He glanced at me. “Of course I will. I don’t have to be threatened into it. I feel bad enough about Monty as it is. If you and I hadn’t gone to Rectors last night, and he hadn’t recognized me, and Hutchison hadn’t recognized me, and Montrose hadn’t seen an opportunity to get close to Dominic Rivers…”
“He might have wound up dead in Blanton’s flat anyway,” I said. “He and Hutchison went to Cambridge together, too, after all. And at any rate, you are not responsible for either of their deaths. If you weren’t the one who picked up the rolling pin—Hutchison said it was the rolling pin, Tom—and brought it down on Montrose’s head, it wasn’t your fault.”
“It feels like my fault,” Crispin muttered.
“Then come to London tomorrow,” Tom said, “and contact Dominic Rivers and help me figure out what happened.”
“You know them all better than we do,” Christopher added. “They won’t talk to us. They might talk to you.”
Crispin nodded.
“We should all get some sleep,” I said, and pushed to my feet. “Mrs. Mason should be done with the extra linens by now. If not, I’ll help her.”
I extended a hand to Christopher, who took it and let me haul him to his feet. When I turned to do the same to Crispin, he eyed my hand with all the enthusiasm of a dead spider.
“Suit yourself,” I told him. “We’ll see you tomorrow, then. Get some rest.”
“I think I’ll just stay down here and wake Gladys,” Crispin said, and reached for the glass of brandy. Christopher and I exchanged a glance, but neither of us said anything. We just took Tom with us and headed out the door and upstairs.
CHAPTERSIXTEEN
We got backto London in time for luncheon, and that was in spite of getting up and out of Sutherland Hall early enough that Uncle Harold never realized we’d been there. Let’s just say that Tom’s police issue Crossley didn’t travel the way Crispin’s H6 did.
Of course, Tom didn’t motor the way Crispin did, either. No death wish, for one thing. No reckless disregard for life or limb, for another.
So naturally Crispin grumbled the whole way about being stuck behind the Crossley and not being able to give the Hispano-Suiza her legs.
“There’s nothing we can do until we get there anyway,” I reminded him.
I was in the passenger seat of the H6, while Christopher was keeping Tom company in the Crossley. Crispin had insisted on bringing the Hispano-Suiza so he wouldn’t have to suffer the indignity of taking the train back to Wiltshire at the end of our adventure, and of course the Crossley had to return to London and the police garage. So there were four of us traveling back, in two vehicles. I could have been difficult and insisted on riding in the Crossley as well, I suppose, but it seemed churlish to make Crispin do the drive by himself, especially after having done it yesterday, and besides, I thought Christopher might appreciate the time alone with Tom.
“You phoned Dominic Rivers from the Hall before we left,” I continued, “and set up the appointment, and that is really all you can do until we get back to Town. We’re lucky you could do that much. At least we won’t have long to wait for him.”
“At the rate we’re going,” Crispin grumbled, drumming his fingers irritably on the steering wheel while eyeing the motorcar ahead of us balefully, “we’ll miss him altogether.”
“We won’t. There’s plenty of time. You’re just being impatient.”
“Am not.” He slanted me a look. “I have an infinite amount of patience, I’ll have you know. If I didn’t, I would have married Laetitia Marsden by now.”
“She certainly pushed hard enough for it,” I agreed. “All that talk about how ideally suited you are and how much fun you would have together, with indecent glances and strokes of her hand while she said it, no doubt?—”
“Good God, Darling.” He looked appalled. “Just how much of that conversation did you overhear?”
“I think I heard most of it. She was still complaining that you weren’t talking to her when I came upstairs, so I can’t imagine that I missed much on the front end, and of course you know I was on the landing when she walked out. So I imagine I heard all the important bits.”
“Of course you did.”
The car ahead of us wasn’t moving, nor were we, so he leaned forward and banged his head against the steering wheel a couple of times, I assumed to show his frustration. With me, I gathered, and not the traffic.
I sniggered. “Honestly, I’m proud of you, St George. I’ve always thought you were spoiled, but you’re sticking to your convictions in spite of nobody letting you have what you want, not to mention all the temptations in your path.”
He snorted. “Don’t be too impressed, Darling. I’m taking full advantage of the temptations, as I’m sure you know.”
“Not the advantage you could take,” I said. “You turned down Gladys, and Lady Laetitia, and Flossie Schlomsky…”
“Youtook me away from Flossie Schlomsky.”
“If you had given me any kind of indication that you wanted to stay with her, I would have let you,” I said.
