Free Yield Not To Misfortune (The Underwood Mysteries Book 5) by Suzanne Downes

father had passed away – that the lot of those poor souls was unenviable, to say the least. They had been gently raised, with no discernible talents or skills with which to earn a living, so drifted from household to household, trying to make themselves useful, until their welcome was outworn, whereupon they would throw themselves on the mercy of another branch of the clan, usually ending up as unpaid governesses or companions to the elderly, in genteel slavery until death claimed them.
    “Are you also related to Miss Greenhowe then?”
    “Oh no, she is their maternal Great Aunt.”
    Underwood struggled to get the various connections straight in his mind, “And Mr Luckhurst? You said he was also a cousin of the Petches? And that Rutherford was Miss Greenhowe’s heir until he blotted his copy book, so to speak.”
    “That’s right – and I must say that I was surprised that Cressida was then overlooked too. There is no entail, Miss Greenhowe can leave her property to whom she pleases, but she has changed so much since ...” She shook her head sadly and Underwood took this as an indication of the old lady having begun to lose her faculties.
    He frowned as something occurred to him, “Just one moment; tell me, how do you know Miss Petch is not the heir? Is it something Miss Greenhowe has discussed with you?” This seemed unlikely, if, as she maintained, the woman had been descending into feeblemindedness for some considerable time.
    “Why Mr Luckhurst told us. He came in and took over the running of the house and estate whilst the Captain was away with the army. He found excuses to let most of the staff go and before long almost all the servants were his own people. Only myself and the butler survived the cull and that was only because Miss Greenhowe and Miss Petch both stood their ground and insisted on our retention. He brought in his own man of business and dismissed Miss Greenhowe’s lawyer, who had dealt with her business for many years. There was an unpleasant scene in which Mr Luckhurst and his man, Attridge, intimated that they thought funds were being misappropriated. Poor old Mr Toft almost had a seizure, he was so shocked and angry, but Miss Greenhowe believed everything Ormund Luckhurst told her and so he was gone. When the Captain came home, he had the most dreadful set to with Mr Luckhurst, but his Great Aunt would not hear a word said against him and within weeks the necklace was gone and Rutherford was accused and found guilty.”
    “This is all very convenient for Mr Ormund Luckhurst, is it not?”
    “I suppose it is, but he has tried to set it right.”
    “How has he done that?”
    “He has offered marriage to Cressida, knowing that she will be penniless and homeless when her Great Aunt dies, but I’m afraid Miss Petch is currently withholding her answer. She has no notion of how unkind the world can be to the lone female.” The wealth of sadness held in those last few words told Underwood that his assessment of the elderly lady’s situation was very probably correct.
    “Perhaps she finds that prospect more palatable than marriage to Mr Luckhurst?” he suggested gently.
    “That is because she has never experienced true poverty. My last wish is to see her safely settled. When Rutherford was his Aunt’s heir, I had no qualms for her future, knowing that even if no man ever offered for her, she would always have a safe home with him and any family he might have, but now she is to be cast out into the world with no one to care for her and I’m frightened what fate has in store for her.”
    Underwood comfortingly patted her hand and then moved swiftly on, “Tell me about the necklace. How did Rutherford come to be blamed for its loss?”
    “That I do not understand either. As I explained, Miss Greenhowe had grown very strange and forgetful and she had, several times, hidden the necklace about the house, saying she feared it would be stolen. Mr Luckhurst tried to persuade her to put it in