A Loveliness of Ladybirds by Jayne Fresina

Author:Jayne Fresina
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: romance, mystery, victorian, historical romance, historical mystery, victorian romance
Publisher: Twisted E-Publishing

Chapter Ten

At the Boathouse

Sunlight daubed the lake with gilded ripples that slid, like whispering pleats of finest silk, into the boathouse, their color reflected up among the arched roof beams. There, the gold transformed to lace scarves, waved and tossed about by giddy, dancing spirits. Standing there amid the whirling, spinning light, Lucy felt as if she floated, freed of earthly bonds. It was very peaceful and quite stunningly beautiful. Almost church-like.

Lucy wished Doctor Fielding had been brave enough to walk there with her, for then, seeing how innocent and harmless the little building was, he might have felt better. He could have found himself settled on a more even keel if he confronted his demons, she thought.

But instead she was there alone, having slipped out to investigate, unable to restrain her curiosity after that conversation with Fielding. It was easy to evade the constable, who, with his back to the boathouse, had stopped to light his pipe while looking out over the lake. Now she examined the little building and tried to imagine how it might have looked in the moonlight, when two lovers entered with only a lantern in hand, a bottle of wine, and two glasses. Perhaps they brought a blanket too, to spread out in one of the boats. Lucy would have.

What had Mrs. Siddaway and her young artist talked of that night? Had they quarreled? From what the doctor said, there had been no disagreement, merely a lovers’ tryst in the boathouse at midnight, after a romantic dinner in the hotel dining room and a card game. Something must have gone terribly wrong and quite suddenly for it all to end in bloodshed.

How odd it was, she mused, that she thought of Hywel Ellis as belonging to Mrs. Siddaway, when, in actual fact, he had been engaged to Edie. But he had died in the other woman’s arms and he would always be remembered now for the manner of his death. Even his art was overshadowed by the scandal and tragedy.

So much waste and upset caused by two people who gave in to temptation.

There were three boats, with oars laid across their padded seats, a row of gently bobbing bows tied up to mooring posts by the little dock. Whenever birds or fish disturbed the lake surface and sent more ripples across the water, the boats rocked and danced with greater urgency, undulating and showing off, like a harem dancer she saw once in a naughty little flip book that Clara stole from the school gardener’s shed.

Her mind’s eye drew a picture of the illicit, runaway couple laid there a decade ago, laughing and watching the watery gleam shivering across the wooden beams above. They were probably amused by the stir they caused at the hotel. If they were at all sorry or desirous of privacy, they would have gone to a small cottage, hidden away somewhere, to conduct their affair. Instead they came to a hotel full of shocked, prying eyes and ears. They came there to flaunt their forbidden passion.

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.