by Rebecca King
“Just one more guest is coming; Mavis Arbuthnot.”
Jeb froze and stared at his father as though he had lost his mind completely.
“Mavis Arbuthnot is coming?” He closed his eyes on a wave of disbelief, and knew now the evening was going to be extremely difficult to get through.
Mavis Arbuthnot reminded Jeb of a crow. Always dressed in black, her small round brown eyes peered somewhat evilly out from a rather too pale face that when accompanied by a crooked nose, gave her a slightly sinister look that frightened children, worried adults, and generally terrified men.
Algernon coughed uncomfortably. “Before you ask, no, I do not know who invited the woman to the first occasion. Everyone has denied being the first to invite her. She just turned up to one of the events and has attended each one since.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t invite herself,” Jeb snorted, and made a mental note to ask the staff to seat him as far as possible from the dratted woman.
As the churchwarden, Mavis Arbuthnot would certainly see herself perfectly in the right to invite herself. If only to ensure that no heathen dared to step off the path of enlightenment and cavort in sin. Jeb’s recollection of her was as a devout Christian, who would often launch into a biblical tirade without provocation that often finished with a prophecy of doom.
A part of him wished now that he had remained in London and sent, say, Marcus instead. Marcus was the charmer of the group. He would have known how to handle an evening such as the one that now lay before Jeb.
Jeb, meanwhile, rather wished he was standing in some darkened East End docks, in the pouring rain, watching someone else get on with their lives. Anything would be better than listening to a sermon from Mavis Arbuthnot.
He mentally promised himself right there and then to get to the bottom of the recent spate of thefts in the village, preferably before the group got round to Mavis being their host.
The old grandfather clock in the hallway suddenly chimed seven o’clock. Algernon looked toward the doorway for a moment then he threw Jeb a rueful look.
“I suppose I may as well start to get ready,” he murmured reluctantly.
“You sound like you are going to your execution man,” Jeb sighed as he stood up and followed his father out of the room.
“Is there any difference?”
They climbed the stairs in companionable silence.
“I just wish I knew which one was stealing,” Algernon grumbled. “I don’t know what I would say to them, but I'd like to know which one is the viper in the nest. I would like to discount the Vicar and Mavis, purely because of their religious connections, but –” He shook his head sadly.
“Don’t discount anybody, father. It would be foolish to do so without any evidence to support their innocence. It is my experience that sometimes the most innocent looking of them all can be the most treacherous. Just leave it to me. If you are ready before I am I want you to do something for me.” He waited until Algernon nodded. “Find two small artifacts, about palm size, that you don’t mind losing for the time being.”
Algernon’s brows rose. “What are you planning to do?”
“Set a trap,” Jeb said darkly, and went to get ready.
Half an hour before the first guest was due to arrive, Jeb met his father in the study.
Algernon was staring blankly into the roaring fire, waiting for the evening to begin. Thankfully he wasn’t pacing around anymore, but he was no less tense than he had been earlier. It irked Jeb to see his father dread an evening in his own home.
“Do you have the items I asked you for?” Jeb asked, more determined than ever to catch the thief so his father could get on with his life without torment.
“Will those do?” Algernon asked. He pointed to the table beside him.
Jeb looked at the two small matching trinket boxes on the table. They were exactly what he was looking for.
“I should like to say that they won’t be gone long, but I cannot make any promises that I will be able to find them again at all. Does it matter?”
Algernon shook his head. “I don’t care about them. They are old, and only plate so have little value. Although they look it they aren’t real silver all the way through. They are the cheapest I could find.” He looked at his son somewhat defiantly. “I have put everything else away until that lot go home.”
“I don’t know why you just don’t cancel the entire evening,” Jeb sighed. “If it is so tedious then give it a miss. After all, you are the highest ranking man in the area. Who cares if they are offended? As Christian people, the Reverend and Mavis should understand. As for the others, one of the group is a thief anyway so who cares if their noses are put out of joint. If they are not good friends, why do you waste your time on them?”
“Because it would be a foolish person indeed who lived in Framley Meadow and didn’t keep abreast of what is going on in the area. Everyone at these things exchanges gossip and news. I have a man of business who is excellent but doesn’t speak to people outside of this house unless he has to. Even then, his conversation practically always relates to business. What else can I do?” Algernon threw Jeb a dark look. “Besides, since the thefts began, I have attended the events purely to reiterate just how unfavourably I look upon thieves. As you quite rightly say, I am the highest ranking person in the village. I had hoped that my disapproval and determination to capture the culprit might but the thief off.”
“But it hasn’t,” Jeb finished for him.
Algernon shook his head.
“So the thief doesn’t have much respect for rank or authority, do they?” Jeb replied honestly.
Algernon sighed. “No, I suppose not. What are we going to do then?”
Jeb smiled with more confidence than he actually felt. “Just leave it to me. Tonight, we are going to put these trinket boxes on the table beside the front door and keep an eye on them. It will be too much temptation for the thief to resist. I fully intend to catch them in the act when they try to steal them.”
“What then?” Algernon asked. It was clear he was starting to get distressed at what the outcome might be. “What do we do if the boxes do vanish, and we have no idea who has taken them? I can hardly ask my guests to empty their pockets on the way out of the house.”
Jeb smiled, but it wasn’t the open, warm, and friendly smile he usually gave his father. It was more of a feral grin, so menacingly dangerous that even Algernon took a wary step backwards.
“Then I go hunting.”
“For what?” Algernon asked a little nervously.
“For the thief,” Jeb drawled with a feral grin.
Algernon opened his mouth but, before he could speak, several loud raps on the front door shattered the silence.
CHAPTER FOUR
The evening was worse than Jeb had expected. Mainly because he was sharing it with the most eclectic group of people he had ever seen in one place in his entire life. The low buzz of conversation around the table sounded more like a swarm of bees, but was mostly gossip about people Jeb had never heard of before. It was evident that the gatherings of this particular group were more of a gossip-fest, and it was as annoying as hell to Jeb, who now sincerely wished he was anywhere else.
Sighing deeply, he nodded to the footman to refill his goblet. As long as the wine continued to flow he could manage to grit his teeth and survive the evening. Although he had nothing in common with anyone around the table, there was one person who made the debacle a little more enjoyable.
Sophia Carney.
He was trying not to stare at her, but found it incredibly difficult given she was seated directly opposite. To call her captivating was an understatement of mammoth proportions. She was beautiful. She had a delicate refinement about her rather than exotic mystery that drew his attention back to her time and again. Her wholesome goodness was emphasised by the subtle peach tinged cheeks that he suspected was natural rather than rouged. There was a healthy glow about her that only accentuated her high cheekbon
es and incredible sea green eyes which, when she smiled, twinkled a tantalising peridot colour. The hint of mischief in her eyes tempted him to smile back. Although she was fashionably pale, it only emphasised her delicate femininity which, when combined with the dark mop of curly hair, gave her an impish look that was downright captivating.
He saw her sigh and fought an uncharacteristic smile. There could be no doubt she was just as bored as he was. When Algernon coughed, Jeb looked at his father. Algernon lifted his brows and nodded toward Sophia. Jeb knew his father was telling him to converse with her, but for the first time in his life, was struggling to know what to say.
Thankfully, the lady in question was temporarily distracted from her boredom by the elderly spinster seated beside her, Mabel Harvell, or was that one Pearl? Whichever, it gave Jeb the opportunity to study the way the candlelight altered the shade of Sophia’s hair. He had thought it was dark brown, but the candlelight gilded it and burnished it copper, blonde, and lighter shades of chestnut. It was intriguing him to the point that Jeb wanted to loosen the pins to see if it really was as curly as it appeared to be, and decide upon the exact colour.
When it became evident that Jeb wasn’t going to talk to her, Algernon decided that as host, he had a duty to converse with all of his guests. That included the one who had, wonderfully, captured his son’s attention.
Fighting a delighted smile, Algernon waited until she had turned her attention back to her food and discretely coughed to draw her attention toward him.
“Miss Carney,” he began politely. “How do you find life in Framley Meadow? Not too mundane for you, I hope?”
Sophia stared at him for a moment but then gave him a winning smile that made even Algernon suck in a startled breath. Her smile transformed the delicate oval of her face and mesmerised every man seated around the now hushed table.
“I find the village very pleasant, thank you. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here,” she replied, trying to ignore the fact that everyone was now staring at her.
“I hear you have been here for about two weeks now?” Jeb continued once he had fortified himself with another sip of wine, and could collect his thoughts enough to enter the conversation.
“That’s right. I am due to leave soon, though. I am just waiting for my father,” she continued for want of anything else to say.
“I do hope we get to meet again before you go back home to – where was it?” Algernon leaned forward in his seat.
He couldn’t remember having heard much gossip about her and had to wonder why. Her aunt certainly seemed to always have a lot to say about – well – about everything. Why had she not mentioned her delightful niece? Was she jealous perhaps?
Algernon threw Delilah an annoyed frown when the woman opened her mouth to intercept her niece’s response.
“Oh, I am sure we shall meet again at the Harvell’s tea next Thursday. I am due to return to Brentley in Buckinghamshire as soon as my father arrives to collect me.”
She threw Jeb a winning smile that made him drop his glass back onto the table with more force than was necessary. In doing so he spilled wine on the table cloth and had to have it refilled. Mentally cursing himself for being so clumsy in her presence, Jeb attempted to turn her attention away from his mishap and onto more mundane matters. However, when he looked up, there was a glint of mischief in her eyes that made him wonder if she was going to tease him. Thankfully she didn’t.
“Brentley,” Jeb murmured. “I have heard of it.”
He made a mental note to ask Barnaby if he knew anybody in the area but then hauled that thought to an abrupt halt. He had absolutely no reason to enquire about Sophia’s life in Brentley because Algernon had already said that the thefts had been happening over the course of the last several weeks. Sophia Carney couldn’t possibly be guilty and for that, he could only be grateful.
“It is a small village outside Tippersnell,” Sophia expanded.
Although she would never admit it to another human soul, she quite liked the man seated opposite. At first, Sophia had found him to be dark and somewhat sinister. Now that she had spent the past hour or so seated opposite him she had noted his hand tremble, heard his bored sigh, and seen that he was more clumsy than she was. It endeared him to her, mainly because it made him more human and less of a threat. There was something mysterious lurking in that dark gaze that made her shiver, partly in awareness, but partly because she sensed he had secrets. She had to wonder what they were. He was undoubtedly a worldly man, confident in his life and the world about him, so what could he be hiding?
Intrigued, she turned her attention to the food on her plate while she thought about that.
Usually, when she conversed with a man, she felt nothing but a mild engagement that quickly turned into a need to be somewhere else. With Jebediah Hutchinson, she wanted to listen to the husky tones of his voice for considerably longer than she ought. Indeed, she was hooked on his every word and found it incredibly difficult to tear her gaze away from his when he looked at her with those smouldering eyes.
“I haven’t been there before,” Jeb replied huskily. “But I think I have passed through it.”
Sophia smiled. “Most people pass through it. Only those who live there stay for a while.”
Algernon fought a delighted grin as he watched the young people stare avidly at each other over the width of the table. Aware of his son’s reluctance to even mention the word ‘matrimony,' he was careful to keep his joy to himself though and turned his attention back to his food.
As a result, an awkward silence settled over the table for a few moments while several meaningful looks were exchanged. When nobody could think of anything to say, and neither Jeb nor Sophia spoke, the Harvells came to the rescue.
“Well, I have heard the most delightful news,” Mabel declared softly in a voice that was full of effusive excitement. She tittered, leaned over the table, and spoke in a manner that was more in keeping with confiding in a close friend than a group of diners around a table.
“I hear there is to be a new member of the village. Yes, yes, that’s right,” she nodded to everyone who looked askance at her. “I heard it from Mrs Turner this very morning that there is also to be a marriage in the village, but I mustn’t gossip. It is simply not wise to spread such scandalous rumours in case the marriage doesn’t actually come to fruition.”
“Oh, but I think it is safe to say the news has originated from a very reliable source,” Pearl declared knowingly. “I believe it is safe to say that the people involved, whom shall not be mentioned,” she tittered again, “shall be making an announcement sometime very soon. Isn’t that exciting? Eh? Eh? A wedding in the village of Framley Meadow.”
She looked at each of the other guests in turn expecting them to be as enthused as she was. Her smile didn’t dim, even when she received no more meaningful response than a few careful nods and grunts and an uncomfortable cough or two.
“You must stay in the village until then,” Pearl practically ordered Sophia. “Why, a wedding in the village is an occasion we can all enjoy, is it not? The whole village shall be bedecked with ribbons and lace, and it will be so beautiful. You must stay and see it for yourself. It will be lovely.”
Sophia opened her mouth to remind the elderly lady that she was due to return home but, before she could speak, Delilah broke the silence with loud laugh.
“Oh, but that is surely conjecture?” She glanced about the table, but threw Sophia a darker look that warned her not to agree to stay.
Jeb watched the interplay and saw all trace of Sophia’s earlier joy vanish in an instant. It led him to wonder whether there was ill feeling between aunt and niece, and considered Delilah a little more carefully. There was something a little frantic about the woman; as though she had yet to relax completely. She certainly wasn’t enjoying herself. That being the case, why had she agreed to attend this evening? Was it Sophia who was making Delilah ill at ease? If so, why?
Jealousy, no doubt, Jeb mused wr
yly as he turned his attention back to the delectable Sophia.
She was indeed the most beautiful woman at the table. He suspected she was also spirited. Not only that but she had youth on her side; something that had long since eluded Delilah, who appeared to have sour grapes. As far as he could see, the woman seated opposite was nothing but charming. So why didn’t Delilah like her?
Making a mental note to ask his father about it later, Jeb turned his attention back to Sophia.
“Well, I am afraid -“ Sophia began.
“Sophia is here for only a short while, aren’t you, my dear?” Delilah interjected before Sophia could finish. “She has to help her father at home so cannot possibly remain here all summer.” There was a dismissive tone in her voice that halted any further protest Pearl, or Mabel might make.
Both elderly ladies looked a little downcast for a moment, and maintained a slightly offended silence while the remainder of the guests resumed their conversations.
Sophia watched Mabel positively deflate at Delilah’s dismissal, and was annoyed with her aunt for her callousness. She felt a little sorry for the elderly lady, whose earlier enthusiasm for an affair that wasn’t even hers had been stolen by those few careless words. Sympathetically offering the woman a gentle smile of understanding, Sophia turned her attention back to her meal, painfully aware of one particularly avid gaze studying her carefully.
Before she could stop it, one tentative hand reached up to self-consciously tuck a stray curl back into place before she even realised what she was doing. When she was aware of her actions, she quickly dropped her hand again and felt heat steal into her cheeks.
“Let us hope we shall see you again before you go,” Jeb murmured gently.
“Here, here,” Algernon said loudly, and lifted his goblet in a silent toast.
When Sophia looked at Jeb, he too lifted his goblet in a silent toast but didn’t take his eyes off her as he took a sip.