Free Devil May Care by Elizabeth Peters

as she went on he forgot his DEVIL-MAY-CARE 59
    self-consciousness and listened raptly. Cats came and went, Toby awoke and wandered off, and a goat began eating the roses that lined the patio.
    Donald shied a pebble at the goat, which looked outraged but moved away, and Ellie went on with her story. When she had finished, Donald's first comment told her a great deal about the way his mind worked.
    "So the night specter couldn't have been Ted."
    "No way. Anyhow, you don't think Ted would--"
    "I no longer make didactic pronouncements about what people will or will not do. Given sufficient provocation, the mildest of men and women--"
    "Soapbox yourself," Ellie said.
    "No, no; I'm stating an essential truth. Motive is the last thing you look for in detective work. Means and opportunity--"
    "But this isn't a detective story. It's a--" "Gothic novel," said Donald. His eyebrows went up, and his face became a caricature of enthusiastic surprise. "By God, that's just what it is. A beautiful young heroine in a strange old mansion, beleaguered by-"
    "What do you know about Gothic novels? They're women's--"
    "I spent six weeks in a place where there was nothing to do but read and very little choice of reading materials," said Donald. His face momentarily lost all traces of amusement. "What I am trying to say--"
    "What do you mean, trying? You're the one who keeps interrupting me, and if ... "
    Her voice trailed off into silence. Donald sat looking at her with an expression of polite patience, and after a moment she began to laugh.
    "All right. No more interruptions on either side.
    What I meant to say, before we wandered off into a morass of non sequiturs, was that you seem to
    6O Elizabeth Peters assume that my experiences were deliberately produced by a material agency." "I don't believe in ghosts," said Donald.
    "I don't either."
    "Then what do you propose as a working hypothesis?"
    "I haven't got a hypothesis, working or unemployed.
    Not enough data."
    "You have the rudiments of a logical mind," Donald said approvingly. "Tell you what; come to supper tonight and tell my dad your wild tale. He does have a logical mind. Maybe he can suggest something."
    "I don't know ... "
    "That's why I came, actually. To invite you." "I thought you came to mow the lawn," Ellie said pointedly.
    "I can't mow today. The grass is too wet."
    "Then shouldn't you be digging or something?"
    "Is that a subtle hint?"
    "Not subtle."
    "True." Donald stood up, in a single economical movement. His bones and muscles stood out too sharply, but they seemed to be in excellent working order. "All right, I'll go dig. We'll expect you about six. Turn left when you get to the highway ... "
    Ellie let him finish the directions, which were not complex; the house was only two miles away by road.
    Then she said, "Are you sure your mother is expecting me? I mean, you didn't just cook this invitation up on the spur of the moment, did you?"
    "My mother is dead," said Donald. "My father is expecting you."
    He turned on his heel and walked away.
    DEVIL-MAY-CARE 61
    When Ellie left the house early that evening, the shadows of the trees and shrubs were elongated shapes of darkness across the sunlit lawn. It had been a golden afternoon, surprisingly cool for that time of year. The grounds had never looked lovelier.
    The grass was a little long, but everything else was in perfect condition. Ellie had to admit that Donald seemed to be doing a good job. But it was a stupid way for a man of his age and background to spend his time.
    The Golds' home was another eighteenth-century charmer, its red brick Georgian facade mellowed by centuries, its fine old lawns and trees golden green in the late-afternoon sunlight. But the house and grounds were not so well tended as Kate's; like the cobbler's shoeless children, the grass indicated that Donald exercised his gardening talents elsewhere.
    The house appealed to Ellie at once. A little shabby, a little neglected, it suggested an elderly