Once Upon a Time in Bath (The Brides of Bath #7) - Cheryl Bolen Page 0,23

reason, he found he did want to discuss Ellie. “She wasn’t very old. How old are you, Miss Pankhurst?”

She swallowed. “Three-and-twenty.”

Was she embarrassed to admit she was still unwed at such an age? “I would say that Ellie—I don’t know her surname—was younger than you. Perhaps one-and-twenty. She could have been even younger. She was very pretty. Blonde and small boned. Like most girls in her situation, I suspect her life may have been hard before she came to Mrs. Starr’s, but she was always cheerful, and I think those girls were happy to have a position where they earned a decent wage—and it didn’t hurt that they were admired by the men who were their patrons. Most of the men were from a higher station than these girls would normally mix with.”

He took a deep breath and continued. “While some of the girls there were no innocents, no taint ever touched Ellie. She was a good girl. She did not deserve such an end.” His voice cracked.

“No one deserves such an end.”

He covered her hand with his. “Thank you, Miss Pankhurst.”

“For what?”

“For listening. For understanding. For caring about an unfortunate girl few will miss.”

Those great eyes of hers glistened. “We must do everything in our power to see that her death is not forgotten, that her murderer does not go free.”

He nodded solemnly. Having Miss Pankhurst as his ally was comforting.

* * *

Dot had been in rather a hurry to get home from the Pump Room. It was her desire to get the Bath Chronicle before her father saw it. Were he to read about a madman killing young women, he’d hasten her back to Blandings even before her fine dresses could be delivered.

As frightening as it was to know a murderer lurked in this lovely city, she did not want to return home. Now that she’d been exposed to much more of the world and met and mingled with interesting people near her own age, life in Lincolnshire would be unbearably restrictive.

And, more than anything, she was not ready to terminate this fledgling relationship with Lord Appleton. Why was it when she wasn’t with him, she longed to be with him? Why was it that being with him brought her so much joy? She did not understand why this man affected her so profoundly, but she couldn’t bear the thought of never seeing him again.

As soon as she entered their home that afternoon, Dot snatched up the Chronicle from the entry hall’s long sideboard and raced to the library to read about the demise of the unfortunate Ellie. It only took a moment to read the account:

The pristine waters of our city’s River Avon were the scene of a most grisly occurrence on this morning of November eleventh when the lifeless body of a young woman was discovered. Jeremiah Biggs alerted magistrates to the unfortunate tragedy this morning whilst he was powering his boat downstream.

The body was identified as Miss Ellie Macintosh by Mrs. Isobel Starr, proprietor of a gaming establishment on Dorchester Street. According to Mrs. Starr, she became alarmed when Miss Macintosh did not show up for work last night and called at her lodgings, only to discover the young woman was not there, either.

It was thought Miss Macintosh was twenty years of age and had been in the employment of Mrs. Starr for the past three years. “She never missed a day, so I feared something was amiss,” Mrs. Starr told the magistrates. She went on to say that Miss Macintosh had no known enemies and was very well liked.

This leaves magistrates to believe the death may be a crime of passion, perhaps even have been perpetrated by a sex maniac. Until the murderer is apprehended and brought to justice, all young women are advised to exercise caution whilst moving about the city, especially at night.

Dot folded up the paper, went to her bedchamber, and hid it in a drawer. Papa must never see this.

But Mr. Pankhurst did not have to see the newspaper accounting. When he returned from taking the baths, he immediately summoned his daughter.

“There’s been a hideously brutal murder, and I wish us to return to Blandings immediately,” he told her.

Chapter 6

Dot was taken aback by the panic in her father’s voice. She’d never seen him appear so vulnerable. She was at once touched because he feared losing her, and she was shocked that he’d quickly abandoned his invalid’s chair to storm about the library, ranting about the lunatic who was threatening