wished to say was that she was in a great rush and wanted to know exactly what Miss Green was referring to, but that would do neither of them any good.
Fortunately, the sugar and warmth soon did the trick, and Miss Green was looking much more relaxed.
“I apologize for coming to you in such a state, Lady Katherine.” She frowned. “But I only just recalled the incident, and in the context of what happened to my brother, it took on an entirely different meaning.”
Relieved that her guest appeared to be feeling better, Kate said, “Why don’t you start at the beginning?”
“First, I wish you to know that I never made it my habit to intrude on my brother’s affairs,” Miss Green began. “I don’t know if you are aware of what it’s like to be an unmarried lady of a certain age who is forced by circumstance to live on the generosity of relatives.”
“I can imagine,” Kate said softly. She knew all too well how hard the plight of so-called “redundant women” could be.
Her mouth tightened. “I was engaged to be married years ago, and my fiancé died. I lived for a time with my sister and her family, but they moved last year to America and I wasn’t ready for that. When I applied to Josiah for help, he agreed to let me come live with his family. The house is large and I was quite happy with the arrangement for a time.”
“But something changed?” Kate guessed.
“About six months ago, I noticed that Josiah and Marianne were often at odds. I overheard them arguing one evening, and she accused him of having a—well, she thought he had a fancy woman.” Miss Green blushed as she spoke.
It was a fact of life in many marriages, Kate knew, for the husband to seek his pleasure from those women from whom he might request earthier acts than one could expect from a wife. For a man like Green, a prosperous merchant with aspirations to raise his social status, a mistress would have not only afforded him pleasure, but also established him—even if only in his own mind—as a man-about-town and let other men know that he was rich enough to afford such a luxury.
“And did he?” Kate asked.
“He said he didn’t.” Miss Green shrugged. “But I don’t think she believed him. And I admit that I would not have been shocked if it were true. Perhaps because of the way my father encouraged him to think of himself as better than a mere butcher’s grandson, Josiah was always putting on airs. He didn’t think of himself as a shopkeeper in a tiny village, but on the same level as the owner of Harrods. Which, to my mind, was foolish, but I was nothing but a poor relation, so it was none of my business really.”
Not for the first time, Kate thanked the heavens above that when Bascomb died, he’d left her with fortune enough to ensure that she’d never be in the position of having to beg for her room and board from a resentful relative who saw her only as a burden.
Aloud she said, “So you, along with your sister-in-law, believed he had a mistress. What happened then?”
“Nothing,” Miss Green said. “I didn’t hear them discuss it again, and my brother certainly never said anything to me.” She took another sip of tea, as if to gather her thoughts.
“Then two weeks ago, while Josiah was at the shop and Marianne was in the village paying calls, I was having a lie-down and I heard a crash from the other end of the hallway. Thinking the maid had dropped something while tidying up, I went to see what had happened. And as soon as I stepped out into the hall, I saw a woman dressed all in black hurrying around the corner and down the stairs.”
“Who was she?” Kate asked, sitting up straighter in her seat.
“I don’t know,” Miss Green said. “I was unable to catch up to her, and by the time I made it downstairs, she was out the door and gone from view.”
“You suspected she was your brother’s mistress,” Kate asked.
“I admit that I did,” the older woman said firmly. “I’m not sure why I thought it. Now it seems mad to think that such a woman would intrude in her paramour’s home like that. But since that was the only explanation that presented itself in my mind, I suppose I accepted it as the truth.”
“Did you ask him