Free The Flower Girls by Margaret Blake Page B

wasn’t as if he were in mouring either. It was a poor attitude to this whole thing. A prickle of suspicion crept over her. Did he know more than he was saying? Of course he did.
    When she found Seth to tell him, she went over Edward’s attitude. It was odd to say the least, and so different from how he’d been with her. He was chilling, offering no words of sympathy. There’d been not one iota of sympathy.
    “He’s getting married. Susanna Mainwaring. Rich old family. I saw his father yesterday and he told me. That’s why he doesn’t want to be involved.”
    “He said the police visited him; he more or less hinted that he thought I’d sent them.”
    “ I sent them.” Seth was abrupt.
    “But you never told me you did that.”
    Seth shrugged.
    “I wish you’d warned me.”
    “I didn’t know you were going to ask him.” Seth was abrupt again.
    “But it should be obvious I would ask him. He knew a lot about Jasmine. I think he knew her more than he lets on.”
    “I know he did,” Seth said. He was staring at her, his eyes like twin emeralds and twice as cold.
    “Were they involved?”
    Seth dug his hands into his trouser pockets. The material ballooned with his agitation.
    “I don’t know but I would assume so, knowing Edward as I do. But now he has this prospective bride he doesn’t want anyone to know what a rogue he is.”
    “Rogue? What do you mean rogue?”
    “It’s a polite word for what I really think. Anyway, where is this place that your sister frequented?”
    Poppy noticed that his wife had become your sister; it was as if he wished to distance himself from Jasmine. Yet he’d seemed so distraught when he’d heard what had happened to her. The brutality had upset him. Or so it seemed. A voice whispered in her ear.
    Why do you trust this man? Why believe any word that comes from him when it’s to do with Jasmine?
    Their relationship was over, and according to Jasmine it had been an unmitigated disaster. He wanted rid of her and Jasmine had hinted that she was afraid of him. Yet here she was, naïve in the extreme, trusting everything he said and did. Blinded by his attractiveness.
    Now she was wishing she hadn’t told him what she’d learned. It would be easy to go alone. But she couldn’t lie to him; deceiving him would be behaving as Jasmine had. She couldn’t do that…could she? No it wasn’t in her nature; it might not do her any good but she couldn’t be a liar. Stumbling vocally, she gave him the details.
    He was waiting for her to reveal more but there was no more, she just stared at him. In the end he raised his hands in a helpless gesture, turned on his heels and marched from the room. She had exasperated him and she wasn’t even sure if that were a bad thing or not.
    A trawl through the yellow pages revealed a host of car hire firms. They would bring the car to her, how convenient was that? She could drive to the city alone. Perhaps it wouldn’t even be a bad thing for her to find a place in the city to live until she made up her mind what she wanted to do.
    Footsteps in the hall caused her to look up—she was a little surprised to find that her heart leapt in anticipation that it was Seth coming back but it wasn’t Seth. It was Mrs. Carrington, as sour-faced as ever.
    “Mr. Sanderson has said that Mr. Carrington can drive you into the city if you like. Or take you to the station. Whichever would be convenient for you.”
    He’d seen through her, weirdly read her thoughts. Although they might not even be her thoughts, did she seriously wish to go alone, step into a nightclub that was probably not her scene at all, and ask strangers if they knew her sister? It was foolhardy and in the circumstances downright dangerous. Had Seth even thought about that or did he not care? She was a first class idiot, but pride wouldn’t let her back down. Besides he didn’t know it was a nightclub, she’d just named the city where Edward said Jasmine went. He knew Poppy had lived in