A Love For the Moment by Louise Allen

Author:Louise Allen [Allen, Louise]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Haystaff & Hilton
Published: 2019-07-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

I eased myself into a better position in my chair and eyed the brandy bottle as the nearest weapon.

Mrs Thornton snorted. ‘No. Poor old fool stuck himself with a bodkin, it went rotten on him and he died of blood poisoning. Doctor said the grease he was using on the thread was probably bad. Now I make the lads change theirs for fresh every week and not leave it in the sun or by the fire.’

She said it harshly, but I thought it was the reaction of a woman who had had to fight grief and loss and somehow keep going. I thought she must have been fond, at the least, of her poor old fool.

‘Brandon said it as though it was a joke and he was teasing me. But I could see he was watching how I reacted. I just laughed at him and he was disappointed, though he tried to turn it. I was already thinking I’d had enough of him, one way and another. It was the week after that he wrote and offered to marry me.’

‘I can’t see you knuckling under to extortion,’ I said, and meant it. ‘You had the doctor to your husband, there was no reason anyone should believe Garrick now, was there?’

‘None.’ She sipped her drink slowly. Not a woman who drank to excess, I sensed. ‘I reckon he liked to rattle the bushes and see what flew out.’

‘What, send notes saying, I know your guilty secret, to everyone in the village and expect a good half of them to have something to hide?’

‘That’s it. Looks as though he hit the target with one of them, doesn’t it?’

‘Any idea who?’ I asked, hopefully.

‘No. And I’d not tell you if I did. Extortionists deserve all they get. Torture, I call it, tormenting poor souls like that. If they know about a crime and want justice done then they should go to the magistrate. If not, then they should mind their own business.’ She leaned across and refilled my glass, then her own.

‘Hear, hear,’ I said, lifting my brandy in a toast.

‘How’s the son?’ she asked suddenly. ‘Never reckoned he was Brandon’s – paid to marry the girl, wasn’t he?’

It was clearly common knowledge. I nodded. ‘No loss as a father,’ I said. ‘Garrick – Giles, that is – is a fine man. I’d trust him with my life.’ I had done so in fact, several times. ‘He went to see Brandon and must have disturbed the killer, who clubbed him unconscious. It’s a miracle we haven’t got another body on our hands. The man is dangerous – you are certain you’ve no idea who could have done it?’ I asked.

‘No, but you are right. If he tried to kill the son then, blackmail or not, he cannot be left loose. I’ll think on it. If I hear anything, where can I find you?’

‘At Lord Radcliffe’s house, Whitebeams,’ I said. ‘Do you know it?’

‘I do.’ She tossed back the rest of her brandy and I steeled myself and did the same.

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