01 - Murder at Ashgrove House

by Margaret Addison

  ‘Really, what now, Stafford? Miss Simpson, Rose, will you forgive me if I abandon you for a while? I don’t like to keep Father waiting. He doesn’t often ask to see me. Truth be told, I had completely forgotten that he was here.’

  Rose watched his retreating back and felt a sense of loss. She was not left to her own devices for long however, for Lady Withers, who had been occupied in another part of the garden, came hurrying towards her.

  ‘I say, Miss Simpson, are you into roses like your namesake? We have some wonderful rose bushes here at Ashgrove that you simply must see. Of course, green fly has been particularly active on our roses this year, so Bridges, our head gardener, tells me anyway. He syringes the infested plants with a nicotine wash which he simply swears by. It’s effective against all aphids and caterpillars, so he tells me. This way.’ Lady Withers, who apparently did not think it necessary to wait for an answer, led Rose across the lawn and through an archway into a small garden which was obviously the rose garden. As soon as they had gone a few yards into the garden, Lady Withers turned around abruptly to look behind them and Rose followed suit, noticing as she did so that Lady Withers looked relieved.

  ‘Ah, good, they haven’t followed us, I was afraid they would. Oh, no need to look alarmed, Miss Simpson, I haven’t got something to say to you that I didn’t wish to be overhead. No, on the contrary, I’m afraid I’ve rather asked you to come in here on a false pretence; not that our roses aren’t rather splendid, because they’re really rather good. No, it’s just that I wanted the two young people to have some time together, get to know each other, so to speak. I’m very fond of Lavinia, of course, but she does have a tendency to be a bit headstrong and apt to do her own thing, which is all very well in a girl of seventeen, but not the thing at all for a woman almost twenty-three. It’s high time she was married and although she still has her beauty, her looks will fade soon enough like her mother’s looks have done, mark my words.’

  It seemed to Rose that there was nothing much to say to that and that it was probably better if she did not volunteer an opinion, although she found that Lady Withers’ comment about marriage had irked her, for she herself was only a year younger than Lavinia.

  ‘So she needs to strike while the iron is hot, so to speak. And it really is rather fortunate that my sister is still having her lie down because I’m afraid to say that she is likely to put off any potential suitor. I’m sure she doesn’t mean to, but poor Marjorie can be rather fierce at times and she very rarely smiles or is even in good humour come to that. Oh dear, that makes her sound quite dreadful and I really don’t mean to, but all in all I think it’s probably best for Lavinia’s sake if Lord Sneddon sees as little as possible of her mother. Wasn’t it Oscar Wilde who said something about all women becoming like their mothers? What an awful prospect, we don’t want Lord Sneddon to be put off, do we? My goodness, Stafford,’ Lady Withers broke off at the reappearance of her butler. ‘How on earth did you get there? If I didn’t know better, I’d swear that you had wings. Whenever I look around, there you are. Well, what is it now?’

  ‘Mrs Torrington has just arrived, m’lady.’

  ‘Edith, oh, I had quite forgotten about her. How tiresome, not that I don’t want to see Edith, of course, or I would never have invited her here, it’s just rather awkward that’s she’s coming now when my sister and especially Cedric are here, we really don’t want another scene. I say, Stafford,’ Lady Withers raised her voice slightly as if she thought her butler was rather hard of hearing, ‘I was just saying to Miss Simpson that we really do not want another scene.’

  ‘No, indeed not m’lady,’ agreed the butler, ‘which is why I took the liberty of putting Mrs Torrington in the morning room on the first floor. I was afraid that if I put her in the drawing room or brought her out into the gardens, there was a possibility that she might inadvertently come across Lord Sedgwick and the earl coming out of the library and I thought that such an encounter would be unfortunate, until Mrs Torrington had been told the situation.’

  ‘You were quite right, Stafford, as always,’ sighed Lady Withers. ‘Well I suppose I had better go and see Edith and break the news to her. Why she does have to be so silly about Cedric, I really don’t know, I mean, it was such a very long time ago, one would have thought that she would have got over it by now.’ She turned and looked at Rose as if she had suddenly remembered that she was there and did not know quite what to do with her. ‘Ah, Miss Simpson, now what about you? Should I leave you here to amuse yourself or would you like to accompany me to see my old school friend? I think, on reflection, you had better come with me, if you have no objection.’ Rose did not for she was rather curious to make the acquaintance of the mysterious Edith who seemed to have such a thing for Cedric despite the very large difference in their ages.

  She followed Lady Withers into the house and up the stairs to the morning room which had, earlier in the day, been used by the countess to berate her daughter. On the landing just outside the door, looking as if he were trying to pluck up the courage to enter the room, stood Sir William.

  ‘Darling, whatever are you doing here?’ enquired Lady Withers, obviously surprised to see her husband there. ‘I thought you were tied up in your study answering your business correspondence.’

  ‘Ah, yes my dear, I was,’ replied Sir William, looking rather awkward. ‘But just as I finished I heard Stafford greeting Edith in the hall and I thought I’d take the opportunity to forewarn her about ... er … Cedric, before she happened to bump into him. But by the time I had put my papers away, I found that she was no longer in the hall but had been shown up here into your morning room.’

  ‘Well, Stafford thought it would be safer and I have to say I agree with him. But you thought you’d warn her?’

  ‘Yes, seeing as I was here, so to speak, and you were in the garden.’

  ‘I see.’ There was a certain coldness in the way Lady Withers uttered these two words that resulted in an uncomfortable silence. Rose averted her gaze, suddenly finding the pattern on the wallpaper very interesting.

  ‘Constance, please, it’s not what …’

  ‘Don’t say another word, William, we won’t discuss it here and now. I take it that you haven’t had a chance to actually speak to Edith yet? In which case Miss Simpson and I will go and tell her. I say, my dear,’ Lady Withers said turning in that instant to both dismiss Sir William and to address Rose, ‘is there any chance of my calling you “Rose”, I can’t keep calling you “Miss Simpson” while you’re a guest in my house, it makes you sound too much like a servant.’

  ‘Yes, of course, “Rose” is fine, Lady Withers.’

  ‘Oh, and do stop calling me “Lady Withers” dear, “Connie” will do.’

  Before either of them could venture into the room, however, the door opened and Edith appeared in the doorway, the sound of their voices having drawn her out.

  ‘Oh, Connie, I didn’t know you were there, and William too.’ To Rose, who scrutinised her with some interest, Edith looked slightly flustered as if she found the whole experience of being greeted by three people, one unknown to her, quite overwhelming.

  Rose did not know what she had been expecting, but Edith certainly was not it. She realised that she must have been assuming that a woman who was sufficiently attracted to a man half her age to make such an apparent spectacle of herself, would go to great lengths to retain her youth and beauty. But this could not be said of the woman standing before her, who looked to Rose’s eyes quite nondescript. Her blonde hair was showing grey in places and her face was faintly lined with either worry or sickness, Rose was not sure which; it was only later that she knew it to be grief.

  ‘Now, Edith,’ Lady Withers was saying, ‘I’d like you and me to go back into the room and sit down. I’ve something to tell you which I’m afraid you might find a bit upsetting at first but I’m sure that once you have got over the shock you’ll be alright and it needn’t spoil your visit here at all. Why, it will be just like old times
with us all back together. Rose, here, who’s a young friend of dear Lavinia’s, will summon the servants and arrange some tea for us,’ she paused to glance over her shoulder at Rose, ‘won’t you my dear, I’m sure you won’t mind.’

  ‘No, of course not Lady Withers … er … I mean, Connie.’

  ‘Such a sweet girl; would you believe, Edith, that she works in a dress shop? William, what are you doing still here? Go and entertain the gentlemen. I’ll see to Edith.’

  ‘Yes, my dear, it’s just that –.’

  ‘Oh, for goodness sake, William –.’

  Unexpectedly, in the air of tension that had suddenly sprung up between husband and wife, the library door opened below. It was a welcome diversion to all those present on the landing and, almost as if they had been one, they stepped forward together and peered over the banister.

  Later, when Rose thought back over it all, it seemed that everything then happened in slow motion. Firstly, Cedric came out into the hall followed by his father the Earl of Belvedere; secondly, Sir William flung himself quite unceremoniously in front of Edith, as if to shield her from the view; thirdly, Edith half stumbled forward and half pushed Sir William aside as if determined to see what she was being sheltered from; fourthly, both father and son had looked up to see the cause of the kerfuffle; and lastly, Edith had let out a gasp that was clearly audible, even to the men below, and she had clasped her hands to her chest as if experiencing a sudden pain, before her legs had buckled up beneath her and she had crumbled onto the floor.

  There was a moment of silence when no-one moved or uttered a word as if they did not know quite what to do. And then, as if to make up for the delay, everything, to Rose, seemed to happen very fast indeed. Sir William sprang forward and took Edith by the shoulders and helped her to her feet. Lady Withers threw open the morning room door and between them they half carried, half steered, Edith inside. Rose, left alone on the landing, looked down at the upturned faces of the men below. Their expressions showed a mixture of shock and bewilderment as they stood stock still, unsure whether or not they should offer some assistance.

  But what struck Rose most forcibly was the atmosphere. It was as if something sinister and threatening lurked somewhere in the air, just out of sight but clearly there. She fancied that out of the corner of her eye she may even have caught sight of a door further along the corridor close softly and she wondered suddenly whether it had been Lady Belvedere, roused from her afternoon nap by the commotion on the landing. Whatever was causing her feelings of uneasiness, it made Rose shiver. She put out a hand and clutched the banister to steady herself, as she tried to take it all in. She had just witnessed surprise, shock, even sadness, yes, but they were all emotions that she would have expected given the situation. However, there seemed to her other stronger emotions in the air that were engulfing Ashgrove House. And when she cast her eyes below, both Cedric and Lord Belvedere were looking distinctly nervous, which made her think that she was not alone in imagining it all, that others felt as she did, that the house was haunted by something else. But what was it? What was causing her feelings of dread? She was finding it difficult to put her finger on it, although it seemed almost within her grasp, and then it came to her all at once, suddenly and forcefully, this thing that had been alluding her. She knew now what it was and part of her wished she did not. As clear as day she knew what permeated Ashgrove; it was fear and hatred.

  Chapter Ten

  ‘It appears,’ said Lord Sneddon, strolling idly over the well-kept lawns, ‘that we have been quite abandoned; we are all alone.’

  Lavinia looked about her and felt a thrill of excitement. The weekend, since she had first heard of her brother’s intention to visit, was so far going even better than she could have hoped for. Lord Sneddon appeared quite enchanted with her, hanging on her every word, and Lady Withers had very obligingly taken Rose away so that there were no unnecessary distractions. Lavinia congratulated herself for having had the foresight to pack two of her best evening gowns. She was bound to outshine poor Rose; what was a dress of plain black silk velvet after all compared with one of gold lame or silk satin. Already, while half her attention was focused on Lord Sneddon’s conversation, enabling her to nod, murmur agreement and giggle in all the right places, she was already considering in her mind how to dress her hair that evening and which of her jewels would best show off her gown. What a pity that her mother had not seen fit to bring their ladies’ maids with her, Eliza was so very good at dressing her hair.

  ‘I have to say, Lavinia, I’m most impressed that you’ve managed to stick out this shop lark. When Cedric first told me about your bet, I’m afraid to admit that I didn’t think you’d last a week, indeed, I hate to tell you, but I entered into a little wager with your brother to that effect.’

  ‘You never did, Hugh!’ Lavinia tapped him playfully on the arm with her glove. ‘I hope you lost a packet because it will have served you jolly well right for having so little faith in me. I would have you know that when I put my mind to something, I rarely give up; I always get what I want.’

  ‘I’m sure you do.’ He looked her directly in the eyes, almost as if he was issuing some sort of challenge and she could not help blushing. It occurred to her then that she might be being a little too obvious in her intentions. She knew that she was beautiful and that some men found her manner charming, she was also very aware that a number of seasons were behind her and that, despite her wealth, her mother was beginning to have concerns about her finding a suitable husband.

  ‘What about you, Hugh, what are you up to these days?’

  ‘Oh, this and that, Lavinia, this and that,’ replied Lord Sneddon, in a vague sort of way. ‘I’m afraid my father’s health is not so good. I fear it won’t be long before I come into the dukedom and have to oversee the estates and then my life will be quite taken over with duties and responsibilities. I intend to make the most of my freedom while I have it. So I’m afraid that I’ve just been rather enjoying myself.’

  ‘And you find my brother good company?’

  ‘Oh, exceedingly. Although Cedric is apt to take his studying a little too seriously, I am sure I never did when I was at Oxford. I’m always trying to encourage him to let his hair down a bit and have some fun once in a while. I’m afraid that you must consider me a very bad influence on your brother, Lavinia, but he has a very good influence on me and I must say, he does have the most charming family.’

  ‘I trust you’re not referring to my mother?’ Lavinia smiled. How easy this all was. Lord Sneddon was making absolutely no attempt to hide the fact that he was attracted to her.

  ‘Indeed not, although I understand that she is a most charming woman. No, I was thinking –.’

  ‘I say, Lavinia, Lord Sneddon,’ Sir William was making his way over to them across the lawns, ‘Constance has decided that we should have tea on the terrace. She’s tied up with Edith just now in the morning room, but she will be down in a minute; the servants are bringing the tea things through now.’

  Lord Sneddon, Lavinia noticed, was annoyed by the interruption although trying not to show it, while she found that she herself felt a surprising sense of relief. If she were honest, things between her and Hugh were going a little too fast for her liking. She took a sideways glance at him to reassure herself. Yes, he was very handsome and indeed charming company as well as being the heir to a dukedom, in fact everything she could want in a husband.

  ‘Edith, my dear, how are you feeling now?’ enquired Lady Withers, patting her friend’s hand in a vague sort of way which she meant to be comforting. Edith was lying full length on the settee. ‘I realise that it must have been quite a shock for you. We did try to warn you, but unfortunately we weren’t quick enough. I hasten to add that Cedric invited himself down, I would never have dreamed of inviting him to stay this weekend of all weekends. Indeed, it seems to be quite a weekend for people inviting themselves down or just turning up, what with Marjorie and –.’

  ‘Lady Belvedere�
�s here too?’ asked Edith, sitting up abruptly.

  ‘Yes, although don’t worry, I’m sure Cedric and his father won’t say anything to her about this little … er … well, you know, they are both awfully discreet, quite the gentlemen, both of them.’

  ‘Yes, I’m sorry, Constance, to have made such a fool of myself. It was just the shock, you see, I thought I was over it all years ago, but it seems I’m not. Please don’t fuss over me, you don’t need to, you know, I’ll be right as rain in a few minutes. You must go down and see to your other guests. I’ll just sit here for a while, if you don’t mind, gather my thoughts. Perhaps I could take some tea here, if it’s not too inconvenient? I don’t think I can quite face the others just yet, but don’t worry I’ll be absolutely fine by dinner, I really will, I promise.’

  ‘Well if you’re sure you’ll be alright, my dear,’ said Lady Withers who, if truth be told, was eager to get back to her guests if not least because she was rather uncertain as to how best to deal with, or indeed what to do about, Edith. ‘Now, you, rest a little, my dear. I’ll send the parlour maid up with your tea. It’s just what you need, I think, a nice cup of strong tea with lots of sugar in it, just the thing for a nasty shock.’ Even to Constance’s eyes, Edith still looked dreadfully pale. Lady Withers wondered if it was really the done thing to leave a guest alone in such a state. She suddenly noticed Rose who had remained on the landing and was hovering uncertainly in the doorway, wondering whether she should return to the gardens, or whether she ought to offer some assistance.

  ‘Oh, Rose, I didn’t see you there,’ said Lady Withers, looking relieved and, coming over to the doorway, lowering her voice a little, although she was still clearly audible to Edith. ‘Would you mind awfully staying with Mrs Torrington a little while, my dear, to make sure that she’s quite alright. I don’t like to leave her all alone, but I must see to my other guests. My sister’s probably down there now wondering where I am, and I’ll need to chase the servants for tea. I’ll send yours up here too, shall I? I expect you and Edith have a lot in common and it will be such a relief to me, quite a weight off my mind to know my friend is being looked after.’