Page 66 of Courting Claudia

The chubby woman wrung her hands and looked about the room.

“Is there a message I can pass on to her?”

“I’m not sure, sir. I’m concerned about something involving her father.”

“Baubie, I want to assure you that I have Claudia’s best interest at heart. I don’t know what kind of loyalty you have to Lord Kennington, but frankly, he’s a bastard, and I would rather my wife cut her ties with him immediately. Seeing as she’s rather devoted to him, I don’t see that happening. But if you have concerns, please rest assured that you can trust me with them.”

Relief washed over her features, and her shoulders relaxed. “You might be the answer to my prayers. I’ve been praying that Claudia would find someone to take her away from him. He’s a horrible man. Mean. I know that’s dreadful of me to say, seeing as he pays my wages and all, but he was awful to Claudia’s sweet mother, and he’s never been anything but hateful to her. But as you say, she’s devoted. Never understood why, except that girl has loyalty running thick in her blood. If she gives you her loyalty, sir, you’d best cherish it, as it will be yours forever.”

Was Claudia loyal to him? He didn’t know. He didn’t think she trusted him yet. Not completely. But last night was a start.

“Do you want to discuss your concerns with me? Or do you want to wait for Claudia?”

“I don’t think it can wait, sir.” She took a few steps closer to him. “I believe Lord Kennington murdered someone.”

He’d known Kennington was a thief and a liar, but a murderer? Nothing was certain yet. He would listen to the entire story, and then decide how to approach Claudia with the news.

“Why don’t you sit down.” He led Baubie to the sofa, then took the chair across from her. “What makes you believe this?”

“He came home late the other night, almost morning. I’m a light sleeper, and I could hear him throwing things around in his study. I couldn’t go back to sleep after that and got an early start on my work. I went down to check the fire in his study, and he was passed out on his sofa. He smelled awful of brandy, and the decanter lay empty at his feet. No telling how much he drank. That’s when I noticed the blood. All over his fingers. Streaks ran down his pants where he’d obviously rubbed his hands.”

“Blood? Was it his?”

“That’s what I thought at first. I looked all over as best I could without disturbing his sleep, and there was no other blood in sight. So I looked around a bit to see if there was blood anywhere else in the room. I found a little more on his cane, but that was it. But I did find these, stuffed into the fireplace.” She reached into her bag and pulled out some paper. Black edged the papers, and smoke had clouded the coloring.

Whatever Kennington had tried to burn that night, he’d failed at doing so. “You pulled these out of the fire?”

“Yes, sir. He’s burned papers before. Important papers. Bills. So I reached in and grabbed them, but this isn’t bills. These are letters. I didn’t read all of them, but it looks like blackmail to me.”

“They’re all addressed to a Chester Edwards.”

Derrick’s heart sped up. Chester Edwards.

“Will you leave them with me?”

She narrowed her eyes. “Will you make certain no harm comes to Claudia?”

“You have my vow.”

She leaned forward and handed him the letters.

“You are welcome to come and work here now. To stay with Claudia.”

“Can’t, sir. She made me promise I’d stay and look after her father. Until she knows he’ll be fine without her.”

“But if what you believe is true, he could be dangerous.”

She squared her shoulders. “I’m not afraid of him.”

“If you believe he will harm you, leave and come here immediately.”

“Yes, sir.” She worried the material of her faded skirt. “What are you going to tell her?”

“I’m going to do some investigating before I tell her. No need to worry her about this until we know the truth. Her devotion to her father will blind her to his guilt, and we need to protect her. I’m going to take her to my country estate for a few days. See if I can convince her to stay out there for a while. Then I’ll come back and figure out what to do.”

“Oh, sir, you must love her indeed.”

He didn’t want to disillusion the maid, so he ignored her comment. He would not love Claudia. He refused to do so. They would have a successful marriage without love. People did that all the time, and he and Claudia would be no different.