A Merry Murder Read online

  It was not until the next morning that Cecily received the news for which she had been anxiously awaiting. Mrs. Chubb brought the message herself. “Mazie has been released!” she joyfully exclaimed the minute she entered Cecily’s suite. “She’s spending a day or two with her mother, but she’ll be back here in time for Christmas.”

  “That is good news!” Cecily felt like hugging her housekeeper, but managed to restrain herself.

  She was somewhat disappointed that Mrs. Chubb had no further news of the case, but her questions were answered when she arrived downstairs to find Sir Clarence about to leave the hotel.

  “I must apologize for my wife,” he told her when she walked over to him to bid him farewell. “She is not well. I suspected she might be involved in Lord Farthingale’s demise when she told me his wife’s scarf had been tied around his neck. I had to wonder how she knew that. I just couldn’t make myself believe her capable of such a ghastly crime.”

  Looking into his agonized face, Cecily’s heart went out to him. “I’m so terribly sorry. It must have been a shock for you.”

  “It was.” He glanced around the lobby, apparently making sure they were out of earshot before adding, “I found her on a London street a few years ago. She had been beaten and was near death. I felt sorry for her and brought her home, intending only to keep her safe until she had recovered.” He paused, obviously struggling to continue.

  “But you fell in love with her,” Cecily said, her heart aching for both of them. She could never condone the terrible deeds that Lady Oakes had committed, but she could certainly understand her desperation. The woman had been rescued from the worst kind of degradation and granted a magical life of love and security. The thought of losing it all again must have been unbearable. How sad that it had to end this way.

  “Yes. I loved her.” Sir Clarence raised his chin to gaze at the ceiling. “I didn’t find out until after we had married about her true past. I promised her I would keep it a secret, but somehow Lord Farthingale found out about it. He threatened to expose her unless I paid him.”

  “Yes, your wife told me as much.”

  Sir Clarence shook his head. “I was in the card rooms until after midnight the night the man died. When I returned to my room, my wife was still up and dressed. Normally, when I returned that late, she would be in bed and asleep. I thought nothing of it at the time, but when I heard Lord Farthingale had been murdered, I began to suspect my wife.”

  “That must have been hard.”

  “It was. I fought against my suspicions, but then Lady Farthingale met us as were leaving the hotel, and accused me of killing her husband. She said she would go to the police if we didn’t keep up the payments.” He shrugged. “What could I do? I agreed to pay her, although Penelope swore to me that she wasn’t responsible for Percy’s death.”

  “But she didn’t trust the woman to keep silent.”

  Sir Clarence’s face creased in pain. “No, she didn’t. As I mentioned, my wife is not well. The stress of her past life affected her mind. She wasn’t thinking as a normal person.”

  “She confessed to you?”

  “Yes.” He uttered a loud sigh. “After you left, she told me everything. When the constable arrested her, she just gave up and became, once more, the helpless, pitiful creature I’d found on the street. I would have done anything to keep her secret, but I would never have resorted to murder. I find that wholly unforgivable.”

  Cecily cleared her throat, fending off the tears that threatened. “I’m so very sorry, Sir Clarence. If there’s anything we can do for you, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

  “Thank you, but no.” He touched his forehead with his fingers in a brief farewell. “I’m returning to London and I’ll do my best to put this part of my life behind me.”

  She watched him leave, wishing she could have found the words to give him some hope.

  “So, it’s all over?”

  Hearing her husband’s voice behind her, she turned, smiling through her threatening tears. “Hugh, my love. I am so lucky to have you. “

  His face lit up as he smiled at her. “I am the lucky one.” He reached for her hand and tucked it under his elbow. “Would you care to join me for breakfast?”

  “I can’t think of anything I would like more.” She squeezed his arm. “I’m just so happy that all is well with our world again and now we can enjoy our Christmas.”

  Baxter covered her hand with his. “Amen to that.”

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Kate Kingsbury is a pseudonym for Doreen Roberts Hight, a full-time writer who lives near Portland, Oregon. She is also the author of the Manor House Mysteries and the Bellehaven House Mysteries (written as Rebecca Kent), the Raven's Nest Bookstore Mysteries (written as Allison Kingsley), and many romance novels written under her own name.

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