The Summerfield Bride

by C. G Oster

  “It couldn’t just be that it drove Rose to kill.”

  “No, I suspect it was something that had built up over a long time and it was just the added pressure that broke Rose’s tolerance,” Lady Pettifer said. “Prudence could have anticipated it. She could even have worked for months to needle Rose until she was irate beyond reason.”

  Biting the nail of her thumb, Dory thought about it. “Prudence said Cornelia was upset with Rose because she had been trying to get Fredrick’s attention.”

  “She might be assigning her own actions to Rose for all we know.”

  Dory consulted her notebook again. “Annabelle would be the only one who was impartial, but all she said was that Prudence had once told Cornelia how lucky she was to marry Freddy. And Prudence also implied to us when we talked to her that she felt Freddy was too good for Cornelia.”

  Again Lady Pettifer was silent. “It could be that Prudence was seeking to clear the path for herself. Very mercenary, isn’t it?”

  “But we don’t know if any of this is true,” Dory said.

  “And we don’t know that it’s not.”

  “I don’t think Annabelle would know. She would have told us, I think,” Dory added, again flipping through her notes. “Then again, maybe she was keeping a confidence about Prudence’s infatuation with Freddy for the sake of a friend. She might have seen it as completely irrelevant.”

  “That is possible. You should speak with her again. What about that friend of his?”

  “Charlie Waterman?”

  “He may know more about Prudence’s infatuation than he mentioned.”

  “Annabelle said no one liked him, including both Rose and Prudence. And Livinia.”

  “Maybe because he is the one who knows everyone’s secrets,” Lady Pettifer said. Dory bit her lip again, considering what to do. “I think you and Livinia need to have another quick trip around the place. But we are cutting it very short. Your wedding is coming up. Unfortunately, Livinia is not here. She’s at Theodora Tillbury’s house, I believe. I don’t even know how to reach her. Perhaps I will have to send Mr. Poole to chase her down. This must be done tomorrow, or we will simply run out of time.”

  Why did everyone make marriage sound like a prison sentence? Maybe because she had other things to consider once she married. Although Dory couldn’t see how she would completely lose interest in this murder, especially as it felt as though a large chunk was missing. If Prudence was responsible for winding up Rose to a murderous degree, that should not be overlooked. She had some culpability. Again, Dory wished she could speak to Ridley about it. Maybe she would, but something in her also feared that she would be accused of not taking this wedding seriously.

  “Oh, there you are,” Lady Pettifer said when Mr. Holmes returned with the teapot. “What took so long? Had we run out of water?”

  “We are out of sugar and we had to find the honey jar. I do apologize.”

  “I love a bit of honey in my tea. Does the joints good. Honey?” Lady Pettifer offered Dory as Mr. Holmes poured the tea into their respective cups.

  Chapter 26

  “WELL, HERE WE ARE AGAIN,” Livinia said as she pulled into Victoria Station. “Feels slightly like déjà vu. Aunt just about ordered me here. Some business about Prudence’s infatuation with Freddy. I could have told you that.”

  “You could?” Dory asked with an open mouth. “Why didn’t you say?”

  “Anyone could tell how jealous Prudence was,” Livinia said tartly.

  “About Fredrick or simply the wedding?”

  “Well, no one is jealous of an unappealing groom, are they? They are largely the same thing.”

  Dory wasn’t sure about that. Being jealous of a wedding was one thing, but being infatuated with the groom, or potentially in love with the groom, was another entirely. People in love did all sorts of mad things. And maybe that infatuation had driven Prudence to do rash and undermining things. But this wasn’t rash, if it were true. Months of winding Rose up until she acted with insanity wasn’t rash—it was cold and calculated.

  The congestion in London forbid Livinia from her usual type of driving, but it didn’t stop her snarling at people if they didn’t get out of her way fast enough. “So you’ve figured Prudence has wound up Rose enough to kill Corny, with the motive of getting Freddy all to herself.”

  “Well, we took into consideration you wondering at why Prudence was in London. And when we met Charles, we learned that Freddy was also in London.”

  “Yes, we did, didn’t we? I knew there was something odd about that. So you think she was there to catch Freddy’s eye, provide a welcome shoulder for the crying groom? That is so very sneaky.”

  “Especially if she arranged for Rose to murder Corny to get her out of the way. Prudence could have been needling her on for months.”

  Livinia was quiet for a moment. “That is very manipulative, isn’t it? I mean that is quite beyond the pale, isn’t it?”

  “None of it is proven. It is all conjecture.”

  “I would say it was completely unbelievable, but although it is extreme, I’m not sure it is all that unbelievable.” Livinia sighed. “Sometimes I wonder about people.”

  Truthfully, sometimes Dory had wondered about Livinia.

  “Oh, Vivian called last night,” Livinia stated.

  “Oh?”

  “He’s still in Darwin. Says it’s hot as Hades down there. And he wishes you well for your wedding day. Aunt told him.”

  Dory blushed. She didn’t know why. Maybe because Vivian didn’t wish her well for anything. At least he would be happy she was marrying her own kind and wasn’t getting ideas above her station. The core of his objection to her had always been her placing herself in places she didn’t belong, particularly as part of their family. Not that she had ever been a part of their family, or considered herself so. Lady Pettifer had just treated her that way, or more like a dear friend. Anyway, he had objected to her thinking she was on the same level as him and had gone out of his way to disabuse her of any such notions—which she had never had in the first place.

  Suddenly, she had a longing for the warm waters of St. Tropez, which she had escaped to whenever his presence had gotten too much.

  And before long, they were out of London and on the way to Annabelle’s lovely house, which looked just the same. The lush, almost fairy tale gardens.

  “Livinia,” Annabelle said when she came out of the house. “I admit I got curious when you called.” She came up to the car and both Livinia and Dory got out. “You must have heard about Rose. It’s the most shocking thing. Utterly unbelievable. As she has confessed, I can’t see why you’ve insisted on seeing me with such urgency.”

  “I will just come out and say it,” Livinia said. “Was Prue infatuated with Freddy?”

  Annabelle frowned. “Why do you ask?”

  A warning went through Dory’s mind. “Just something Charlie said,” Dory cut in. “And something Prue said about marrying soon.”

  “Prudence marrying soon?” Annabelle said. “I haven’t heard anything about that. What did Charlie say exactly?”

  “That Prudence urged Rose to do it so Corny would be out of the way.”

  Dory winced a little, worried that Annabelle would seek to protect her friend rather than sling trouble at another friend when one was already in such deep trouble. And it wasn’t strictly true, as Charlie hadn’t said that. But in a way, people reacted more to gossip than the musings of strangers, even if they were police.

  “Prudence marry Freddy?” Annabelle said with a laugh. “No, I don’t think so. Freddy wasn’t interested in Prudence. If anything, he was sniffing around Rose.”

  “Wait? What?” Livinia said. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, I don’t know exactly. Rose was being really evasive about it, but she mentioned something about Freddy being really kind to her. She was just blabbering. You know how it is.”

  “No, I don’t. She’s just confessed to murdering Corny. I don’t thi
nk it was just blabbering. What exactly did she say?”

  Annabelle looked uncomfortable. “Rose was implying, in not so many words, that Freddy wasn’t marrying Corny out of choice. Corny was forcing his hand slightly.”

  “How could she do that?” Dory asked.

  “I don’t know. Something about their families. It was expected by everyone that Corny and Freddy marry, especially after they weren’t… exactly chaste, if you know what I mean.”

  “Was Corny pregnant?”

  “No, but everyone knew they had sampled the well. It was just expected that they marry. Everyone would have given Freddy hell for not marrying her. And Rose implied that he was lamenting his situation to her.”

  “Was he doing more than lamenting?”

  “She didn’t exactly say,” Annabelle said as if it was self-explanatory. “But Rose was very fond of him. Really, if you want to talk about it, speak to Rose.”

  DI Capshaw was never going to let that happen, and for a moment, Dory wondered if she could get Ridley to help her, but she imagined he wouldn’t be happy about it. This wasn’t his case, he would say, and she did understand his need for professional courtesy and not go charging into another investigator’s case.

  “Do you think Rose was in love with Freddy?” Dory asked.

  For a moment, Annabelle was quiet. “I don’t know. Maybe she is. In the aftermath, she has acted very egregiously indeed. If so, it wasn’t a good idea, was it? They certainly can’t be together now.”

  “People in love don’t always act rashly.”

  “She should have just let them marry and then carry on affairs like everyone else,” Annabelle said. It seemed such a jarring statement to Dory, especially from Annabelle, who seemed to be off with the fairies half the time. Well, that was the impression Dory had gotten, but there was a very practical and mercenary side to her as well. Maybe she wasn’t so different from her friends after all. And Dory concluded that it was perhaps best not to underestimate her. It may well be that she depended on being underestimated.

  “Well then, that was… enlightening,” Livinia said with crossed arms. “Are there any other sordid secrets?”

  “Everyone has secrets,” Annabelle said chidingly. “It’s just a matter of if you tell them.”

  “Thank you, Annabelle,” Dory said. “We had it so very wrong.”

  “What do you think will happen to her?” Annabelle asked.

  “Rose?” Livinia asked. “Who knows? I’m sure her family is doing all they can.”

  “She’s clearly not sane if she did something like that,” Annabelle continued.

  “No,” Dory said, but also didn’t know if she agreed. Clearly she was culpable, but it was hard to understand her actions. When they’d met, though, she hadn’t acted insane. She’d acted very normally.

  Livinia and Dory got back in the car and waved goodbye to Annabelle . Truthfully, Dory had a very different opinion of the girl driving away from the house than she had had coming here. “Do you believe Cornelia could force Freddy to marry her? He seemed to grieve her when we saw him.”

  “As to whether Cornelia could force him, I am sure she could exert pressure through the families. As to whether she was is another thing. I don’t trust anything anyone says anymore,” Livinia lamented. A frown lingered on her features. “And truthfully, about Freddy, I don’t know. This could all be conjecture on Rose’s part, said to gain attention.”

  “You think she would lie about Freddy paying her attention?”

  “It’s possible she could misconstrue it. Freddy’s no saint, but to go behind his fiancé's back and cheat with her best friend—I’d have thought he… Then again, he couldn’t help it if Rose was in love with him, could he?”

  “And what about Prudence? What role did she play in this? Coming here, it was her we were talking about, and now it’s Rose in love with Freddy. So did she bring the knife or not?”

  “For all we know, Rose brought the knife. I just think we need to know if Freddy was in any way involved with this—with her. If so, he needs to bear some of the responsibility.” Livinia was angry, Dory could hear it in her voice. Surprises always made her angry. And granted, if Freddy was cheating with Rose, he needed to take some responsibility for his actions, because his actions brought about the murder of his fiancé. “This is just such a mess.”

  “Should we talk to Prudence?” Dory asked.

  “No, I think we should talk to Charlie. What is Prudence going to say? No, I didn’t plan Cornelia’s murder by winding up Rose.”

  “She could have known about Rose’s attachment to Freddy.”

  “The last time, she told us that Rose was infatuated with Freddy. Said that it had upset Cornelia. I really don’t think Prudence is going to tell us anything. If anything, Charlie will know if Freddy encouraged Rose’s attachment.”

  “You think that is something Freddy would share with Charlie?” Dory asked.

  “They went to school together. They are used to not having secrets.”

  Although if Dory were to cheat with her fiancé's best friend, she would certainly keep it secret. Not that she ever would, and truthfully, she didn’t know any of Ridley’s friends. He seemed not to be so invested in friends, but then he was older and youthful friendships did melt away when life got busier. At the wedding, she would probably meet his friends.

  “Now where will we find Charlie?” Livinia asked.

  In her mind, Dory had just assumed they would find him in the same place as last time, in that bar, but that was, of course, a silly assumption.

  Along the road, Livinia pulled over at a telephone box, where she started dialing her friends so she could track him down. Finding him wasn’t something Dory could even contemplate doing. She had no idea how to, but luckily Livinia did.

  Dory checked her watch. How long would this take? She had so many things to do before the wedding. Mentally, she went through the things and assigned timeslots to them. Things were okay. They would interview Charlie and then she really had to go home and organize herself. The dress hung on her wardrobe, where she stopped and stared at it every time she saw it. It was so very beautiful.

  Chapter 27

  DORY HAD NO IDEA WHOSE house they had driven to, but there were quite a few cars outside the old manor. Stone with numerous large windows. Maybe Tudor, Dory wondered as she got out. The drive had given Livinia back the spring in her step.

  An older man came out and Livinia said something about a tennis party. They walked through the house, lined with the old family portraits and sumptuous mahogany furniture that wouldn’t even fit in most house. This house definitely belonged to some family that had lived here for generations. Maybe it was Charlie’s house. Livinia had not enlightened her.

  The gardens were surprisingly small, but the parkland beyond was vast. Over to the right was a tennis court and Dory could see people dressed in white.

  “Nice day for it,” Livinia said as she marched across the grass.

  “Livinia!” a young man said. Dory hadn’t seen him before. “I didn’t think you played tennis.”

  “I don’t. I have better things to do then pointlessly running around chasing a ball.”

  “Then to what do we owe this pleasure?” The blond man’s eyes were sparkling and Dory wondered if he was a little tender for Livinia. She was, after all, a single girl again.

  “We thought we’d have a little chat with Charlie.”

  “How disappointing. Here I was thinking you had come to say hello to me, and all along, it’s Charlie you want.”

  “If things were only that simple,” Livinia said tartly. “Is he here?”

  “He’s around somewhere.” The young man was smiling again. “You should stay for supper. We have a marvelous evening planned.”

  “Do you now?”

  “I have a wedding to prepare for,” Dory said quietly, unable to afford being deserted out here. She didn’t even know where she was.

  With an exaggerated frown, Livinia spoke. “Seem
s I must get this one to her wedding.”

  “Ah, well, congratulations are in order.”

  “Thank you,” Dory said. He was looking her over and then dismissed her as inconsequential, which she was, and she was fine with that. Wasn’t here to impress the local gentry. “Sorry, where did you say Charlie was?”

  The man, for whom Dory hadn’t caught his name, turned around. “I saw him over by the apple trees over there. Perhaps he moved away a little. Seeking privacy. Millicent Gentham.”

  “Stupid girl,” Livinia said and the man sniggered. “Alright, come on,” she said to Dory and they walked around the tennis courts. “Aunt had better appreciate this. I do have better things to do with my time.”

  Maybe this crowd was a little beneath Livinia, Dory wondered. A few years younger, perhaps. The annoying youngsters that kept flirting with her.

  “Charlie!” Livinia called as they reached the apple orchard.

  He appeared looking unkempt. “Livinia. What are you doing here?”

  “Probably doing you a favor.”

  A girl appeared, looking slightly ruffled. “Millicent,” Livinia said tartly and the girl positively slinked away. Something was occurring that Dory didn’t entirely understand, but she dismissed it as irrelevant. It was nice to know that it wasn’t just her that got scathing dismissals from Livinia.

  “Come to ruin my afternoon, I see.”

  “Was Freddy sleeping with Rose?” Livinia demanded.

  “You do have a way with words, don’t you?”

  “Don’t deflect. It seems Rose was going on about how kind he was to her and how he confessed he was trapped into this wedding. Is that true?”

  Charlie shrugged. “I certainly wasn’t there.”

  “Rose is at this very moment spilling her guts to the police. They have arrested her.”