Charles Todd - A matter of Justice

Edgar had said nothing to him about replacing his leg with an artificial one.

And again, Meredith said, apropos of that, "He was afraid he'd make a fool of himself tomorrow, falling. He feels safer just now with his crutches."

"Did Elise tell you that?" he said. Or had you read it in Edgar's tea leaves?

A twinkle appeared in Meredith's dark eyes. "Ian. I've seen Edgar any number of times when he has come up to London. If he brings Elise, she stays with me. For propriety's sake. And we've talked a time or two."

He felt himself flush with embarrassment. Managing a laugh, he said, "Sorry. I met you first as a necromancer, remember."

"Yes. I remember. It was not the best of footings for friendship, was it? I can sometimes guess what someone is thinking-anyone can, if he knows human nature. A policeman employs the same skills, surely. It isn't so strange a gift."

"A policeman," he responded dryly, "doesn't care to have those skills used against him."

She laughed. It was low and husky and somehow intimate. "Touche."

As the storm descended on them in earnest, the party moved down to the kitchen and made a spur-of-the-moment tea out of what they found there, carrying it triumphantly to the room overlooking the terrace and sitting on the rugs or in the chairs, conversation flowing smoothly. Rutledge found he was enjoying himself.

Meredith Channing was talking with Neal Hammond, and Rut- ledge could hear her voice but not what she was saying, though it was clear from the expression on Hammond's face that he found her attractive. From the way he touched her arm at one point, it was also clear that they had known each other for some time.

Hamish spoke, startling Rutledge. He had been silent since that first sharp " 'Ware!" as Rutledge had come down the stairs earlier in the evening to join the gathering. "Ye canna' let your guard down. It would be foolish."

But the evening had unexpectedly turned into a very pleasant few hours, and when the storm had passed and it was too late to adjourn to The Luttrell Arms for dinner, no one made a move to leave.

Edgar, coming to sit beside Rutledge, was in the best of spirits, all qualms apparently quashed for now, and he smiled at his friend with wry warmth.

"Thank you for coming, Ian. I thought I needed support through this. Now I'm glad I have a friend beside me."

"A thunderstorm can work wonders," Rutledge said, grinning at Edgar. "Did you order it up yourself?"

"If I'd thought about it, I'd have tried. I think Elise's parents are satisfied now that she's not marrying a cripple with no prospects. They knew my grandfather, and I've heard they told their daughter in the beginning that I wasn't half the man he was. That, thank God, was on my last leave, before I'd lost my leg. I was greener then. They seem to be enjoying themselves tonight." He stretched out his leg and said, "I hadn't realized that you knew Meredith."

It was a fishing expedition, transparently so.

"I met her at Maryanne Browning's," Rutledge replied.

"She's been a widow for several years now. I'm glad to see her out and about again." Edgar Maitland was matchmaking.

Rutledge smothered a smile. "I'll keep that in mind," he said dryly.

"You could do worse. I'm not one to speak ill of the dead, but Jean wasn't right for you. I could have told you that in 1914, but you wouldn't have listened."

"Probably not."

Edgar laughed. "You have no idea what happiness is until you've found someone to love. Just look at me!"

Elise came over to join them, saving Rutledge from finding an answer to that. He stood up to offer her his chair, but she said, "It's near the witching hour. And the storm seems to have dwindled to broken clouds. We must leave. I have it on good authority-my mother-that it's bad luck to see one's bride on the day of the wedding, until she walks down the aisle."

"We don't want to risk that." Edgar got to his feet with some difficulty, then shoved his crutches under his arms with the ease of habit. "Let's start rounding up the guests."

In a flurry of farewells, Elise collected her family and friends and set out for Dunster. Edgar watched them go, the headlamps of the convoy of cars twisting and turning down the road.

"You didn't wish Mrs. Channing a good night. Not that I saw."

"I'll see her tomorrow and apologize profusely."

"You're incorrigible, my friend. Hammond will snap her up if you don't." he wedding was held in St. George's, a small gem that had once

Laughing, they went up to bed. been part of a long-vanished priory before becoming a parish church. It boasted a magnificent wagon roof and what was said to be the longest rood screen in England, but all eyes were on the bride as she walked down the aisle. Photographs of the wedding party were taken in what had once been the Prior's Garden, and there was a breakfast, and music, but not for dancing, in The Luttrell Arms, across from the Yarn Market. A quartet played softly in the background, and the cake was a masterpiece of culinary art. On the top sat an elegant sugar swan, wings spread wide and a ribbon in its beak bearing the names of the bride and groom in gold lettering. Rutledge, seated next to Edgar, led the toasts, and then as the conversation grew more general, discovered that Elise's father was a longtime friend of his godfather, David Trevor, who lived now in Scotland.

"Wonderful architect," Caldwell said. "It's a pity that he retired so early. But then I understand-I also lost a son in the war. Elise's middle brother. Not something you get over, is it?"

"No, sir, it isn't. Have you also retired?"

"To my sorrow, no. I advise people on how to invest their money. And they won't hear of my giving it up." Caldwell smiled. "The day will come, inevitably. I expect I shall have to ease them into accepting it. My wife is eager for me to grow roses and spend more time with her." He made a face. "I'd much rather fish, you know. I'm an angler by nature, not a gardener."

In the early afternoon, the bridal pair set off on their wedding trip. Edgar drove, waving gaily to guests as he and Elise bounced over the cobbles and turned beyond the castle. The motorcar had been modified so that he could manage. It was, he'd told Rutledge, a matter of pride. Once out of sight, Elise would take the wheel for the rest of their journey.

The remaining guests left the inn in the next hour, many of them on their way back to London, and Rutledge found himself face-to-face with Meredith Channing as she came to say good-bye. They had been thrown together often during the morning, and Rutledge had to admit that he'd enjoyed her company.

"Safe journey," he said, and she nodded.

"Same to you. I'm driving with friends. We ought to make good time. That was a lovely toast you proposed to the bride and groom. You have a way with words."

"Thank you. It was heartfelt."

"Yes, Edgar was touched. It was good to see you again, Ian." She offered her hand, and he took it. They shook briefly, and then she was gone, leaving an unexpected emptiness behind her.

Rutledge told himself it was because everyone else had left, and the day that had begun with such glorious sunshine for the wedding was now changing.

He turned to say good-bye to Elise's parents as they followed the last of the guests out the door. Caldwell clapped him on the shoulder and said, "If you're in the City, stop in."

"I will, sir. Thank you."

And then he was back at the house on the hill, where the view was magnificent and his footsteps echoed through the rooms. The ghosts of laughter and excitement and happy voices made the silence seem almost ominous, and he shrugged off the sudden upsweep of melancholy.

He spent the next hour clearing away, as Edgar had asked him to do, preparing to close up the house before he left in the morning. And then he sat on the terrace to watch the sun set behind a bank of clouds. Restless, he was in no mood to sleep, but finally he took himself off to bed, with a small whiskey and the voice of Hamish MacLeod for company.