Free 02 - Murder at Dareswick Hall by Margaret Addison Page A

very grand, and now I’m having second
thoughts about having my dress made locally. I should really have gone up to
London to organise my costume. The shop said they’d get back to me with some
ideas. And normally they’re so reliable, which makes me feel sure that they’ve
lost the letter somewhere at the post office. We are always having dreadful
problems with post going astray.’ With that she made her way hurriedly upstairs,
and again Rose may have been mistaken, but she had the feeling that the girl
was close to tears.
    Rose
wondered idly what the letter was that Josephine was waiting on so impatiently.
Not for a moment did she believe the story of a fancy dress party. It was clear
to her that this had been the first thing that had come into Josephine’s mind
in a clumsy attempt to explain her agitation. Besides anything, Rose could not
imagine Josephine attending a fancy dress ball; it seemed to her much more the
sort of thing her sister, Isabella, would do. Before she could dwell on the
matter further, she almost collided with Cedric who was coming out of Baron
Atherton’s study, a rather serious and resigned expression on his face.
    ‘Oh,
there you are, Rose. I am glad to see you. I’m sorry I missed you at breakfast.
The baron was very keen to have a word with me about Hallam. He’s got it into
his head that the boy means to do Lord Sneddon harm and he wants to take all
necessary precautions to ensure that Isabella’s marriage to Hugh takes place.’
He took her hand and led her into the drawing room in order that they might
continue their conversation in private. ‘Between you and me, Rose, I’m having
difficulty reasoning with the man. I’ve tried to explain what a cad Sneddon is,
and how Isabella would be much better off not marrying him, but he simply won’t
listen. He’s got his heart set on his daughter becoming a duchess. Really the
man’s intolerable; he seems to have very little regard for his daughter’s
future happiness. Having said that, I’m sure Isabella can look after herself. I
have never known her do anything that she doesn’t want to do. My mother used to
think her even more headstrong than Lavinia, and that’s saying something.’
    ‘Josephine
mentioned something about a scandal that happened earlier this year involving
Sneddon. She’s going to tell me all about it later when we go for a walk in the
gardens.’
    ‘Good.
I know I said last night that I didn’t want us to get involved in all this, but
I think now the sooner we get to the bottom of it, the sooner we can sort
everything out and enjoy this weekend. I’m off to have a word with Hallam to
get his side of the story. I’m pleased to see that Hugh’s keeping a low profile
this morning.’ With that, he mounted the staircase and, taking the stairs two
at a time, soon disappeared from view.
    Rose
looked at her wristwatch. She still had twenty minutes or so before she was due
to meet Josephine for a walk in the gardens and she wondered how she should occupy
herself until then. She glanced around the hall and her eye rested on the door
to the library. No doubt it would be full of some interesting books that she
could browse through to while away the time until she met up with Josephine;
certainly it seemed a waste of time and energy to go back upstairs.
    She
opened the door to the library and went in. For a moment she did nothing but
take in the splendour of the room, the pale yellow walls with vast Victorian
mahogany brass-trimmed bookcases, completely filled with books bound in calf
leather, and which covered large areas of the walls almost up to the ceiling.
The bookcases in turn were divided by Corinthian columns and surmounted on the
occasional plinth around the room were a number of marble busts. A pair of late
nineteenth century, high backed, tufted leather wing chairs had been drawn up
to the great marble fireplace at the end of the room, which remained unlit.
    Rose
selected a book from the shelves at random