A Very Messy Business In Belgravia

Chapter Seven

As Gabriel Carrington had predicted, the final interviews with the rest of the household staff yielded nothing further of interest.  None of them had seemed remotely suspicious.  Nor were they able to shed any more light on the matter of the Italian letters.

After they had given Lord Grey's study back to him, they went their separate ways for a brief time.  Gabriel had arranged to meet another client for a couple of hours, and Amalthea intended to eat a quiet lunch with Charlotte, as the two women had not yet had the opportunity for any meaningful conversation.

Charlotte still did not have much of an appetite, so the meal was more akin to an afternoon tea, but Amalthea had no complaints.  It was just the two women, so there was no need for any kind of formality, and she had long since believed that the upper classes devoted far too much time to the activity of eating in any event.

She took great pains to keep the conversation light as they picked at their food.  There would be plenty of time to talk about the case later, and she wanted Charlotte to feel that it was just two friends catching up like they used to.

Sadly, the brief period of normality was over far too soon when Gabriel returned from his appointment and Lord Grey appeared from his study.  The two men retreated back there to talk seriously, and Charlotte and Amalthea retired to the drawing room to do the same.

It did not take long to update Charlotte on their progress, and the young woman had unfortunately been able to offer little additional insight other than to confirm that she had not seen any correspondence either from an address in Italy or a solicitor amongst her aunt's belongings, which was what they had expected.

Amalthea decided to press further.

"Charlotte, when you and your aunt travelled eight years ago, did you spend much time in Italy?"

"Oh yes.  Several months.   Aunt Emily loved Italy, and I was quite happy to stay there for a while.  The weather was lovely."

Amalthea sat up straight.  Now this was progress.

"Were you anywhere near Florence?"

"Why, yes, as a matter of fact, although I couldn't tell you where precisely.  My memory is rather unreliable."  The young woman sat forward.  "Do you think these letters have something to do with our trip?"

"It's very likely," the countess conceded.  "I cannot think of any other reason why your aunt would have a connection with that country.  Tell me, did she make any particular friends while you were there?"

Charlotte thought for a moment.

"I'm afraid I couldn't say.  We weren't together all of the time.   It's definitely possible, though.  Aunt Emily was a very outgoing person."

Amalthea sat quietly for a moment, thinking.  Charlotte's revelation about Italy had provided at least some context as to why her aunt would have a reason to be in contact with someone there, but they still had no idea who she had been writing to and what, if anything, it had to do with her death.  She was brought back to her immediate surroundings when Charlotte asked a question.

"What will you do next, Amalthea?

"In the coming few days, Mr Carrington and I will go and see your family solicitor, Mr Bracewell.  Fortunately, he is also familiar to us Waverleys on my mother's side, and he knows that both our families were close.  I'm hoping that the history between us means he will feel more comfortable confiding in me about Aunt Emily's circumstances."

"Yes, I suppose that's possible," Charlotte replied.

Amalthea glanced at her friend, who suddenly looked very pale.  She reached out and took the woman's hand.  It was cold.