A Deadly Affection by Cuyler Overholt

Author:Cuyler Overholt
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2016-07-06T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

When I reentered the ballroom a few minutes later, Lucille was seated in one of the large chairs in front of the stage, gazing up in rapt attention at an aerialist in a sequined leotard who tottered across the high-wire over the platform. I watched in amazement as she oohed and aahed along with the crowd, clapping gleefully at each suspenseful dip and recovery. I would never have guessed that she’d just been battering her maid.

The perfection of her attitude after such an unpleasant altercation, and the ease with which she projected it, only added to my suspicions. I started rehashing Simon’s suggested scenario, putting Lucille in the murderer’s role. We knew that Dr. Hauptfuhrer had met with Lucille in his office on the Friday before the murder, presumably to convey his concern that Olivia might have inherited Huntington’s chorea and to insist that the Earl be informed. The doctor had likely contacted Lucille again on Sunday, after Eliza phoned him to say she’d be coming to his office the next day. Lucille would have seen the scimitar on Hauptfuhrer’s desk during her office visit; she might have thought of it again on Sunday night while plotting ways to silence him. For after what I’d heard and seen tonight, I had little doubt she’d have wanted to silence him. She had invested too much in Olivia’s marriage to let the doctor stand in her way. The decision to kill him would have been easier if she’d known she wouldn’t have to bloody her own hands to do it. She could simply recruit her favorite manservant, paying him enough to stay away until the dust cleared or, perhaps, to live out a comfortable retirement in the old country.

The high-wire act ended, followed by a Mozart aria by the opera diva Johanna Gadski. Although Miss Gadski rendered Donna Elvira’s pain with moving intensity, it was Lucille’s more subtle performance that continued to absorb me as the entertainment progressed. Indeed, I was so engrossed that I jumped when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned to see Bartie Mattheson standing beside me, holding a plump red rose.

“Hello, beautiful,” he greeted me.

I raised a cautioning finger to my lips, nodding toward the singer.

“Mother said she saw you come in,” he whispered loudly. He handed me the rose. “This is for you.”

I eyed it dubiously. “Where did you get it?” I whispered back. “From the refreshment table?”

“Coat room, actually.” He shrugged. “It wasn’t doing anyone any good in there.”

“I’m flattered.”

A jack-o-lantern smile lit up his angular face. “Excellent! Just the effect I was after.”

I smiled too, for what felt the first time in days. After all I’d been through, Bartie’s familiar presence was as comforting as a hot bath after a long day’s ride. When the entertainment concluded, he gave me his arm and guided me toward the refreshment table.

“So,” I asked him briskly, “what do you think of the event of the season so far?”

He made a sweeping gesture with his free arm.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.