“Of course.” Mary grinned.
Lily made a face. “So as soon as I stepped into the room, someone shoved me in the back and closed the door and locked it. I got up and started banging on it right away, and finally someone heard me and let me out. Then I saw Rose.”
“Obviously something was terribly wrong—though I still assumed someone had tricked Miss Dalrymple,” Rose continued. “Sam went to find Cousin Oliver, and I found Royce, and … well, you know what happened after that.”
“What I don’t understand is why she did it,” Fitz said. “She must have known that she was risking not only this job but her very future.”
“Money.” Oliver shrugged. “Besides, she thought she wouldn’t get caught. All the things he asked her to do, at least up until this last, were secret—putting laudanum in your soup at the inn, stealing the case, staying in sick one day in the hope that you lot would take advantage of the freedom to go wandering. She believed that if she did them well, she wouldn’t get found out. Even last night, she probably hoped to pretend that she had been duped as well.”
“She arranged for us to go down to the tarn that day when he tried to take Rose?” Camellia asked.
“She gave you the opportunity. I feel sure Suttersby reasoned that four spirited girls, released from their arduous lessons, would go exploring somewhere. They set up the situation and watched.” The earl was silent for a moment, toying with his fork. Then, his eyes on his finger as it traced the whorls on the handle of the fork, he said conversationally, “Mr. Suttersby mentioned another participant. I don’t suppose you’ve heard of him—Cosmo Glass.” He raised his head and looked at Mary and Royce.#p#分页标题#e#
The Bascombes drew in their breaths sharply. Charlotte and Fitz looked puzzled.
“You might have told me, Royce,” Oliver commented.
Royce shrugged. “I would have if it had seemed pertinent. But since Randall said his employer had an English accent, we assumed it was not Cosmo. We didn’t realize that Mr. Suttersby, who obviously came from England originally, was involved.”
“I’m sorry,” Mary told Oliver penitently. “It was my fault. Royce didn’t even know until the other day. I-I was afraid of what you would think of us.”
“But he is only your stepfather. Why would I think anything bad about you? One can hardly be held responsible for one’s relatives—think what trouble we would be in if we had to answer for Aunt Euphronia. One’s stepfather is no relation at all.”
“No. I can see now that I should have told you. But we thought we could handle Cosmo, if it was him, and we wouldn’t have to expose you to more scandal.”
“Well, reprehensible as this Cosmo chap seems to be, we shan’t have to worry about him. Mr. Suttersby was quite bitter about his taking off and leaving him in the lurch once things got dangerous.”
Camellia laughed. “That sounds like Cosmo.”
“I don’t understand. Who is Cosmo Glass?” Charlotte asked, and the others laughed.
After Cosmo had been explained to Charlotte, Camellia picked up the questioning. “Here’s what I don’t understand—why did Suttersby do it? I mean, Rose is beautiful and all that, but doesn’t it seem strange to chase her clear across the ocean?” She glanced at Sam, then turned beet red, and everyone broke into laughter again.
“You know what I mean,” Camellia protested. “Sam and Rose love each other; he knew that she returned the feeling. But she despised Mr. Suttersby. Rose would hardly talk to him when she lived in the same town. And he was going to kidnap her, not ask for her hand!”
“I don’t know that one can really understand an obsession,” Oliver commented.
“No, but there was something more,” Mary said. “When Miss Dalrymple dragged me down there, he told her she’d gotten the wrong one, and she said that any of us would do, or something like that. And while he was disgruntled about it, he was going to take me instead. Now, would you do that if you were obsessed with Rose?”
Royce shook his head. “There’s also the matter of the satchel. According to our friend Randall, he wanted the papers in it. But he also indicated that they weren’t enough.”
“Enough for what?” Lily asked, and Royce shrugged.
“Excuse me, but what was in the case he stole?” Sam asked.
“Not much,” Mary told him. “Some old bill of sale and a deed.”
“A deed? To what?” Sam asked. “Perhaps it’s valuable land, and Suttersby wanted it. If he forced Rose to marry him, he could have control of her property.”