The Assistant by Riana Everly

Author:Riana Everly [Everly, Riana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781775128342
Publisher: Riana Everly
Published: 2018-03-19T04:00:00+00:00

Seventeen

Such sweet sorrow

(Romeo and Juliet II.ii.184)

GWEN LANCASTER AND her mother arrived in good time, and the assembled guests soon moved to the dining room. Now that he could see her without her costume and mask, Edward determined that Gwen was a very pretty girl indeed. She had delightful manners and smiled sweetly whilst maintaining her character and wit. It was evident to him that she and Frederick would rub along very well together, and he approved heartily of Fred’s choice. Gwen’s mother, Mrs. Lancaster, was a pleasant lady, generous in spirit, but with the foibles of her age and situation, having lived almost all of her life in a modest estate near Sheffield.

When the conversation turned in an appropriate direction, Edward decided to try his luck, and he addressed the lady. “I was delighted to make the acquaintance of your daughter’s friend, Lynnie Grant, at the ball. How do you know the family?”

Mrs. Lancaster turned her handsome face to Edward and gushed. “Oh, indeed sir, I knew her mother well. We were friends as children and were so pleased to be situated near each other when we married. Her husband was a fine man, but his brother... well, you must know the story of how he always badgered John—that was Lynnie’s father—about never having enough money for his lifestyle. And John would scold him for living beyond his means, you see. But we never really trusted his brother. He went through money like water. Was he gambling, or throwing it away? We never knew. When my Henry died, John Grant confessed to me that he was getting more and more concerned over his brother’s behaviour, and begged me to take caution. That is one reason we moved to London. To be away from Percival Grant.”

This was most alarming! It corroborated both Lynnie’s and Sherrington’s accounts, but it left Edward with no feeling of ease. “How very frightening, Mrs. Lancaster. Would you be willing to tell your tale to a friend of mine? He is looking into matters surrounding the Grant estate.”

“Indeed I would, sir, if your friend would listen to the tales of a silly old woman.” She batted her eyelashes in Edward’s direction.

“And what of the children now? I know Miss Lynnie is in London,” Edward continued.

“Harry, the son, is gone overseas, but yes, we have seen Lynnie in Town of late. She will not tell us when she is coming by to call, but just appears. She must have learned that caution from her dear father before he died so suddenly.” Mrs. Lancaster shook her head and sighed. It seemed, to Edward, that she knew the background to the family’s affairs, but had little information as to the current situation.

Suddenly Edward was struck with a thought, and turned to Mrs. Lancaster one more time, before Mrs. Dyson could deftly change the subject. “I wonder, madam,” he posed, “what you might know about the other people from the estate. I am asking particularly after a youth named Matthew.”

Mrs. Lancaster’s eyes opened wide at this question, but her response satisfied none of Edward’s hopes.

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.