‘Well, do you really believe Mrs Thorpe’s death was an accident?’
‘What else could it be?’
‘You noticed a number of curious features. Do they suggest anything untoward?’
He looked around the room and took a heavy brass candlestick over to the window, asking me to bring the other. After looking at both carefully he turned his attention to the marble obelisks above the fireplace. I carried them both over to him and he gave an exclamation of triumph.
‘Here we are! There is the faintest trace of dried blood on this one – can you see it?’
‘I think so. Is it blood?’
‘I’m pretty sure of it, though it’s the merest trace. When wiping something clean by candlelight it is difficult to be exact.’
‘You think it was used to strike Mrs Thorpe?’
‘Possibly. Then the pillowcase was used to wipe it clean and then wrapped round the poor woman’s head until she was carried to the top of the stairs and then thrown down. She was a small woman and a strong man – even a tall, strong woman – could have done it.’
I shuddered.
‘I’m sorry – am I distressing you? I’ve seen too much of death, perhaps.’
‘No. I disliked the woman but I would never have wished her such a death.’
‘It is, perhaps, a consequence of what has gone before. This may not be a succession of separate events but a connected series perpetrated by one diseased mind.’
‘Then there’s a connection between everything that’s happened?’
‘I’m inclined to think so.’
‘A madman?’
‘I wouldn’t go so far as to say that. There’s logic and intelligence at work. There are certain people – quite pleasant and plausible on the surface – who have no sense of right and wrong. They are interested only in their own advantage and destroy everyone who stands in their way.’
‘It can’t be anyone in this house, surely?’
‘I don’t know anything for certain.’
There was a small writing table in the room set out with pen, ink and stationery. A few letters lay on top of it, which he glanced at curiously, then he opened one of the drawers, glanced down into it with a frown, then picked up some sort of folded document which he thrust inside his coat.
I was about to question him when Lady Denby charged in, followed by Dr Stringer.
‘What are you doing here, Miss Tyler?’ she demanded. ‘What possible use could you be to Colonel Hartley? I should have thought you’d be more of a hindrance than a help.’
‘She has been of the greatest possible assistance,’ said Colonel Hartley.
‘Well, I’m afraid her usefulness is at an end as Dr Stringer is here to look at poor Louisa. It was impossible to carry out a proper examination by candlelight. Come, Miss Tyler, this is no place for us poor women.’ She ushered me out of the room and we left the two men to their work.
‘Do you like Colonel Hartley?’ she asked me as we went downstairs.
‘Of course,’ I replied in as calm a tone as possible. ‘What is there not to like?’
‘That’s not quite what I meant.’
‘No? Then I am baffled.’
‘Oh, come now, you are not usually so obtuse. I meant, do you like him in a way exceeding ordinary friendship?’
‘I’m not at all sure what you mean, even now. He is a most agreeable man and I’m sure you think so too.’
She sighed. ‘Very well, keep your own counsel if you wish. I am never one to interfere, but mind what you are about, that’s all.’
With that she returned to the breakfast room to impose her presence on my brother and Sophie. The latter soon joined me for our morning walk and was eager to know what had transpired.
‘Lady Denby must be really upset,’ she said, ‘she ate nothing but a little toast and half a boiled egg.’
‘That’s because she had a breakfast tray carried up to her an hour ago.’
‘The old fraud! I don’t believe half she says, do you? But do tell me what Colonel Hartley thinks about it all.’
I could not tell her much about his theories. He had entrusted me with opinions that were not, at this stage, intended for anyone else, so I told her as much as I could and said a walk in the fresh air was the best thing for us both after the horrors of the night. We were returning to the house just as Colonel Hartley was leaving.
‘We’ve done all we can do for now,’ he said. ‘The doctor is attending to Sir Ralph. I’m riding to Ashdale. I might as well inform the coroner myself and make arrangements for a post-mortem and inquest if necessary. I’m sure the verdict will be accidental death or misadventure.’
‘I’m tired,’ said Sophie. ‘I’ll go in and have a rest, Aunt Charlotte, if you don’t mind.’ She gave me a sly look; obviously she was deliberately intending to leave me in the Colonel’s company. As he was heading for the gates we walked there together, he leading his horse.
‘Are you sure you’re not tired too?’ he enquired. ‘You had little sleep last night.’
‘No, not at all. You must have had many sleepless nights when you were campaigning.’
‘I suppose so, but ladies are not used to that sort of thing – well, maybe a few of them are but violent events in a quiet country house are more of a shock because they are so incongruous.’
‘What does Dr Stringer think?’
‘Oh, it was certainly an accident: she had no light and the stairs were slippery. The good doctor looks no further than that. It was the same with my poor friend Rushworth…. To tell the truth,’ he continued after a pause, ‘I don’t like to think of you and Sophie in that house.’
‘What could possibly happen to us? My brother George is a perfectly adequate guardian. Surely you don’t think Sophie and I are likely to fall downstairs in the middle of the night?’
‘No, the same thing won’t happen twice but there may be other dangers. I’m sorry, I can’t be more specific. If I knew what they were I might warn you of them. It’s better that you don’t know too much at present.’
‘Now you are talking in riddles.’
He looked at me with a serious expression. His eyes were perfectly grey, I thought, with not a trace of blue or green.
‘I will tell you this much,’ he said, ‘because I trust you to keep it to yourself. When I was searching Mrs Thorpe’s desk this morning I found a letter addressed to me and inscribed: “To be opened in the event of my death!” I have it here, as yet unread, but it may provide us with some answers. It may be the coroner should see it.
‘I shall see you later today and let you all know what is to happen concerning the post-mortem and inquest. Goodbye for now.’
He hesitated a moment and then kissed my hand and rode off at a brisk canter. His lips brushed against my ring and I recollected that Harry had kissed it before he put it on my finger. Somehow that gesture had brought the two of them together.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The news of Mrs Thorpe’s death soon spread throughout the neighbourhood. As expected, gossip and rumour added all manner of embellishments. She had seen a ghostly apparition of the hermit and missed her footing as a result of shock; she had been sleepwalking; she had tripped whilst fleeing the intentions of an amorous guest. Who? I wondered; my poor brother seemed to be the only candidate.
Rowland got to hear of it and came riding over to find out what had really happened and also to make another attempt at a reconciliation with his mother.
Lady Denby was, I think, genuinely distressed by the death of her friend. She was by no means lacking in feeling despite her blustering, high-handed manner and she had already been shaken by Rowland’s revelations and Sir Ralph’s illness. Rowland hoped her misery might soften her heart and make her more amiably disposed towards him. He slipped in through a side door and went up to see Sir Ralph first and perhaps, I suspected, negotiate a loan if the old man was sufficiently recovered to sanction it. However, he found Elinor reading to her father and she swiftly showed hi
m the door.
Next Rowland sought out his mother, who was in the process of writing a difficult letter to Louisa’s sister, Mrs Lawrence. She rose in fury, berating him for bringing disgrace on the family and everlasting suffering to herself. She told him to go away and never return, and then, as he turned towards the door, she called him back, burst into tears, embraced him and begged him not to forsake her.
I heard all this when I encountered Rowland leaving his mother’s study. He was so obviously relieved and pleased and longing to tell someone that he poured it all out to me.
‘Of course, I’ve got to tread carefully and I scarcely dare mention Carrie. She won’t have her in the house but at least she wants me back. It’s a beginning. I’m to stay here tonight in my old room. She says she wants another man in the house now Sir Ralph is incapacitated. Carrie won’t be too happy about that. I’m going back now to explain everything to her but we can’t afford to be on bad terms with my mother, especially now there’s little Arabella’s future to consider.
‘I say,’ he added, turning on the way to the door. ‘What a dreadful business about Louisa Thorpe. That must have been an awful shock for Mama. I think that’s what softened her up so it’s done me some good at least.’
How typical of Rowland, I thought, that his view of a sudden death was coloured by how it affected himself.
Later that day Colonel Hartley returned with the coroner, Dr Stringer and another doctor from Ashdale who had been called on to perform the autopsy on Mrs Thorpe. The coroner wished to see the scene of the death and inspect the corpse, which was then removed to the laundry.
When the coroner had departed, Colonel Hartley sought me out and asked me to accompany him up to Mrs Thorpe’s room.
‘You were there last night,’ he said, ‘and also this morning in my company and you are sharp-eyed and observant. I want you to look round carefully and give me your opinion.’
We entered the room and I stood by the bed, looking at everything we had seen that morning.
‘It seems to me,’ I said, ‘that several things have been moved very slightly – particularly the obelisks over the fireplace.’
‘Yes, that’s what I thought. And you remember I found faint traces of blood on one of them? Now there’s nothing.’
‘You mean someone’s been in here and wiped it clean?’
‘Exactly! Now see the writing-table. The letter she wrote to me was in the left-hand drawer. I closed it firmly after removing the document but now it is protruding about half an inch.’
‘Was anything disturbed by the coroner or doctors?’
‘No, I was present all the time.’
‘Have you read the letter?’
‘Oh yes, and I’ll let you see it when the time is right. It confirms the suspicions I already had about the death of poor James Rushworth.’
On leaving the room we encountered one of the maids, who gave us an odd, sideways look. I thought perhaps she was shocked at seeing me emerge from a bedroom with Colonel Hartley but she turned and begged my pardon.
‘Excuse me, miss – and you too, sir – but there’s something I ought to tell you. It may seem ridiculous and I know you may not believe me but I swear it’s true. You can ask Thomas if you like – he didn’t see quite what I saw but he saw something.’
‘What did you see?’
‘This morning, sir – a man dressed as a monk in a grey robe – he was gliding along the corridor. It’s a bit dark along here and his back was towards me and that hood over his head so I didn’t see his face. I won’t say it was a ghost but I don’t know who or what it was. I saw Thomas coming out of Sir Ralph’s room so I called to him and we both went after him – or whatever it was – and he went into the Tapestry Room and Thomas went in and called me and there was no one there. The room was quite empty. I really did see something, sir.’
‘I’m sure you did. Sarah, isn’t it? You’ve worked here many years and I remember you were with old Miss Wilton.’
‘Twelve years, sir. Yes, I was kept on by Sir Ralph and her ladyship.’
‘Did you go in the closet?’ I asked, remembering my own experience in the Tapestry Room.
‘No, miss, it was locked. I’m not saying it was a ghost, but it was somebody!’
‘I’m sure it was,’ said Colonel Hartley. ‘Come along, Miss Tyler, let’s have a look at it now.’
We entered the Tapestry Room and as we expected, it was empty.
‘Where’s this closet you mentioned?’
‘Here.’ I held back the tapestry and showed him the hidden door in the panelling.
‘I didn’t know about this.’ He tried the latch and the door opened easily. ‘Sarah said it was locked,’ he said.
‘Yes, and that was strange because there is no lock – only a bolt inside. Come and see.’
‘So our mysterious monk could have slipped inside, shot the bolt and been safe from discovery?’
I then told him of the experience I had had in the early days of my visit to Lovegrove.
‘I’ve always felt sure that the woman I heard was Louisa Thorpe but I wasn’t at all certain about the man. I distinctly heard a male voice and a woman’s but quite muffled. I couldn’t make out any words. I’ve always feared the man might be my brother – she was quite blatant in her advances.’
‘Yes, but I shouldn’t be too sure of that.’ He looked carefully around the small room. I could not see any difference in my surroundings but it could be that my recollection had faded. There was a candlestick and a small tinderbox that I could not remember but such items are easily disregarded.
‘Did you open the chest and find a skeleton?’ he smiled.
‘Oh, I certainly looked but it seemed to contain nothing but old musty curtains and counterpanes.’
‘Just as well you didn’t enter and disturb the happy couple. You’d probably have had a nasty shock – though not nearly as nasty as that suffered by the guilty pair.’
‘I think the door was bolted.’
‘Certainly it was – they wouldn’t want their assignation to be interrupted.’
He glanced around the room again and turned his attention to the daybed and peered at one of the crushed cushions. He picked it up and carried it to the window, calling me over to join him.
‘Hold this,’ he said, and I took the cushion in my arms. He carefully removed a long golden hair from the surface.
‘Now, whose is this, I wonder.’
A pile of mildewed prayer books lay stacked in a corner of the room. I removed a blank page from the back of one and used it to enclose the hair, which he placed in his pocket.
‘Someone has certainly been lying on here – sleeping, perhaps – or otherwise.’ He sank to his knees and felt underneath the bed. ‘I don’t think the servants dust under here very often,’ he added.
He then brought out a bottle of wine and a jug of water covered by a napkin and commented that neither looked as though it had been there very long.
‘We’d better leave everything as we found it. I’d like a closer look at this chest.’
He attempted to raise the lid and I went to help him, thinking he could not easily lift it one-handed, but he shook his head.
‘You say you looked inside?’
‘Yes, there was a key in the keyhole but it wasn’t locked.’
‘Now it is and there’s no key. I wonder what’s hidden inside? I suppose we could get it forced open but that would give warning to whoever is using this room. Leave it for now, I’ve seen all I want to see. It’s very hot and airless in here. Let’s go.’
We returned to the Tapestry Room.
‘Who do you suppose Sarah saw this morning?’ I asked.
‘Whoever it was had gone to search Mrs Thorpe’s room. Someone who knew about the letter addressed to me – or at least, suspected something of the sort might exist. Someone who needed to clean the marble obelisk more thoroughly.’
‘And he was dressed as a monk?’
‘The hermit was prov
ided with two robes. He died wearing one but I shouldn’t be surprised if the other is missing. I’ll check his cell. It probably used to be kept in his trunk with his other clothes but I can’t recall seeing it when we went through his things – can you?’
I shook my head. ‘I suppose it would be a good disguise, especially with the hood pulled low to shade the face. And when Sarah and Thomas followed him into this bedroom he shut himself in the closet.’
‘It seems like it. Quite a good hiding place as this room is never used.’
‘And what about the so-called ghost that the other maid – the silly one – said she saw gliding into the priory ruins?’
‘Oh, she certainly saw someone, though I’m not at all sure what he was doing out there.’
He put his hand on my shoulder. ‘Charlotte …’ (It was only afterwards I realized he had called me by my Christian name for the first time.) ‘Don’t tell anyone of this, not even your brother. It seems to me this house hides one secret too many. Remember what I said before – take care!’
CHAPTER TWENTY
The next twenty-four hours were full of upheavals and makeshift arrangements. The coroner returned with a hastily convened jury who inspected the scene of the accident and viewed the unfortunate corpse. By now, Louisa Thorpe was decently coffined and placed on the dining room table, where she could be discreetly glimpsed before being lidded but not screwed down, in case her next of kin wished to view her when they arrived.
The inquest was held first thing the following morning and proceeded with great rapidity, a verdict of ‘accidental death’ being brought in within the hour, much to everyone’s relief.
Lady Denby had sent a trusted servant to take a letter to Morley Rectory in Cheshire to inform Mrs Lawrence of her sister’s death and inviting her, with her husband the rector, to stay at Lovegrove until the sad obsequies were completed. She had decided against using the post as she wanted to ensure an immediate reply. This she received the next day from Mrs Lawrence, rather terse and formal compared with her ladyship’s gushing effusion, saying she would be starting out immediately, but as her husband, the Revd Titus Lawrence, was unable to leave his parish duties, she would be escorted by her son.
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