Murder to Order: Seven

The evening reception glittered. Ms. Madison was well aware of two things. One was that her gown, supplied for the purpose, looked very plain and twdry next to the finery of others, something that the mischeivous Lady Sylvia seemed to find a great joke. The other was that the gathering looked a great deal too wealthy to be an awards dinner. She could spot at least three Lords, as well as a Member of Parliament and the Governor of a small British colony.

Her host stood out a mile, tall and still blond, in his late fifties, he greeted everyone with a hearty smile and a wave of the hand. Lady Sylvia spent a lot of time speaking with him, and Ms. Madison could not help but wonder what was going on.

"My sister seems tobe having the time of her life." A voice close to Ms. Madison caused her to start.

"You're jumpy right now, Lynette," Lord Ambrose Vaughan put a hand on her arm.

"Lord Ambrose!" Ms. Madison looked up into the handsome face of the young peer. Dark haired like his sister, Lord Ambrose was rumoured to be fantastically wealthy. His already great wealth had been augmented by numerous inheritances as well as successful speculation in the business world. The scar on his left cheek was the legacy of an attack on him by a business rival - some said it was a duelling scar. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I was invited," the young peer grinned. "Sylv tagged along as my guest - my being without a significant other right now."

"You've always been that way!" Ms. Madison laughed. "And Mike 'ld probably blow his top if I pretended to be it!"

"Then he ought to ask you to marry him," the peer replied.

"He does," Ms. Madison told him. "On a weekly basis."

"Then you ought to accept one of these days." Lord Ambrose shook his head. "No-one can wait for ever Lynette. And if it's that mystery boss of yours that's keeping you from him, then you ought to know that he's seeing someone else, that cat-girl."

"I know." Ms. Madison smiled cutely. "It's not that I'm carrying a torch, I just don't want to settle down just yet."

"You know a great many things, Lynette," Lord Ambrose laughed. "Still," his voice dropped to a whisper, "there are things you don't know - like the fact that he suspects." The peer pointed to the boss.