American had taken her by the arm. Eversham hurried forward, thinking to catch up with them.
As he neared the group, however, he realized the lady was not in need of rescue.
“I have already declined your kind offer, Mr. Barton.” Her smile was fixed in a rictus of politeness, though her eyes flashed with annoyance. “Now, please do not ask me again for my answer will be the same.”
Wrenching her arm away from the American’s grasp, she turned her attention to Eversham, and he couldn’t help noting the relief in her eyes. “Mr. Eversham, there you are. We did wonder if perhaps you would come into the village this morning.”
“I had a few errands to take care of here, Lady Katherine, as you may have guessed.”
“Indeed.” She managed to convey a wealth of meaning into that single word. Doubtless she was annoyed with him for not asking her to come along, but he could hardly invite a member of the press, however comely, to follow him as he made his inquiries. A man’s life was at stake. And though he might once have balked at her presence here for fear of endangering his career, his entire focus now was on ensuring that the right man was apprehended so that Clark might be freed.
“Were you able to speak to the staff, Eversham?” Lord Valentine stepped up beside Lady Katherine, and Eversham couldn’t help noting the ease between them. Valentine was a handsome devil, and not for the first time, he wondered just what the nature of their relationship was. If they were lovers, they were discreet about it. But then one could never tell with the upper classes. Some of them might flaunt their affairs in public, but in Eversham’s experience, which was, of course, limited, they were just as likely to keep any obvious signs of affection behind closed doors. He much preferred the honesty of the common folk. At least one knew where one stood with them.
“I did, thank you, Lord Valentine.”
“We’ve come to visit the shops,” offered Miss Barton from where she’d stepped into the circle of conversation. “Lady Katherine was coming to the stationer’s and invited us to join her.”
“Did she indeed?” Eversham turned his eyes to Lady Katherine, who gave a slight shrug.
“I am a writer, you know.” As if he could forget it.
They stood just before the green-trimmed window of the mercantile shop, where a display of ladies’ hats held a place of pride.
“We are indeed blessed, are we not?” Thompson, who had been lingering just off to the side, made his presence known. Eversham wasn’t sure what had brought the man to Lord Valentine’s house party. The Bartons’, the Egglestons’, and even Lady Katherine’s invitations could be explained away, but so far as he could tell, Thompson wasn’t close friends with Lord Valentine and he didn’t seem to have a previous acquaintance with any of the other guests. “When Val invited me, I had no notion that the newspaper writer Lady Katherine Bascomb would be here. You may not know it, Miss Barton, but this fine lady is very much in demand in town. I’ve heard that she is even the object of pursuit to such a degree that she’s had to hire extra servants to protect her at times.”
Eversham hadn’t heard that. Though, of course, he’d been busy over the last year with his pursuit of a killer.
Miss Barton gasped at Thompson’s revelation, but Lady Katherine waved it off. “It’s hardly worth mentioning, Mr. Thompson. I beg you will not make more of it than it is. A man who had read my columns wished to meet me, that’s all.” This had happened before her work with Caro.
“You were afraid for your life at one point, Kate.” Valentine frowned. “Do not make light of it.”
“How awful for you, Lady Katherine.” The magnate’s daughter’s eyes had widened, and she clasped a hand dramatically to her bosom. “I am so glad you weren’t harmed.”
Eversham didn’t like the idea of her having to fend for herself. There were a great many men who would have no qualms about harming a woman as lovely as she was.
Clearly discomfited by the talk of her ordeal, Lady Katherine held up a staying hand. “Let us speak no more of it. It’s a hazard of being in the public spotlight even in such a limited way as I am. Now, I should like to go into the stationer’s and purchase my ink.” She nodded to them and made her way to