Free Jane Austen Mysteries 08 Jane and His Lordship's Legacy by Stephanie Barron Page B

would convey me to Alton in company with yourself."
    "My daughter, as you see, is a veritable ghoul when it comes to inquests and murder, Mr. Prowting," my mother observed. "I cannot count the number of panels Jane has attended; and given evidence, too."
    Catherine Prowting, who overlistened the whole, gave an audible gasp.
    "Many are the hours I have spent in enlarging upon the sub-ject," my mother continued, "but Jane will not see that no re-spectable man will take up with a lady who is so mad for blood.
    It is unnatural in a woman. But she will not understand me. She will not listen to reason. I am sure, Mr. Prowting, that you suffer similar trials yourself--being the father of daughters."
    "An inquest cannot be the proper place for a lady," Mr.
    Prowting said doubtfully.
    "In the present case, sir," I replied with dignity, "I believe at-tendance to be my duty. The man was found in this house; and surely we must learn the truth, at all costs, of how he came here."
    The magistrate looked for aid to his daughter; but such a recourse must be useless. Catherine Prowting was pale as death, her hand gripping the back of my mother's chair; and in an in-stant she had slipped to the floor insensible.
    We prevailed upon Mr. Prowting to leave his daugh-ter a little while in our care, and Catherine appeared--when consciousness was regained--not averse to the suggestion. We 66 ~ Stephanie Barron
    laid her upon the sopha in the sitting room, and my mother went in search of vinegar-water, while the magistrate patted her hand in loving awkwardness.
    "You will never be as strong as your sisters," he told her fondly. "It is the head-ache, I suppose?"
    "Yes, Papa," she said tearfully.
    "Well, well--rest a little in Miss Austen's care, and then re-turn to your mother. But do not be alarming her with talk of an indisposition. You know what her nerves are."
    "Yes, Papa."
    I saw the magistrate to the door and closed it quietly, so as not to disturb my suffering neighbour; and indeed, tho' re-turned to her senses, Catherine looked very ill. Had it been the talk of blood and corpses that had unnerved her so?
    "I understand you will be dining at the Great House tomor-row," she managed as I dipped a cloth into the vinegar-water my mother had provided, and prepared to bathe her temples. "We are all to go as well, and my sister is devoting the better part of the morning to new-dressing her hair."
    "At your sister's age--a period of high spirits, charm, and natural bloom--one's appearance is of consuming interest," I observed.
    "Perhaps. There are four years' difference in age between myself and Ann--she is but two-and-twenty; but I confess I have never wasted a tenth part of the hours that Ann believes neces-sary to the perfection of her toilette. Of course, I have not her beauty; but is it not remarkable, Miss Austen, that the more beauty one possesses, the more one is required to nurture and support it?"
    "A tedious business," I agreed with a laugh, "that must make the disappearance of all bloom a blessing rather than a pity!--As I have reason to know."

    Jane and His Lordship's Legacy ~ 67
    "But you are charming," Catherine protested.
    "I am in my thirty-fourth year, my dear, and must put charm aside at last."
    "I have lived the better part of my life with Ann's beauty and foibles as though they were quite another member of the fam-ily. There is more than enough of them to supply two women, I assure you--and when such a prospect as dinner at the Great House is in view, and in the company of a Bond Street Beau, there is hardly room for us both at Prowtings!"
    This was bitterness, indeed, let slip so readily to a virtual stranger; but not all sisters are happy in possessing that perfect understanding and cordiality that have always obtained be-tween Cassandra and me. I gazed at Catherine--at the sweet-ness of expression in her mild dark eyes, and the nut-brown indifference of her hair; and understood that a lifetime of de-nial and self-effacement had