Death and Mary Dazill by Mary Fitt

Author:Mary Fitt
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Golden Age mysteries british;1940s murder mysteries;bibliomysteries;murder mystery series;vintage murder mystery
Publisher: Moonstone Press
Published: 2022-06-28T09:04:52+00:00

It was then that Lucy Brown nerved herself to speak.

‘Leonard,’ she called out, and her voice sounded faint and tremulous to her own ears. ‘Leonard, I’m very sorry—but I’ve been here the whole time.’

‘Why, Lucy!’ He turned, surprised but not annoyed. ‘I didn’t see you. Somehow I thought you’d all gone and I was alone.’

‘I know, I know you did!’ Lucy was distressed. ‘I didn’t mean to spy on you. But it was so hard to get away!’

He took her two hands and drew her down on to a settee beside him. His voice was very kind.

‘So you overheard that scene between John and me just now. Tell me, Lucy’—he leaned towards her—‘did you understand what it was all about?’

‘Yes, yes, of course, Leonard,’ she said. ‘But please don’t think about it: it will go no further. I had no right to be here, and I must behave as if I had not been. Please trust me.’

‘I do, Lucy,’ he said. He was still watching her with an intent, grave expression that surprised her. ‘I do trust you. For instance, I know you would never think evil of me, whatever I did, would you?’

Lucy’s voice trembled. ‘I try never to think evil of anyone,’ she said falteringly.

‘But you find it hard sometimes to deny the evidence of your senses?’

She looked up at him then, and met his searching gaze. ‘I wish you wouldn’t,’ she said. ‘Please don’t be offended. I know it’s not my business. But—everybody here is terribly unhappy.’

‘I know,’ said Leonard. ‘And do you know whose fault that is?’

She did not answer.

‘I’ll tell you,’ he said. ‘The cause of it all is—Mary Dazill.’ His voice had gone hard with hatred. ‘Since she came, everything has gone wrong. My father—would sell us all, himself included, for her. My friend—is prepared to sacrifice Lindy, and me, to her. Even the servants are bewitched by her. They obey her, not us any longer. As for my sisters—Lindy’s proud, Arran’s young and sensitive; they’re both helpless before her. And she—she’s the original vampire, the creature who comes and sucks men’s blood, and gives back nothing—nothing!’

His voice broke for a moment.

‘But, Leonard,’ ventured Lucy timidly, ‘if that is what you think, why do you—pay attention to her so openly? No good can come of that, surely, even if you were sincere. But if you are not, then I don’t understand it at all.’

‘Listen, Lucy.’ Leonard gripped her hands more tightly. ‘There is one person in this house who can end all this, and only one—myself. I am the only person who can get rid of her—because for some reason, I am the only one who has any power over her. Not over her heart—she has none—but over her feelings.’

‘You mean—she is in love with you?’

Leonard nodded. ‘As she sees love.’

‘Oh, Leonard! And you’ll marry her—though you don’t love her—though you hate her? You can’t, you can’t! Oh, please—’

Leonard released her hands. He laughed. ‘Oh, no! I shan’t marry her. You don’t understand. She is in love with me—at the moment—but she wants to marry my father.

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.