A Most Naked Solution Read Free

familiar. Camden finally placed her. “You’re her housekeeper, are you not? Mrs. Ovard?”
    Mrs. Ovard’s lips thinned. “Not any longer. She let me go. As if I hadn’t worked in that house for thirty years.”
    “Why did she let you go?”
    “Because I knew her for what she was. She isn’t the good Christian woman she pretends to be. She hated her husband. She wasted no time disposing of his things after he was killed.”
    Camden shifted away from the tree, hands tensing at his sides. “Do you think she had something to do with his death?”
    The woman’s nostrils flared. “Why else would she be creeping about, warning people not to speak with you?”
    Camden knew that there was undoubtedly more to this woman’s motivation than she’d admit to. Revenge being a likely one. But he couldn’t disregard her accusations. Especially when they fit perfectly with his suspicions.
    “Did you observe anything unusual in Lady Harding’s behavior around the time her husband was killed?”
    “She purchased a pistol. One of the maids told me she saw it in the room.”
    “Eugena Ovard!” Mrs. Haws trundled out of the tavern, a rolling pin brandished in her hand. “You had better not be tattling any of your filth in that young man’s ears.”
    Mrs. Ovard ducked behind him. “I’m only telling him God’s own truth.”
    “Well, I imagine the good Lord will have a thing or two to say about your truth when you meet him.”
    “It’s better than lying for a trollop.” Mrs. Ovard stiffened her spine and stalked away.
    Mrs. Haws tapped the rolling pin against her hand, dislodging a puff of flour. “She’s a bitter woman. I wouldn’t believe a word she says, my lord.”
    Whom did he trust? The bitter woman or the lying one? Damnation, this is what he got for becoming involved. As contrary as his equations might be, at least he knew what to do with them. “Did Lady Harding ask you not to speak with me?”
    Mrs. Haws focused on dusting flour off her apron. “No.”
    “But she did speak to you this morning?’
    The woman’s cheeks darkened. “She might have stopped by for a quick chat and a piece of pie.”
    “What did you chat about?”
    “Really, it isn’t my place to speak about my betters. Perhaps you should go speak to Lady Harding. You’ll know right away that she hasn’t a thing to hide.” The woman clutched the rolling pin tightly to her ample bosom.
    Camden nodded. He intended to do just that.

 
    C HAPTER T HREE
    “I can tell him you are not at home, my lady,” her butler said.
    Sophia straightened her skirts with a quick tug. She wanted to hide. She wanted to run to where Lord Grey wouldn’t be able to follow.
    But she glared at the pale, frightened woman reflected in the mirror, willing her to disappear. She wasn’t that woman anymore.
    Yes, you are , a small voice inside her mocked. You are a coward. You will always be a coward . If you weren’t a coward, your father wouldn’t have had to come clean up the mess you made of your life .
    But she’d been about to clean it up. Her husband had just been killed before she could. She would have done it this time. She would have stood up to Richard—no matter the beating it earned her—and then left him.
    Like the dozen other times you made that resolve?
    Sophia shut out the voice as she walked down the stairs. No matter how cowardly she’d behaved, she refused to let any blame fall on her father.
    Sophia slowed as she neared the parlor where Lord Grey waited. Why now? Why after all these months was he finally investigating?
    Lord Grey stood by the window. Her husband, Richard, would have looked like an angel standing in that pool of light. His golden ringlets would have sparkled, his eyes would have been as light as the summer sky. Ladies would have sighed over his beauty.
    Lord Grey was the opposite; rather than radiating the light, he seemed to absorb it, the sun’s rays disappearing into his short dark hair. His jaw was too strong and his