Page 63 of A Baron's Disguised Lady
“And what about Michael?” Lavinia asked.
Archie scratched his head, shrugging his shoulders as he turned away.
“Michael and I… well, we’ve had our differences, too,” he said, though he did not elaborate further on what those differences were.
But Lavinia was interested; interested in Penelope and Michael, and what the nature of their disagreement might be. When the dowager had suggested she visit the lodge, Lavinia had been hesitant, but now she was curious, and she would do so, with or without Archie’s permission.
“Just as we did today,” Lavinia replied.
She was tired of skirting the issue, and now he looked at her and blushed.
“That was… a misunderstanding. I was upset, Lavinia. I don’t know… you’re probably right. The letter isn’t evidence enough to convict Lord Bath. But as for his guilt… I wonder… your mentioning Penelope makes me think perhaps Gwendolene confided something in her. Tell me, Lavinia, if a woman falls in love, does she keep it to herself?” he asked, his eyes flashing and a sudden urgency entering his voice.
Lavinia blushed. She had not confided her own feelings for Archie to anyone else, but that was more because there was no one else to confide them in. She had no friends of the fairer sex at Sarum Lacy House, or in the district.
Her name was suspect, and there was no one in whom she could trust, let alone seek to share such intimacies. She had not told her mother, either, knowing she had her heart set on Lord Bath as a match, even as he had now been found wanting.
“Well… no, I don’t think she does. A woman would always confide in another woman, if possible. If trust was present. Just as men share their own intimacies with other men, or so I assume,” Lavinia replied.
The baron laughed.
“Men aren’t like that. But as for women… yes, my sister might well have said something to Penelope. Will you ask her?” he said, looking imploringly at Lavinia, who nodded.
“I can try, yes. But do we know why the two of them drifted apart? And what’s caused the split between her and Michael? Unless… well, you don’t think Penelope was jealous of Gwendolene, do you? Perhaps she was the one in love with Lord Bath, but had to make do with Michael,” Lavinia said, her mind racing with possibilities.
“Now who’s speculating?” Archie said, raising his eyebrows, and Lavinia smiled.
“I’m only saying… well, it’s a possibility, isn’t it?” she said, and Archie nodded.
“At this point, anything’s a possibility. Visit Penelope if you want to, and try to discover something more. We’re missingsomething, Lavinia—we’re still missing something,” Archie said, and Lavinia nodded.
She was willing to do so. She was willing to do whatever it took to discover the truth as to what had happened to Gwendolene. But before she did so, Lavinia had to be certain of something.
“I don’t want any of this to… come between us,” she said, and Archie sighed.
“I’m sorry, Lavinia. I’m sorry I was angry. You’ve been… youare…a rock. No, let’s forget what happened before. It was a foolish argument over nothing. I was upset. You were right, it wasn’t enough. Lord Bath might be an odious man, but that doesn’t make him a murderer. My sister was in love with him, and he was in love with her; that’s all we know for certain, and it certainly isn’t enough for a charge of murder to stick,” he replied.
Lavinia was glad he had come to see things from her perspective, and not only concerning Lord Bath. She did not want any bad feelings to come between them, and now it seemed the matter was to be left in the past where it belonged.
“Thank you,” she said, and he smiled weakly at her.
“I wanted it to be him. I wanted it to be him so badly. Or rather… I wanted it to be someone. I’m tired, Lavinia. I’m tiredof constantly living with these questions. But I can’t rest; not until I know the truth,” he said.
Lavinia slipped her hand into his and squeezed it. She wanted only to reassure him and had no intention of abandoning the search for Gwendolene’s murderer. If it was not Lord Bath, it was someone else. There was no doubt she had been killed, and Lavinia was determined to see the matter through.
“Neither can I. And we won’t,” she replied.
“I don’t know what I did to deserve you, Lavinia… I mean, for you to come here, for you to be…” he said, stammering apologetically as he seemed to realize what he had said.
But Lavinia did not mind. She was glad he felt so, for she had come to realize she, too, felt the same. Lavinia had never expected her life to be as it now was. A year ago, a man like Archie would not have given her a second look, but now…
“And I don’t know what I did to deserve you, either. Now, let’s find the truth,” Lavinia said, and nodding, they left the library together.
Chapter 22
The next morning, Lavinia forwent breakfast, asking Daisy to bring her a cup of tea in her bedroom as she readied herself to go out. She intended to visit Penelope in the lodge at the end of the east drive, not knowing what she would discover if Gwendolene’s once closest friend was to tell her the truth.
“Would you like me to go with you, Miss Stuart?” Daisy asked, but Lavinia shook her head.
