Lord R. writes from town that he has met a certain young woman – I believe he has spoken to you about her. Whatever you may think, I know he will not make you do anything against your will. He simply wants you to be happy. Forgive my advocacy – he did not ask me to do it – it is simply that I also wish you well and happy. It is as much as you deserve.
Tomorrow Harry and I sail for New York. Perhaps in many years time we may meet again, DV.
In the mean time, I am your most humble and always grateful servant,
Anna Morgan”
He stuffed the letter into his pocket and left the room. The door to Mrs Vernon’s room was open and Major Vernon could be seen sitting by his wife on the the bed. The Major saw him standing there and got up, kissed his wife on the forehead and came out into the hall, closing the door behind him.
“We should get back to our work, Mr Carswell,” he said.
They walked back across the fields in a spring dusk that promised much sweetness to come, although the air was still cool.
“Which way is Ardenthwaite?” Felix asked, as they paused to climb over a stile.
Major Vernon gestured, from the top of the stone steps.
“North East of here,” he said. “Is that all in hand, then?”
Felix nodded.
“I should go and look the place over, I suppose,” he said, climbing up the stile and looking over in the direction towards which the Major had flung his hand. “Though what I am to do with it, I don’t know. I cannot live there – but I have no wish to be an absent landlord – and I do not want to give up my post here.”
“Look it over and then make a decision,” said Major Vernon. “The sight of the place may answer your questions. You may find it agreeable – and there may be plenty of work for you there. Of course, that would be somewhat of a loss to me, and the men.”
“You think I should turn farmer?”
“I think you should go and see the place,” Major Vernon said. “See how your land lies.”
“My land,” Felix said, shaking his head. “It is not really mine. It is absurd –”
“Land is never absurd,” said Major Vernon. “You are a lucky man. You will get a good income from it, whatever you decide, and you will have the consequence of it. Most men would count themselves extremely fortunate.”
“Yes, I am grateful – I think,” Felix said. “But I feel my hand has been forced. I do not want to desert you, or all this, and become something I am not. I have only just begun to make sense of this profession – and I am beginning to feel that will be a life’s work to master it, and not to try, well –”
“Then get a good man to manage the place for you. They can be found. I can help you find one, if you like. I have a little knowledge of these things.”
“Thank you. I would be grateful for your advice.”
“I’m glad to hear you have no wish to leave us,” Major Vernon said. He whistled to bring Snow (who had gone skittering off in search of an interesting scent) back to their side. “You would be hard to replace, Mr Carswell.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” said Felix. “You could get some straightforward, virtuous fellow who reads his Bible and never gets drunk.”
“That sounds extremely dull,” said Major Vernon, “and I would look shabby in such company, don’t you think?” He stopped to put Snow back on her leash, caressing her head extravagantly as he did so. “About Mrs Morgan. I’m sorry I could not be entirely straight with you. The situation was an exceptional one. I do not expect it will happen again. I must keep myself better tethered,” he finished, caressing the dog’s head again.
“She is exceptional,” Felix could not help saying. “I don’t think that I –” but then he broke off, realising it was, for both of them, too painful a subject to proceed with.
“Come,” Major Vernon said. “Tell me again about your ligature evidence. You will need to be word-perfect in court or we will be routed by that demon counsel, and after all we have gone through I am determined not to let that happen!”
***
About the Author
Harriet Smart was born and brought up in Birmingham. She attended the University of St Andrews, where she read History of Art, and then married a fellow student. She now lives with her family in Edinburgh.
Harriet has published seven historical novels and one contemporary novel as well as co-designing the innovative creative writing software Writer’s Café.
She is presently working on The Northminster Mysteries, a series of crime novels set in early Victorian England. Her research for the books included wearing stays and hand-sewing a man’s shirt.
Harriet blogs at www.harrietsmart.com and can be found on Twitter @fictionwitch.
Also by Harriet Smart
I hope you enjoyed this book. If so, you may also enjoy my other books, including:
The Butchered Man
Northminster, 1840: a once-picturesque cathedral city, where dirty smoke stacks now rival ancient spires. When workmen make the shocking discovery of a mutilated corpse in a ditch outside the ancient walls, Giles Vernon and Felix Carswell are charged with solving the case.
Intelligent and practical, Chief Constable Major Vernon has transformed the old city watch into a modern police force, and he throws himself into the investigation with the same energy. But as he probes a murky world of professional gamblers and jilted lovers, he is drawn into a dangerous emotional game that threatens to undermine his authority.
Newly-qualified police surgeon Felix Carswell is determined to make his way in the world on his own terms despite being the bastard son of prominent local grandee Lord Rothborough. Called to treat a girl in an asylum for reformed prostitutes, what he uncovers there brings him into conflict with his new employer, Vernon, and throws the case into disarray.
Together they must overcome their differences and find the brutal truth behind the mystery of The Butchered Man.
The Butchered Man is the first Northminster Mystery featuring intrepid early-Victorian detectives Vernon and Carswell.
The Daughters of Blane
Three young ladies with more beauty and charm than Isobel, Leonora and Vivien Buchanan, daughters of the laird of Blane, would be hard to find; their marriage prospects are exceptional. Indeed, in the summer of 1890, Isobel is already engaged to a duke. But Isobel is secretly uncertain about the man she is to marry. When another, utterly unsuitable candidate presents himself, she is stunned by the strength of her feelings. Suddenly she must make a decision that could have devastating consequences. Younger and more independent, Vivien has always resisted the destiny allotted to women of her class. Marriage to a radical politician seems to offer her the deep and close relationship she seeks; but time and changing ideals can temper the deepest passion. Only Leonora, spoiled and extravagant, is ready to settle for a conventional marriage. But a rich and titled husband is no guarantee of happiness, especially against the pull of true but illicit love.
Set against the turbulent events of the 1890s and moving from the Western Isles of Scotland to London society, from slum life in Edinburgh to a palazzo in Venice, and finally to the battlefields of the Boer war, The Daughters of Blane is the passionate and ultimately triumphant story of three women who refuse to fit the mould society has made for them.
Green Grow the Rushes
In the summer of 1900, a group of young people are brought together in the decaying splendour of the Quarro, a Scottish country house owned by the down-at-heel Lennox family. As their lives touch, new alliances are formed – some doomed to failure and bitter despair, others that will endure against the odds to bring lasting happiness.
A sweeping, panoramic survey of turn-of-the-century Scottish society – from country house to industrial slums, bohemian free-thinking to High Tory Politics – Green Grow the Rushes is peopled with a cast of memorable and vividly realised characters.
“Smart’s characters have a feel of authentic life and move in and out of a backdrop which cunningly incorporates politic
al change, trade union rebellion, suffragette noise and good food” – The Sunday Times
The Wild Garden
Kate Mackenzie is on the brink of success as an artist when she meets Gabriel Erskine, twenty-two years her senior. She’s not looking for a relationship, but Gabriel’s understanding of paintings and his outlook, so different from that of her friends, captivate her. Six months later, she moves into Allansfield, the beautiful house in rambling gardens on Gabriel’s estate in Fife. She doesn’t know him well, but what better way to change that than by living with him?
Touching, involving and honest, The Wild Garden is an utterly contemporary novel about life’s choices, love’s different aspects, and second chances.
The Lark Ascending
When Chris Adam receives a proposal from wealthy young Guy Lindsay, her family are delighted – this would be a fine match indeed for a daughter of the Manse. Chris is tempted, for she is attracted to Guy, but her vocation is to be a composer, and instead of marriage she chooses to study music in Edinburgh.
There Chris meets Angus Bretton, who has been sent down from medical school in disgrace. Though he seems strangely restrained after the passionate Guy, Chris falls deeply in love with him, and it is Angus who comes to her rescue when events conspire against her and all her dreams are in ruins. But Angus is not all that Chris imagines him to be and their happiness is shortlived. A chance meeting with Guy gives Chris a glimpse of the fulfilling life she might have had – but now Guy is married to one of Chris’s friends.
As war breaks out across Europe in 1914, tragedy, betrayal and scandal lie ahead before Chris can fulfil her musical destiny and stand by the side of the man she loves.
Reckless Griselda
On an impetuous journey to stop her father making an unsuitable marriage, Griselda Farqharson meets dashing Tom Thorpe. They fall instantly in love and into trouble. After she indulges in a sensual clandestine encounter with him, Griselda is forced to face the consequences of her reckless disregard for the rules of society. For this is England in 1816 and Tom is a wealthy baronet, caught up in a net of emotional entanglements and family conflicts. Determined to do the right thing and preserve Griselda’s reputation, he must face the ruin of his own. As a whirlwind of scandal engulfs them, will Griselda and Tom be able to transform their passionate attraction into a true and lasting happiness or will their love be destroyed by it?
Moving from the Norfolk countryside to the fashionable drawing rooms of London, Reckless Griselda is a hot-blooded regency romantic comedy that asks the question: should you let your heart rule your head?
Connect with me online
Web site: www.harrietsmart.com
Twitter feed: www.twitter.com/fictionwitch
The Dead Songbird (The Northminster Mysteries) Page 32
