Page 60 of A Conspiracy in Belgravia

“Which direction were they headed?”

“To the avenue—to go home, I suppose.”

“And Mr. Finch, in your letter you said he approached you after the gossip ladies left. Was Lady Ingram gone from the scene by then?”

“Yes.”

“So he didn’t see them?”

Charlotte’s questions confused Livia, but she gave her sister the benefit of the doubt. “He’d already seated himself on a bench near mine as Lady Avery and Lady Somersby made their approach. Since he’d meant to speak to me, no doubt he saw them. I can’t be sure whether he saw Lady Ingram, but men usually tend not to miss a beautiful woman in their vicinity.”

Charlotte was silent for a moment. “Miss Redmayne, will you light the pocket lantern?”

A match scratched. The sharp tang of sulfur assaulted Livia’s nostrils. The lit pocket lantern was oriented so that its light fell on an open notebook in Charlotte’s lap.

She drew an oval, which was the actual shape of the Round Pond. “So here you are at its eastern edge. Where is the bench Mr. Finch took?”

Livia put her finger where she estimated the spot to be. “Ten paces away.”

“On the north side of the pond, facing south?”

“Yes.”

“You are sure?”

Livia nodded. Unfortunately, she knew exactly where he had been sitting.

“And you said Lady Ingram, her children, and their governess were comingfromthe south?”

“Yes.”

Miss Redmayne made a small, sharp sound, as if she’d sucked in an abrupt breath.

“How did Lady Ingram look, by the way, when you saw her?”

Livia shrugged. “How she usually appears these days. Beautiful and rather aloof, I’d say.”

“She didn’t look weary or unhappy or... surprised?”

“Not that it was apparent.”

“Did she see you?”

“She nodded at us. Very regally.”

“And how closely did she pass by you?”

“Fifteen, twenty feet, thereabout.”

Charlotte closed her notebook. Nobody said anything for a moment. Then Charlotte blew out the pocket lantern and murmured, “A difficult couple of days for you?”

The gentleness of her voice... Livia wanted to burst into tears.Oh, you have no idea!

She had elided over her encounter with Mr. Finch as much as possible. In reality, he hadn’t immediately confessed that he was her brother—she hadn’t wanted to begin their conversation with all the serious questions. Instead, they had spoken for a good quarter of anhour in great animation, laughing together more often than not, and she had been walking six inches off the ground.

Or perhaps it had been six miles. For the crash to earth had shattered everything.

“It was shocking, that was all,” Livia managed, grateful for the darkness that followed the extinction of the lantern’s small flicker.