Page 97 of Death at a Highland Wedding

I glance over my shoulder to see Violet’s maid.

“I am sorry, miss,” she says with an awkward partial curtsy. “I need to help Miss Cranston dress for dinner, and I am late.”

I’m about to step aside when I see my excuse screaming at me from the girl’s anxious expression.

“Your collar is tucked in,” I say.

She quickly tugs at it, her cheeks burning.

I lean down. “You also have something in your hair. Straw or grass.”

That part is a lie, but her hand flies to her hair, face going scarlet.

“Go on and fix yourself up,” I whisper. “I will tell Miss Cranston that you were needed for another task and that I have come to help her dress.”

She hesitates.

I lean in again. “I was Mrs. Ballantyne’s maid. I know what I am doing. I also know how to ensure Miss Cranston has no idea you were enjoying a deserved respite from your duties.”

“Thank you, miss. Thank you very much.”

She scampers off, and I smile to myself as I finish climbing the stairs.

I rap on the door to Violet’s room. When she doesn’t answer, I frown and rap again. Then I hear noise within and realize my mistake. She didn’t answer because she presumed I was her maid, only knocking to announce her arrival.

“It is Mallory Michell,” I say, and the door opens.

Violet looks behind me.

“Your maid cannot attend you,” I say. “She was needed in the gardens earlier, and she must clean herself up before she is in any state to assist with your dressing.” Not untrue… “I told her I would do it.” I move inside and smile. “I help Mrs. Ballantyne all the time. She says no one is better at tightening a corset. Of course, she may not mean that as a compliment.”

Still looking uncertain, Violet waves for me to shut the door. She’swearing a day dress, and her dinner gown is laid out on the bed. It’s fancier than I expected, but then I remember Fiona announcing they would all dress up for dinner tonight. Get some use of the formal wear they brought. No one was going to argue with a bride on her groom-less wedding day.

I move behind Violet to assist her in removing her dress, and I chatter away, trying to relax her. Off come the dress, crinoline cover, crinoline, and the corset cover. Then she says, “I will need to change my corset as well.”

That’s to be expected. A formal dress requires a more formal corset.

When I start to unlace her corset, though, she tenses. Is she shy? That’s not really a thing with well-born Victorian ladies, accustomed to help dressing. I’d marveled the first time I helped Isla, who’d shed her clothes with a confidence even I’ve never had in change rooms.

I unlace and help Violet remove her corset. Then I walk around her and start to pull off the chemise under it. I’m pulling it up when her arm clamps down.

“That is not necessary,” she says. “This one will do.”

I nod, and I’m about to release the chemise when I see her stomach, where I’ve lifted the chemise. There are marks on her stomach. Odd striations, slightly red but turning a silvery-white. Something in me dimly recognizes what they are, but the answer doesn’t come, and I quickly pull down the chemise, knowing that’s what she didn’t want me to see.

After that, there’s no chance of asking any questions. She’s tense and distracted, and all I can do is keep up my small talk as I help her dress and prepare for dinner.

Then, as I’m leaving, the answer hits, and I know what I saw on Violet’s stomach.

Stretch marks.

THIRTY-TWO

Stretch marks on the stomach aren’t necessarily a sign of pregnancy. I need to speak to someone who has known Violet, at least casually, for years. That person also can’t be McCreadie… for reasons. Nor can it be Isla… for reasons.

I also should speak to someone with the medical knowledge to tell me whether I’m missing any possible causes of abdominal marks. That narrows my choices down to one. Yes, I need to speak to Gray. In private. Which I absolutely am not ready to do, but the case takes precedence.

I eat dinner with the others. Then as we are retiring to our separate rooms, men in one and women in the other, I say to Gray, “Sir? Might I have a moment? It is about the investigation.”