Page 10 of My Devoted Viscount (Brazen Bluestockings #2)
Another shriek had them all scrambling up the stairs. At the third-floor landing, they found Ruby attempting to comfort Enid, who was shaking. “It was the Lady, I tell you!” Enid dabbed at her eyes with the tie from her dressing gown. “The Grey Lady ghost! I saw it clear as day!”
Heavy footsteps announced Kendall’s arrival, barefoot and wearing only trousers and an unevenly tucked-in shirt, carrying a pistol. “What is going on?” he demanded, his voice as calm as though announcing dinner despite his disheveled appearance.
Enid let out a wail and sagged against Ruby, the back of her hand to her forehead.
“She thinks she saw a ghost down on the beach, sir,” Ruby said.
“Nonsense.” Kendall tucked the pistol into the waistband of his trousers.
“She saw something,” Mrs. Royston said, “but it wasn’t the Grey Lady. I’ve seen the Grey Lady several times, and that was not her.”
“You too?” Mrs. Digby took off her sleeping cap and tucked it into a pocket in her dressing gown. “I thought it unusual for Mother Hobart to walk on the beach.”
Sophia glanced at each player in their little drama, debating if she should share about Mildred.
Enid stood up straight. “No, it was definitely the Grey Lady. I’m sure of it.”
Sophia peered at her more closely. The maid seemed to have regained her composure surprisingly quickly.
“Mother Hobart does tend to show up when there is something or someone new. And we do have someone new in the household.”
Sophia was about to point out that she’d been there over a week with no appearance of the ghost, but Enid spoke up again.
“Yes, that must be why the ghost appeared.” Enid bobbed her head as though that settled the matter.
“If the matter is resolved, may I suggest we all seek our beds?” Kendall held his arms out to escort Mrs. Royston and Mrs. Digby down the stairs.
Back in her room, Sophia looked out the window but saw nothing out of the ordinary. She hoped Mildred had settled in for the night so everyone could sleep.
* * *
Early the next morning Sophia located a copy of Debrett’s in the library and found the listing for the Wingfield earldom.
Her hopes for a quick resolution to Miss Ebrington’s dilemma were dashed when she realized the current holder of the title had not even been born yet when this edition had been published.
“What shall we do now?” Mildred said when they met on the beach that afternoon. She tried to be polite as she bit into the ham, cheese, and bread that Theo had brought her, but it was obvious she was famished.
“More research,” Theo said, handing over a wineskin filled with what turned out to be lemonade from her basket of work tools. “Find other sources of information.”
Sophia felt guilty for not thinking about including a beverage last night. The girl must be quite thirsty by now. “Did you sleep well?” With any luck she would be eager to take Sophia up on her offer to be a guest of Mrs. Digby.
“There is a tiny waterfall coming out of the cliff near the cave entrance, so I was able to wash before bed,” Mildred said between bites.
“It did take me a while to get comfortable on the ledge. Once I realized the bats were not interested in me, I considered their fluttering as mere background noise, as well as the sound of the waves, to help me fall asleep. It was actually quite cozy.”
Sophia suppressed a shudder. Before she could ask the girl about her late-night walk on the beach, a man walking two small dogs came near them. Once they spotted Theo, the dogs excitedly ran to her, yipping and wagging their fluffy tails.
“Hello, Zeus,” Theo said, bending down to pet one. The other dog panted and pawed at her knee until she scratched behind its ears. “And hello to you too, Ares.”
“Beg pardon, ladies,” the man said with a tip of his hat. He whistled and patted his thigh, and the dogs trotted after him, continuing their trek along the beach.
“Lady Lyttleton’s estate must have hired new staff,” Theo said, staring after the man and two dogs. “I’ve never seen that man walking her dogs before.”
For a moment Sophia watched the progress of the fluffy tan-and-brown dogs, half the size of Henry the terrier. “Lady Lyttleton named her tiny dogs after gods of war?”
Theo chuckled. “She had quite the tongue-in-cheek sense of humor.”
Realizing that Mrs. Digby would be expecting her in the library soon, Sophia steered the discussion back to Mildred’s dilemma.
They decided to meet each afternoon to bring her food and updates on their research.
With not having to pay for lodging, she could take meals in town as the widow Mrs. Smythe, but she wanted to hold on to her coins for as long as possible.
And the fewer people she saw, the less she risked being discovered.
“We’ll have to hope that the society columns mention the current Lord Wingfield,” Sophia said. “Mrs. Digby subscribes to the London Times and the local newspaper. I will search the new editions as they come in.”
“I will see if I can find any newspapers that have not yet been used to start fires, and try to drop Wingfield’s name into conversation with my parents,” Theo said. “See if they have heard anything about the man.”
Mildred squeezed each of their hands in gratitude.