Page 36 of Lady Audacious
‘But don’t despair,’ the earl replied briskly. ‘We will not be defeated that easily. The census records will be held by the parish clerk in Chichester. We could pay him a visit tomorrow if you’d like, and ask him to look up who was resident at this property at the time.’
Odile felt her spirits lift again, grateful for the earl’s effortless ability to hit upon a possible solution to her dilemma. ‘That is a wonderful idea,’ she said. ‘Thank you so very much for offering, but you need not trouble yourself to come with me. I am sure you have more pressing matters that await your attention. Now that you have put the idea into my head, I can have Harris drive me.’
‘Not a bit of it. I am now as curious about your background as you are.’
‘That I doubt,’ she said, scuffing the toe of her boot absently against the hard tack room floor and stroking Willow’s long back rhythmically.
‘If you recall nothing about your father, how do you know that he was an apothecary?’ the earl asked into the ensuing silence.
‘My father was driving the carriage that overturned and killed him and my mama, so I have been told,’ she replied, feeling a strange sense of detachment as she spoke. ‘I survived because I was thrown on top of my mother and her body cushioned the violence of my fall.’ She instinctively fingered the scars on her thigh. ‘Only my head hit the ground, accounting for my memory loss, but I didn’t break any bones. If not for her…’
Odile blinked back fresh tears. ‘Anyway, apparently Papa had several of his business cards in his pocket, giving his name and occupation but sadly no clue as to his address. His card read Frederick Aspen Esquire, Apothecary. I was given one to keep when I first entered Miss Mackenzie’s establishment, and it is my most precious possession. My birth certificate was found amongst the wreckage as well, which confirmed Papa’s identity. I was told by Mr Sandwell that my rescuers also discovered a child’s book amongst our scattered possessions and my name was inscribed on the plate inside the front cover.’
The earl leaned forward and covered her hand with one of his own; the warmth seeping from his palm soothing yet deeply disturbing. She instinctively trusted this man, yet she knew it would be unwise to lean too heavily on him. He would soon lose interest in her affairs and return to his more sophisticated circle of friends. Be that as it may, he was forcing her to confront her demons when she might otherwise have made excuses to defer the process. He was offering her an opportunity to make sense of the inexplicable—one that she might not have found the courage to pursue alone—and for that reason she could justify accepting his assistance, at least for a little while.
‘Where did the accident take place?’ he asked.
‘On the main road between Chichester and Portsmouth on a clear day and, I am told, on an equally clear road. I have concluded that Papa must have been somehow distracted, or his team was spooked, or…well, something.’
‘Enquiries were made, one assumes, as to the next of kin of the deceased.’
Odile winced at the sterile nature of the question, but was also glad that he could speak without emotion, since it helped her to contain her own anxieties. ‘Naturally, but no one claimed to know them.’
‘Goodness, that does surprise me. No businesses were traced in his name, one assumes, which again seems implausible. Either that or the investigation was slipshod. And it still doesn’t explain how Sandwell came to have responsibility for your affairs. I could ask him, I suppose, but I am unlikely to succeed if he will not tell you.’
‘He says that he cannot without the permission of the person who set up the trust on my behalf, and that is unlikely to be forthcoming.’
‘The mystery deepens.’ He grinned like a small boy up to mischief that he hoped to extricate himself from through the deployment of charm. ‘There is nothing I like better than a taxing puzzle.’
‘A puzzle that has remained unsolved for eleven years.’
‘Only because you haven’t been in a position to do any investigating before now. The mystery remains unsolved because no one has yet tried to solve it—and that has all changed since we now have two avenues of exploration. We can try to discover who resided here when the census was taken and also ask the clerk to scour his records for a mention of Frederick Aspen. If he lived locally, he would have been obliged to pay taxes, much as we all must do, and there will be an account somewhere.’
Odile widened her eyes and stared at him in stark disbelief. ‘Could it really be that easy?’ she asked.
‘We shall not know until we try. We could also talk to the vicar. He, or more likely his good lady, will recall who lived in this house before it fell vacant and into disrepair.’
‘Mrs Blaine tells me that its occupant was a recluse and no one knew much about him.’
Lord Amberley chuckled. ‘And what they didn’t know, they doubtless invented. Mrs Rashford would have tried to call and taken him to task for not attending church, I dare say.’
‘How can you be so sure that he did not?’
‘More would be known about him if he did. Anyway, if she failed to secure his attendance because he was not a religious man, because he was seriously ill or because he either refused to receive her or berated her for interfering in his affairs, she would have taken offence and painted him as a recluse to cover her failure.’
‘He must have had servants, though, and it is an oddity that no one around these parts admits to being in his employ or remembers anything about him.’ Odile frowned. ‘He’s like a ghost. Even if he brought his own servants with him and they left when he did, surely the local tradespeople would have supplied him, caught a glimpse of him at the very least, or asked his servants questions about him.’
‘I will have someone instigate discreet enquiries. I don’t want to start more gossip by being too obvious about it.’
‘Of course you do not. You have your own position to consider. Thank you for what you are willing to do, which is a great deal more than I have any right to expect.’
He stood up and Chase jumped to his feet, wagging his tail expectantly. The puppy stirred on Odile’s lap and whimpered. When Odile didn’t set her on the floor, she appeared to understand that she wouldn’t be leaving and licked her face enthusiastically, making the earl smile. ‘I will collect you at ten in the morning, if that will be convenient.’
‘Won’t it set tongues wagging?’ she asked dubiously, at the same time sending him a mischievous smile. ‘I suspect that the locals are already speculating about my having the funds to live here alone and it isn’t too difficult to imagine what conclusions they will draw should they observe us travelling together.’
‘You are worried about your reputation. I should have thought of that. By all means, bring Mrs Blaine with you, if you are afraid that I will misbehave.’
‘I was thinking ofyou, as a matter of fact,’ she replied. ‘Miss Farquhar will not like it. She strikes me as the jealous type.’
