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“Mallory,” he says, bearing down. “Good. You are here. We must—”
He slows as he notices Sarah on my other side. “Oh. I… did not see you there, Sarah.” He straightens and pulls at his cravat. “I apologize for my outburst.”
She smiles. “Never apologize for your enthusiasm, Duncan. It is delightful to see that you have not lost it. I remember I first thought you such a quiet and studious lad. Then something would seize your interest and you were quite transformed.”
Gray makes a noise, as if he isn’t quite certain what to say to that.
Sarah touches his arm with her fingertips. “I am glad to see you well, Duncan. You and Isla both. I will leave you and Miss Mitchell to your investigation and join your sisters in their tea.”
She heads inside, and Gray stands there, looking momentarily adrift, his burst of enthusiasm evaporated.
“Dr. Gray?” I say.
He snaps back. “Yes, we must talk.”
“We must. But before that, I have a question that is going to seem very personal, and I apologize in advance, but I assure you, it’s pertinent to the case.”
He frowns. “Personal? About me?”
“About Sarah.”
The confusion only grows, which means my first guess—that he’d had a crush on Sarah or even a youthful entanglement—was indeed wrong, as Isla said. Yes, Gray is flustered by Sarah, and a past attachment seems the obvious answer, but it is not. Which leads to my second guess.
“Your sister and Sarah,” I say. “Did they have a, uh, Sapphic relationship?”
He blinks.
“I’ll put it more plainly. Were they lovers?”
“I know what ‘Sapphic’ means, Mallory, and you did not need to be quite so circumspect with me. I am only trying to figure out where that guess came from.”
“I’m a detective, and as you said, I’m better at observing people than things. The clues are there, and when I hedged around it with Isla, she mentioned that, as a boy, you accidentally saw something involving Sarah, which Annis misrepresented. I’m going to guess you saw them together, and to keep you from telling anyone, Annis claimed you’d spied—indiscreetly—on Sarah.”
He hesitates. Then says, “I would not have told anyone what I saw.”
“I know,” I say softly.
As soon as the words leave my mouth, I realize that’s presumptuous of me, but Gray only nods.
“Thank you,” he says. “I would like to think that it is obvious I am not such a person. I was not at that age either. I believe Annis panicked and lashed out, as she is wont to do.”
“Which doesn’t make it okay. I’m sorry. That must have been… difficult.”
“Humiliating,” he says abruptly. “Humiliating and shaming, and even then I did not tell her secret. I only admit it now because you guessed it, and you believe it might be an issue for her case.”
“Motivation.”
He frowns.
“Let’s back up,” I say. “Annis and Sarah had a romantic relationship, presumably until Annis married. Sarah objected to the marriage, understandably. Annis went through with it and severed ties with Sarah. If Annis was determined to deny that part of herself, even keeping Sarah as a friend might have undermined that. Especially when Annis’s marriage was not exactly a loving one.” I consider. “Though if she was visiting Queen Mab, she was still having marital relations with her husband, at least sporadically.”
“A man like Gordon would have insisted on it.” He pauses. “Though it may be indelicate of me to say so.”
“There’s no need for delicacy with me. Lord Leslie struck me as a man who likes to conquer. No matter how many mistresses he had, he’d have expected to exercise his conjugal rights. The visits to Queen Mab were likely to ensure Annis didn’t have children. But the real problem here is that it could provide motivation for murder. Annis didn’t seem to have any. She might not get along with her husband, but she gains little from his death. But what if she has reunited with the love of her life? She could discreetly resume their relationship, I suppose…”
“Does my sister strike you at the discreet sort? She might have been careful at one time, but she has grown far bolder with age, and far more accustomed to doing as she likes. No, I think I see your meaning now. Even if she attempted discretion and Gordon found out?” He shakes his head. “He might be relentlessly unfaithful himself, but he would notabide it from his wife, particularly if the person cuckolding him is a mere woman.”
“If Annis kills Gordon, where does that leave her and Sarah? Could they be together? A widow living with her dear friend? I don’t know what it’s like for lesbians in this time, but I had a great-aunt who spent her adult life living with her best friend.”
