Page 23 of The Incident at Ingleton (Beau Monde Secrets #3)

April 1819

F or the last month, Lady Hester Haworth had scrutinized every piece of mail brought into Havisham Cottage, watching for a letter written on black-edged mourning paper. Her father had taken a turn for the worse, and she feared that the next letter from home would announce his demise.

But the letter that arrived for her from London today had been written on plain notepaper, not mourning paper. When she broke the seal to read her mother’s message, she discovered that someone she knew had indeed died... but it was a death she could only briefly regret.

I am sure you still remember Colonel Lowell , her mother wrote, given your dramatic encounter with him at the Duke of Creighton’s ball last year, and the evidence that suggested he might have threatened C. It may grieve you to hear this, but I must inform you that he has passed away under the most scandalous circumstances. It seems he seduced Lord Grantford’s wife, or so rumor said. In any case, Lord Grantford called him out. They met at dawn two days ago, and Lowell was shot. He died of his injuries a day later.

I do not wish to rejoice over any man’s death, but I must say that I am relieved to learn that our enemy is no more. I have already written C. to let him know it is safe to return to England. May I hope that you and Walter will be there to greet him when he returns?

Hester stared at the paper. She half expected it to shake in her trembling hands, but it did not, because her hands did not tremble at all. A year ago, Simon’s sudden death would have struck her as a catastrophe. Now, she found it difficult even to pity Simon, though of course no one deserved to die a lingering death from gunshot.

She had ceased loving Simon sometime during that incident in Ingleton last year. Perhaps that was the effect of coming to know Walter, and learning from his example how a real gentleman should comport himself. Or maybe she had seen enough resemblance between Simon Lowell and Neville Butler to realize that they were villains cut from the same cloth. She was well rid of them both!

Either way, she had already moved on from the pain of being jilted before she learned that Simon might also have blackmailed her brother. After that—well, even though they’d never found enough evidence to convict Simon, she had come close to hating him. She probably wasn’t the only one, either. As Frank pointed out, a man who would blackmail one person might very well be blackmailing others.

No, she could not feel too sorry for Simon Lowell’s death, especially since it meant that her brother could finally return to England. Lord willing, he might even be able to see Papa one last time. Joy bubbled up from her heart, putting an undoubtedly foolish smile on her face.

News this good could not wait until evening. She must hurry up the carriageway to the main building of the hospital, so she could tell her husband the good news. Crowthorne was coming home at last!

The End