Nan obviously failed to grasp the importance of Mira’s revelation. “Yes?”
“Don’t you see? Olivia told Sarah that someone was following her down the hallway, that she heard the footsteps. But she did not mention that the person following her had a limp, that she heard a foot being dragged along or that the steps were in any way uneven. If she had mentioned such a distinctive quality to the steps, Sarah would surely have told me, as that description would have clearly marked Olivia’s pursuer as Nicholas. What’s more, Olivia saw someone darting through the shrubberies. Those were Sarah’s exact words: ‘darting through the shrubberies.’ Nicholas cannot dart, any more than he can fly. The man’s limp is quite pronounced. Whoever was haunting poor Olivia Linworth in the days before her death was not Nicholas. He is not the murderer. Logically, he simply cannot be!” she concluded, her voice ringing with triumph.
Nan was silent a moment.
“Miss Mira?” she questioned softly. “I do not mean to be presumptuous, but it seems that you might be leaping to conclusions.”
Taken aback, Mira asked, “Whatever do you mean?”
“Well, it is only that your evidence seems a bit thin,” Nan said gently. “Miss Sarah Linworth did not mention that Miss Olivia Linworth did not mention an uneven gait. But that does not mean that the person following Miss Olivia Linworth did not have a limp. It only means that either Miss Olivia Linworth did not think to mention that fact to Miss Sarah Linworth or that Miss Sarah Linworth did not think to mention it to you. And Miss Sarah Linworth may have said, specifically, that Miss Olivia Linworth saw someone—what was it?—‘darting through the shrubberies’? But that does not mean that Miss Olivia Linworth described the incident that way. She might have said ‘moving through the shrubberies’ or ‘hurrying through the shrubberies’…either of which might describe the activity of someone with a limp.”
Mira paused, considering Nan’s reasoning. “Nonsense,” she concluded. “You may have a point with the shrubbery darting, but I simply cannot believe that Olivia would hear distinctive dragging footsteps behind her, yet not mention it to her sister. Or that Sarah would fail to mention such an important fact to me on the two—two!—occasions she described Olivia’s fears. Especially when she was clearly trying to convince me of Nicholas’s guilt. No, Nan, logic leads to only one conclusion: Nicholas is not the guilty party.”
Nan sighed. “Miss Mira, even if you are right that Lord Ashfield is not the person who was following Miss Olivia Linworth through the hallways and lurking outside her window, it does not mean that he did not kill her. We cannot be certain that the person following her about is the same person who killed her.”
Mira laughed. “Nan, now you are simply being ridiculous! What is the likelihood that Olivia would have one person following her about and another intent on killing her, both here at Blackwell Hall, within the space of a few days?” she scoffed. “I am quite confident that there was only one person plaguing Olivia Linworth that summer, one person intent on doing her harm, and that person was most decidedly not Nicholas. Logic, Nan, logic!”
“Miss Mira,” Nan responded, her voice heavy with concern, “I worry that what you are calling logic is more like wishful thinking. Please be careful, Miss Mira, and make certain that you’re thinking with your head and not your heart. Or, at least be honest with yourself about whether it is facts or fancy guiding you. Deceiving yourself might get you killed.”
Mira tutted dismissively. “You are just sour because I woke you up. I’m sure in the morning you’ll realize I have the right of it.” She stood and patted Nan’s feet beneath the covers. “You sleep now, and we can talk about this more tomorrow.”
Mira made her way back into her bedroom, closing Nan’s door behind her. She stopped by the window to close the curtains against the moonlight.
And she froze.
There, in the garden beneath her window, she saw a flicker of movement. A flash in the moonlight that might have been a white shirt. Or, it might have been nothing more than a magnolia blossom.