The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

Aiden and Mrs. Millicent Derby notice that Lady Helena’s room has been broken into. Two revolvers have been stolen from a case, and since Aiden has seen Evelyn with a revolver (in the graveyard, while he was in the body of Sebastian Bell), he assumes that she has one of the guns; he recalls that Evelyn said the revolver belongs to her mother.

Cunningham reunites with Aiden to report on his tasks. Cunningham was able to find the plague doctor costume in the rooms of a guest named Philip Sutcliffe along with a note arranging a meeting between Sutcliffe and Lord Hardcastle at the ball. Cunningham also read the note left in the woods for Evelyn: The note was unsigned and warned Evelyn to stay away from Millicent Derby. Cunningham wryly points out that he himself could be a suspect in Evelyn’s murder, and he hints that he has a complicated history: “Strange you haven’t heard about my scandalous relationship to the Hardcastles, then. Oh, I wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise for you” (119).

During dinner, Michael Hardcastle announces that his sister, Evelyn, is going to marry Lord Ravencourt. Aiden now understands the hideous punishment that Evelyn’s parents have devised for her: “If Lord and Lady [Helena] Hardcastle really do blame their daughter for Thomas’s death, their punishment is exquisite.