The Mitford Murders by Jessica Fellowes

Author:Jessica Fellowes
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2017-11-23T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Louisa had a letter from Guy asking her if she would like to accompany him on a trip to Cornwall. ‘There’s some police work I need to do there,’ she read out.

Nancy had been unleashing her poetic feelings about Roland and something about the warm sun had encouraged Louisa to do the same about Guy. It felt harmless enough as they sat there together on the lawn, Debo lying on a rug beside them, Nanny Blor on the bench beneath the tree, knitting a tiny lemon-yellow cardigan.

‘Police work?’ said Nancy. ‘The Florence Shore case? You lucky thing.’

‘Don’t be silly,’ said Louisa, already feeling uncomfortable about reading it out loud. ‘He goes on to say: “I was planning to go during my holiday week later this month. There’s a train from Paddington to St Ives, where my aunt runs a small bed and breakfast. I wonder if you might care to accompany me? It’s very pretty there and you might enjoy watching the fishermen bringing their catch in.”‘

‘An aunt’s bed and breakfast,’ said Nancy. ‘Does that mean it’s all above board, then? It sounds terribly racy to me.’

‘Guy would never suggest anything that was racy,’ said Louisa, trying and failing to look indignant. ‘Besides, I am my own woman now. Who is to tell me whether I can go with a man to Cornwall or not?’

‘I suppose so,’ said Nancy. ‘I’m jealous, is all. Look at my eyes – greener than ever!’ She flashed them wickedly at Louisa and laughed. This summer was her last as a child, somehow; she told Louisa she could feel herself getting near to being the adult she so longed to be.

‘The thing is, I don’t think I do want to go,’ said Louisa sadly, reaching over to grab Debo, who was trying to roll over on to her tummy, without much success. She propped the baby up against her and gently stroked her soft head. ‘It’s not as if he knows me. Not really.’

‘He knows as much as he needs to, to know that he likes you,’ said Nancy.

‘Well, that’s not enough,’ said Louisa in a tone she hoped would make Nancy change the subject. While she liked Guy, the idea of spending time with a policeman was impossible. Around her way, the police were the enemy and she’d had one or two close encounters that had left her afraid and ashamed. Nor could she trust that someone he worked with might not recognise her.

No. It couldn’t happen.

Nancy, however, had not registered Louisa’s discomfort and was still babbling on. ‘I mean, we are helping him with the Shore case anyway, aren’t we? Speaking of which, the more I think about it, the more I’m certain it’s that cousin of hers, the artist. He needed the money, didn’t he? I tell you, it’s always about the money.’

‘What about the brother? He was inheriting money, too, and was angry that his cousin had a big share of it,’ pointed out Louisa.

‘Offley was in America; it must be Stuart,’ said Nancy, who rarely came unstuck from her guns.

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.