The Young Widow

by Cassandra Chan

  “Rodney?” he said now in response to his lordship. “Oh, yes, a very sad affair, that. I always knew, of course, that he was a bit of a ladies’ man, but I’d no idea he took things quite so far.”

  “Laura said he was mixed up in the Berowne murder,” said Lord Ashcroft. “She said you told her so.”

  Bethancourt, with a sad face, related the facts of the case, stressing the ungentlemanly behavior of Sir Rodney in seducing a lonely and vulnerable woman with blandishments that made her believe he was, so to speak, offering her the golden apple of happiness when in fact he hadn’t meant a word of it. Bethancourt waxed quite eloquent on the subject, and when he was done, Lord Ashcroft frowned.

  “I’d heard something about Randolph being the reason Claire Lyndhurst resigned from the orphan’s committee,” he said. “I don’t like to credit rumors, and we all know sometimes these things happen, but I’d no idea it was part of a pattern. At least, it seems that way to me.” He cocked an inquiring eyebrow at Bethancourt.

  “I don’t know about Claire,” said Bethancourt, “but—” and here he lowered his voice, “I do know Rodney made advances to my sister. She sent him packing, of course, probably with a flea in his ear, if I know Margaret. There’s no nonsense about her.”

  “Certainly not,” agreed Lord Ashcroft. “I’m glad we had this little chat, Phillip. I’ve found it very interesting. I take it you know of it from your friends at the Yard?”

  “That’s right,” agreed Bethancourt. “Marion Berowne has confessed, so there won’t be a trial, and they’re very pleased over there to have wrapped it up so nicely.”

  “Yes,” said Lord Ashcroft. “Good work, that. Excuse me a minute—I’d just like a word with Nancy Clarenden.”

  Bethancourt watched him wend his way toward another of the charity world’s guiding lights with satisfaction.

  “You’re looking very pleased with yourself,” said Margaret at his elbow.

  Bethancourt raised his glass. “It’s a wonderful party, Margaret.”

  She eyed him suspiciously, well aware of his usual attitude toward her soirees. “Thanks very much,” she said. “We’re about to go in to dinner. I’ve put you next to Mildred Urqhart, and I want you to pay particular attention to her. She’s been in low spirits ever since her husband’s stroke.”

  “I will do my utmost to cheer her,” promised Bethancourt, reflecting that Mildred, too, was much involved with charities. It should be a lesson to him, he thought as he went to escort Mrs. Urqhart in to dinner, that even Margaret’s social snobbery had its uses.

  THE YOUNG WIDOW. Copyright © 2005 by Cassandra Chan . All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y.10010.

  www.minotaurbooks.com

  eISBN 9781429934794

  First eBook Edition : April 2011

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Chan, Cassandra.

  The young widow / by Cassandra Chan.—1st St. Martin’s Minotaur ed.

  p. cm .

  ISBN 0-312-33748-5

  EAN 978-0-312-33748-3

  1. Police—Great Britain—Fiction. 2. Private investigators—Great Britain—Fiction. 3. Remarried people—Fiction. 4. Poisoning—Fiction. 5. Widows—Fiction. I. Title.

  PS3603..H35556Y68 2005

  813’.6—dc22

  2004065376

  First Edition: August 2005