Heirs and Graces (A Royal Spyness Mystery) (15 page)

“No worries,” Jack said. “I can push the chair to the end of the hall and then carry her down the stairs.”

“Jack, I think it takes two people,” I began, but he reached into Sissy’s chair and lifted her as easily as if she was no weight at all.

“There you are. Like I said, no worries.” He had a big grin on his face. He put her back in the bath chair, opened the door and set off at a great pace down the hall. Oh, dear, I thought as I watched them go. I do hope she’s not falling for someone who might have killed her uncle and tried to kill her mother.

Chapter 17

The tableau assembled in the library looked like the set from a period stage drama. The old sisters in their outmoded fashions were sitting in high-backed, leather armchairs. The twins sat cross-legged on the floor. The three Starlings stood uncomfortably by the bookcase on the wall. There was no sign of Edwina.

Everyone looked up expectantly as the door opened, but it was Jack carrying Sissy. One of the servants followed with the bath chair. They settled her off to one side, by the fire.

“Isn’t this exciting?” Simon said in a stage whisper. “I keep expecting a detective in a deerstalker to appear at any moment saying, ‘I’ve called you all together to name the murderer.’”

“As long as it’s not ‘I’ve called you all together to tell you to leave my house this instant,’” Nick replied.

“Do you think Ceddy’s waiting to make a grand entrance?” Simon whispered.

“With his mother. What a fearsome duo. And where is Lady Irene? The main players are not here yet. Only us bit parts.”

As if on cue, the door opened and the dowager duchess came in. Her gaze scanned the room. “Good. You’re all here,” she said. She noticed Jack. “There you are, John.” Her voice sounded breathless. “We hadn’t seen you all morning. We thought you might have gone out.”

“What, in this weather?” Jack grinned. “Not me. I’m not used to rain. We only get six inches a year where I come from.”

“You’re here now. That’s the important thing,” she said, “because this concerns you more than anyone else.”

She looked around the room. “I should first tell you that my daughter, Lady Irene, is awake and drinking some black coffee. That is wonderful news, is it not?”

“What happened to Mummy?” Sissy asked. “Is something wrong with her?”

“She was a little under the weather. She’s quite all right now, and that’s all that matters,” Edwina said smoothly.

“What happened to Lady Irene?” Adrian whispered to me.

“Took a sleeping draft and they couldn’t wake her.”

“Tried to kill herself, you mean?” Adrian whispered back then turned red when he realized that Edwina was frowning at him and clearing her throat.

“I have more news to impart,” she said. “News that is almost too horrible to express out loud. I am afraid to tell you that my son Cedric, Duke of Eynsford, is dead.”

There was a little yelp of horror from one of the Starlings.

“Not Ceddy!” one of them exclaimed.

“Poor Cedric,” Princess Charlotte said. “I told you the Ouija board spelled out ‘death,’ didn’t I? The spirits never lie.”

“Damn your spirits, Charlotte,” Edwina snapped. “My son was murdered.”

There was a stunned silence during which all one could hear was the crackle of the fire, the drumming of the rain on the window and the constant
drip, drip, drip
from a nearby drainpipe.

“Where did this happen?” Virginia asked at last.

“In the glen, on the estate. Lady Georgiana found him when she took the architect to meet Cedric.”

“And he was definitely murdered?” Charlotte asked.

“Very definitely,” Edwina said. “There can be no doubt that somebody killed him in cold blood.”

“On the estate.” Virginia looked around nervously. “One doesn’t expect the criminal classes to have infiltrated our safe and secure little world. I wonder what it was—had he fallen foul of criminal types, perhaps? Did he have gambling debts? Or did he just surprise a burglar making off with some of our silver?”

“We must wait for the police to find out the truth,” Edwina said. “An inspector is on his way now.”

“How was he killed, Grandmama?” Kat asked.

“Such matters are not suitable for children, Katherine,” Edwina said.

“I only wanted to know whether you took one look at him and could see he had been murdered,” Kat insisted. “We like reading detective novels, you know, so we’re interested. I don’t need to know the details if they are not suitable for my ears.”

“If you wish this morbid curiosity satisfied, then I can tell you that your uncle was killed with some violence.”

I saw Katherine give her brother a satisfied grin, and I wondered whether they might have had some kind of bet on this.

Edwina cleared her throat again and went on. “The important point at this moment is that there is a new duke of Eynsford. John, you have now taken your uncle’s place. This is now your house, your estate.”

“Stone the flaming crows,” Jack said. He gave me a look that was half panic, half amusement.

“The duke’s suite of rooms will be prepared for you as soon as the police have finished their investigation and your uncle’s belongings can be removed. As of now they will be untouched, in case the police find any kind of clue in there.”

“But I thought you said he was killed in the glen?” Virginia asked. “Are you trying to say that he was not murdered by an outsider?”

“I have no idea, Virginia,” Edwina said. “I just wish nothing to be touched until the police have made a thorough investigation.” She looked around the company. “Now, if you will excuse me, I have to address the servants and apprise them of the situation. John, you will come with me. It is right and fitting that they are formally introduced to you. They are your staff now.”

She took his arm. He looked absolutely stunned as she started to lead him off. She paused in the doorway and looked back at us, all frozen in place with shock. “I suggest that we all stay reasonably close by, as I’m sure the police will want a statement from each of us. And it goes without saying that nobody should attempt to go anywhere near the glen.” She paused and glared at Nick and Katherine. “Out of morbid curiosity,” she added. “Because you’ll find a policeman guarding the site, and there will be serious repercussions from me.” Then she gave a little jerking nod of the head and went out the door with Jack in tow.

Nick and Katherine rushed over to me. “Isn’t it thrilling, Georgie?” Nick said, his eyes sparkling. “A real murder, and awful Uncle Cedric at that. If anyone had to be murdered, I’m glad it’s him.”

“It’s ‘he,’ Nicholas,” I said, “and I don’t think you should say things like that out loud. It will get back to your grandmother.”

He nodded. “I only meant . . . well, there are some people one likes and others one doesn’t. I’m going to take another look at Sissy’s Sherlock Holmes book and see what he would have done to find clues. What’s the betting there are tiny clues all over the place that the police will overlook, eh, Kat? You know, the match from a certain matchbox that showed the murderer was left-handed and came from Austria?”

“I think you two should stay well out of the way of the police,” I said. “Real-life murders are not like Sherlock Holmes. Besides, it’s your uncle who died. You should be in mourning.”

“It’s hard to be in mourning for someone so nasty,” Nick said as we came out of the room into the hallway. “He made it horribly clear that he never wanted us here. He was stinking rich and yet he wouldn’t pay for school for me and Kat.”

“Kat and me,” I corrected.

“You see how desperately we need schooling, don’t you?” Katherine said. “Utterly hopeless, that’s what Mr. Carter says.”

“I think you are lucky to have such a fine tutor. You should make the most of his brilliant brain.”

“Anyway, everything will change now, won’t it?” Katherine said happily. “Jack is now lord of the manor, and he’ll want to help his poor relatives.”

“I wouldn’t count on it,” I said.

“Why not?” Kat looked puzzled.

“Because one never knows everything about people. Jack might decide to take his money and go back to Australia and convert this house into a hotel.”

“Surely not. Jack’s a good fellow,” Nick said.

“One never knows,” I repeated.

“Do you think there are elevenses in the morning room or the Long Gallery?” Nick asked, his mind turning to more important matters for eleven-year-old boys.

“You will tell us when the police arrive, won’t you, Georgiana?” Kat said. “Me and Nick want to follow them around and observe their every move. We might want to be detectives when we grow up.”

“I don’t think the police will take too kindly to being followed by you,” I said, smiling at her eager face. “If I were you . . .”

This was interrupted by Nick’s call. “Kat, come in here and see. Sandwiches, cakes, the lot!”

And she ran after him. How simple life was for children, I thought.

I had just reached the foyer and was debating whether to follow the children in the direction of food in the Long Gallery or to do the more charitable thing and join poor Mr. Smedley in the morning room when there was a loud rap on the front door. The police had got here really quickly, which was good. The way the rain was coming down, any kind of clue from the crime scene would soon be washed away. I lingered in the hallway, curious to see the inspector who was going to take over the case, as Huxstep came hurrying from the rear of the house, brushing down an invisible fleck from his black coat.

I watched him open the door and start in surprise. “Oh, good morning, sir. We had no idea that you were coming. You’ve caught us off guard. Please do come in. Most inclement weather for a drive, isn’t it?”

Then the door opened wider and into the hall came Darcy, followed by an elegant creature hidden under a black, hooded cape. Huxstep shut the door behind them.

“I will inform Their Graces that you are here,” he said and hurried off again.

I was about to go to Darcy, then hesitated at the thought that he’d brought a woman with him—an elegant woman at that. Who on earth could she be? Not one of his sisters. They weren’t tall, dark or sophisticated like that. Then the woman said, “If I’d known it was going to bucket down like this in the country I’d never have left town.” The hood was thrown back and beneath it was Belinda.

I rushed over to them. “You came. It’s amazing. How did you find out? Who called you?”

Darcy held out his hands to me. “Hello, old thing. I won’t hug you—I’d get you rather wet. Hold on.” And he removed his overcoat, looking around in vain for a servant to take it. “But why do you seem so surprised to see me? Didn’t I tell you I’d come down as soon as I could? And do you see who I brought with me? I met her at Crockfords last night, and she said she was pining for you and had something she was about to post to you, so why didn’t she come with me and deliver it in person?”

“Your shoe, darling,” Belinda said, beaming at me. “Your lost evening slipper? I retrieved it from the terrible Mrs. Tombs. I think I deserve a medal for braving that dragon. And when Darcy said he was coming down to help the heir to the Eynsford estate, I was curious to see the backwoods boy for myself.”

Darcy gave me a wink. “I might hand over the job. If anyone can educate a backwoods Australian, it is Belinda.”

“I don’t think the dowager duchess meant that kind of education,” I said as I stepped forward to kiss Belinda’s cheek. “But it’s lovely to see you both. So you just decided to come down today. Nobody telephoned you? You haven’t heard the news?”

“What news?”

“Terrible things have been happening. The duke has been murdered. Lady Irene was drugged and nearly died, and the police are on their way.”

“Good God,” Darcy muttered. “Any idea what was behind this? Are there any crazy members of the family locked away in a tower?”

“It’s not funny, Darcy,” I said. “It’s rather alarming, actually. I was the one who found the body, and he’d been stabbed with . . .” I went to say, “with Jack’s knife,” but I couldn’t bring myself to do so. Obviously it would come out in the police investigation. Until then, I was going to keep quiet.

“The duke has been murdered?” Belinda said quietly. “You mean Cedric? Poor Cedric has been murdered? But that’s too, too awful.”

I looked at her in surprise. “You know Cedric Altringham?”

She put her hand to her heart. “Cedric and I—thick as thieves, darling. That was another reason for coming down here—to surprise dear Cedric.”

“I’m more than amazed,” I said. “I thought Cedric didn’t like anybody.”

“That was only the front he put up to keep people at bay. Underneath—what a sweetie pie.”

I shook my head, trying to come to terms with Cedric Altringham being a sweetie pie. “My impression was that he couldn’t stand women,” I said. “He always had a bevy of young men around him, and absolutely refused to marry, which was why Darcy had to go in search of Jack.”

Belinda paused as if thinking. “Jack—he’s the young Australian?”

“He is.”

“Darcy said he’s a lot of fun. I gather they got up to high jinks together on the ship home.”

“I can believe it.” I glanced at Darcy, who grinned.

Belinda shifted uneasily. “Where is everybody?” she asked. “Usually these houses keep a pack of servants, and nobody has come to take our coats yet. I’m freezing out here. And we’ve luggage in the motor.”

“The dowager duchess is breaking the news to the servants at this moment,” I said. “And introducing them to the new duke.”

“So she’s acknowledged that Jack is the rightful heir, has she?” Darcy asked.

“Oh yes. Fawning all over him. He looks just like his father, you see.”

“Well, that’s good, at least,” Darcy said. “My journey to Australia was not in vain. Poor old Jack. Talk about being thrown in at the deep end.”