Face Down Upon an Herbal by Kathy Lynn Emerson

Author:Kathy Lynn Emerson [Emerson, Kathy Lynn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical Mystery
Publisher: Belgrave House
Published: 1998-09-05T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

While all the rest of the household was attending Sunday services in the chapel at Madderly Castle the next day, Robert broke into Lord Madderly’s study, searched it thoroughly, then returned to his wife’s bedchamber.

Susanna entered the room in a rush, eager to hear his report, a few minutes after his own arrival. Her prayer book landed on the table with a thump. “Well?”

“No apparent treason,” he said, but he had difficulty containing his amusement.

Susanna’s brows arched. “What, then, is he hiding?”

“An extensive and enlightening collection of what are popularly called Lucretias.” The tabletop-sized portraits all had frames of gilded wood and he’d found most of them wrapped in velvet and stored in a purpose-made box decorated with a scene of the Annunciation. Each had a metal ring attached, as did the one Madderly had suspended for easy viewing from his desk.

“Oh.” Eyes widening, Susanna attempted to absorb this news without laughing. She did not succeed. The thought of Lord Madderly surrounding himself with paintings of naked women was too much for her. She collapsed next to Robert on the bed and all but whooped with it, sparking his own mirth once more. A good ten minutes passed before they could calm themselves enough to discuss their next move in anything resembling a rational manner.

Susanna was the first to recover. “Were we wrong, then, to suspect Lord Madderly of complicity in a treasonous conspiracy?”

“It is too soon to exonerate him. Someone in these parts is counterfeiting seals in order to lend authenticity to forged papers. Madderly would not be doing the work himself. If he is involved, he is the mastermind behind the plan. All I can say for certain is that I found no evidence of treason in his study.”

“Nothing suspicious besides the Lucretias? I do not see why he’d trouble to keep the room locked for those. He takes no such precautions to hide books with . . . lively illustrations.”

“You have not seen these particular paintings.” And would not, Robert decided. Susanna had too much intellectual curiosity as it was. “There is another entrance to the study,” he told her. “A concealed door. But such things are not uncommon in a castle. Once upon a time, escape routes were highly prized during sieges.”

Distracted, as he’d hoped she would be, Susanna demanded details. “Where does it lead?”

“Into the thickness of the wall. The exit is on the outside on the level below. A narrow, winding stair. To judge by the cobwebs, it has not been much used of late.”

“Glenelg’s killer might have left that way. That murder was weeks ago.”

“A quarrel among thieves? Madderly killed him, then crept away?” Something about the theory did not ring true, but Robert could not put his finger on the flaw in the logic.

“Does the queen have any reason besides proximity to the counterfeiting to suspect Lord Madderly of treason?” Susanna asked.

“She may regard him with a jaundiced eye because he rarely comes to court.” Being ignored always affronted Queen Elizabeth. “And Pendennis observed that it is expensive to collect things.

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