Dr. Gold blinked. "Clifford, pray do not agitate yourself so. We have no proof that anyone tried to harm her. Alas, sudden death is all too common. We have made advances in medicine and surgery, but there are many things I cannot cure."
"Well, I will need to get proof then."
The doctor's kind grey eyes bulged. "How, for Heaven's sake?"
"Get Geoffrey Branson to search the house for clues?"
"Out of the question! It would only alert everyone to our suspicions. And Gerald has flown the coop. Far better to wait until he returns from his jaunt."
Clifford sighed and ran his fingers though his thick blond hair. "Very well. I shall just have to bide my time. But please ensure that if he does have the gall to show up here pretending to be concerned for his sister, that we don't leave him alone with her for an instant."
"I shall, I promise." Dr. Gold moved to the decanters on the sideboard to pour them each a glass of sherry. He sat back down by the fire next to Clifford and they both sipped appreciatively for a moment in silence.
Clifford gazed around at the snug room lined with bookshelves full of thick medical tomes. A more safe and ordinary room it would be hard to find. The same would be said of Dr. Gold's entire house. So why did he feel that danger lurked in every corner?
"I don't think he will show up at this point," Clifford said after a time. "I feel sure he has gone off to London to spend his new-found wealth. And to plot and scheme on what to do next now that she is not actually dead as he had hoped. The trouble will be if he lies low, fearful of the finger being pointed at him. It will be hard to get proof if he starts behaving circumspectly."
"Especially since you never had any proof before. Anyone could have committed the depredations upon your estate."
"And what of the molested women?"
"Millcote Forest is a strange, eerie place. Everyone in the district says so."
"You must have seen some of the injured women."
The doctor sighed deeply "They were terrified, and did not wish to speak of their ordeal. They either had no idea who had attacked them, or were too scared to say."
"Someone must have seen something!" Clifford said with an impatient wave of his hand. "We just need to get one of them to tell us the truth. Even one could help us keep Vanessa safe."
"It is not the kind of thing these women would wish to either discuss, or have made widely known. It is sad to say, but in our society women are thought so little of that these sort of attacks are perceived as their fault. The temptations of Eve, don't you know. I can tell you that some of the girls were very young, and one of them a most respectable young lady coming back from visiting the poor. She was left pregnant and had to flee the area."
"Can we find her, do you think?" Clifford asked hopefully. "Even just one witness would be enough to help us arrive at the truth."
"But not bring Gerald to justice, at least not on that score. It is too long ago, and no decent woman would want to subject herself to a public trial upon such a matter."
"You say she was respectable, though?" Clifford asked, trying to work out which of the local young girls had left the district within the past couple of years. He had been away in the Army for several years, but still....
"Indeed, but I have already said too much. I promise to make further inquiries if in turn you will promise me not to probe into this matter. I know the girl is spirited, but terrified of reprisals, or the loss of her child."
"Loss?"
The doctor wrung his hands together nervously. "Let us just say that I firmly believe she knows who the man is, and is frightened of him not only for her own sake, but also for that of her son. In case the man should ever try to lay claim to him. Her family has cast her off. She is alone in the world now. I look in upon her from time to time when my travels take me in that direction, and she is trying to rebuild her life, but it is not easy. She does not, well, she does not wish to be disturbed. Found."
"So she is not far away?"
"Clifford, please, I have said too much already."
Clifford pulled out his billfold and emptied it. "Even if she does not give you any information at all, please do persuade her to take this. A growing baby has all sorts of needs all the time."
"That is very kind of you. She is proud, but not foolish. She will be very grateful. I will explain things as best I can the next time I can get away to see her."
"Let me know if she needs anything. I'm shocked that her family could cast their own child and grandchild adrift in such a callous manner."