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‘but undoubtedly Miss Southey was profoundly shaken. I dared to hope that, since she was not in her room, she had turned to you or Lady Chase for succour. Or Lady Bramhall, of course,’ I added though the tone of my voice might have indicated that that was an unlikely option.
    ‘If I had known – if I had been here – of course I would have sought her out. But as you can see, my mother and I were delayed on the road – a trifling problem with one of the wheels – and now I am late for dinner. Pray believe that when Miss Southey returns I will do all in my power to comfort her. But for now…you know my brother’s views on punctuality.’ With an agitated glance at the clock, she rose.
    We did the same. Our farewells were necessarily brief. But I had never before known that her brother was worried by time.
     
    Mrs Sandys, standing stolidly on the threshold of her parlour, denied any knowledge of Miss Southey’s whereabouts.
    ‘If she’s left, that’s the family’s business, not mine,’ she said in chilly tones, stepping back and trying to close the door on us.
    I placed a foot between it and the frame. ‘Did I not ask you to show particular kindness to her? Come, Mrs Sandys, you must care what has befallen a fellow human being.’
    ‘I can’t care if those who pay the lady tell me not to,’ she objected. ‘Such a shouting and argumentation those fires and that hot water caused. You’d have thought Sir Marcus was paying for it all himself.’
    ‘And did you not appeal to Lady Chase?’
    ‘Go over the head of one who may be owner of the Court any day now?’ Her expression told me I was a fool.
    Mrs Hansard now stepped forward. ‘So when did Miss Southey leave, and how?’
    ‘As to that, you’ll have to ask Sir Marcus – and it’s more than my job’s worth to disturb him while he’s dining – as you should know of all people should know, Mrs Hansard, having been in service yourself,’ she added insultingly. ‘As for Lady Chase, tonight she dines with Sir Marcus, so that cock won’t fight either.’
    ‘In that case, when it is convenient,’ I said, with great irony, ‘you may inform them that they may expect questioning by a Justice of the Peace tomorrow morning.’ I was sure that Dr Hansard would take a similar view of the situation to mine –and even if he did not, he was such a loyal friend that to save my face he would pretend to. Meanwhile my anger was such that I said with as much hauteur as I could conjure, ‘Pray send for Mrs Hansard’s gig, Mrs Sandys.’
    As soon as I had handed Mrs Hansard into her gig, I begged her pardon and begged for five minutes’ indulgence while I spoke to the stable-lads.
    Apart from one, however, a lad with fewer than half his wits whom the Chases had employed out of kindness to his father, there were no outdoor servants around. Poor slack-mouthed Alfie could no more have told me his name than flown to the moon, so there was no point in asking him if he had seen Miss Southey depart. Mindful that Mrs Hansard was waiting, I merely slipped a penny into his hand and patted his shoulder before turning on my heel and returning to the gig.
     
    ‘Until Toone arrives there is no more that we can do,’ Dr Hansard said, sounding as much relieved as exhausted. He had changed for dinner, which his estimable cook had contrived to delay. The three of us were sipping sherry before a welcoming fire. ‘Not, I suspect, that there is more. Try as I might I can find no sign of injury. His bones appear to be intact. I can see no bruises or contusions – though they might be on flesh already consumed. My conclusion, Tobias, is that he died of natural causes. And you two – what success have you had? Mrs Hansard was too busy selecting a gown to respond to my questions.’ He cast a teasing smile in her direction: she had chosen a fashionable gown in pale blue, with a dark-blue overdress suited to her still-dark hair. Her lace cap, in accordance with Edmund’s