Bobbles and Broomsticks by Nancy Warren

Author:Nancy Warren [Warren, Nancy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ambleside Publishing
Published: 2019-10-16T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

The Watt sisters had taken an almost unheard of day off together to attend the wedding, leaving their hired help in charge. Their kind faces were creased with worry as they walked up to me. “What a dreadful thing to happen. Poor Charlie and Alice,” Mary Watt said.

“Still,” Florence added, “Look at how close they are. If they can withstand this tragedy together, they can do anything.”

“And wasn’t Wellesley’s speech amazing?” I asked, knowing how fond they were of the stand-in best man.

“Oh, he’s a treasure, and so was Rafe, to offer his lovely home for the ceremony.” Florence helped herself to a tiny quiche on the tray of appetizers offered to us.

“The food’s very good, too,” Mary said, helping herself. “I’m almost tempted to find out who catered this affair and see if they’d like to come and work for us.”

I laughed. “William is the genius behind this feast, and he runs Rafe’s household. I doubt you could pry him away.”

“Oh, goodness, no. And one wouldn’t like to take anything from Rafe. He’s such a lovely man.”

The lovely man in question came up at that moment and said hello to Florence and Mary and asked them how they were faring. “Oh, well, it’s a dreadful thing to witness a death, but we must also celebrate life. Alice and Charlie have had their marriage begin on a sour note, but one can only believe that it will all be sweeter from now on.”

“There’s William now,” I said, seeing him walk past, checking that everything was as perfect as it could be, given the circumstances.

Mary said, “I’ll go and congratulate him on this excellent spread.” She looked at me with a twinkle in her eye. “And perhaps he’ll share his recipe for those wonderful quiches. Perhaps we could experiment with some new flavors in Elderflower.”

Anything that encouraged them to expand their menu sounded good to me, since I ate there quite often, being right next door.

As they went off to speak to William, Rafe said, “How are you holding up?”

I glanced around to make certain we wouldn’t be overheard, even stepping closer to the edge of the terrace so a huge flower arrangement blocked us from view. “I tried to talk to Philip Wallington, the vicar, to see if there was any reason he might have been the real target.”

“And?”

I shook my head. “I didn’t learn much. He left London to come here. He’d been working in a rough area of London, but he seemed to enjoy his work. Doesn’t that seem like a demotion to you rather than a promotion?”

“I have no idea. Shall I ask Theodore to do some digging?”

“Yes, if he wouldn’t mind.”

“Theodore loves keeping his old skills alive.” Theodore had been a policeman in life, long before things like CSI and forensics. He was one hundred percent old school, except for computers, but it was amazing how much he could find out doing things like talking to people and asking the right questions.

From up here, I could see people milling around in the gardens below.

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