She spotted Tobias and walked swiftly toward him.

“What is going on?” she demanded in a low voice. “Everyone is saying that Fullerton fell from the roof and broke his neck.”

“That seems to be the case,” Tobias said.

Beaumont whipped out a handkerchief and wiped his brow. He surveyed the flock of guests. “Terrible accident. Quite dreadful, actually. But I assure you that matters are in hand. The doctor is on his way. You may all return to your bed chambers.”

Aspasia’s fine brows puckered in a small frown. Her lips parted on a question. Lavinia saw Tobias shake his head once in a small, silencing motion.

Aspasia obediently closed her mouth.

“You must excuse us,” Tobias said. “We are in a hurry. Lord Beaumont is taking us to Fullerton’s bed chamber.”

Aspasia appeared startled, and then Lavinia saw a flicker of comprehension in her dark eyes.

“Tobias?” Aspasia whispered in husky tones. “Do you think-?”

“I will speak with you later,” he said gently.

“Yes, of course.” Aspasia moved gracefully out of the way. Her gaze rested thoughtfully on Lavinia.

The moment of communication that had passed between Aspasia and Tobias was brief, Lavinia reflected as she accompanied the two men down the hall, but there was no mistaking the intimacy of it. Aspasia clearly felt that she had a claim of some sort on Tobias, and he, in turn, accepted some obligation toward her. If there was one thing that she had learned about Tobias during the past few months, Lavinia thought, it was that he took his perceived responsibilities very seriously.

She glanced back just in time to see Aspasia disappear through a bedchamber door. It was a very familiar bedchamber door.

Well, that was certainly one mystery solved tonight, she thought. She now knew why she had been summarily shifted upstairs to that unpleasant little room at the end of the hall. The housekeeper and butler had conspired to give her comfortable chamber on this floor to Aspasia Gray.

Beaumont came to a halt in front of a door.

“This was Fullerton’s bedchamber,” he announced.

Tobias entered first. He lit a candle and surveyed the space. Then he crossed to the window and drew aside the curtains. Moonlight flooded into the chamber, adding to the weak illumination of the candle.

Lavinia stepped in and looked around. The bed chamber was as large as the one Tobias had been given. The wide, heavily draped bed had been turned down in preparation for sleep. It was obvious that no one had used it. The sheets and pillows were still neatly arranged. The handle of a warming pan projected from beneath the edge of the quilt.

“He asked her why they could not use his bed,” she murmured to Tobias. “He told her that it had been nicely warmed.”

Tobias was busy opening and closing the drawers of the dressing table in a brisk, methodical fashion. He did not look up from his task. “What else did he say?”

“He asked the maid why it was necessary to go all the way up to the roof.”

Beaumont scowled from the doorway. “What’s this about a maid?”

“When I saw Lord Fullerton earlier this evening,” Lavinia said, “he was in the company of a tall, blond maid. I gained the clear impression that they were on the way to the roof for some dalliance.”

“Nonsense.” Beaumont’s whiskers bristled in genuine indignation. “Everyone in this household is aware that inappropriate intimacies between staff and guests are strictly forbidden. Lady Beaumont does not countenance that sort of thing.”

Lavinia stopped in front of the night table and studied the assortment of small items arrayed on the polished wooden surface. “This maid seemed to be quite eager to oblige Fullerton. She was the one who suggested that they go upstairs to the roof rather than use his bedchamber.”

“Rest assured, I shall have my butler look into the matter.”

Beaumont broke off with a quizzical expression. “A tall, blond woman, you say? I don’t recall anyone on my staff who fits that description. Probably one of the local village girls taken on for the week. With so many guests in the house, extra maids are required.”

“I see.”

There was nothing unusual about the collection of items on the night table, Lavinia thought. She saw a candlestick, a pair of spectacles, and a ring. She went to the wardrobe and opened it. Tobias came to stand behind her with the candle. Together they surveyed the array of expensively cut garments.

“I want to speak with the blond maid.” Tobias opened the drawers of the wardrobe, glancing briefly at carefully folded handkerchiefs and small clothes. “Will you ask your butler to locate her, sir?”

“If you feel it is necessary.” Beaumont took a step back and then hesitated uncertainly. “What is it that concerns you about this situation, March?”

“I would like to find out if Fullerton was still in the company of the maid when he fell to his death.” Tobias turned away from the wardrobe and went to the night table. He stood looking down at the objects on the surface. “Perhaps she can describe precisely what occurred.”

“Very well, I shall go and have a word with Drum.” Beaumont swung around and disappeared down the hall, seemingly relieved to have another clear goal.

Lavinia opened a trunk and looked inside. It was empty. All of the items that had been packed in it were no doubt hanging in the wardrobe. She closed the lid and looked at Tobias, who was in the process of going down on one knee to peer beneath the bed.

She saw his jaw tighten when he shifted his weight to his left leg, but she resisted the urge to ask him if he was in pain. He did not welcome constant inquiries on the subject of the injury he had sustained in Italy a few months earlier. The wound had long since healed, but she knew it still bothered him on occasion.

“What on earth do you expect to find under there?” she asked instead.

“How the devil should I know?” He finished his perusal of the floorboards, grasped a bedpost, and hauled himself back to his feet.

“I believe we are finished here.” He massaged his left thigh impatiently. Now for the roof.”

“Tobias, what is this all about? You do not think that Lord Fullerton’s death was an accident, do you?”

For a few seconds he looked as if he intended to evade the question. Then he shrugged. “I think he was murdered.”

“I was afraid that you had concluded as much. But what leads you to believe that?”

“It is a long story.” He headed for the door, taking the candle with him on a small stand. “One that I do not have time to go into just now.”

He was putting her off again, she thought. But this was not the moment to argue the point.

“Very well, but mark you, sir, I do intend to obtain a proper explanation from you at the earliest possible opportunity.”

She found herself speaking to thin air. Tobias was already outside in the hall, moving toward the staircase.

She was about to follow him, but something made her glance once more around the room they had just finished searching. Her eyes went to the night table. A pale wedge of moonlight illuminated the objects on the surface. It seemed to her that something had changed in the arrangement of the items.

In the next breath she realized what the difference was. The ring was gone.

An uneasy sensation fluttered across her nerves. Tobias was no thief. He had taken the ring for some very good reason, one that he had chosen not to confide to her or to Beaumont.

Her partner had been acting in an exceedingly odd manner since his conversation with Aspasia Gray.

“I really do not care for that woman,” she said aloud to the empty room.