Once Upon a Wallflower

Nan’s voice dropped to a whisper, and she glanced about nervously, as though someone might be lurking nearby to hear. “My mother says that he communes with the devil himself. That limp of his? My mother said that when he sealed his pact with the devil, the devil put his mark on him…changed his leg from that of a man to that of a goat.”

“A goat?”

“Yes, a goat.”

Mira tried to be polite, but she could not help herself. She collapsed back onto the bed with laughter.

“A goat? Why that is the most ludicrous thing I have ever heard. You cannot honestly believe that.”

Nan had the good grace to blush. “Well, no, that bit is difficult to believe. But still, the rumors are what they are, and most rumors have a grain of truth in them. Besides, there is more.”

Mira sobered a bit. “What more?”

“Just before she died, Bridget started talking about love, mooning over some mysterious man. On Midsummer’s Eve, when the rest of us were peeling apples to divine our true loves’ names, Bridget just smiled this wistful faraway smile and said she already knew what fate held for her. And whoever she was stepping out with, he gave her some money. Just a few coins, enough for a bit of hair ribbon and some sweets, but Bridget hinted that that was just the beginning, that she was going to have fine things someday.

“And the vicar’s wife confided in me that Tegen Quick was wearing a silk chemise when she died. Now where would a fisherman’s daughter, one of seven children, get a silk chemise if not from a wealthy lover?”

Mira had no answer. With confidence, Nan concluded, “Bridget and Tegen were both involved with a wealthy man, one whom they must have known and trusted, but one who killed them. And Miss Linworth was also involved with a wealthy man. It is the one thing all three girls had in common. We do not know for certain the name of the man who was paying court on Bridget and Tegen, but we all know who Miss Linworth was involved with: Lord Ashfield.”

Chapter Eight

“Miss Mira, please, I beg you, do not go to that man’s room alone.” Nan stood at the foot of Mira’s bed, clutching one of the posters as though her life depended upon it. Her face was ashen, her mood a match for the rain that poured down beyond the chamber windows.

The note from Nicholas, inviting her to see his artwork in his tower quarters, lay open on the dressing table.

“Nan, I assure you that I will be perfectly safe,” Mira soothed as she tied her curls back with a length of apple green ribbon. “Nicholas may not even be guilty of anything at all. But,” she held up a placating hand at Nan’s mutinous expression, “but even assuming he is the most heinous villain, he is not a fool. He would not harm me in his own room where his crime would be sure to be discovered. In fact, I would say that Nicholas’s room is about the safest place I could possibly be.”

Her mouth drawing out into a flat line of disbelief, Nan shook her head. “Miss Mira, I am not certain you are right about that at all. And what about your reputation? Sure as anything, your reputation isn’t safe in that man’s room.”

“I hardly think this is a time to worry over my reputation, Nan,” Mira responded, a bit put out that her fellow adventuress should raise such a mundane issue at such a critical moment in their endeavor.

“My mother says that a girl should always be worried about her reputation. I should think that would be even more true for ladies.”

Mira sighed, adjusting her skirts as she rose from the wing chair by the fire. “Very well then, but I truly do not think my reputation is in any more danger than my person. If Nicholas is innocent, then I shall be marrying him in a few short days and a small lapse in decorum will not matter a whit. If, on the other hand, Nicholas is guilty, then I will be forced to call off the engagement, and that alone will destroy my reputation. This particular transgression, going unchaperoned to Nicholas’s room, will be but a drop in the proverbial bucket.” She couldn’t help the satisfied smile that crept across her face. She did so love it when her logic fell neatly into place.

Nan stood tall and squared her shoulders. “If you insist on going on this fool’s errand, Miss Mira, then at least take me with you.”