for him to attend as well.” Nora stopped walking. “Is that a problem? I realize that you and Jess have a somewhat undecided relationship at the moment, but I was hoping you could rise above your concerns. Was I wrong?”
“No, no.” She thought about explaining her father’s insistence that she stay in her room and have nothing to do with Jess, but she was not sure it was something a woman as independent as Nora would understand. “I was just surprised to see him, that’s all.” The insane beating of her heart made that a gross understatement.
He looked as wonderful as he ever did. No circles under his eyes from a sleepless night. No blotchy complexion from crying. The thought of him crying into his pillow made her smile a little. He must have quite misinterpreted that because he smiled back, not that devilish I’m-looking-for-trouble-and-here-she-is smile that would always be her undoing, but a cynical I’ve-seen-it-all twist of the lips that made her feel they could never be friends again.
Oh, how she wished that they could be friends, more than friends. She closed her eyes against the force of his presence and made herself face the truth and not what she wished was the truth. Their interlude had been a moment of weakness on her part, on both their parts, probably. It was not true love but lust, a word that sounded no prettier than what it meant. She kept the word in mind as she opened her eyes and curtsied to him.
He bowed in return, then the three took a moment to compose themselves before Jess knocked on the door.
Katherine herself opened it, holding it back so they could enter. Her room was not a suite like the one Cecilia and Beatrice shared, but it was a generous space with some lovely paintings and a large sitting area around the fireplace. There was a small fire burning gently on the grate, despite the overall warmth of the day.
Beatrice and Nora sat at Katherine’s invitation. Jess remained standing a little away from the rest of them. He nodded to Nora, and the understanding that she would be in charge of the discussion passed between them.
Apparently prompted by the earl’s behavior in other parts of the investigation, Nora waited for Katherine Wilson to speak. In the little while that took, Beatrice noticed Katherine’s red-rimmed eyes and red-tipped nose. She was no prettier than any other woman who had been crying her heart out.
Beatrice never would have guessed that Katherine’s heart had become involved so quickly. Yet it was possible, as she had seen with Cecilia and the marquis. If she was being totally honest, she would admit that she would cry her heart out, too, if it had been Jess who had fallen to his death.
Did that mean she was in love with him? She straightened a little. What else would you call this feeling of loss, of incompleteness? But love was such an important word, so significant, and it would hurt too much if it was one-sided.
No, yes, no. She had been thinking in circles since yesterday. It did not help at all that this was the first time she had seen him today. Should she try to talk to him about what he intended to do? Her father had made her swear she would not. Oh, it was so hard to be a dutiful daughter when your life, your future hung in the balance.
Beatrice turned to look at him and found him staring at her, at her back to be more precise.
His expression was intense, as though he could read something in her posture that was an answer to a question he had been considering for hours, days, years even. Then Jess shook his head, looking like he’d decided she was not, after all, the answer for which he’d been searching.
Stung, she showed him her back and tried to give Katherine her complete attention.
Katherine opened her mouth, but before she could speak, she was overcome with sobs. Finch jumped out of Nora’s arms and leaned against the girl’s leg, offering the canine version of comfort.
Beatrice moved to sit next to her on the small sofa. “Do stop crying, Katherine. You will make yourself sick.”
“It’s what I deserve. It’s what I deserve,” she said over and over again. Finally she explained. “I killed Lord Crenshaw.”
A stunned silence filled the room.
“That’s not possible, Katherine,” Beatrice said after a quick look at Nora, who looked more puzzled than shocked. “You are too