Free Silent in the Sanctuary by Deanna Raybourn Page A

Hortense.
    “Julia was always plain, not like Portia there. Portia has always been the one to turn men’s heads, haven’t you, poppet?”
    “And some ladies’,” I murmured. Portia smothered a cough, her shoulders shaking with laughter.
    “Yes, Aunt Dorcas, but you must agree Julia is quite the beauty now,” my sister put in loyally.
    “She will do,” Aunt Dorcas said, a trifle unwillingly, I thought.
    I bent swiftly to kiss Hortense’s cheek. “Welcome home, chérie,” she whispered. “It is good to see you.”
    Simple words, but they had the whole world in them, and I squeezed her shoulder affectionately. “And you.”
    “Come to my boudoir tomorrow. We will have a pot of chocolate and you will tell me everything,” she said softly, with a knowing wink toward Alessandro.
    Before I could reply, Aunt Dorcas poked me again with her cane. “You are too close.”
    I obeyed, moving to stand near Portia. “Portia tells me you have been staying here. I hope you find it comfortable.”
    Aunt Dorcas puffed out her lips in a gesture of disgust. “This old barn? It is draughty, and I suspect haunted besides. All the same, I think it very mean of Hector not to invite me more often. I am family after all.”
    I thought of poor Father, forced to face the old horror for months on end, and I hurried to dissuade her. “You would be terribly bored here. Father spends all his time in his study, working on papers for the Shakespearean Society.”
    “The Abbey is indeed draughty,” Portia put in quickly. “And we do have ghosts. At least seven. Most of them monks, you know. I shouldn’t be surprised if one walked abroad tonight, what with all of the excitement of the house party. They get very agitated with new people about. Do let us know if you see a holy brother robed in white.”
    Portia’s expression was deadly earnest and it was all I could do not to burst out laughing. But Aunt Dorcas was perfectly serious.
    “Then we must have a séance. I shall organise one myself. I have some experience as a medium, you know. I have most considerable gifts of a psychic nature.”
    “I have no doubt,” I told her, shooting Portia a meaningful look.
    Portia put an arm about my waist. “Aunt Dorcas, it has been lovely seeing you, but I simply must tear Julia away. She hasn’t spoken to half the room yet, and I am worried she might give offense.”
    Aunt Dorcas waved one of her lace scarves at us, shooing us away, and I threw Hortense an apologetic glance over my shoulder.
    “I do feel sorry for dear Hortense. However did she get landed with the old monstrosity?”
    Portia shrugged. “We have suffered with Aunt Dorcas for the whole of our lives. Hortense is fresh blood. Let her have a turn. Ah, here is someone who is anxious to see you.”
    She directed me toward a small knot of guests gathered around a globe, two ladies and two gentlemen. As we drew near, one of the ladies spun round and shrieked.
    “Julia!” She threw her arms about me, embracing me soundly.
    I patted her shoulder awkwardly. “Hello, Lucy. How lovely to see you.” She drew back, but kept my hands firmly in her own.
    “Oh, I am so pleased you have arrived. I’ve been fairly bursting to tell you my news!”
    “Dear me, for the carpet’s sake, I hope not. What news, my dear?”
    She tittered at the joke and gave me a playful slap.
    “Oh, you always were so silly! I am to be married. Here, at the Abbey. In less than a week. What do you make of that?”
    She was fairly vibrating with excitement, and I realised I was actually rather pleased to see her. Lucy was one of the most conventional of my relations, a welcome breath of normality in a family notorious for its eccentricity. To my knowledge, Lucy was one of the few members of our family never to have been written up in the newspapers for some scandal or other. We exchanged occasional holiday letters, nothing more. I had not seen her in years, but I was astonished at how little she had changed. Her