Sixpenny Octavo by Annick Trent

Author:Annick Trent
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Annick Trent
Published: 2022-12-02T00:00:00+00:00

At the Old Bridge Inn that Tuesday, Florinda followed Miss Crusoe into the depths of Castle Rothario and got lost in a series of ever darker, ever more sinister underground passages, where she discovered a skeleton in the tattered remains of a sumptuous red velvet dress.

“Rothario’s first wife!” Mr Young exclaimed. He was hushed by the people around him, who either disagreed with his theory or simply didn’t want him speaking over Hannah’s voice, as Florinda came stumbling back up into daylight and crept across the castle to the library.

Her heart hammering in her chest, she slammed the library door shut and dragged a chair across the room to wedge it under the door handle. She stood listening intently for a moment, but no footsteps could be heard. She was alone, at last, in the library, and could devote herself to the task that had been preying on her mind since the previous afternoon.

Time was of the essence. She flew across the room to the bookshelves. Between the leaves of one of these heavy tomes lay a letter that held the key to the mystery at the rotten heart of Castle Rothario.

A groan went through the crowd when Hannah closed the book, and Lucy too wanted desperately to know what came next.

Hannah was sitting at the middle of the long table, hemmed in by other people. When Lucy had arrived, the meeting had already started, and she and Hannah could do no more than exchange secret smiles. But now people began to leave their seats and circulate throughout the room. Several of them recognised Lucy and nodded in greeting to her as she passed.

She and Hannah managed to find a quiet corner together.

“I was afraid you weren’t coming,” Hannah confessed, her voice a low murmur in Lucy’s ear. In the crowded room, it made sense to stand very close.

“So was I. I had to go out to Newington this afternoon.” The Armitages had requested an extra lesson, which Lucy had spent in an agony of fear that she would not return in time. But here she was at last. “I’ve been looking forward to this all day. But I wish we were somewhere a little… quieter.”

Would it be noticeable if they slipped outside together? Found some dark and secluded alley corner? Where they could kiss, if nothing more.

“I have to walk home with Rachel,” Hannah said, regret in her voice. “Nell couldn’t come tonight, so it’s just me and Rachel. But perhaps we might see each other another night this week?” She lowered her voice even further. “Perhaps your Mrs Raeburn would not find it odd if I came to stay again? I didn’t tell her how close I live.”

“Mrs Raeburn has put several new lodgers in the same room as me,” Lucy said. “They’re staying for a month at least.”

“Ah.” Hannah grimaced.

Rachel came up to them, already wearing her hat and cloak.

“Time to go?” Hannah said reluctantly.

Rachel nodded. “You will walk with us, Lucy?”

Outside, the streets were quiet and empty, a cold drizzle having driven indoors all those who had somewhere to go.

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