Lost Cause (A Daisy Dunlop Mystery ~ Book 1)

Chapter Eight

By the time Belinda got back with coffee, Daisy had started a search for the dirt on Elliott Wareham's parentage. Surely if there had been mutterings, someone would have said something sometime. Of course Elliott was in his forties, so a lot older than Lord Toby. The Internet wasn't around back then. She did stumble across a family history website for a Littlemeister Family that had links to the Warehams. The site showed the various branches of the Wareham lineage. She should be able to work out who would benefit if Toby stayed missing and Elliott was proved illegitimate, but it showed nothing untoward about Elliott's parentage.

There weren't any dates for births, deaths, or marriages. Apparently speculation that the next Duke of Mardon was a bastard wasn't interesting enough to be included on the site, or the Littlemeisters were too afraid to mention it for fear of reprisals. Years ago Daisy had helped her mam do some digging into grandma Dobbins' side of the family, much to Aunty Katherine's consternation. The old lady kept muttering about a dark past. The only dark past they'd discovered was generation after generation of men that went down the pit. Digging for coal wasn't the dark past they'd been hoping for.

Belinda placed the coffee on Daisy's desk and glanced over her shoulder. "What are you doing?"

Daisy hesitated. Should she tell her? Why not, it was hardly a big secret.

"Grab the chair from Solomon's desk, and I'll tell you."

Belinda put her coffee next to Daisy's, and then pulled the chair over and sat.

"Did you go to school around here?"

Belinda nodded. "St. Swithin's."

"Got any brothers who went to Langdon College?"

Belinda shook her head. "Sorry, no brothers. But I did see some of the Langdon boys from time to time. They all seemed very dashing to a bunch of teenage girls forced to live in a virtual nunnery."

Daisy recalled the papers on Maggot Marlborough's desk. "School dances, by any chance?"

"Absolutely."

"I don't suppose you happened to meet Tobias Wareham, did you?"

Belinda smiled. "Oh yes. Rather more than a meeting actually."

Daisy grinned. "Jackpot. Did he ever tell you anything weird about his family?"

"Why? What exactly are you up to? Are you trying to find Tobias?"

"I'm heir hunting, like they do on that TV show. Have you seen it?"

"Bits of it. Heir hunting sounds far more exciting than making up funeral wreaths and wedding bouquets. What can I do to help?"

Daisy lifted her cup of coffee and took a sip. "Tell me everything you know about Toby and his family."

"Okay, I'll trade you."

"For?"

"Everything you know about Solomon."

Daisy nodded her agreement. She felt sure Belinda was about to get duped. What Daisy knew about Solomon could be written on the back of a postage stamp.

"I met Tobias when he was at Langdon College. The older boys used to join in with St. Swithin's Girls' College for dances. I guess they wanted us to learn to be comfortable in social situations with the opposite sex. Tobias was extremely comfortable. In fact I seem to recall he was comfortable with almost all of the sixth form girls. Or he was until he got to me."

"A womanizer?"

"A cad for sure." Belinda sighed. "He was quite the dashing young man, and he came with a title. Most of the girls were desperately in love with him."