Voices in a Haunted Room by Philippa Carr

Author:Philippa Carr
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

The Suicide’s Grave

THE NEXT DAY DAVID came home from Clavering.

He was delighted to see me and I was filled with great tenderness towards him. I felt that having been so happy on the day of the royal wedding, I had been unfaithful to him. I wanted to make up to him because I was so fascinated by Jonathan.

It seemed to me that there was another barrier between us: the secret of Alberic’s death, which I could not stop myself thinking of as Alberic’s murder.

It was not as difficult to keep my secrets as I had imagined it would be. I seemed to have become adept at deception. But perhaps David was not as perceptive as his brother. I was sure I should never have been able to hide so much of myself from Jonathan.

I told him about the wedding and what my mother had told me about the ceremony. He said that the current rumour was that the Prince had been so intoxicated that he had spent the greater part of his wedding night lying in the fireplace of the bedchamber, whither he had fallen in a drunken stupor—and his bride had been content for him to stay there.

“It grows worse and worse,” I said. “We heard that he was about to refuse to go on with the ceremony and that he had to be persuaded to by his father.”

“How much truth is there in these stories?” he asked.

“My mother and your father seemed to have the impression that there was something in them.”

“And you? Were you disappointed to have no royal invitation?”

“Oh no. Jonathan and I went out riding. My mother insisted that he accompany me. They didn’t want me to go out alone on such a day.”

“I should think not. There would be rogues everywhere.”

“Yes. And we went to an inn called the Dog and Whistle near Greenwich, and there the host served us with the most excellent roast beef.”

“So it was a pleasant visit was it?”

“Oh yes.”

“And Jonathan immediately returned to London.”

“Yes. My mother does not know how long she will be there, and they wanted to bring me back so that I should be here when you returned.”

“Thoughtful of them.” He kissed me tenderly. “I’ve missed you so much… you and Amaryllis.”

I loved him, tenderly, dearly, steadfastly. So it is possible, I told myself, to love two people at the same time in different ways. To be with David was like taking a draught of crystal-clear water when one was thirsty. By the same analogy Jonathan was a sparkling intoxicating wine.

Was there something strange about me? If I looked right into my mind I had to admit that I wanted them both.

They were brothers… twin brothers. Could there be some explanation there? It was hard to imagine them as one person. They were so entirely different. And yet… I wanted them both.

“Well, we shall be having the wedding soon,” said David. “I daresay there’s a great deal of activity at the Pettigrews’ place.”

We talked about Amaryllis.

I spent a great deal of time in the nursery with her.

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