Page 8 of Not a Fine Gentleman

The butler shook his head. “Not that I saw.”

“Then how did blood get over here?”

“I don’t know, sir. Perhaps when we moved his body…”

Connor opened the window and peered out, but only walkways and a lush garden met his eyes. That was a mystery for another time. For now, he needed to find Christian and Grant’s sister before someone else did.

“Did Lady Hennessy have any places she liked to go?” Connor asked. “Any place she might return to now that she has fled?”

“She had a fondness for my lord’s house in Bath.”

“Is that where they usually lived?”

“I believe she lived part of the year at his manor in Cornwall. My lord resided here in London most of the year.”

“Any other place where she might have gone?”

“Not that I can think of.”

Where would a woman go who was hunted by the law? “Show me the doorway she used when she ran.”

The butler led him into a small parlor wallpapered with birds and trees. “I moved her to this room. This is where she was when the night watchman came and from where she fled.” He pointed to a pair of French doors. “She ran through there, sir.”

Connor opened the doors and stepped out onto a terrace.

The butler followed him out. “There is only one garden door, and it lies down that path.”

Connor peered through the foliage. “Does it lead to a street?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Very well. Thank you for your time.” They went back into the library. “Please send in the other servants for questioning.”

The parlormaid came in first, tense and sullen.

“What can you tell me about Lady Hennessy?” Connor asked.

The girl tossed her head. “Oh, she is a cool one, she is. Always so high and mighty and speaks as if she’s biting off the end of a stick. She tried to fire me once, but my lord insisted I be saved. He was so charming.” Her lower lip trembled, and she put a hand over her stomach as if to keep herself together. “Such a terrible thing, seeing him lying there like that.”

“Why do you think she would kill her husband?” Connor asked.

She shrugged. “She’s a hag. No one could love her.”

“Can you think of anything that happened that might have driven her to do it?”

“Who knows? Maybe he threatened to divorce her. Maybe she flew into a rage. How would I know why a woman like that would kill her own husband?”

“Do you have any idea where she might have gone?”

“How would I know?” the girl said.

Connor thanked her and asked for the next servant.

The chef entered next. “She didn’t do it, I tell you,” the man said before sitting. “She couldn’t have. She was clearly unhappy in her marriage, but she is a kind woman.”

“Kind?” Connor raised his brows. Neither of the other servants had mentioned this as a quality Lady Hennessy possessed.

“One of my assistants, Cora, was a pretty girl who caught milord’s eye. He kept trying to lure her to his bedchamber, sometimes getting aggressive. When my Lady Hennessy found out, she helped her find a position in another house with a new master who never touches her.”