what I understand,” he began, slowly working out what he knew of Will’s movements. “Will had been visiting with Bessie earlier that day—”
“He was?” Lucy exclaimed. “I never saw him!”
Adam regarded her steadily, with the slightest lift to his eyebrows. She flushed, realizing what he meant. “Oh.” Then curiosity got the best of her. “Where were they?”
“Well, as a matter of fact, in a secluded field by the house. It seems a neighbor may have seen them there. Will was not altogether clear on this point, but as near as I can make out—” He hesitated.
“It was where she was killed, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, I think so.” He sighed. “But, as I was saying, he was with Bessie from about noon to two. They seem to have had a bit of a row, though, from what Will has told me. Afterward.”
“A row? What were they arguing about?”
Adam shrugged. “I’m not sure. At that point, I believe, he went to the Muddy Duck for a spot of ale, which is where Lucas and I found him.”
“He didn’t tell you what they had argued about?”
“Not in so many details, though I think I got the gist. Bessie seems to have been with another man. Del Gado. The painter.”
Images of the pictures Lucy had glimpsed in Del Gado’s satchel rose in her mind. It was too bad Will had learned what Bessie had done, Lucy thought. Will, for all his teasing roguish ways, was not a man to be second to another. He talked of girls like Cecily who kept their virtue, but she knew he would lie with a pretty girl if he could. He was no doubt very angry with Bessie for being with another man. Lucy exhaled. She turned her attention back to Adam’s account.
“Unfortunately, as I learned later, some witnesses—a tinker and a potter’s wife—saw them yelling and Bessie rushing back to the house sobbing.” He paused. “At any rate, we had barely ordered pints when I saw an acquaintance. I went over for a bit of a chat.” He hesitated again.
“Well?” Lucy demanded. “Then what?”
He continued. “In the meantime, Will and Lucas had a bit of a chat, too. For about three-quarters of an hour, I would imagine. My acquaintance and I finished our conversation, and I returned to the table. At that point, we were joined, unbidden, by another. A bit of a lout. You may remember him—Richard, that oafish stableboy that we, ahem, met on Easter night.”
“Richard!” Lucy croaked. Recollecting the livery man who had pawed at her in the stable turned her mouth dry as hay. “What did he want?”
“Richard and his men had a few drinks in them. Indeed, they were itching for a fight. ’Twas William, I believe, who took the first swing, though Lucas, too, soon entered the fray.”
“Lucas? Why?”
“Richard had claimed to have seen Del Gado’s pictures of Bessie, describing them in great detail. Lucas holds both you girls in high regard, and Richard’s words did taunt him to strike a blow.”
His answer puzzled her. “What do you mean? What do I have to do with this? I had never even met Master Del Gado before he visited the house. The night Bessie disappeared. I certainly never posed for him.”
Adam looked away, grimacing as if he had tasted a bit of wormroot. “Well, Richard implied that you were both lasses of easy virtue, and that since you were serving in my house, I had found a way to, that is to say, we had—” He stopped.
“We had what?” Then she took in his discomfort. Realization flooded over her, and she flushed. “Oh! But you would never—!”
“I would never?” Adam asked. She thought he smiled.
Lucy flushed even more. “I mean, I would never—!” She stamped her foot. “Oh, you know what I mean! But why did he say that? About you and”—she swallowed—“me?”
“I think you know that, while I share the scruples of my father, other men like Richard do not, and would not think twice of having relations with, er, a comely young lass living in their household,” Adam said, anger rising in his voice, “her virtue be damned. They assume that all men are like themselves, coarsely fulfilling their needs as they choose, no matter the cost to those who would suffer for those needs.”
“I know that, Adam. You are a good man. As is your father. I thank you for that,” Lucy’s voice was small.
He frowned. “Lucy, I hope you are not thanking me for not dishonoring you and destroying