Heirs and Graces (A Royal Spyness Mystery) (14 page)

Chapter 16

Cedric’s body was lying exactly as I had found it, its upper half hidden under his jacket.

“Don’t come any closer, Your Grace.” Frederick handed me the umbrella, then went forward to lift the jacket from the body. The duchess gave a small gasp of horror when she saw him.

“Cedric,” she whispered. “My son. This is an outrage. Nobody should have to end up like this.” She took a step closer to the body. Then she said, “But surely that is John’s knife.”

“Yes,” I said. “It certainly looks like it.”

She stared at me in horror. “You don’t think . . . Do you?”

But that was exactly what I was thinking. I was also thinking that something wasn’t right about that body. Something I was seeing did not make sense. I tried to work out what it was.

“Why on earth would he have removed his jacket in this weather?” the duchess asked.

That was something else that had troubled me. It did cross my mind that he might have been killed elsewhere—inside a building warm enough to make him remove his outer garment—and then his body dumped here. But it would have taken strong men to carry him this far, and there was no sign of any wheeled conveyance. Besides, with this amount of rain any cart or wheelbarrow would have become bogged down in mud.

It wasn’t my problem, I told myself. The police would no doubt get to the bottom of things as soon as they got here.

“Beg pardon, Your Grace,” a voice called, and we saw a police constable hurrying toward us. “They were saying that there’s been a murder, and . . .” He broke off as he came in sight of the body with the knife still sticking from its back. “Ooh, heck,” he said. “It really is a murder.” From his face it was clear he had never seen a dead body before. He looked quite green. “Do you happen to recognize the deceased?”

“Of course I recognize him,” the dowager duchess snapped. “It’s my son the Duke of Eynsford.”

I think he murmured “bloody hell,” under his breath but he said out loud, “Nobody is to touch anything until my superiors get here.”

“And when will that be?” the duchess asked. “I do not like to think of my son lying here in the mud. It is not seemly.”

“It’s a crime scene now, Your Grace. The detective inspector who comes will want to see exactly how the body was lying and to see if there were any suspicious footprints around it.” He gave us a look, and I realized that both Frederick and I had gone up to the body.

“His coat was covering his head,” I said. “We had to remove it to see who it was and whether he was dead. So our footprints will be there.”

“Never mind, miss,” he said. “I don’t suppose your little footprints will have done too much harm.”

“We need to cover him with something,” the duchess said. “I hate to see him lying there with the water splashing all over him.” She looked at the constable. “You should stay here and guard the body until your inspector arrives.”

“I have to stay here?” His face fell.

“Of course. The murderer might return and try to dispose of the body.”

I could tell this didn’t cheer him up, but he managed to say, “Very well, Your Grace. I shouldn’t think our detective inspector will be too long.”

“We should go back to the house,” I said to Edwina. “It won’t do any good if you catch cold as well as everything else, and Irene will need you when she regains consciousness.”

She nodded. “Yes. And I’ll have to inform the family immediately, especially John.”

We trudged up the hill in our sodden clothes with Frederick trying to control the lurching umbrella. Huxstep was waiting for us anxiously.

“I have coffee and brandy waiting for you in the Long Gallery, Your Grace,” he said. “Let me take your coat.”

“I would like the grounds staff to take a tarpaulin down to the police constable and make sure that my son’s body is properly covered until the inspector gets here,” Edwina said as her coat was being removed. “And please inform me the moment the inspector arrives.”

“Very good, Your Grace,” Huxstep said.

Our coats having been removed, we went through to the Long Gallery, where a giant log was burning in the hearth. “I think we both need some brandy in our coffee,” Her Grace said, and poured a generous amount into both cups. I felt the warmth of the alcohol flood through my body, and realized that the cold I had felt was not just from the rain, it was from shock. Huxstep came back to join us. “Your Grace, what are your instructions concerning the servants? I have told Frederick and the groundsmen that they are to say nothing until you inform the whole staff.”

“Thank you, Huxstep. Yes, I shall want to address them all, but first I must see my daughter. Then I’ll talk to the family. Please let the family and guests know that I wish to speak to them, then have all the staff assembled in the servants’ hall in half an hour.”

“May I suggest you assemble the family in the library, Your Grace? It has the right air of solemnity.”

“Spot on as usual, Huxstep.” She nodded with almost a smile. “Please summon everyone to the library.”

“Everyone, Your Grace? Does that include the children?”

“I think it should, since it concerns them,” she said.

“And what about those young men who were the duke’s guests?”

Edwina frowned. “Yes, I suppose they’ll have to know, and then they can go home, thank goodness.”

“And the visitor in the morning room, Your Grace?” Huxstep asked with no trace of expression on his bland face. “Should he be included?”

“I see no reason to include him in family business. His visit here was incidental. Leave him where he is.”

I put down my coffee cup. “I have to go up and change my wet shoes and stockings. Would you like me to bring down the children when I come?”

“How kind.” She touched my arm gently. “You have been such a help to me, Georgiana. I see now why the queen spoke so highly of you.”

“What about Sissy?” I asked. “She shouldn’t be left out.”

“Of course not. Huxstep,” she called after him, “send up two of the staff to have Miss Elisabeth carried down to the library.”

“And about their mother . . .” I began. “I presume you’ll want to break this news to them yourself?”

“If my daughter has made a good recovery, I see no reason why they should need to know,” she said. “Especially if it transpires that she tried to take her own life. They have had enough upset in their young lives. They must see their mother as their rock.”

I went upstairs thinking that actually I’d been no help at all. Jack had arrived, and I hadn’t managed to stop him from picking up his chicken, ruining a hunt or, apparently, from killing his uncle. In my eyes, my visit so far had been a hopeless failure. I paused at the top of the stairs. Could Jack have crept down that path behind his uncle and stabbed him to death? It seemed so unlike the glimpses I had had of his character. He had been angry with Cedric yesterday. He’d even challenged him to step outside and fight. But that was man to man, not sneaking up behind someone’s back. The Jack I had seen was a simple sort of chap. He’d punch someone if they insulted him. But kill him? I shook my head. Nothing about that body on the path made sense to me. I wished the inspector would hurry up and get here.

There was no sign of Queenie—probably down in the kitchen having elevenses, knowing her. She had an absolute fondness for cakes and biscuits. So I changed my shoes, draped my wet stockings over a chair by the fire, took off my wet skirt and rubbed my hair with a towel before I went upstairs to the nursery. I was nearing the head of the stairs when I heard voices, and saw the three Starlings coming toward me.

“You’re wanted in the library, I believe,” I said.

“Oh, so that’s where Ceddy’s been hiding out,” Julian said. “We wondered where he’d got to.”

“Of course we didn’t exactly go looking for him this morning, after last night,” Adrian said. “We were seriously put out, weren’t we, boys?”

“Absolutely shattered. We simply couldn’t believe he’d do a thing like that,” Simon agreed. “Then this morning, after a good breakfast, we came to the conclusion that he was just teasing, just pushing buttons. You know Ceddy—he loves to push buttons. So we decided to forgive him after all, and we were going to give him moral support with his architect, but then we couldn’t find him and it was blowing a gale.”

“So we went to work on the play in the ballroom instead,” Julian said. “We thought we’d get that problem scene all smoothed out and surprise him.”

I tried not to let my face show what I was thinking.

“We’d better not keep him waiting a second longer,” Simon said. “You know how he hates to be kept waiting. Off we go then. Fly like Peter Pan.”

And they ran down the stairs. In spite of everything, I had to smile as I climbed the last flight to the nursery. All three of the men were remarkably like Peter Pan, living in a pretend world. But as they said, they had been seriously put out when Cedric announced that he was planning to adopt his valet rather than one of them. Had they really not taken him seriously, or had they decided to stop him?

I tapped on the schoolroom door and went in. The twins were standing beside the table, with Mr. Carter behind them.

“Carefully,” he was saying. “Pour it steadily.”

They looked up in surprise when they saw me.

“I’m sorry to disturb you,” I said, “But Her Grace has requested the presence of the children in the library at once.”

“Oh, crikey.” Nicholas glanced at Katherine. “What do you suppose we have done this time?”

“Nothing that I can think of,” she said. “We’ve been silent and invisible, as far as I know.”

“That’s when I’m most suspicious about you,” Mr. Carter said. “So off you go then. You shouldn’t keep your grandmother waiting.”

“But what about our experiment?” Nicholas complained. “Now we’ll never get a chance to finish it.”

“There’s always tomorrow. It can wait,” Mr. Carter said.

“Do you know what this is about, Georgie?” Nick asked. “Are we both in trouble?”

“Nobody’s in trouble, as far as I know,” I said. “Your grandmother wants to talk to the whole family.”

“At least it’s Grandmama and not Uncle Cedric,” Katherine said. “If it was him, we’d know we were in real trouble.”

“By the way,” Nick said, “speaking of trouble, we saw that funny local bobby cycling up the hill toward the house. He was having such a hard time riding in the rain and against the wind. When he was halfway up, his helmet blew off. We had a good laugh, didn’t we, Kat?”

“We did,” she said. “So what was up this time? Somebody tried to poach a deer again?”

“I really don’t know,” I said. “You’d better get downstairs. And someone is coming up for your sister. Is she in her room?”

“Yes, she’s reading Dickens.” Nick made a face. “She actually likes Dickens. Can you imagine? I mean, Sherlock Holmes I can understand. That is fun. But Dickens? So boring. Come on, Kat,” Nicholas said. “We’d better bugger off.”

“Nicholas. Where did you hear such language?” Mr. Carter demanded.

Katherine grinned. “From Uncle Cedric’s strange followers. We’ve increased our vocabulary by leaps and bounds.”

“And you’d be amazed what we’ve learned of anatomy from the pictures drying in Uncle Cedric’s darkroom,” Nick said.

“Shut up, Nick.” Kat gave him a dig in the ribs. “You’ll get us in trouble. You know it’s off-limits.”

“So are lots of places, but that hasn’t stopped us yet.” He gave a final wicked grin as they ran off.

Mr. Carter gave me an apologetic smile and shook his head. “Those children have too much time on their hands and no real direction. It’s not healthy.”

“I think they just delight in shocking adults,” I said. “They seem rather fun to me.”

“But not what their grandmother wants. Has she heard them using language like that? Is this what the summons is about? In which case, I’ll probably be on the carpet too.”

“No, it’s nothing like that,” I said. “But Her Grace wishes to address the staff in half an hour or so. I know you don’t count as staff but I suspect you should hear what she says as well.”

“I see.” He was frowning. “You really don’t know what this is about?”

“I’m not at liberty to say, Mr. Carter, only that it shouldn’t affect you in any way.”

“That’s a relief.” He paused. “I heard there was a rumpus last night, and that the children’s mother was threatening to walk out or be kicked out. I thought I might be out of a job.”

“It’s nothing to do with that. I can reassure you there.”

He managed a smile. “Thank you. I’ll go down in a little while then, shall I?”

“In half an hour, so I understand.”

I went across and tapped on Sissy’s door. Two people looked up as I entered. I was surprised to see Jack sitting beside Sissy, their heads close together over a book.

“Oh, there you are, Jack,” I said. “They’ve been looking for you.”

“Sissy is helping me with my reading,” Jack said guiltily. “I’m not so hot at big words.”

“How very nice of her,” I said and watched her blush. “You’re going to be taken downstairs, Sissy,” I said. “Your grandmother wants to speak to the family, including you.”

“How exciting.” Sissy’s face lit up. “I haven’t been down for ages. Are they sending servants up for me?”