A Changing Light by Edith Maxwell (pdf ebook reader .txt) 📗

man might have made off with them and was killed for his misdeed?”

“Maybe. Before you came into the meeting yesterday, Ned Bailey told me he might be opening a motorcar factory. Apparently in Germany they are either adding electricity or some kind of engine to carriages so they can move under their own power.”

“A horseless carriage. Just think of it, Rosetta. No more streets filled with manure, no more giving a boy a coin to watch your steed when you run into a store to do an errand. It would be a different world, wouldn’t it?”

“It certainly would. But what Ned said made me wonder if somehow his plans were involved. When I said I’d heard something about missing plans, he inquired rather sharply and then acted nervous.”

“What else do you know about the unfortunate Canadian?” she asked.

At another knock on the door, I went to it. “Faith, what a delight.” I kissed her cheek.

“I wanted to tell thee about the soiree last night,” she said, rosy-cheeked and breathless.

“Come in, my dear. Bertie and I are having coffee and discussing the murder.”

“Of course you are. Why am I not surprised?” Faith laughed and greeted Bertie.

I brought her a cup of coffee and a plate. Faith was as slender as I, or as I had been before my present condition evidenced itself. She could easily consume a sweet baked treat even if she’d eaten breakfast twenty minutes earlier. She shed her coat and sat.

“Bertie had just asked about Justice Harrington,” I said. “He worked for his father-in-law’s company, Montgomery Carriages in Ottawa. That’s about the extent of my knowledge. Was Luthera at the soiree, Faith?”

“Indeed she was, in a new black gown, looking tragic.” She sipped the coffee. “But I had the feeling she was putting on an act. She certainly let the other ladies fuss over her, especially after Robert Clarke led a short tribute to her husband.”

After I’d delivered the Clarkes’ youngest child almost two years ago, I’d been able to save the mother, Georgia, from hemorrhaging. Her husband, Robert, was a wealthy carriage factory owner, and a generous, civic-minded one.

“I approached Luthera,” Faith continued. “I asked her if she would be traveling back to Ottawa soon. She told me rather irately that she would of course stay to represent her father’s company for the entire week.”

“Who knows, maybe theirs was a marriage of convenience,” Bertie said. “She might not be grieving for her husband at all.”

“Does thee know where Luthera is staying?” I asked Faith.

“Yes. She’s with the Clarkes. Georgia was there last night, too.”

“Excellent. I might need to pay a visit on Georgia later today,” I said. “I would like to know more about this Montgomery Carriage Company.”

“I’ll see what I can find out, as well.” Bertie stood. “Now I must run, or the citizens of Amesbury will be waiting outside the post office ready to have my head.”

“Thank thee for the buns, Bertie,” I said and extended a hand. “And thank Sophie.”

“I’ll do that. Lovely to see you, Faith, darling.” She squeezed my hand and made her way out.

“Did thee overhear anything else of use at the gathering?” I asked Faith.

“I’m not sure,” my niece replied. “Ned Bailey was there seemingly trying to conduct some manner of business. He would corner this or that businessman and engage them in a hushed conversation, but I doubt he was successful. It’s supposed to be a social affair. The daylight hours are for business, buying and selling and all that, the evenings for including the ladies and getting to know each other on a social level.”

“How did William Parry act?”

“Officious, as usual.” She raised a single eyebrow. “But I wondered if he was completely healthy. He kept coughing into his handkerchief.”

“He might be ill. I saw him going into the tuberculosis doctor’s office yesterday.”

“Does it seem the disease is worsening of late, Rose? Spreading? I keep hearing of more and more people falling ill to it.”

“I believe it is. Such ailments are often worse during the winter months, with all the houses shut up and wood and coal smoke being present. And for those weakened by the Asiatic influenza, consumption can be even more dangerous.”

“That makes sense.” Faith stood. “I’d better get myself off to work, too. Is thee feeling well, Rose?”

“Very well, indeed. And how is thy husband?”

“Also very well. Zeb has been busy with the Opening this week, though.”

“That’s right. He’s moved up in the Parry company.”

“I’ve barely seen him. He came home quite late last evening.”

“What has he been busy with?” I asked. “Is he selling, or perhaps displaying the carriages in the showroom?”

“Some of both. Thee knows how well he speaks. He started out in manufacturing, but they quickly realized someone with his education and well-spoken manner would be better suited interacting with the public.” She blushed. “Rose, I am blissfully happy, making a life with him.”

“We are both truly blessed with our men, are we not?”

She hugged me. “Yes, we are.”

As I tidied up the kitchen, I wished this case were tidier. I knew it wasn’t my business. No one I was close to was being suspected. Still, if I could help Kevin in some way, I would like to. Right now, though, the facts were only dim figures in a thick fog.

Chapter Twelve

Annie Beaumont lifted the Pinard horn from my bare belly an hour later. “The heartbeat is still fairly faint, but it’s strong.”

“Good.” I’d asked my former apprentice and now my assistant to undertake my antenatal care. We sat in my office, which had its own outdoor entrance from the wide covered side porch of our home. David had designed it particularly to enable me to continue my business. It was decorated simply with a desk and swivel chair, a chaise, a sink for handwashing, and a small coal stove. I’d added rose-colored side curtains on the windows, with lace half curtains for my clients’ privacy.

“It’s a little early for a measurement, but we might as well,” Annie continued. While I still