy but calm. “Burton is attaching too much importance on the note that was placed upon the victim’s body. Has he shown it to you?”
He did not look her directly in the eye as he spoke but crossed the room to the hearth to warm himself.
“No,” Audrey replied. “He only said there was some writing that incriminated me.”
“You won’t get away with murder, Audrey Sinclair.” After a confusing moment, she realized Hugh was reciting what the note had said. She let out a small breath of relief. She’d been nervous that it had been something about Philip and his faked death, like the other note.
“That is all?” Cassie balked. “The man is a simpleton if he thinks someone is not setting her up for the crime.”
Michael sent the eavesdropping guard a long glare before the young solider understood the unsaid order. He slipped back into the foyer, and then Michael lowered his voice after joining Hugh at the hearth.
“He may be unskilled in conducting a murder investigation, but I don’t think he is a simpleton.” He stretched his hands out to the coal fire. “Accusing you is simply the easiest route for him, and I’m sure he’d like to clear it all up and be done with it.”
Hugh crossed a quick glance with Audrey, and despite his reserved manner, she read the doubt in his eyes. He was of a different opinion about Lord Burton than Michael, apparently.
“Audrey I must ask,” Michael began with a careful glance toward Hugh. “Did you meet with anyone while on theContinent. Any fellow who might have shown an interest or who might have believed you to be particularly…intent on knowing him better?”
The sitting room went silent as the grave. Hugh left the hearth, giving her his back, and stalked to the window overlooking the street. Audrey parted her lips to reply that no, she had not met with anyone with such motives, but it wasn’t strictly true. “We could not avoid meeting others, of course. Menandwomen,” she answered. “And yes, a few gentlemen were rather obvious about their interest, but?—”
“Oh!” Cassie gasped, startling her. “That horrid man from Rome.”
“What man? Not Mr. Ricci?” Audrey said, thinking of the guide they had hired for several days to take them through the ancient ruins.
“No, of course not, Mr. Ricci was wonderful. No, the Conte de Something-or-other. He was horribly aggressive.”
It was her imagination, to be sure, but Hugh turned from the window and seemed to swell in her peripheral vision when he asked, “What conte? Aggressive in what way?”
She met his narrowed stare and felt a twinge of remorse. “The Conte de Luca may have been assertive, and he certainly stood too close, but he was not harmful in any way. In fact, I’m quite sure the moment I left Rome, he found another wealthy widow to pursue.”
If that explanation relieved Hugh at all, she could not see it on his lowering expression. He only turned back toward the window. Her annoyance with his attitude increased.
She set her jaw and turned to Michael. “Why do you ask?”
“I only wonder why someone might frame you for this. My first thought is that it is some sort of vengeance or retribution. Someone who wishes to hurt you.”
That made sense to her, too. Or someone who wished to land her into a whole heap of trouble.
“It might help to know who this Vaillancourt fellow is. I would have to see the body to know if I had met him while we traveled. So far, we’ve been cooped up in here.”
“The inquest is first thing tomorrow. I’ll see what I can arrange,” her brother-in-law said. “Wewillsee you free from this place, Audrey. I will use every connection I have to get it done.”
