Page 66 of The Hidden Heart

“Do you intend to challenge me, Kestwick?” Cleybourne asked softly, and he took a step up the stairs, his hands knotting into fists.

Kestwick’s gaze went to Cleybourne’s fists, then cut away. He pressed his lips together and inclined his head slightly toward the duke. “No. Of course not. It is, as you say, your house.”

“But, really, Richard, is this necessary?” Leona whined.

“Yes, my lady, it is.” Mr. Cobb spoke up suddenly, surprising everyone. He came forward through the crowd. “The duke has the right of it. There’s something odd about this death, and that’s the God’s truth of it.”

“What do you know about it?” Darius Talbot asked scornfully.

“Quite a bit, as it happens,” Cobb replied calmly. He looked down at Cleybourne. “I’m a Bow Street Runner, Your Grace, and I’m offering my services to you in this matter.”

“A Runner!” Goodrich squeaked.

Miss Pargety gasped and put one hand to her throat dramatically. Gabriela looked at the man with new interest. Jessica felt an urge to let out a faintly hysterical giggle. Of all their guests, she would have guessed that the most likely to be a criminal was Mr. Cobb, and he had turned out to be an officer of the law!

Cleybourne assessed the man for a moment, then said, “Very well, Mr. Cobb, I accept. If you will go with the others to the drawing room, then escort them one by one to my study, you and I will question them there.”

Cobb nodded. “Done, Your Grace.”

He turned and started to herd the guests before him along the hall toward the back staircase, assisted by the footmen. Lord Kestwick looked as though he was about to protest again, but Cleybourne quelled him with a look.

Jessica walked over to where the Reverend Radfield still sat on the steps, leaning against the railing and staring down at his feet. Jessica leaned over and touched his shoulder, saying quietly, “Reverend…”

He looked up at her vaguely.

“You need to go with the others.” Jessica pointed up to the top of the stairs, where the other guests were trailing along toward the back stairs.

“What? Oh.” He grasped the banister and pulled himself up, then turned and started up the stairs after them.

Jessica turned back to Cleybourne. His eyes softened a little as she walked up to him. “I suppose now you are going to challenge my authority, as well,” he said without rancor.

“Oh, no, I would never do that,” she replied, smiling up at him.

She knew it was probably quite wrong of her and showed that she lacked the sensitivity a genteel woman should have, but, however sad and upset she felt about Mrs. Woods’ sudden death, she could not keep from feeling warm, even happy, when she looked at Richard’s face. Was that love? she wondered. Had she already fallen into the trap she had sworn she would avoid? Or was it merely the leftover glow of the lust she had felt in his arms just a few minutes ago in the alcove? Whatever it was, she noticed that he smiled back at her.

“I was just going to point out,” Jessica went on, “that you would need someone to take down what the others say to you. So you will have something to show the authorities once we are able to get out.”

“Yes, you are right.” He paused, then said, “And I don’t suppose that you know anyone who is adept at writing things down quickly and accurately?”

“As it happens, I used to help the General write his memoirs. He would tell me what he wanted to say, and I would write it down. I developed a few little codes to make my writing quicker.”

“Very well, then.” He surprised her by taking her hand and squeezing it briefly. “To tell the truth, I would value having your judgment.”

Inside, Jessica could feel the glow his words brought to her. She was unaware of how it lit her eyes, but Richard saw it and was struck all over again by her beauty. He wanted suddenly and quite fiercely to pull her to him and hold her for a moment, but he was well aware of the presence of the servants at the foot of the stairs, so he did not.

“Perhaps you would prefer to go to the study by the back stairs, also,” he suggested. “I am going to place a footman on guard at the door to Mrs. Woods’ room. I think it might be a good idea for us to look it over after we talk to everyone else.”

* * *

A few minutes later they were set up in the study, Jessica at Cleybourne’s desk with paper in front of her and a sharp pen in the inkwell, and Richard seated in front of the desk in one of the two chairs. The guest of the moment would sit in the other chair, facing him, while Mr. Cobb had been allotted a chair by the door, apart from the others but with a good view of the face of the person being interviewed.

Mr. Cobb started toward the door to bring in the first person, but Richard stopped him. “Wait. Mr. Cobb, before we start, I think we should clear up something first.”

“Oh. You’d be wanting to see my credentials, I warrant.” The man reached into a back pocket and brought out a paper, which he handed over to the duke.

Richard perused it and handed it back to him. “I think, considering the circumstances, I have a right to know exactly what you are doing here and why. You did not arrive on the stagecoach. Did you plan to come to this house before the snow came? Who are you working for?”

The Bow Street Runners, Jessica knew, were hired by private citizens to find out who had committed a crime.