Page 48 of A Slight Problem with the Wedding
“I understood your point, Gory. But do you really think your uncle would have left the mistress to return to his wife? Or that the mistress would have cared enough to fly into a mad rage and commit murder had he ended their affair?”
Gory groaned. “No, I don’t suppose so. Do you have any other ideas?”
CHAPTER 7
AFTER HER PARENTS died, Gory was taken into the neglectful care of her uncle, the newly installed Earl of Easton. He had ignored her for the most part, but her aunt, relishing her elevated status as Lady Easton, no longer felt the need to hide her active dislike of Gory and took every opportunity to let her know it.
In truth, Gory did not know what she had ever done to make the lady hate her so much, for she had tried to be good and obedient. Since that had not worked, she had reconsidered her plan and resolved to be whoever she was meant to be. There was no point in trying to twist herself into someone she was not when the mere fact of her existence riled this bitter woman, and nothing she did, other than disappear off the face of the earth, would ever fix that.
“Gory, how are you holding up?” Julius asked, having locked her arm in his and now feeling her tremble as they entered the elegant Wallingford Arms. He placed his hand over hers, no doubt believing she needed the added reassurance. “I am right beside you, love.”
Perhaps she did need his support because she was awhirl with feelings that were fighting against each other right now and leaving her floundering with uncertainty. She wanted to be jubilant that her detestable aunt had been brought down, but how could she feel any joy when the circumstances of her downfall were so awful? The woman was a widow now and her husband’s death had been brutal and shocking.
She looked up at Julius and cast him a forced smile. “I’ll be all right. Just thinking of the past. Is it not odd that I remember all the years of my childhood so well? And yet, I have no memory of what happened mere days ago?”
“Not odd at all. Those old memories are embedded in here,” he said, tapping on his forehead, “while the newer ones have not yet taken firm hold. They were quite literally knocked out of your head.”
“I suppose you are right.”
He responded with an affectionately smug grin. “I am always right.”
She laughed. “Yes, and it is most irritating.”
They waited in the hotel’s lobby for Havers to arrive, continuing to chat in the meanwhile. Gory found it remarkable how easily she and Julius got along. They always had something of interest to say to each other, but could also be together for long periods of time in comfortable silence.
She glanced up at Julius. “You are giving me that apishly protective look again. What is on your mind?”
“Nothing, other than wishing to do just that…protect you. You are still trembling. It concerns me. I would attribute it to fatigue, but your eyes are clear and your skin has good color.” He ran a knuckle lightly across her cheek. “So, I think it is the prospect of facing your aunt that has you overset.”
“I am not afraid of her,” Gory insisted, for she really was not. “Well, I hadn’t been afraid of her until now. But murder changes everything, does it not?”
“Yes, which is why I am sticking close to you.”
“As Allendale ought to be doing,” she said, mostly to herself.
“No,” Julius replied, now frowning. “He does not get near you until he is ruled out as a suspect.”
She felt a sudden twinge dart up the side of her head to her temple, the sharp jolt awakening something in her, but what?
A lost conversation, perhaps.
Between her and Allendale? Or her and Julius?
Or neither of them.
She sighed in disgust, for she simply could not recall.
Yet, she thought it was something important, a missing conversation that she needed to remember.
Julius gave her hand a light squeeze. “Gory?”
Perhaps this lost recollection had to do with Julius.
Drat! Why could she not recall anything of the recent past?
Adding to her frustration was the fact she was also in the midst of planning her wedding. Was she forgetting something important about that upcoming event? It now felt like a great weight upon her shoulders that needed to be addressed before she made an irreversible mistake. Perhaps she was on edge because she needed to speak to Allendale about ending their farce of a betrothal and had not done so yet.
Julius continued to study her with worry.
