Free 01 - Murder at Ashgrove House by Margaret Addison Page A

think he’s a bit of a
recluse. How on earth my mother managed to persuade him to come down to
Ashgrove, I can’t imagine. Oh, if only he wouldn’t let my mother walk all over
him all the time, if only he’d stand up to her once in a while. I’m sure if he
did, she’d be so much more bearable, she’s too used to getting her own way.’
    Rose suppressed a grin; the same could be said of her friend.
    ‘Oh, I suppose we can’t put it off any longer, we’d better go down.
Hopefully Aunt Connie will be there and Daddy, of course. I’d like you to meet
him.’
     
    ‘Oh, there you are at last, Constance. Wherever have you been, you can’t have
spent all that time dead heading roses,’ Lady Belvedere sounded quite annoyed.
‘And do tell me you’re going to change. It really would be too much if you come
to luncheon dressed liked that.’
    ‘Naturally I’m going to change,’ retorted Lady Withers, looking quite red
in the face, whether as a result of her efforts in the garden or because she
was put out by her sister’s comments, it was hard to tell. ‘But may I remind
you, Marjorie, that this is my house and if I choose to lunch in my gardening
clothes, then I will.’
    ‘Now, now,’ said Sir William trying to smooth things over. ‘Stafford will
be in here any minute with the sherry and he tells me that Mrs Palmer has put
on a very good spread for lunch, quite excelled herself, I believe.’
    ‘Well, that wouldn’t be difficult,’ replied Lady Belvedere, ‘her
cooking’s not up to much at the best of times. If she’s excelled herself this
time, it will just mean that it’s just about acceptable, certainly nothing to
write home about.’
    Unfortunately, while Lady Withers just stood there gaping in amazement
and Sir William chose to ignore this slight on his cook’s culinary skills, his
butler chose this very moment to enter the room; although his face remained as
impassive as ever, the faintest of twitches revealed to Sir William that he had
heard Lady Belvedere’s unkind remark and Stafford, he knew, was not a man to
take insults to the staff lying down.       
     
    Lunch was something of an uncomfortable affair for Rose as she was faced
with a vast array of cutlery and courses. Rather to her surprise, she noticed
that the women, in particular, tended to eat only small amounts of each course
and she followed suit, determined not to look out of place.  She wondered
what happened to the food that was left on the plates, whether it was thrown
away, or resurfaced in the servants’ meals or even in later dishes for the
household. Fortunately, she had found herself next to the kindly Sir William
who asked, with what appeared to be genuine interest, after her work in the
dress shop. He in turn gave her a potted history of Ashgrove House and also
described the grounds. Lady Belvedere, she was relieved to see, was seated at
the other end of the table so Rose was subjected only to the odd contemptuous
look from the countess, who clearly disapproved of her presence in the house.
Lavinia, who was seated next to her mother and so was suffering the full force
of her conversation, was looking distinctly irritated and miserable in equal
amounts, and trying with much endeavour to ignore what Lady Belvedere was
saying, by concentrating her attention on playing restlessly with her napkin.
    The Earl of Belvedere had joined the party very late, just as they were
about to receive their first course. This in itself did not seem to surprise
anyone other than Rose. It appeared that Stafford had been sent to prise Lord
Belvedere out of the library and he had entered the dining room looking
slightly disorientated, as if his mind had been left behind in the books. He
had seemed surprised to see his daughter, as if he had forgotten that she would
be there, but equally he looked pleased in a quiet, reserved manner. Following
introductions, he had acknowledged Rose with a smile and Rose had felt kindly
towards him, perhaps