Harriett (27 page)

“
I am sorry. I don’t know what came over him. Muffin is
usually such a docile little thing,” Beatrice replied
apologetically before she returned to the kitchen.

Mark
snorted and glared balefully at the empty doorway. His thighs stung
like the very devil himself had been gnawing on them.

Several
long moments later, everyone finally settled into the circle of
chairs in the parlour. As happened in Harriett’s house, the table
had been pushed against the far wall to allow everyone to be able
to sit a little more comfortably, although the room was still
crowded.

“
I really don’t think that we should continue with the Psychic
Circle tonight,” Babette announced. “I would just like to take a
moment if I may to congratulate the happy couple.” She gave
Harriett a mock stare. “Although, it would have been nice to have
been forewarned before the meeting.” She still couldn’t quite make
out if Mark’s announcement was true, or some sort of strange
scheme, but she sincerely hoped that the interest in the man’s eyes
was an honest emotion and he had every intention of doing right by
her niece.

“
Did you not know?” Miss Smethwick gasped as she gave Mark and
Harriett a stern glare. “What do you have to hide?”

“
Nothing,” Mark snapped. He gave her his most official ‘don’t
question me’ face and accompanied it with a dark frown. “It has
been something we have kept to ourselves until the time was right.
Given the ridiculous warnings given to Harriett, I think everyone
should know of her association to me. There may be people idiotic
enough to threaten my future wife, but should they actually be so
bold as to do something, they will find themselves facing a very
determined constabulary full of police officers.”

“
Oh my, it’s like joining a family of constables,” Tuppence
gasped. While she was very glad for her friend, given the look on
Harriett’s face when Mark had told them, the announcement had been
just as much as a shock to her as it had been to everyone else. Her
friend’s reaction was enough to make Tuppence study her friend a
little more closely, and a tendril of suspicion snuck up her spine.
Was this some sort of ruse because of the threat? At that moment
Mark glanced across at his future bride. The intimate look of
adoration clearly written on his handsome face immediately allayed
her doubts. She hadn’t even known that Harriett had been courting
Mark Bosville, or had any acquaintance with him prior to the night
of Minerva’s death. Clearly, she hadn’t spent as much time with her
friend as she ought to have done, and immediately made a mental
note to correct that at the earliest opportunity.

“
Why don’t we all have a drink to celebrate? I made some cakes
this afternoon,” Beatrice suggested as she returned to the room
with water, cloth and a tray of cakes.

Harriett’s stomach rumbled at the large plate of freshly
baked buns Beatrice placed on the small table in the centre of the
room. She watched Madame Humphries and Miss Hepplethwaite help
themselves to several of the cakes and caught sight of their carpet
bag which lay open on the floor. She nudged mark and nodded in the
direction of what was clearly a fake hand made out of a sock and a
glove. Mark studied the contents of the carpet bag and wished that
he could get just a couple of minutes alone with it.

Harriett
leaned toward Mark and in a voice that was barely a whisper said,
“Now why do you suppose they have a false arm in there?”

Mark
looked ruefully at her. “Because they are a couple of fraudsters
that we need to keep an eye on.”

“
I would like to raise a toast to Mark and Harriett,” Beatrice
cried and smiled supremely at everyone.

Harriett
smiled and accepted the congratulations, and just hoped that Mark
knew what he was doing.

“
To the happy couple,” Mr Bentwhistle added and lifted his
glass toward them before he took a large gulp of his brandy. Mark
studied each person in the room and tried to watch as many
reactions as possible as they drank their celebratory toast.
Luckily, nobody clutched their throat and, half an hour later,
began to gather themselves in preparation to leave.

“
I think that I will say goodnight now,” Babette sighed as she
glanced at the clock. “Charles will still be at the pub so I may
just go and have a chat with the ladies before I go home. Harriett,
if you are ready?”

“
I will walk Harriett home, if that’s alright with you?” Mark
suggested. He glanced hesitantly at his mother and mentally cursed
his luck. This was the first opportunity he had to spend some time
alone with Harriett in order to really get to know her, but his
mother would need to be escorted home, so had to accompany them to
Harriett’s house.

“
Would you mind if I tagged along?” Henrietta asked
Babette.

“
Of course not. You are more than welcome,” Babette enthused.
“We can discuss details about the nuptials.”

Harriett
groaned.

“
It will be nice to get to know you, seeing as we are all
going to be one big happy family.” Henrietta’s enthusiasm was plain
to see and Mark fought the urge to roll his eyes. He sent a silent
prayer of thanks heavenward for his mother’s ebullience. On this
occasion, he had no cause to object to her determination to get
involved in the wedding arrangements, especially if it helped him
secure Harriett as his wife once the investigation was
over.

CHAPTER
FOURTEEN

Beatrice’s small cottage was a tiny chocolate box house about
half a mile away from Harriett’s home on Daventry Street. The
evening was crisp and cool, but perfectly still and quiet. There
wasn’t even a breeze to ruffle the leaves in the trees. The silence
of the night was punctuated only by the occasional hoot of an owl
somewhere off in the distance.

Further
down the lane, Harriett spied the backs of Babette and Henrietta,
who had their heads close together as they chattered
away.

“
I think that they are up to something,” Harriett mused. She
glanced behind her with a frown and studied Beatrice’s door. Nobody
else came out of the house. Was something wrong?

“
My mother is an inveterate matchmaker. Don’t mind her, she
doesn’t mean any harm.”

So many
questions tumbled through Harriett that she didn’t know where to
start. Strangely, as they wandered along the empty street she
didn’t feel the slightest bit uncomfortable or on edge. It felt
almost surreal to be walk arm in arm with Mark, who was so tall and
solid beside her. She felt eminently safe and protected. It was a
feeling that she had never had before and, although a small part of
her warned her not to get used to it, she didn’t want the moment to
end. Men like Mark didn’t come along very often and, inevitably,
when they did they usually belonged to someone else. The mystery
woman appeared in her mind’s eye again, and she sternly reminded
herself that this was nothing more than Mark’s way of protecting
her. She couldn’t and shouldn’t read too much into it.

“
How are you feeling after this evening?” Mark kept his voice
low in deference to the stillness of the night around them. It
added to the rather intimate ambiance of their walk.

“
I am fine, thank you. I am not as deeply affected as last
time. It doesn’t seem to be anything other than very amateurish
dramatics and a lot of silly nonsense now. I don’t know why we
bother with it.”

“
Because we don’t know if any of those present are responsible
for what has happened so far. Until we do, we need to continue with
the séances. You saw what happened with Miss Hepplethwaite early
on. We may have a better chance of convicting them if we can catch
them red handed. We know that someone at that circle is either a
thief, a fraud or a murderer. We can only hope that the same person
is all three. It would save me a lot of work, I can tell
you.”

“
How do you go about unravelling all of this?” Harriett
asked.

“
Slowly, Harriett, very slowly,” Mark sighed. He drew Harriett
to a stop at the corner of the street and watched the door to the
pub close behind Henrietta. Even from several yards away they could
hear the ribald laughter and music from within the busy
establishment before the doors rendered silence the successor once
more. Mark glanced down at Harriett and briefly contemplated
offering her a drink, but then decided against it. He really wanted
these few precious moments with her. Her smaller frame against his
stature made him feel particularly bold and protective.

The
sudden rumble of carriage wheels broke the silence. Mark peered
through the gloom toward the empty stretch of country lane that led
out of the village. Harriett’s house was straight ahead, down
Daventry Street. The pub lay to the left and the road that ran to
Great Tipton lay to the right. Unfortunately, Tipton Hollow, being
a country village, had very little in the way of street lights. The
two gas lamps the village did have did very little to permeate the
gloom. Although it heightened the intimacy of the evening, it did
little to help them find their way home safely.

Harriett
had spent most of the last several moments bolstering her courage,
and opened her mouth to mention to Mark that she thought she had
seen him in the tea shop the other day, when a sudden burst of
activity to their right drew their attention. Even though she
couldn’t see very much, the impression she got of the carriage was
that its age was in stark contrast to the very large, very black
horse that pulled it. Jet black from head to hoof, the whites of
its eyes seemed to glow in the darkness as it bore down on them
with the determination of an avenging angel.

A scream
lodged in Harriett’s throat and she suddenly found herself hauled
backwards. She clawed at Mark’s strong arms as he wrapped them
tightly around her and hauled her bodily off her feet. He staggered
backward and swung her around out of the way of the carriage as it
mounted the path and ran over the spot where they had been
standing.

“
Are you alright?” Mark demanded. He released his hold,
grabbed her shoulders and turned her around when she immediately
didn’t answer him. “God, Harriett,” he muttered and hauled her
bodily into his arms.

She
couldn’t absorb what had just happened. Her gaze remained locked on
the small square patch of ground where they had stood only moments
earlier. She had been inches away from certain death.

“
Why?” Harriett whispered. Her thoughts immediately turned to
the very real warning that had been given at the table
earlier.

“
I don’t know, darling. But I can promise you that I am going
to find out.” Despite the fact that they were in full view of
anyone who might be looking out of their window, Mark continued to
hold her. He kissed the top of her head as he stared down the road
after the carriage. Although it had disappeared into the mist, the
rumble of the wheels on the cobbles, accompanied by the rapid clip
clop of the horse’s hooves, would remain with him for some time.
Was the mysterious coachman the murderer?

“
I need to go back to Beatrice’s house and see who has left.
Will you come with me Harriett?” He tenderly placed one hand on her
cheek and tipped her head up until her horrified gaze met his. The
temptation to kiss her was so strong that his head began to lower.
It was the fear that lingered in her eyes that stopped him. He
would be the worst kind of eel to take advantage of her now, so
instead he placed a tender kiss on her cheek and slowly eased
released his hold on her.

Harriett
nodded jerkily and fought the urge to protest as he removed the
warmth of his embrace. She didn’t know if her legs would hold her
up let alone manage to walk several hundred yards to Beatrice’s
house, but she was propelled into motion by the firm arm he locked
around her back. She was glad for his strength and didn’t attempt
to hide the fact that she was blatantly leaning against him while
they walked.

“
Why are we going back?” She gasped and stared up at his
chiselled face. It was so hard, so blank, that she wondered if the
carriage had caught his foot or something. “Are you alright? Did it
catch you?” Her eyes widened in alarm as her frantic gaze flew over
him. “Do you think that this is connected to the threat that was
issued at the séance?”

Mark
smiled reassuringly despite the severity of what had just happened.
He was thrilled that she was so worried about him. “I am fine, just
worried about you, that’s all. Right now, we need to see who is
still at Beatrice’s house because we can rule them out of being in
the carriage.” Fear pulled at him and he couldn’t resist the urge
to assure himself that she was really alright. He placed one blunt
fingertip beneath her chin and tipped her face up to his. He was
relieved to see nothing other than curiosity in her steady gaze and
placed a lingering kiss on her startled lips. “Now can’t
we?”

“
We?” Harriett gulped. She quite liked the association but
wasn’t sure what to make of it. She daren’t read more into his
comment other than he wanted her to accompany him to Beatrice’s
house, which she was going to do anyway. Right now, she would be
happy to follow him anywhere he went. Her mind was strangely fogged
from the briefest brush of his kiss. She barely had time to draw
breath before she was once again propelled forward by the long arm
he swept around her waist as he steered her toward Beatrice’s
house.