Royal Blood - By Rhys Bowen Page 0,70

said. “Take care of yourself.”

“You too.” He leaned forward and kissed my forehead, then he went down the stairs without looking back.

Chapter 22

Still in Bran Castle

I returned to the salon.

“That was quick for a tryst,” Matty said.

“He just had a message to give me,” I said. “Your future father-in-law wants the field marshal to be taken to a hospital immediately and Darcy has volunteered to accompany him.”

“Thank God he’s going,” Matty said. “Now we can return to enjoying ourselves.”

I excused myself soon after, having decided not to ask one of the seamstresses to save my scorched dress. The way those sewing machines were clattering away indicated that they were busy enough already. Maybe when all the dresses were finished, I’d try again. I came into the hallway in time to run into Lady Middlesex and Miss Deer-Harte. “I don’t know how you two managed to go for a walk in that snow,” Lady Middlesex said accusingly. “We only ventured a few yards before Deer-Harte sank up to her middle. Had a dashed difficult time getting her out.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “We walked in the tracks the cars had made.”

“Better get you up to your room, Deer-Harte, before you catch your death of cold,” Lady Middlesex said. “Saw them loading the field marshal’s body into one of the hearses, by the way. And Mr. O’Mara went off with him. I hope they’re taking him to a place where a proper autopsy can be performed.”

I put my finger up to my lips. “Remember we’re not supposed to be talking about this,” I said. “Field Marshal Pirin has gone to hospital.”

“Oh, yes. Right. Of course.” She grinned like a naughty child. “Not that it matters. I’m sure none of the servants understand a word of what we’re saying.”

“I’m sure it’s very easy to listen in on conversations in a castle like this,” I said. “We have a laird’s lug at Castle Rannoch—you know, a secret room where you can listen to conversations in the great hall. And sound carries through all the pipes in the bathrooms, so I’m sure it must be the same here.”

“Well, I believe in calling a spade a spade,” Lady Middlesex said, annoyed now that I’d caught her out. “I don’t hold with trickery and deceit. Not the British way, you know. And if there is a murderer loose in this castle, then it’s high time he was found.”

I looked around to see who might be listening to this outburst. Luckily the hall appeared to be deserted, but at that moment I heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Prince Nicholas came toward us, taking the steps two at a time.

“Well, that’s been accomplished, thank God,” he said. “My father saw him off.”

“How did you manage that?”

Nicholas grinned. “We carried him down to the car, wrapped head to toe in blankets against the cold. Father never had a chance to see any more of his face than a mustache peeping out. Good old Darcy. Splendid chap. Now we can hope that it takes a long time to mend the telephone wires.”

“So when do we hold the council of war?” Lady Middlesex demanded.

Prince Nicholas looked wary. “War?”

“I mean when do we meet to plan strategy and work out how we are going to solve this?”

“Oh, right.” Nicholas looked as if meeting with Lady Middlesex was not what he had in mind.

“We should pool our brains on this one, and our observations,” she said. “Deer-Harte thought she noticed one of the servants acting shiftily.”

“Very well. No time like the present, I suppose,” Nicholas said. “Maria is still with her ladies and the dressmakers, I presume?” I nodded. “So I’ll find Dragomir and my brother and we’ll meet in the library in fifteen minutes. Agreed?”

“Just gives you time to get out of those freezing wet clothes, Deer-Harte,” Lady Middlesex said.

I was making my way up to the floor that contained the library when I remembered that I hadn’t had any breakfast and took a detour to the breakfast room in the hope that there was still a roll I could grab. The room was empty but for Belinda, sitting alone at the table with a coffee cup in front of her.

“Where have you been?” she asked. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

“I got up late and then went for a walk with Darcy,” I said.

“How romantic. But where is everyone else? The place is like a morgue.”

“Matty is having a dress fitting with her attendants and you know that the royal party arrived,