The Glass House Read Online Free PDF Page B

particular importance. A gentleman
of much money and leisure time. He enjoys social gatherings."
    I shrugged. "So might many a man."
    "Lately, he has taken to the new sort of gas
that leaves one feeling euphoric. He invites ladies and gentlemen
to partake of it in his upstairs rooms. Interesting that Lord
Barbury decided to take Peaches there."
    "Might she have gone there the day of her
death?"
    "That is possible. Let us hope so. If she'd
had some of Inglethorpe's magic gas, she might not have felt the
blow that took her life."
    I did not understand how that could be, but I
didn’t comment. "She might have made some acquaintance there, who
could help us discover her movements yesterday."
    "It is worth a try," Grenville agreed.
    Inglethorpe in truth might have nothing to do
with Peaches death, but I wanted to leave no stone unturned.
Peaches might have made a friend at Inglethorpe's gatherings,
someone who possibly could tell us where she'd been the day she'd
died and what she'd done. Also, she might have gone to this
Inglethorpe's home and met someone there, gone away with them, and
died by their hand, for reasons unknown. Perhaps Inglethorpe
himself had killed her.
    "Shall we speak to Mr. Inglethorpe then?" I
asked, lifting my glass of ale.
    Grenville nodded. "He had gatherings on
Monday and Wednesday afternoons. I will write and ask him to admit
you to the gathering tomorrow."
    My glass paused halfway to my lips. "Will you
not be attending with me?" That seemed unlike Grenville, who was
usually adamant to be in the thick of things. "Another appointment
with porcelain?"
    Grenville flushed. "I keep my distance from
Inglethorpe."
    "May I ask why?"
    "Oh, certainly you may ask." Grenville
stopped, looked contrite. "I beg your pardon, Lacey. If you must
know, Inglethorpe propositioned me once. A few years ago. It was a
bit embarrassing."
    "I see." Such things had happened to
Grenville before, much to his dismay. Wealthy and elegant Grenville
was not only the object of women's aspirations but of a few
gentlemen's as well. "Is Inglethorpe an unnatural, then?" I
asked.
    "I honestly do not believe he cares which way
the wind blows," Grenville said. "Inglethorpe enjoys sensual
pleasure of any kind. He claims he does not hold my refusal against
me, but even so, I avoid him." Grenville gave me a sharp look.
"That goes no further than you, please, Lacey."
    "I would never repeat your conversation to
another," I said stiffly.
    He sighed. "I beg your pardon. I know. I have
been put off by this poor woman's murder."
    So had I. "Have you been able to discover, at
all, if Lord Barbury was at his club yesterday afternoon, as he
claims?" I asked.
    "He was. At White's. I've met a few fellows
who claimed he was there, though I'll poke about a bit more and
make certain. Though I do not like to think of Barbury as a
murderer. He is grief-stricken. It’s heartbreaking to see him."
    "He might not have done the deed himself but
hired someone to kill her," I pointed out, "while making certain he
was visible at his club."
    "You are a cheerful chap, Lacey." Grenville
turned his ale glass, watching the liquid inside. "I like Barbury,
you see. He is not fatuous or toadying. He says what he thinks, and
I find that refreshing."
    Grenville had genuine liking for few people.
I hoped for his sake that Barbury did not turn out to be a
murderer, but I could not dismiss him simply because Grenville
approved of him.
    He sipped his ale. "It is a bother that we
don't know whether Peaches was killed in the Temple Gardens or her
body brought there afterward. At least in the Hanover Square
affair, we knew where the man was killed and more or less why." He
made an expression of distaste, recalling that gruesome death.
"This is different. This is the work of a brute."
    I agreed.
    I had not told Grenville or Thompson of the
other reason I wanted to look into the mystery of Peaches' death.
General anger that someone could commit such a crime was part of
it, but the other