An Improper Death (Dr. Alexandra Gladstone Mysteries Book 2) by Paula Paul Read Free Book Online

been hired by a solicitor for the family of a young man accused of burglary to act as barrister in the young man’s defense.
    Nicholas got wind of the case by accident when he happened to overhear a conversation between colleagues who were discussing the fact that a solicitor for the mother of the accused was looking to hire a barrister for her son. The family, he had learned, lived in Essex at Newton-Upon-Sea. After that, he had maneuvered and manipulated and used the considerable influence of his family name to convince the solicitor, a Mr. Herbert Fitzjames, that he was the man for the job. He had never met the mother, whose name, he had been given to understand, was Mrs. Orkwright.
    As it so happened, he would not have had to use any of his family’s influence nor any of his manipulative strategies to acquire the case. No one else wanted it. His enthusiasm puzzled his colleagues, since it was a most remarkably ordinary case. The accused was simply some young ne’er-do-well arrested for burglary. He was the son, stepson to be exact, of a local dignitary in Newton-Upon-Sea. A retired Admiral Orkwright. Also, the mother’s decision to hire a barrister had come rather late in the game, so there was little time to prepare, which made the case even more unattractive to his colleagues.
    Newton-Upon-Sea was, as his colleagues reminded him, a singularly ordinary town, certainly not one for which most barristers would vie to visit either for pleasure or in the line of business. It was not the town, in fact, that interested Nicholas. It was a woman. A markedly peculiar woman in that she had chosen to educate herself as a doctor of medicine. One Dr. Alexandra Gladstone.
    He had met Dr. Gladstone several months ago when he’d been a guest at a dinner party given by a former classmate, the late Lord Dunsford, whose country house was just outside Newton-Upon-Sea. Dr. Gladstone was also a guest at the party, and he had found her fascinating. Odd, yes, but fascinating. So much so that, when the opportunity arose, he had contrived to see her again. Then, as luck would have it, the young man escaped Newgate by some trickery as yet unknown. Nicholas saw it as his duty to travel to the young man’s hometown to gather information. It did seem quite possible that the accused might return here to his family, and didn’t that mean his barrister should investigate? As Nicholas saw it, Fate was working in his interest.
    Now that he was in Newton, the first thing was to direct his manservant to attend to the practical matter of lodging. Until Lord Dunsford’s recent unfortunate and scandalous death, he could have lodged at Montmarsh, the late Earl of Dunsford’s grand and gracious dwelling. Now, however, the house remained closed and unoccupied except for a caretaker, since there was still some dispute as to the rightful heir. Who the heir turned out to be, he would undoubtedly not even know of the existence of Nicholas Forsythe. And so, Nicholas thought with regret, he would never again be likely to be a guest in the elegance of Montmarsh. Not that there weren’t plenty of other country homes where he was welcome, including his own childhood home, Lockewood, to the north of London, near Oxford. His older brother was already quite prepared to inherit Lockewood by right of primogeniture.
    Nicholas was far from homeless, however. His living quarters were an elegant house in Kensington, quite suitable for comfortable living and lavish entertaining. For the time being, however, he would have to content himself with a room in the inn above the Blue Ram, a true public house which was not only where local townsmen met to drink and socialize, but where the court of assizes met when it was in town, and where other meetings important to the populace were held.
    Within a few minutes, Morton, his servant, had secured rooms at the inn above the tavern. When Nicholas entered his rented room, he noted that, although it was sparsely furnished, it was