Love & Murder: An Eliza Winter Mystery

Harrods

By Thursday, Eliza was full-on debating whether to share Penelope's secret with the very worried Vanderwahls. Penelope still hadn't turned up and even though Eliza demanded Martin tell her when the post arrived, he never came to her with any letters.

Her parents were preparing to leave for the countryside and she wondered whether to tell her own parents Penelope's secret and get their advice on what to do. However, she worried her mother would demand Eliza tell Lady Vanderwahl and she just didn't know if she was ready to face that yet.

The other problem Eliza faced was knowing Penelope had been seeing someone with possible intentions to elope, but not knowing who the man was. Where could she start looking for Penelope?

As the footmen were loading her parent's trunks into the motorcar, Eliza decided to stay mum. She had wondered if Penelope had sent a letter of her whereabouts and it just hadn't arrived yet. No reason to ring more alarm bells just yet.

"Promise you'll behave while we're gone?" Mary asks Eliza as they stand near the car. They watch the last hatbox get loaded up and Eliza turns to her mother and replies, "I promise. I'm going to the ball tomorrow and after, I have no intentions of leaving Winter house."

"You are young darling. We don't want you to get into trouble, but we do wish you'd adventure out a bit. Go have fun, go to the theater, get some things at Harrods or visit the Savoy for tea. Put yourself out there a bit," her mother tells her, but Eliza knows she'd never do any of that without Penelope.

Mary and Edward leave quick kisses on Eliza's cheeks before they leave her. She watches as the emerald green and gold motorcar disappears into traffic and spins around to head back inside.

Eliza knows she doesn't have enough time to call in a seamstress to create a gown for the ball, so as much as she doesn't want to leave the house, she knows she needs to get some shopping done.

After securing Eliza's favorite silk hat, adorned with two large feathers onto Eliza's pinned up strawberry curls, Lucy reaches for a pair of cream cotton gloves and hands them to Eliza.

"Shall I hail a cab my lady or will you be traveling by foot?" Lucy asks, as Eliza pulls the gloves over her long dainty fingers.

"You can hail us a cab. You will be accompanying me," Eliza answers flatly. She knows Lucy loves going into the city, especially Harrods, so she wasn't at all surprised when Lucy lets out a squeal of glee before rushing off to go change. Her mother doesn't particularly like how close Lucy is becoming to Eliza, but Eliza has two people she can trust and rely on and one of those people is currently missing.

After pinning her own hat on, Lucy meets Eliza on the front steps of the Winter's stately London home and within minutes, is securing them a hansom cab. With the tightness of the corset and thickness of the crinoline and dress fabric, Eliza suddenly understands why her parents rushed out of the London heat. She could hardly breathe without perspiring.

When the cab drops them onto the street opposite the entrance to Harrods, Lucy grabs Eliza's arm and in awe.

"Golly, isn't it just the most magnificent building? I never get tired of seeing it." Both women stand and admire the massive stone building, with the equally massive Union Jack flying about in the breeze above it.

"We can admire it in the fall. It's too hot to stand out here and gape," Eliza replies, pulling Lucy across the street. Harrods had only reopened a few months ago, so the store was busy with onlookers and shoppers. Lucy pushes through women eagerly fingering silk hats and scarves while Eliza notices many shoppers pushing their way to the food hall, eager to gape at the assortment of treats.