Free Murder Most Austen by Tracy Kiely Page B

briefly.”
    Izzy turned to me. “You must back me up on this, Elizabeth. With your insightful ways you must have detected the kind of woman she is.” I paused, uncomfortable. Valerie had seemed a bit of a shrew, but I didn’t feel right saying so. After all, I’d only seen her for a few minutes. Izzy caught my hesitation. “I knew it! I knew it!” she crowed. “You saw the same as I! I knew we thought alike! See?” she said, turning to Cora. “Elizabeth thinks she’s a she-devil, too!”
    I held up a hand in protest. “Whoa! Wait a second. I didn’t say that. I didn’t say anything, actually. I only caught a quick impression of her.”
    “But it wasn’t a good one, was it?”
    “Well, no, but…”
    Izzy laughed. “No ‘but’s. Admit it, I’m right. You think of her as I do. If she’s not channeling Matilda, then she’s trying out for a role in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. God, I don’t see what Ian ever saw in her. She’s a nasty little freckled thing but without the freckles. If I were him, I’d spend every day praying for the sweet release of death.”
    “Izzy!” Cora said, scandalized. “That’s enough!”
    Izzy arched an eyebrow at Cora. “You can trash Richard all you want, twenty-four/seven, but I can’t say anything against Valerie? Why is she so special?”
    Cora glanced downward and shifted awkwardly in her seat. “I didn’t say she was special, I just don’t think you’re being nice. It’s … it’s not becoming behavior for a Janeite.”
    Izzy let out a yelp of laughter. “Oh, please! Becoming behavior, my ass. Jane Austen was the queen of the cutting remark. That’s one of the many reasons I love her.”
    Cora shot Izzy an expression of pained frustration. “Izzy, please. Do as I say and let it go.”
    Izzy’s mouth pulled down in a mutinous line, and it was clear that she had no intention of letting anything go. However, before she could continue, Aunt Winnie said, “Ladies, I think the discussion of the essential character of Valerie Baines will have to wait. Professor Baines himself has just made an appearance.”
    I glanced up, and sure enough there was Richard strolling through the restaurant with the air of a man who knows himself to be a celebrity but feigns embarrassment at the inevitable attention. Alex trailed along a half step behind him. Seeing Gail and his son and daughter-in-law, Richard altered his path and headed their way. I watched the reactions of the table as he did so. Gail’s expression remained pleasant, almost indifferent to the sudden appearance of her ex-husband and his new wife. Either she truly did not care about Richard or, like Jane Bennet, she united with great strength of feeling, a composure of temper and a uniform cheerfulness of manner. Of course, a monthly injection of Botox could also be the reason for her lack of expression. Valerie was easier to read. Stretching her mouth into a wide smile, she directed an urgent whisper to Ian before waving to her father-in-law. Ian gave a nervous start and turned his body around in his chair. He noted the approach of his father with almost palpable dread.
    Once at the table, Richard murmured something to Gail before turning his attention to Ian and Valerie. Valerie dove into her purse and quickly pulled out a handful of pictures, which she waved at Richard. From my vantage point, I could see they were of a boy about two or three years old. It wasn’t a Sherlockian leap to deduce that he must be “little Zee” who was so deserving of his grandfather’s money.
    “She is so obvious,” said Izzy with a snort of derision. “She trots out either the boy or his pictures any chance she gets. I swear to God she uses that son of hers as a meal ticket.”
    “Izzy, would you please lower your voice?” Cora begged.
    Ian stood up and fumblingly shook his father’s hand before Valerie shoved the pictures at him. While Alex stood awkwardly at his side with a painted smile on her face, Richard