Seven Minutes in Heaven(59)

“Did you leave other things that you now miss?” Eugenia asked.

“My books,” Lizzie said. “I took Mama’s veil, and Otis had Jarvis, and that was all that really mattered.”

“Is there anything you’d like me to retrieve, Lizzie?” Ward asked.

“There’s no point to acquiring possessions.” His sister rearranged her features into a mask of tragedy. “All golden girls and boys come to dust.”

“Cymbeline,” Eugenia said unsympathetically, “Misquoted, and irrelevant to this conversation.”

Lizzie shrugged. “We didn’t have very much. The troupe burnt our wagon after Lady Lisette died, because they were afraid that her illness might have been contagious.”

Ward pulled his sister in his lap and wrapped both arms around her. “I wish I’d known you were alive,” he said, kissing her hair. “I would have taken you and Otis out of there, Lizzie, I promise you that.”

He looked up to find that Eugenia was smiling at him.





Chapter Twenty-four




“Would you two mind if I paid a visit to the butcher before we return to Fawkes House?” Eugenia asked, endeavoring to ignore the way her heart was melting at the sight of Lizzie tucked into her brother’s arms like a bird in its nest. “The shop is just across the square.”

Ward’s brow furrowed.

“Butchers and bakers are the heart of a village,” she explained. “After the saga of Mr. Biddle’s ‘borrowed’ gold chain, we need him to relay the message that Lizzie was merely fooling. In return, he will be first to know that the vicar is being dispatched to the Antipodes.”

“I don’t see the necessity,” Ward said. “I have important things to do.”

“It’s best to nip gossip in the bud,” she said, ignoring his comment and the heated gaze that told her what he considered important.

“Mrs. Snowe, do you really have to leave this afternoon?” Lizzie asked.

Ward answered her. “Luckily for us, Mrs. Snowe has kindly agreed to stay with us until we receive a new governess from her registry.”

Eugenia raised an eyebrow. “Mr. Reeve, is that an attempt to blackmail me into extending my stay?”

“Absolutely,” Ward replied.

“But you told the bishop that Mrs. Snowe was leaving directly,” Lizzie said to Ward, crinkling her brow.

“I didn’t want him to worry that Mrs. Snowe’s visit posed a threat to her reputation,” Ward explained.

Lizzie shook her head. “He wouldn’t have worried. Widows can do whatever they like. Lady Lisette said so, many times.”

Eugenia winced. Lord only knew what Lizzie’s mother had been doing during the year or so between her husband’s death and her own. She suspected that the children were privy to far more than they ought to have been.

Ward tightened his arm around his sister. “Our mother was no guide to proper behavior.”

“That’s what Miss Midge said,” Lizzie confided. “She said that Otis is a better parent to Jarvis, and I should follow his lead. Which is ridiculous, because no one carries a baby in a sack!”

Eugenia leaned forward and nodded at Ward. “If you and Lizzie will give me just five minutes, I’ll take care of the butcher and return directly.” She jumped down and closed the door behind her before the two of them could follow.

Biddle’s Meat was large and airy, as befitted a butcher who served as mayor and was in possession of a gold chain signifying his office.

It was also empty.

Ward’s groom gave the counter a sharp rap and bellowed, “Service!”

The sound of a scuffle was heard from the back and a man who resembled a tightly stuffed sausage appeared, a bloody cleaver in his hand.

Despite herself, Eugenia fell back a step.

“How can I help you, madam?” he said, laying the cleaver on the counter and giving her a toothy smile. “I’ve some excellent chickens, and I’m just butchering a cow of the finest quality.”

“My name is Mrs. Snowe,” she said. “I was hoping to talk to you for a moment about the incident in which young Lord Darcy tried to hang your chain of office on a rosebush.”

His fat lower lip pushed out. “I don’t see as there’s anything to talk about. It caused me nothing but trouble.” He jerked his head toward an empty hook. “I put it away safe enough.”

“A man like you, the mayor of the village, holds great influence over his neighbors,” Eugenia said. “I am hoping that everyone in the village will understand that no theft was intended.”

A woman hurried from the back. “Robbie, what is—” She saw Eugenia, faltered, and bobbed a curtsy. “Ma’am.”