Free Beatrice by Rebecca King

you think that
the carriage that almost ran me down had intended to hit
me?”
    “Let’s
not get carried away. It could just be one of those things. Right
now we cannot jump to conclusions. I think,” he looked at her
frankly, “and it is just my opinion you understand, I am not
telling you what you should do, but I think that the first thing to
do is pay a visit to the people on this list. We need to find out
if it is possible to cultivate a plant such as the one we have.
Then we need to establish if any of the people on this list knew
your uncle. We need to find out if they were involved in
cultivating rare plants, especially this one.” He held up the paper
with the notes on. “These look like scientific notes of some kind,
but Latin is not my strong point. I have no idea what these names
could mean. We need to get them transcribed by someone reliable and
see if they are notes about the plant in the study.”
    Although
Beatrice nodded, she doubted that her uncle had anything to do with
the plant in the study. She couldn’t see how Matthew could have
cultivated something like that without either Maud or herself
seeing it, or becoming aware of the smell. She just knew that this
plant; this rare orchid, belonged to someone else. Unfortunately,
had no idea who that someone else was; and why they had chosen to
leave it with her.
    It was
on the tip of her tongue to ask Ben if he would help her arrange to
meet with the people on the list, but then felt incredibly guilty
about everything he had done for her so far. It didn’t seem right
to impose on him any further. He had been kind, generous, caring,
and had asked for nothing in return. While he seemed happy to do
it, she didn’t feel comfortable asking him for more.
    “I will
wait until I am back on my feet and then arrange to visit them.”
Although her words were confident, she frowned at the thought of
arranging to meet with strangers.
    “Look, I
have to confess to you that I am intrigued by the whole mystery and
I don’t want to just walk away and leave you to it,” Ben announced
flatly. “Especially given that we don’t know if the incident with
the carriage was mere circumstance. I would like to continue to
help you with this mystery, if I may? Why don’t I come with you to
meet with them? You know, for moral support.” He read the
indecision on her face and tried a different tack. “I don’t think
it is right and proper for you to knock on any of the men’s doors.
After all, we don’t know if the man who came to call is one of the
people on the list. If he is, I really don’t think it is a good
idea for you to knock on his door without a chaperone, and a male
one at that.”
    He
didn’t add that the man looked positively dangerous and was not
someone he wanted Beatrice to spend any time with.
    “But I
have put on you enough already. It doesn’t seem fair to impose on
your good nature anymore. You have been so kind and helpful to me
that I cannot thank you enough. I don’t know how to repay
you.”
    “Thank
me by letting me help you with this, Beatrice. It is really
important to me that I am here to help you. You are not putting on
me at all. I want to do this. It goes against every masculine
instinct I have to just walk away and leave you to face this alone.
Just let me help you. Please?”
    The soft
plea in his voice was more than enough to convince Beatrice that
she wanted him by her side throughout all of this. She had no idea
if the plant’s arrival was all stuff and nonsense, and really
wasn’t anything other than someone returning a beautiful plant
without realising that her uncle was now dead. If she was honest,
she didn’t want to meet with strange men, whoever they were, and
would be immensely reassured to have Ben beside her – again. He
clearly didn’t mind being involved, and was more intrigued than
annoyed.
    What harm could it do? She mused
silently. You know you want to spend more
time with him. This is a perfect opportunity to