The Ghost of Christmas Past by Sally Quilford

Author:Sally Quilford [Sally Quilford]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Amazon: B006BBZB8S
Goodreads: 13450801
Publisher: Tales from the Shed
Published: 2011-11-19T13:00:00+00:00

Elizabeth spent the rest of the morning on chores, readying the house for the Christmas festivities. Her father and Samuel had fetched a tree the day before, and it stood in the corner of the parlour, awaiting decoration. She knew that Samuel would be upset if she started without him, so instead she set about putting newspaper around the base, to catch the falling needles. As she put the papers into place, she idly read the news. Some of them were years old, having been stored in the attic then forgotten about. Suddenly her eyes alighted on one particular headline from a newspaper dated five years previously.

The Strange Case of the Returning Wife, it read. There was an exciting development in the case yesterday when, Mrs. Prudence Rivers, the wife of Bertram Rivers, who was believed to have taken her own life, returned and declared she was very much alive. Her husband, Bertram Rivers, had been tried and condemned for the murder of his elder brother and it was believed the shame had driven his young wife to her own death.

Mrs. Rivers, a beauty with golden locks, claims that she fled to a remote part of Scotland, where she was unaware of the murder enquiry. “Had I known, I would most certainly have come forward,” she told our reporter. “Bertram may not have been the kindest of husbands, but he was no murderer. I only found out he had been hanged because I happened to visit Edinburgh and saw it in the newspaper.”

Mr. Rivers' family have long since argued his innocence, and strongly refute claims that he was a brute to his pretty wife. Mr. Rivers' sister, Mrs. Flora Pertwee insisted she had seen Mrs. Rivers whilst visiting a friend in Scotland during Mr. Rivers' incarceration.

Mrs. Rivers is expected to be able to claim Mr. Rivers estate, which amounts to an annuity of £100 per year.

A similar case took place in Calais several years ago, when the husband of a woman hanged for the murder of her rich uncle arrived several days after her execution. He too was thought to have taken his own life, but claimed he had merely been at sea for several months.

Elizabeth barely had time to think about why the story had arrested her attention when there was an almighty banging at the front door. She rushed through to the hall, just as her father was running down the stairs.

“What on Earth?” she said, flinging the door open. Liam Doubleday stood before her, soaked to the skin and shivering. At first she thought he held a bundle of rags in his arms, then with a scream of horror, she realised it was Samuel.

“Quickly,” said Liam, darting into the house. “Take me to a room with a good fire, and bring towels and blankets.”

Despite her horror, Elizabeth was able to calm herself enough to do as he asked, leading him into the parlour. As she bustled around, looking for towels and blankets, she could hear her father speaking to Liam, asking questions.

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.