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

and went and sat on one of the
leather wing chairs. Due to the height of the back and the way the chair was
positioned, it amused her to think that if she tucked up her legs beneath her
on the seat, which was easily done given that the chair was so large, then any
servant happening to open the door would assume that the room was empty for she
would be completely hidden from view by the chair back. She leaned back into
the leather, finding the chair surprisingly comfortable and this, coupled with
the act of reading, began to make her feel drowsy. Afterwards, she realised
that she must have fallen asleep, even if only for a few minutes, for she did
not hear the door open until it was too late.
     
    ‘Hallam,
your father has asked me to come and speak with you,’ Cedric began, walking
into the young man’s bedroom.
    ‘Don’t
bother,’ replied Hallam listlessly. He was lying out-stretched and fully
clothed on his bed which, together with the dark rings under his eyes,
indicated that he had been up for hours. As far as Cedric could tell, he had
been throwing balls of rolled up paper at the ceiling, seemingly having
abandoned attempts to get them into the wickerwork waste paper basket situated
at the other end of the room.
    ‘Come
on, old man,’ said Cedric, sitting down on the bed beside him, ‘you’d better
tell me what’s going on. You’ll feel better for it and you never know, perhaps
I can help.’
    ‘It’s
no use, Cedric, my father won’t listen to me. I went to see him first thing
this morning to have my say, but he’s adamant that Isabella’s going to marry
Sneddon. There’s nothing I can do to change his mind.’
    ‘If you
feel so strongly about it, then perhaps you should try and change Isabella’s
mind; after all she’s the one who’ll be marrying the fellow. Come on. You can’t
just lie there doing nothing but giving the servants additional work. I know
it’s early, but I’ll give you a game of billiards in the game’s room. You can
tell me what you’ve got against Sneddon marrying your sister while we’re
playing.’
     
    The
door was flung open and then shut again loudly and Rose awoke with a start,
realising that she was no longer alone in the library. But before she could
make her presence known a heated argument broke out, so that she was left to
sit where she was, concealed from view, a reluctant eavesdropper.
    ‘Hugh,
I don’t think I can go through with it; please don’t make me.’ Rose had not
heard the aloof Isabella sound so wretched.
    ‘Pull
yourself together, Isabella.’ Rose recognised Lord Sneddon’s voice which
sounded cold, harsh and unrelenting. ‘We had an agreement, my dear, don’t you
remember? I’ll keep quiet about certain of your escapades if you honour your
side of the bargain.’
    ‘But
it’s too much, Hugh, too much to ask of anyone. I can’t do it,’ she sobbed, ‘I
simply can’t do it.’
    ‘Well,
in that case I’ll hand these letters over to a newspaper or perhaps distribute
them all over London.’ Rose heard the rustle of paper as Lord Sneddon took a
bundle of papers from his pocket. ‘Is that what you really want, Isabella? I’m
sure the baron will be delighted to find out what his darling daughter really
gets up to in London. I’m sure he’d love to know that the illicit affair
between the Honourable Isabella Atherton and her penniless French tutor is
common gossip among high society.’
    ‘No,
Hugh, please.’ Rose could hear what she supposed was Isabella attempting to
snatch the letters from Sneddon’s grasp.
    ‘Not so
quick, my dear. Besides, don’t take me for a fool. I’m not so stupid as to keep
all your letters with me. What I have here are only a few. Still, they make
very interesting reading, now let’s see: “My darling Claude. I cannot wait
until I am in your arms and your lips are on mine; to feel our bodies entwined
as one ….” Really, my dear, how very risqué. I only hope that his letters to
you were equally