Eat, Drink and Be Buried by Peter King

Author:Peter King [King, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-4532-7728-7
Publisher: MysteriousPress.com/Open Road

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

MCCARTNEY LEFT AND I heard a voice calling me. It was Lord Harlington. He looked very casual in a cream sweater and slacks. He had the same look of tension that I had noted before, but I assumed that it was from the many burdens of the rich.

“Been in the city, I hear,” was his opening.

There was no way he could know I actually had been in the City and I had to presume he merely meant London.

“Making a few inquiries,” I said lightly. After all, I could hardly tell him that I had been investigating his family tree.

“Any progress?”

“Possibly,” I told him, trying to blend a cautious optimism with a hint of revelations to follow. But not now.

A party of Germans went by, unaware of their proximity to a real lord. We moved aside to let them pass without having to break ranks. They were planning their next day and saying unkind things about the English weather.

“You must mind these hordes of people wandering about through your house,” I said. “Trampling all over your estate, destroying your privacy.”

He shrugged. “From a practical viewpoint, if I didn’t open Harlington Castle to the public, I wouldn’t be able to own it. I may be confined to one wing, but that’s better than a flat in Bayswater. We need an income of twenty-five thousand pounds a year just to control the woodworm. Some of the other figures relating to the estate would astound you.”

“I don’t doubt it,” I said.

“Besides,” he went on, “if one has the good fortune to live in such a beautiful place as this, then surely its beauties, its history, and its traditions should be shared.”

“I agree with the sentiment, but there must be times when you feel resentful.”

“Living anachronistically in one wing of a vast palace is not necessarily rewarding to the soul or comforting to the body. But as a nation, we are great ancestor worshippers…”

Was there something in his tone that hinted he knew the reason for my visit to London? I felt uneasy. I liked Lord Harlington and sympathized with his predicament. I wouldn’t want him to think I had been spying on guarded family matters that were none of my business. Then I told myself that there had been one suspicious death and two more attempts, so it was hard to be sure which incidents were my business and which were not. Anyway, he had been the one to suggest my staying on and investigating.

“…as you must agree. To have generations of known forebears is a matter of great pride, even if a few of them were rogues and tyrants.” He permitted himself a gentle smile. “To look at a portrait on the walls here at the castle and know that the subject stood in that same spot centuries earlier can be strangely reassuring.”

“And know that they faced many of the same problems you face and found themselves in the same dilemmas.”

“Exactly.” He nodded. “Although, to be honest, our problems today are relatively minor.

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.