The Countess Page 0,116

at al .

"And then of course there were his fingers," Haversham added.

"His fingers?" Christiana echoed with confusion.

Haversham nodded. "The three of you apparently rol ed up Master George with his arms stretched above his head?"

"We thought the rug would seem less lumpy that way," Christiana admitted with a frown.

"I'm sure it did. However, his fingers were sticking out the top end and waving at me the entire time as you struggled to hold the thing and lie about what the three of you were doing. It was most distracting."

"Oh dear," Christiana murmured.

Haversham smiled at her gently and continued, "I realized at once that you were going to hide the death in the hopes of finding a husband for Lady Suzette and so ordered the staff to stay away from that wing of the house for the time being. Of course, later that night I nearly had an attack of apoplexy when the Earl - the true Earl - " he added firmly, eyeing Richard, "came rushing out of his office as I was coming up the hal . I thought I had failed after al and that Master George was stil alive. However, the moment his lordship spoke I recognized that it was he."

"How?" Richard asked with surprise.

"You said 'excuse me,' " Haversham said simply.

"And from that you knew it was him?" Daniel asked with amusement.

Haversham nodded solemnly. "His lordship treats everyone from the lowliest servant to the highest nobleman with a certain respect that was sadly missing in his brother. George never would have troubled to excuse himself, not even to the King."

"Ah." Daniel nodded and the butler continued.

"After that the events in the house became rather confusing to me," Haversham admitted. "I felt a draft as I passed the library, opened the door to see that the French doors were wide open, went in to close them and saw something lying on the lawn. Realizing it was Master George half wrapped in a blanket, I looked up and saw Lord Woodrow and Lady Suzette in the window in a passionate embrace."

Everyone turned to peer at Daniel. He shifted and murmured an uncomfortable,

"Erm." And then Haversham drew the attention back to himself, saying,

"I left Master George as I found him and started upstairs, but heard Lady Lisa and Lord Richard talking and realized that she - and I therefore assumed everyone else - believed Lord Richard was Dicky. It appeared to me then that he was simply going to remove George's body and step back into his life and al would be wel . I nearly left then to - "

"Left?" Christiana interrupted with surprise.

"I am a murderer, my lady, leaving did seem wise," he said gently. "However, I decided I should wait to be sure the transition went without difficulty. Besides, there was stil Freddy to worry about. He would surely realize that Richard was not George, and I thought I had best see how he decided to handle it. If he just pretended he didn't know and carried on I would have slipped quietly away and retired. However, if he didn't and caused trouble I wished to be on the scene to help right things.

"That is done now," he added on a smal sigh. "And I feel quite certain al wil be wel from here on in, so if no one protests, I shal col ect my things and begin my retirement . . . on the continent."

Much to Christiana's relief, Richard slipped past her and moved to the man. At least she was relieved at first, but much to her dismay he merely shook the man's hand and thanked him for everything and then walked him out of the room.

"He isn't going to let him leave, is he?" she whispered with dismay.

"It would appear he is," Daniel murmured, and then moved toward the door as wel , saying, "I should go tel Suzette everything is resolved and we can head for Gretna Green."

"Wait for me," Robert said, hurrying after him.

Christiana watched them go with a frown, but then glanced to her father as he moved to her side.

"Are you al right?" he asked with concern.

"I - Yes," she sighed and then said, "I need to talk to Richard."

Her father nodded, not appearing surprised. "I shal go check on the girls then."

Christiana walked with him to the door, but as he continued on to the parlor, she turned toward the front door, relieved when she spotted Richard and Haversham there, speaking quietly.

"Richard, you can't let him go