Free 03 - Murder at Sedgwick Court by Margaret Addison

miserably
she followed Rose downstairs. But, even as Rose made her way down the grand oak
staircase to the black and white tiled hall below, she knew with almost certainty
that everything would not be all right, for she felt it in the air.

Chapter Seven
    ‘We’ll
be late. Do hurry. Everyone will be waiting for us, or should I say you ,’
Jemima said, staring at Emmeline’s reflection in the dressing table mirror.
    Emmeline
did not turn around, but instead studied herself critically in the mirror. 
    ‘I’m
certain they won’t mind waiting a moment or two for us. There’s something
missing, don’t you think? I need some sort of necklace or trinket to set off
this frock. Lavinia always seems to be absolutely draped in diamonds.’ She
opened her jewel box and toyed with the jewellery inside, letting the necklaces
and bracelets fall through her fingers, pausing every now and then to hold up
one or two of the most eye-catching pieces so that they caught the light.
    ‘Lavinia
wears far too much jewellery,’ Jemima said. ‘It’s as if she were going to a
ball. I daresay she’s trying to impress you,’ she paused, ‘or Count Fernand.’
    ‘You’re
no doubt right. But I am rather tired of wearing this string of pearls. Of
course,’ Emmeline added hurriedly, ‘they’re very fine and understated and all
that. I daresay they show breeding, but … well, they’re something a maiden aunt
might wear. I’d like to wear something different tonight, something that will
make even Lavinia gasp.’
    She shut
the jewel box and waited for Jemima to respond. There was an awkward pause, and
she thought for an awful moment that Jemima wouldn’t say anything, wouldn’t
make it easy for her, and that she would be forced to ask outright.
    ‘You mean
…’ Jemima said at last, and then stopped.
    ‘Yes, oh,
yes!’ Emmeline said excitedly, swinging around on the stool. ‘Couldn’t I, just
this evening? Just this once? Surely it isn’t too much to ask?’
    ‘They’re
too precious, too valuable. We should have asked Cedric to lock them in his
safe.’
    ‘We can
do that tomorrow. I’ll wear them tonight, and then you can do with them as you
will tomorrow.’
    ‘I still
– ’
    ‘Oh,
please don’t let us argue about it,’ implored Emmeline. ‘Surely it’s not too
much to ask, is it? Why, I’ll only be wearing them for a few hours at most, and
then I’ll hand them over to you to look after and lock away in Cedric’s safe as
you see fit. And I promise I won’t make a fuss about wearing the pearls after
that.’
    ‘Oh …
very well,’ said Jemima, resigned but still full of misgivings, ‘wear the
diamonds tonight if you must.’
     
    Vera, Rose
noticed, watched Theo and Emmeline closely over dinner. For once, however, they
appeared to have little to say to each other, so that Emmeline’s usual giggling
chatter was directed to those around the table as a whole, rather than to the
doctor exclusively. Rose silently breathed a sigh of relief. If Vera’s suspicions
had been aroused by Lavinia’s words, then there was nothing in Theo and
Emmeline’s behaviour to prove them founded. She wondered idly whether the two
had had some form of a disagreement, or perhaps conversely they had decided
only to be more discreet in their conduct.
    Whatever
the position, the dinner passed pleasantly enough and, when the gentlemen
joined the ladies later in the drawing room after their cigars and port,
agreeable conversation flowed. Any lingering tension in the atmosphere thawed.
A fire crackled and burned brightly in the grate, and the various jewels worn
by Lavinia and Emmeline sparkled every now and then in the light from the chandeliers.
    And yet
there was still something about Emmeline Montacute that seemed to mesmerise
them all. Even those outside her immediate circle of Theo, Lavinia and Count
Fernand, felt drawn to watching her. The onlookers, feeling excluded and yet
equally intrigued, were silent for a time, busying