A Spirited Manor by Kate Danley

Author:Kate Danley
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Mystery, murder, ghost story, manor, romance, Victorian, drawing room murder, gothic, seance, ghosts, medium, spirit world
Published: 2013-06-08T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

She closed the door. The sound of feet came from the hallway behind her and she turned. Horace, Marguerite, and Norman emerged.

"Is all well?" she asked.

"As well as it could be," said Horace. "Damnable surprise this. Who would have thought Gilbert, after all these years of service, would sink to such violence? No accounting for the help these days. You treat them fairly. You give them a home and shelter and honest work, and they then go kill a woman in your own parlor. Well, I shall think twice before hiring a butler stronger than myself, I tell you!"

Marguerite rolled her eyes. "Please, Horace. Let the police determine his guilt before you play judge and jury."

Horace didn't make a reply, just harrumphed and looked towards the parlor uncomfortably. "Well, I suppose we should decide what to do with Hilda next."

"You should leave the crime scene untouched so that the police can do their jobs!" Norman insisted in his whiny pitch.

"Be quiet, Norman," Marguerite sighed.

"Wesley... I mean... Mr. Lowenherz has left to fetch the authorities," said Clara.

"Went out in this storm?" Horace pointed at the phone. "He could have called!"

Clara shook her head. "Wesley tried, but I'm afraid he said the lines are down.”

“Does he even know how a telephone works?”

“He seemed familiar enough with it. I’m sure he was doing it correctly.” Clara pointed outside, “The rain and wind really is so terrible, a tree must have interfered."

"Well, a damnable nuisance that." Horace peered out the window. "He went into that storm, then? I hope we don't have two bodies to deal with come morning."

"Horace, please," Marguerite said. "Things are getting downright morbid."

"There is a dead woman in the parlor, Marguerite," Norman pointed out.

"That is still no reason to go losing our heads."

"Like her?"

Marguerite gave him a look which caused him to shut up. "We are going to go into the dining room and are going to help ourselves to a drink to steady our nerves. And then we are going to wait until the police arrive and get this whole mess sorted. And then we were going to go to bed and wake up in the morning and deal with whatever the day deals us. Do you all understand?" she asked. Her tone brokered no nonsense and the entire company seemed quite happy to allow her to take command of the situation.

"Thank you," Clara murmured to Marguerite as they entered the dining room.

"For what? For finding an excuse to empty Horace's liquor cabinet without looking like a callous drunk? We should be thanking Hilda. He'll break out the good stuff, now."

Clara stood still for a moment, and Marguerite did not seem to notice that she did not keep pace.

Really, thought Clara, what a houseful of horrible human beings she found herself trapped with. She looked back at the door, wondering if Wesley was still safe or lost in the rain and when he might return. She wondered for a moment if she should perhaps go out and search

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