As if his mind was on something other than Mrs. Melhuish’s death, the Earl said almost as if he spoke to himself,
“I suppose, as you had Abigail with you, that you were properly looked after?”
He shot a suspicious glance at Conrad as he spoke, who knowing exactly what he was thinking, wished that he could knock him down.
How dare anyone even imagine that if Delora had been alone on the ship he or any other man would have taken advantage of her position?
Then, even as he felt his anger rise, he knew that this was the sort of behaviour that might be expected of Denzil and he was not likely to give any other man credit for being decent and chivalrous.
As if in answer to the unpleasantness of the Earl’s suspicions, Abigail appeared at that moment on deck.
In her black dress with her plai
