“Tell Brunswick I will require him to bring the gig around for Miss Whitchurch earlier than normal. I will also require a horse saddled for my use. Send Brunswick to me as soon as he is dressed.”
“Yes, my lord. Do you require Mr. McCormack?” Patterson asked.
“No, I have it. Simply send for Brunswick and order the horse and gig.”
Benjamin hurried to his dressing room to retrieve clothes to wear. His mind raced. “Graham would not have sent for both me and Duncan if this mess did not spell danger for Miss Whitchurch.” He put on his breeches and socks. He would wear the boots he customarily used when examining the properties he meant to purchase. “Easier to put on.” He sat to tug on the items and then reached for a shirt and coat. Using the mirror, he tied a simple cravat. “Crazy to dress thusly,” he told his image in the mirror, “but Graham said we might require ‘lord’ power.”
In less than a quarter hour, he was in the main hall waiting for Brunswick.
“You wished to speak to me, my lord?” Brunswick asked as he entered the hallway.
“Yes, I want you to go early to fetch Miss Whitchurch. There was an incident near Sustar’s shop. Lord Graham is with the watch, who told Graham he had viewed the victim with Miss Whitchurch. I fear it might be the lady’s sister. You are not to mention anything to the lady until I can confirm what has occurred, and, under no circumstances is she to come to the scene.”
“I understand, my lord. I will wait for the lady in the close. I should be on my way as quickly as I can hitch up the gig.”
“I will leave soon. I am waiting for my horse,” Benjamin explained.
“Be safe, sir. Take a gun with you,” Brunswick said before rushing away.
Benjamin circled back to his study and claimed two guns before returning to the foyer. “I heard the horse being brought around, my lord,” Patterson announced.
“Thank you. I will return as soon as possible.” With that, he was gone. “Protect Miss Whitchurch,” he whispered to the night’s darkness. “The woman has become quite essential to my hopes for the future.”
Less than a half hour later, Benjamin handed off his horse to one of the government men gathered about a roped off area. Graham met him with a handshake. “Glad they could rouse you out. It is back here inside this close.” Graham gestured for Benjamin to lead. “I was on my way to have a quick look upon Sustar’s store, just as I promised you I would do, and to know the lady was safe when I came across the watch and a body.”
Benjamin stumbled to a stop. “Could it be Miss Whitchurch’s sister?” He would wish to break such news to the lady himself rather than for her to hear it secondhand.
“Not the sister,” Graham assured. “The victim is too old to be Miss Cassandra.”
Benjamin let out the breath he had not realized he held. “Thank God! Miss Whitchurch has known enough tragedy.”
“Are you going to marry the lady?” Graham asked.
“I have not even kissed her,” Benjamin objected.
Graham shrugged as if Benjamin had not responded. Instead, Aaran grinned. “Did you realize that Beaufort has released his mistress?”
“Juliet?” Benjamin asked. “I have heard rumors, but nothing definite. Has he replaced her?” Though Benjamin did not approve of a man keeping a mistress, he knew Beaufort was a complicated man still searching for redemption for being the only one saved from his family’s slaughter. Until Navan Beaufort recognized his own worth, he would continue to mistake a mistress for the love he truly sought.
Graham’s smile widened. “Not exactly. I believe he has fallen for Miss Audrey Moreau.”
Benjamin stopped suddenly. “But, is she not involved in the bank note forgeries? Her uncle…”
“I cannot speak with any confidence to the whole of it,” Graham assured, “but I believe we are all in for a big surprise. It always amazes me how people think because I have a twisted leg and a scar on my cheek that it affects my hearing, as well as my intelligence. That is why I am called upon to impinge upon the less desirable groups.”
“When you marry, I pray that you discover a woman who can rattle your sarcastic response to each question,” Benjamin retorted.
“Here we are,” Graham said as he bent stiffly to pull back a seed sack that had been covering the body.
“Dear God in Heaven!” Benjamin gasped as he looked upon the grotesque face of an elderly woman. “What are those…”
“Apparently some sort of sewing needles,” Graham said in a cautious manner that set Benjamin’s senses on alert.
“So she could not see her killer?” Benjamin asked cautiously.
“From the extent of her other wounds, I would say it was more that her attacker wanted him to be the last thing she saw.” Grahamdragged the seed sack over the woman’s face just as Duncan walked up.
“Thank you for coming, sir,” Benjamin said. “I am sorry to have dragged you from your bed.”
