02 - Murder at Dareswick Hall (3 page)

‘It’s
awfully good of you to invite me for the weekend?’ She said at last. Josephine relaxed
noticeably.

‘Not at
all. We’re delighted to have you here. Any friend of Cedric’s is more than
welcome any time. Poor boy, he’s been through such a lot, as of course have you.
Don’t worry though, you won’t be pressed for details while you’re here.
Goodness knows we’ve had enough scandal of our own recently, what with that
awful business at the lake earlier this year….’

Rose looked
at Josephine enquiringly. Cedric had not told her in his letters about anything
untoward having happened at Dareswick Hall. Surely if there had been anything
like a murder or a suspicious death, she would have read about it in the
newspapers. But before she had time to enquire into the matter further both
girls became aware of Crabtree walking at a brisk pace across the grass towards
them, the stoutness of his body rather reminding Rose of a penguin.

‘Excuse
me, madam,’ the butler began, having to pause for a moment before he could
continue, as he was clearly out of breath. ‘But Lord Belvedere and Mr Hallam
have returned from the stables and are in the drawing room, and have been
enquiring as to where you and Miss Simpson were.’

‘Goodness,
yes, we’ve been out here rather a long time, haven’t we? It’s almost getting
dark,’ Josephine said leading the way, the plump butler in her wake, trying to
keep up. ‘Do come inside, Rose, and meet my brother. And of course you’ll want
to see Cedric. Oh, how very remiss of me, I’ve just realised that I haven’t
offered you any refreshment after your journey. I know that we’ll be going up
to dress for dinner shortly, but perhaps you could be so good, Crabtree, as to
arrange for Robert to bring in some tea and perhaps a few slices of one of Mrs
Gooden’s very good Victoria sponges to keep us going.’

‘Very
good, madam.’ The butler bowed briefly and departed, but not before Rose was
left with the distinct impression that he considered afternoon tea at this hour
not the done thing at all. Personally she was sure that she would be too
nervous to eat a thing, but a nice cup of hot tea would be most welcome.

The two
men stood up as soon as the women entered. Rose barely had time to take in the double
drawing room formed by two good-sized rooms, the large doors between each room open;
the fine Sheraton sideboard with its serpentine front; the magnificent
chandelier which glittered in the light. A warm glow extended from the
fireplace, the fire in which had not long been lit. She barely registered the
plaster cornice that preserved the original Georgian gilding or the large
marble fireplace with its early Victorian grate of polished steel and brass. She
barely saw the wing chairs and sofas, richly upholstered in heavy damask,
velvet or shot silk trimmed with silk fringe; or the solid parquet floor on
which were a number of rich Persian rugs. She had eyes only for Cedric.

She
felt herself utter a sigh of relief for at first glance he was as she
remembered him. He was still tall and slender with finely chiselled features
and there was still something of the matinee idol about him. But as she rushed
up to him, she was aware of subtle changes too. The blond hair that was slicked
back from a side parting was peppered with a few strands of grey; gone was the
tanned looking skin of summer, replaced instead with pale skin tinged with
grey. She noticed too that while he smiled at her in the way he had always
done, there were a few fine lines around his eyes where there had been none.
The events at Ashgrove had undoubtedly taken their toll, for the man that stood
before her seemed to have aged more than the two or three months that had
elapsed since she had last set eyes on him.

‘I
cannot tell you how good it is to see you at last,’ Cedric said, clasping her
hands in his. After a quick cup of tea and slice of cake both Hallam and
Josephine had made their excuses and left on the pretext of chores and tasks
that needed completing before dinner, leaving Rose and Cedric alone at last.
‘It is the only thing that has kept me going, knowing that you are there for me
and that I should see you again before too long.’

‘Was it
very awful?’ asked Rose, leading him to a sofa where they sat down, hands still
clutched, each not taking their eyes from the other. ‘I tried not to read what
they said about it in the newspapers…’

‘Yes,
it was jolly beastly. It would have been a good deal more so though, if it
hadn’t been for Inspector Deacon. I have to say he was an absolute brick, that
man. He did his very best to hush things up. I’m not sure that anyone has really
swallowed that story of a shooting accident. But hopefully the newspapers and
public will soon tire of speculating about what happened. There would be those
who would argue that justice had not been done if they knew the truth; the
murderer did not hang.’

‘Yes, but
Inspector Deacon must be satisfied with the outcome, otherwise he wouldn’t have
played along. Tell me, Cedric, thinking about Ashgrove, where is Lavinia now?
You made scarce mention of her in your letters.’

‘She’s
on the Continent on an extended visit. We have some relatives in Switzerland
and then I think she plans to do a tour of the Italian lakes and then to stay
in Paris for a while to improve her French. She’s taken it all very badly, I’m
afraid. She went away to escape it all. She thinks her chances of meeting a
suitable husband are now ruined unless she seeks one in America. It would not
surprise me very much if she never returns to England, although I suppose it’s
still early days and anything might happen.’

‘Does
she still blame me for everything?’ asked Rose with a heavy heart.

‘Yes,
but me just as much as you. In time I’m hopeful that she’ll come round. She and
I were very close and she considered you a good friend once, so I think there’s
still hope.’ There was a pause of a few minutes, as both became lost in their
own thoughts.

‘Anyway,
enough of this, Rose,’ Cedric said, sounding resolutely cheerful. ‘I have done
nothing but think about what happened at Ashgrove to the exclusion of all else
for these past few months.  I refuse to think about it anymore, at least while
we are here at Dareswick. Don’t you agree? We should try and put it all behind us
and look to the future.’

Rose
nodded slowly, looking serious; it was easier said than done.

‘Right,
my girl, we’re going to have a jolly fine time here at Dareswick. The Athertons
are old family friends and will want nothing but to wish us well. I have given
Hallam very firm instructions that neither of us is to be interrogated about
what happened at Ashgrove and that if we are, we’ll leave immediately.’ He
forced a smile and tapped her knee affectionately. ‘I suppose we’d better go
and dress for dinner. Haven’t seen any sign of Isabella and her guest, have
you? I wonder if they’ve arrived yet. I doubt they’ll hold dinner for them. 
Between you and me I rather wish Isabella wasn’t coming. She’s nice enough, of
course, but there is something rather cold and aloof about her, she’s not a
patch on Josephine.’ Rose secretly wondered whether Isabella reminded him of his
sister, Lavinia, but said nothing.

When
they came out into the hall they found Josephine looking agitated.

‘Father’s
only just arrived home and has gone straight into his study. I hope that you
don’t mind that he didn’t come into the drawing room to say hello. I thought
you’d appreciate a little time together alone. But we’re still waiting on Isabella
and her guest to arrive. Really, it is too bad. We’ve pushed dinner back to a
quarter to nine as it is and Father says we’re not eating any later. They’ll
just have to make do with cold meats and leftovers from the kitchen if they
don’t get a move on. And we still don’t know who she’s bringing down with her.
Well, I’m not waiting around down here any longer. I’m going up to change and I
suggest you two do the same. Your room’s opposite mine, Rose. Come up with me
now and we can check that you have everything you need. Hopefully Pearl will
have unpacked your case and hung up your clothes by now.’

Rose
looked at her wristwatch. It was ten past eight. She had made particularly good
time with her toilet and now stood before her kidney shaped dressing table,
with its drapery of muslin over chintz, and regarded her reflection in the
mirror. She had a full twenty minutes to wait before she was due to go in to
dinner. She sat on her bed with its damask silk cover and wondered what to do.
There had been some talk of cocktails before dinner, but she didn’t want to
find herself the first down, standing there awkwardly as she waited for the
others to join her. Perhaps instead she ought to wait five minutes or so. She
fiddled with her hair and cosmetics to while away the time. Just as she was
getting ready to pluck up courage and vacate her room, she heard the doorbell
followed by a commotion in the hall with doors opening and shutting, the sound
of feet hurrying up and down the stairs and the general murmur of voices. Isabella
and her guest must have arrived at last. She had no wish to pass them on the
stairs and so decided to wait on a few more minutes before making her way down.
If she was not mistaken, she had heard Isabella hurriedly making her way to her
room, but she had not heard her guest. Could it be that the guest was still in
the hallway being attended to by the servants? But there was no sound now from
downstairs. She stole out of her room and stood in the gallery overlooking the
hall, which to her relief she found empty. Without another thought she tore
down the stairs and into the drawing room. This, to her dismay, she also found
empty. Where was everyone?

‘Mr Crabtree!’
Mrs Hodges looked aghast. She could not remember the butler ever having looked
so awful. His usually red face was a ghastly shade of white and he was sweating
profusely. What was more, he had practically burst through the green baize door
as if an army was in hot pursuit. ‘Whatever is the matter?’

The man
was panting so heavily that he was unable to utter a word and just bent over
the table clutching the edge in an attempt to catch his breath. The housekeeper
ushered him quickly into her sitting room before the junior servants could take
in the spectacle the butler was making of himself.  As it was the kitchen and
scullery maids had lifted their eyes from their tasks, the scullery maid from
peeling vegetables and the kitchen maid from standing over the stove stirring a
white sauce, being careful to ensure it did not catch the bottom of the pan and
burn.

‘Take a
grip of yourself, man,’ Mrs Hodges said urgently. ‘Think of the lower servants.
Whatever will they think of you crashing into the kitchen looking fit to burst?
You’d better take a small glass of the master’s brandy to steady yourself or
you’ll not be in a fit state to wait at table tonight.’

‘Thank
you, Mrs Hodges,’ said the butler, collapsing into a rather sagging wing chair
and accepting the glass of brandy proffered, which he swallowed in one gulp.
‘Ah, that’s better. I feel more like myself again.’

‘Whatever
came over you, Mr Crabtree? Awful queer you looked, I must say. Why, you looked
as if you’d seen a ghost,’ said the housekeeper taking the empty glass from him
and setting it beside him on an occasional table. ‘Not like you at all, it
isn’t.’

‘I feel
as if I
have
seen a ghost, Mrs Hodges,’ replied the butler, somewhat
recovered. ‘And I suggest that you take a seat yourself before I tell you the
news.’

‘Pray,
what news is this?’ demanded the housekeeper, perching on the edge of a chair,
her hands clutching at her plain black gown in nervous anticipation. She had
still not fully recovered from witnessing the butler in such a state. Usually
he was an example to all as to how a good servant should conduct themselves even
if he were a little too fond of his food.

‘You must
brace yourself for a shock, Mrs Hodges. And we must do the best we can to
prepare the staff, especially young Robert. It’s a pity we can’t do without him
at dinner tonight.’

‘Mr Crabtree
will you be so good as not to keep me in suspense any longer,’ cried Mrs
Hodges, ‘and tell me, for goodness sake, what is the matter?’

‘The
matter, Mrs Hodges, is the friend that Miss Isabella has brought with her.’

‘From
that I gather it is a young gentleman?’

‘It is
indeed, Mrs Hodges, although I think applying the word gentleman to him may be
considered by some to be a little generous. A more rude young man I cannot
imagine. He practically pushed me aside in his eagerness to see the master.
Didn’t wait to knock at the study door or for me to announce him. Just burst in
with no by your leave, he did, as if he thought the master wouldn’t mind the
interruption.’

‘Well I
never! I’m sure the master must have given him short shrift. He doesn’t like
being disturbed when he’s in his study, does our lordship,’ said Mrs Hodges,
somewhat disappointed at the explanation for the butler’s erratic behaviour.
‘Even so, Mr Crabtree, I’m somewhat surprised it’s left you so flustered. You
and I are no strangers to the inconsiderate behaviour of our betters. Miss Isabella’s
got one or two other friends who could do with learning a lesson or two in
manners.’

‘It’s
not that, Mrs Hodges, I could have coped with that.’

‘Then
pray what is it, Mr Crabtree?’ cried the housekeeper leaning forward in her
seat looking exasperated.

‘It’s
who the guest is, Mrs Hodges,’ replied the butler sadly. ‘A gentleman I never
expected to set eyes on again at Dareswick. I’m awfully afraid that there’s
going to be trouble; I feel that something dreadful is almost bound to happen.’

‘There’s
a bit of a queue for the bathroom in the men’s corridor, I’m afraid,’ said
Josephine bustling into the drawing room where Rose was hovering uncomfortably
by the sideboard. ‘Hallam will take ages. It really is too bad of him,
especially when we’ve got guests.  Oh, I say,’ she said, looking at the empty
sideboard in dismay. ‘Wherever are the cocktails? Robert should have had them
prepared and put ready in wine glasses by now. Really, we’ll have no time at
all to drink them before we have to go in to dinner.’

Josephine
went over to the fireplace and pressed the bell push. The two girls stood in an
awkward silence, Josephine clearly agitated by both her brother not being there
and the unexpected tardiness of the servants. Her mood was not improved by the
inordinate amount of time it seemed to take for the bell to be answered.

‘Crabtree,
this really will not do. Did you not hear the bell? We’ve been waiting simply
ages. And why did you come and not Robert? There’s absolutely no sign of any
cocktails, where is he?’

‘I’m
very sorry, madam I’m afraid Robert is indisposed at the moment. Will you be
wanting me to ask Mrs Gooden to put back dinner by half an hour or so?’

‘No, I
don’t think so, Crabtree,’ Josephine said, admitting defeat. ‘It doesn’t look
as if the men will be down any time soon, so we might as well go straight into
dinner as soon as they appear. Let’s not delay things further by having
cocktails. You know my father doesn’t like to eat late. I passed Miss Isabella
on the landing and she said she’d only be a minute getting changed. I didn’t
see any sign of her guest, I must say. Did she not bring one with her after
all?’

‘Indeed,
madam. The young gentleman requested an immediate audience with his lordship.’

‘How
strange. I doubt whether my father was too pleased. Is this guest still in with
his lordship, Crabtree?’

‘No,
indeed not, miss. They’ve both gone to change for dinner. I understand it was a
very brief interview.’

‘What
strange behaviour,’ Josephine said to Rose as soon as the butler had left. ‘Crabtree
seemed so very vague and wasn’t at all apologetic about Robert not having laid
out the cocktails. It’s not like him at all. He’s usually very particular about
everything, excessively so given that it’s usually only Father and me here.  I
do hope nothing’s wrong.’

A wave
of uneasiness came over Rose. She could not put her finger on it exactly, but
she felt suddenly that there was something sinister in the air, as if the
arrival of Isabella’s guest had brought with him something contaminated and
unpleasant. Josephine had been relaxed and chatty when Rose had first arrived,
now she was clearly agitated and irritable as if she had got caught up in the
atmosphere which now prevailed over Dareswick Hall. Rose shivered and told
herself not to be so fanciful, imagining things that were not there. But the
behaviour of the servants also troubled her. Crabtree did not seem the sort of
butler who would put up with dilatory behaviour from his staff. And yet it
appeared to her that he had gone out of his way to protect the young footman,
Robert, while at the same time not giving an adequate explanation for his
absence from the drawing room.

But
before Rose had time to consider the matter any further, they were joined by
Cedric and Hallam, who appeared in dinner jackets and black bow-ties. Rose had
been relieved to find that Josephine was dressed in a simple black silk crepe
dress not that dissimilar to her own gown, except that it had cream lace work
at the neckline embellished with rhinestones. It struck her now, however, that
with this predominance of black amongst both men and women there was something
of a funereal air about the gathering.