Satin Cinnabar by Barbara Gaskell Denvil

Author:Barbara Gaskell Denvil [Denvil, Barbara Gaskell]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gaskell Publishing
Published: 2011-10-15T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Five

Alex was dressed in dark velvet; his cousin’s doublet, shirt and short coat. Merevale had owned no funereal black so the clothes Alex had taken did not put him in mourning, but remained sombre and plain. The fur trimming on collar, sleeves and peplum was marten, and very narrow. His boots clasped high above the ankle and the buckles were soft cloth, the hose not striped nor parti, neither silk nor adorned. Alex had been able to wash and shave and his dark hair now gleamed in the faded sunlight.

He found the Lady Mary sitting beside the window in the small downstairs solar, peering at her crewelwork through the gloomy morning light. She looked up and seeing Alex, frowned. The expression did nothing to spoil her.

Alex closed the door quietly. “Alone, Mary? Unusual for you.”

“If you’re going to be disagreeable - ”

“I probably am, as it happens.” He pulled a chair close to her, and sat. “But I’d appreciate the truth for all that.”

“No doubt you consider me an inveterate liar?” She giggled suddenly, tossing her embroidery to the floor. “Come on then, Alex. Give me your insults. Though it wasn’t insults you offered me once, I remember.”

Alex nodded. “Which is why I know you were in his bed the night Merevale died. I want to know what happened.”

Mary giggled again. “In detail, Alex? Is life so dull for you now? Well, it should be an edifying conversation.”

“I’m unshockable, my dear,” Alex said. “But some things hardly need describing and I’m not interested in games. So simply tell me what I need to know. Did anyone interrupt you both? Noises, a maid, even Danny?”

The lady glared and hissed through her teeth. “Vile, vile man. I never liked you, you know Alex. And now you can leave. I don’t wish to speak with you again.”

“No good, Mary,” he said. “And it’ll only make me more suspicious. So was it Dan then? Do you know he killed Mel? Or did you do it yourself?”

Mary, sitting very straight, glared at her husband’s cousin. “Shifting blame, my dear?” she spat. “Merevale was alive when I left him, limp, happy and too tired for anything else but sleep. When I fuck a man, I leave him neither breath nor spunk, but I don’t kill him off entirely. And Dan knew nothing.”

“Dan knows,” said Alex. “Everyone knew. I’ll make no accusations, but jealousy’s a good motive for murder.”

The lady stood abruptly and her chair toppled with a crash. “It is indeed,” she said. “But what if it were you jealous? I’ve had better men than you at my feet, and once I’ve had a man, they always come back for more. So you knew about me and Mel? And decided to eliminate the competition?”

Alex stared up at her in wide eyed amazement. “Even you can’t be that stupid, Mary. It’s more likely you know damn well it was Dan. Shall I be the scapegoat then, to protect your easy living and your guilty husband?”

She left him at once, flouncing from the room with a sweep of taffeta.

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