Free A Gilded Grave by Shelley Freydont Page A

fainted.”
    Her father made a noise halfway between a cough and a laugh.
    “Mrs. Stanhope and Lady Madeline took her over to a bench to recover.”
    “And who is Lady Madeline?”
    “Lord David’s sister.”
    “If I may,” her father interjected. “Lord David Manchester owns a Barbadian sugar plantation that R and W is contracting with. My partner, Francis Woodruff, visited him in Barbados and invited him to inspect our facilities and meet with us to assure R and W that he could supply us with enough raw product to run our processing plants.”
    “I see,” Will wrote quickly. “And are these facilities here in Newport?”
    Everyone knew they weren’t.
    “No, in Pennsylvania and Brooklyn. Lord David was to accompany Francis Woodruff to our New York offices today, once their introduction to Newport society was made, and then continue on to visit the refineries. Unfortunately, in light of what happened last night, and the fact that Francis is not well, their tour has been pushed back. I believe Charles Woodruff is planning to bring Manchester to the city in a couple of days.”
    “While they’re in Newport, the Manchesters are staying with the Woodruffs?”
    “As far as I know. I plan to ask Joseph Ballard to give them a tour of his workshop and explain his plans for modernization.” He shot Deanna an arch look. “Wouldn’t do to leave the man cooling his heels in Newport for too long.”
    Really, he was sometimes as bad as her mother.
    Sergeant Hennessey returned to Deanna. Waited.
    Deanna pulled her mind back to the discovery. “Oh. Vlady found an envelope grasped in Daisy’s hand. He showed it to us. Though I suppose he should have left it as he found it.”
    Will nodded.
    “I’m not sure what happened to it.”
    “The police have it in their possession.”
    “It was too dark to see any writing on it.”
    She waited for him to tell her what it said.
    He didn’t.
    “Or if there was a letter or message inside.”
    Still, he didn’t respond.
    “Well, was there?”
    He looked up. “I’m not a liberty to say, Miss Deanna.”
    Miss Deanna?
She liked it much better when the boys called her Dee or Dee Dee or even Deedle-dum. She felt the doors of the future slamming on her past and on her fun. Her staunchest ally, Bob, was dead. Joe had still called her Dee the last time they’d met. But that was before he’d jilted her and ignored her at her first Newport ball. And now, here was Will, acting like a stranger.
    “Then Elspeth came down with the other servants, and she was upset, and father sent her back to the house and told a servant to send her home in our carriage. Then I went back to the house, and that’s all.” Deanna crossed her arms.
    Will’s mouth tightened. But whether from annoyance or trying to hide a smile, she couldn’t tell. And, quite frankly, she didn’t care.
    She suddenly felt suffocated. She wanted to be outside, away from society, away from restriction, running free on the beach like when they were children and she’d spy on the boys and learn all their secrets.
    Why didn’t women get more freedom the older they got, like men did? The older she became, the more confined her life was, the stronger the rules of behavior. It was so boring and demeaning.
    Her father frowned. “Considering what has happened, perhaps it would be wiser if you traveled to Boston with your mother and Adelaide.”
    Deanna wanted to scream with frustration, but she merely shook her head. “No, Papa. It’s like you said. It will all be forgotten by tomorrow. Isn’t that correct, Sergeant Hennessey?”
    “Unfortunately, that is usually the case.”
    “Is there anything else you wish to know?” she asked, glaring at Will, mainly because she didn’t dare glare at her father.
    “Not at this time. You have been most clear-sighted and informative. Thank you for your time.”
    She wanted to shake him and tell him to stop acting like such a stuck-up twit. But she merely stood, nodded in her most