Page 56 of A Baron's Disguised Lady
“It’s him. He killed her. He must’ve got one of the servants to put the poison in the dental powder. Yes… the devil. He was here the other day, too. I sent him away. He was looking for you. And last night, it must’ve been him. It all makes sense. I’ll send for the magistrate… they’ll have to question him,” he said, but Lavinia held up her hands, even as Archie was now entirely caught up in the narrative he was creating.
“But… we don’t know for certain. There’s no threat here, is there? It’s the letter of a man desiring a match. He doesn’t seek to control her or threaten her,” Lavinia said.
As much as she might have wanted Lord Bath to be responsible for the murder—and it was certainly a possibility—the evidence as it stood was scant. There was the letter… that was all, and now Lavinia turned the pages of the diary, looking for further clues as to what had happened next.
“Wait, let me read you this.”
“I received Lord Bath’s letter, and what beautiful sentiments he addresses me with. Oh, dear diary, I just don’t know what to do. I can’t tell anyone—not even Archie. I’m just not sure. Do I love him? I don’t know. He’s been kind to me, and charming, too. But there’s something about him I find… unsettling,”Lavinia read aloud.
“There, you see? That’s it. He tried to force the matter. You heard what he said in the letter about receiving an immediate reply. But she didn’t, did she? She held back, and he grew angry with her. He threatened her, and then, realizing she wouldn’t give in to his demands, he poisoned her,” Archie said, a triumphant look coming over his face, as though this was truly the resolution of the mystery.
“Well… it certainly seems to fit the facts as we know them,” Lavinia replied, though she was more willing to air on the side of caution.
The diary contained nothing to suggest fear on Gwendolene’s part, though reading further, it seemed Lord Bath had continued to implore her hand in marriage, asking her repeatedly for an answer.
“It’s the truth, Lavinia. I know it is,” Archie replied, and Lavinia sighed.
She did not want to argue with him, but neither did she feel as certain as he as the conjecture. All they had was a letter, and there was nothing in it to suggest Lord Bath posed a threat to Archie’s sister at the time of her murder. Lavinia knew she was seeing the matter from a different perspective. She knew Lord Bath, and while he was not above behaving in an underhand way, she did not think he was capable of murder.
“But we still need to be cautious,” Lavinia replied, but it seemed Archie’s mind was already made up.
“I’ll have Hargreaves send for the magistrate at once. He can decide how to pursue matters once the facts are presented. Bring the diary and the letter. We’ll lock them in the strongbox in my study. I’m certain Lord Bath was here last night.
He was trying to scare us. But it won’t work. The facts are here. You don’t know what a burden this is lifted from me, Lavinia,” he said, and now he hurried from Gwendolene’s bedroom, as Lavinia followed behind.
There could be no further reasoning with him. His mind was made up, and it seemed he would not be dissuaded from believing Lord Bath was responsible for Gwendolene’s death. Downstairs, their mothers were just emerging from the dining room, and they looked up at them both in surprise.
“Archie? What’s going on?” his mother asked, and Archie pointed to the diary in Lavinia’s hand.
“It’s all here, mother. The truth about Gwendolene’s murder,” he exclaimed, a look of triumph coming over his face as he spoke.
The dowager turned white, clutching at Lavinia’s mother’s arm.
“But… what… murder? Oh, Archie, what do you mean?” she exclaimed, and Archie now proceeded to explain everything that had happened since the previous day.
He told her about the doctor’s visit, and about the results of the examination of the dental powder. He told her of his suspicions concerning the nighttime intruder, and how the reading of the diary had brought with it this extraordinary new revelation. His mother listened, her eyes wide and tearful, clutching at Lavinia’s mother for support.
“And I couldn’t have done it without Lavinia. She’s the one who had the idea of reading the diary,” he said.
Lavinia blushed. She still did not think the facts led to the conclusion, there was too much conjecture. The assumption a jilted lover became a murderer was a lazy one, and despite her dislike for Lord Bath, Lavinia was not certain he was capable of such wickedness…
Though perhaps I’m being terribly naïve,she thought to herself, as Archie held up the diary with a triumphant look on his face.
“My poor Gwendolene… oh, how awful. Why didn’t you tell me this before, Archie?” his mother exclaimed.
“Because I didn’t want to upset you, mother, that’s why. I didn’t know the truth—not for certain. But this… well, this proves it,” he said, and there was no doubt as to his convincement in the matter.
“But I always thought Lord Bath was a respectable man,” Lavinia’s mother said, raising her eyebrows.
In this, at least, Lavinia could disabuse her. And if there was to be one advantage, it was that both her mother and grandfather would now stop pursuing the possibility of a match between them.
“He’s a horrible man, mother,” Lavinia replied, and Archie nodded.
“And a murderer,” he said.
Hargreaves was now called for and told to summon the magistrate. Archie locked the diary and letter in his strong box in the study, and a mood of quiet, expectant melancholy descended over Sarum Lacy House as they awaited the arrival of the authorities. The four of them sat in the drawing room, the ticking of the clock on the mantelpiece seeming to grow louder with every passing moment.
Lavinia tried to distract herself with her embroidery, but try as she might, she could not do so. Her mind was filled with possibilities, and questions, too. She simply did not believe there was enough evidence to press a charge, as much as her heart was telling her Lord Bath deserved precisely what he got.
