Читать книгу The Wolfe's Mate - Paula Marshall - Страница 11

‘Has no one any notion where the wretched woman was going?’

Mr Western, on the urgings of his wife, was interviewing the servants two days after Miss Beverly’s disappearance. Any hope that she might suddenly return was fading, and since an examination of her room had shown that she had taken nothing with her except the clothes in which she had left the house, it was beginning to appear extremely likely that some misfortune had befallen her.

The butler answered for his staff. ‘None at all, sir. As you know, we had little to do with Miss Beverly, nor she with us. She exchanged no confidences with anybody—indeed, until she failed to return, no one was quite sure why she had left the house.’

‘Then we must inform the authorities of her disappearance,’ said Mr Western gloomily. ‘She is, after all, of good family, and we must not appear to be negligent or careless concerning her safety.’

‘Oh, we must be seen to be doing the proper thing,’ said his wife contemptuously. ‘For my part, I still think that she has run off with someone. Such creatures are more trouble than they are worth.’