The Silent Touch of Shadows (16 page)

‘No.’ Dorothy shook her head. ‘There’s nothing written down. The tradition has been carried on anyway, a sort of pact between mothers and daughters, if you will.’ She paused to take a deep breath. Melissa was spellbound and waited silently for her to continue. ‘Unfortunately Ruth and I were forever quarrelling and when our mother left this house to me, well, that was the end really. My sister never spoke to me again.’

‘But why would your mother exclude her like that? Didn’t Grandma Ruth get anything?’ Melissa was puzzled.

‘A little bit of money, but most of it is tied up in the house and a lot is needed for the upkeep.’

‘How very odd. As far as I can remember, Grandma was extremely staid. I can’t imagine that she’d ever done anything of which a parent could disapprove that strongly.’

‘That she was. I’m not sure what happened, dear, there was some argument. I tried to have the will revoked, but Mother had made absolutely certain it was all legal. And I couldn’t sell the house either and give Ruth half the money. The will stipulated that if the house was ever sold in my lifetime the proceeds would go to charity. In other words, I’m only the custodian until it passes to the next generation. Since Ruth and your mother are no longer with us, and I have no daughters, this house will therefore be yours one day.’

‘Mine?’

‘Yes, dear.’

‘Oh, no!’
So Steve was right after all.
That was annoying, although Melissa didn’t see how it affected her economic situation in the short term. ‘But
 
… but are you sure you can’t leave it to anyone else? You have only known me for a few weeks.’ Melissa was genuinely confused.

‘No, I could never do that. Ashleigh Manor belongs to our family and I intend it to stay that way. If you don’t want it, I will make a will in favour of Jolie.’

Melissa stared at her aunt. ‘I’m stunned, Dorothy. I don’t know what to say. I mean, this is totally unexpected. I didn’t even know the house existed until a couple of months ago.’ She frowned and recalled the reason why the subject had come up in the first place. ‘But what does all this have to do with Grandma seeing the ghost?’

‘Ah, yes, I was coming to that. You see, I have a feeling the quarrel between my mother and her had something to do with Ruth’s obsession with this ghost, but I’m not sure. I was much younger and not allowed to participate in any family discussions.’

‘That’s a shame. You’re sure she saw the same ghost?’

‘Oh, yes. You do know she had reddish hair, just like you? That must have been why she saw him. She told me about him once and she looked completely besotted. I heard her scream to mother that she never wanted to marry because she had found her one true love already.’

Melissa shivered involuntarily.
Besotted.
That was exactly how she had felt at the sight of Roger. Weak at the knees, butterflies in her stomach, erratic heartbeat. Completely and utterly in love. Another tremor, but of fear this time, passed down her spine.

‘And yet, she did marry eventually and produced my mother, so she must have forgotten. Maybe the infatuation wears off?’

‘Yes, I believe it does, with time and distance. But by then, we were already estranged so I can’t know for sure.’

‘Perhaps the ghost gives up, when he realises he’s not going to get the help he’s asking for. Assuming that’s what he does with everyone and not just me.’

‘Well, yes, and if he’s still here, then no one has succeeded in helping him, I guess,’ Dorothy added.

Melissa nodded slowly while thinking this over. ‘Is there anything else you can tell me? I really want to get to the bottom of this.’

Dorothy smiled. ‘No, nothing else, dear. I think that’s quite enough for one day, don’t you?’

‘Oh, absolutely.’ Melissa hesitated, then decided she had to enlist Dorothy’s support. ‘Umm, could I ask you a favour, please?’

‘Of course, anything.’

‘I’d be very grateful if you don’t tell anyone that I’m going to inherit this house. You know, because of Steve.’

‘Don’t worry, I won’t breathe a word. No one is allowed to see my will until I’m gone so he can’t prove a thing. I’ll lie like a trooper if anyone asks me. Don’t you worry. He won’t be able to wriggle out of paying maintenance for Jolie as is right and proper.’ Dorothy had a steely glint in her eye and Melissa smiled at her having mixed up her metaphors, but she was grateful for the support.

‘Thanks, I really appreciate it.’ It was wonderful to feel that she wasn’t alone any more. There was someone on her side. She stood up, full of determination now. ‘Do you know if the local library is open this afternoon?’

‘Why, yes, I believe it is.’

‘Good. I might as well start my search there. Or at the very least, they can point me in the right direction.’

‘A strange occurrence, wasn’t it? Snow in March? I didn’t look to see you for weeks, my dear, judging by the state of the roads.’ Maude enveloped Sibell in a scented embrace and the latter relaxed, as always.

‘Indeed, most unusual. All those lovely spring flowers completely covered. I do hope they survived. But how do you all fare?’ Sibell hadn’t been able to stand the stifling atmosphere at Ashleigh a moment longer, and had taken her mare onto the muddy road to Idenhurst, despite dire warnings from the groom.

‘Very well, thank you.’ Maude’s eyes took on a mischievous glint. ‘And your handsome young man was forced to remain as well. He told me he daren’t risk an injury to his precious destrier.’

Sibell felt herself blush. Maude obviously hadn’t given up her match-making, even though it was doomed to failure. ‘Maude, he is not “my” young man. I told you
 
…’

‘… that he’d never look twice at a red-headed beanpole, yes, yes, I know.’ Maude wagged a finger at her. ‘But that’s not what you look like. Why, your hair is a gorgeous shade of chestnut and there is nothing wrong with your figure at all. Some men like tall women and those freckles are simply charming. So, no more such talk, if you please.’

Sibell shook her head, but said nothing more on that
subject as they simply wouldn’t agree. ‘Well, it must have been irksome for Sir Roger to remain so long,’ she commented.

‘On the contrary, he’s kept himself very busy.’

‘Really? Doing what?’

‘Training his squire in fighting and swordplay. I’ve watched them occasionally and he drives the boy hard, but not unfairly, while practising diligently himself. Even some of Gilbert’s men are taking note and have offered to let him train with them. I believe he’s teaching them new skills this very moment and I wouldn’t be surprised if–’

The door burst open and Maude was interrupted in mid-sentence. One of the newer maidservants almost tumbled head first through the door in her haste, a stricken expression on her face. ‘Oh, my lady, come quickly! There’s a fight going on and it looks likely to be serious. You must stop them!’

‘Who?’ Maude demanded, standing up and craning her neck to try and see out of the window. ‘Who’s fighting?’

‘Why, it’s Sir Roger and two of the Ashleigh brothers, my lady. Only, it’s so unfair, them being two against one.’

Sibell and Maude looked at each other, then headed for the stairs and out into the courtyard at a half-run. They immediately spotted the throng of people who formed a ragged circle round the combatants, and hurried to join their ranks.

‘What is happening here?’ Maude demanded of the nearest man, elbowing him to gain his attention.

‘That young knight has offered to teach the Ashleigh brothers a lesson,’ the man replied with a smirk.

Sibell felt her insides go cold. She knew Simon and Edmund caused a lot of mischief and weren’t well liked, but she didn’t want to see them badly hurt. Nor Sir Roger, of course.

‘I’ll put a stop to this,’ Maude said and tried to push forward, but the man, who happened to be Sir Gilbert’s
steward and therefore a man of some authority, held her back.

‘No, my lady, don’t. I think it best to leave them to it. Look over there, your husband isn’t doing anything to intervene.’ Sir Gilbert was indeed to be glimpsed on the opposite side of the circle and this stopped Maude.

‘What on earth started this then?’ she asked, clearly irritated.

‘One of them called him a “whoreson”. Couldn’t stand for that, now could he?’

‘Hmph, men,’ Maude muttered, but she and Sibell were soon as caught up in watching the spectacle before them as everyone else.

‘Dear Lord, don’t let him be hurt,’ Sibell prayed, before realising she ought to be asking God to help her brothers, not Sir Roger. They were family, after all. But she couldn’t deny to herself that he was more important to her and if anything happened to him, she would be devastated.

As for her brothers, they deserved no prayers from her if they’d started this.

Roger didn’t often get angry, but the Ashleigh brothers had been trying to rile him for days and he’d finally had enough. It was one thing if not everyone welcomed his advice on swordplay; outright insults altogether another.

‘I don’t know who he thinks he is, coming in here and lording it over the rest of us like a cock on a dung-heap,’ stocky, red-haired Simon had been heard to complain loudly to his brother that morning after practice.

‘Yes, a whoreson, that’s what he is!’ Edmund, equally stocky, but with a blond tint to his red thatch of hair, spat on the ground for emphasis and grinned maliciously.

It wasn’t unusual to be born on the wrong side of the blanket, and no one had ever held it against him before, but to infer that his mother was a whore was more than Roger could stomach. He couldn’t possibly let anyone slight her like that, especially two such cocky youths whose own mother didn’t seem to have instilled any manners into them. His jaw had tightened and he had decided to deal with them once and for all.

‘Perhaps you’d care to teach me a lesson?’ he’d suggested, ‘after you introduce yourselves, as the gentlemen you undoubtedly are.’ He knew their names already, of course, but they’d never spoken to him directly.

The two young men glared at him, hearing the sarcasm and underlying menace in his voice, then smiled at each other. They were clearly spoiling for a fight and confident of victory.

‘With pleasure,’ the red-haired one sneered. ‘I am Simon of Ashleigh and this is my brother Edmund. At your service.’ He gave an exaggerated bow, copied by his brother, who was snickering under his breath.

Even though he knew it was the truth, Roger still found it hard to believe these two were related to Mistress Sibell. No siblings could have been more unalike, in temperament at least. No wonder she looked so despondent. With half-brothers like these uncouth creatures, her life must be hell. And if the father was the same
 
… he shuddered to think what the poor girl was going through. He hadn’t missed the fact that she’d flinched when her back was touched. If it had been a mere accident, she would have mentioned it to Lady Maude, but her silence told him the truth. Besides, her fear during their ride had been almost tangible, and some of the anger at her treatment returned when he saw the swaggering looks of the two men in front of him. He determined to pay them back for her suffering.

‘Unsheath your swords,’ he snarled, pulling his own gleaming weapon out of its plain scabbard.

Chapter Twelve

The lady at the library who staffed the desk in the corner marked ‘Local Studies’ looked a bit dubious when Melissa asked her about Ashleigh, but pointed to a shelf of musty tomes. ‘There might be something over there. I know one of them is an old history of the parish and there are a couple of books that mention prominent local families.’

‘Thanks, I’ll have a browse, then.’

Melissa settled down at a desk with a pile of books and soon learned a lot about the village and its past. But, although the manor house itself was mentioned several times, she could only find one reference to one of the owners – a Dionise of Ashleigh who had married in the sixteenth century. Melissa sighed.

‘That’s too late, then.’

She turned her attention to the books that dealt with the history of the area in more general terms. She had always found it useful to link important events with the lives of the people she researched, as it was good to see how they fit into the wider context. Obviously things like the Civil War and other periods of unrest would influence their lives and Melissa knew the choices they made at such times could have devastating effects on their futures.