Page 32 of A Murder at Kew Gardens

"Steele." She wore a simple gray morning dress, practical rather than fashionable, the sort one selected when there was work to be done rather than society to impress. A stubborn copper curl had escaped its pins and rested against her cheek. Another had begun an equally determined rebellion above one ear. There was the faintest trace of dust along the hem of her skirt, as though she had already spent the morning somewhere far more interesting than a drawing room.

She had never looked more beautiful.

"Rosalynd.” I reminded myself that I had not come to admire Lady Rosalynd's wardrobe. There was, after all, a murderer to catch.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I received your note."

"My note merely said I had attended Lady Pembury’s musicale."

"I know."

"I did not ask you to come."

"No."

She regarded me for a moment. "There was hardly any need for you to make the trek from Steele House."

"It is hardly a trek as it’s but a few yards."

"Well," she sighed, "since you've undertaken such an expedition, you had better sit down."

I obeyed with rather more alacrity than dignity.

She settled into the chair opposite, folding her hands in her lap and waited for me to speak.

"Did you discover anything?" I asked.

"I cannot say I learned very much.”

A disappointment, though hardly an unexpected one.

“Crane was received almost everywhere. No one claimed him as a close friend. He simply…appeared."

I frowned. "Appeared?"

"At musicales, dinners, charity fêtes."

"Did anyone speak well of him?"

"Not particularly. They merely accepted him." A brief pause. "Several people made much the same observation, though.”

"Which was?"

"That he listened too closely. He had an unnerving habit of knowing things one did not remember telling him. One lady laughed as she said it, but I don't think she found it amusing."

"Blackmail takes many forms."

"It would seem so.”

I pondered that observation for a few moments. “There’s something I've been considering."

"What's that?"

"How did Crane learn about the potion?”

She nodded slowly. “I’ve wondered the same.”