“I saw a figure. I am sorry. They’ve gone. It will be one of the gardeners. Do forgive my jumpiness. Events must be getting to me.”
Hardly, she thought, you haven’t been here for all these events. She said, “It might have been Oscar Brodie. The young man puzzles me. He is your nephew, isn’t he?”
“Yes. Lady Katharine’s my older sister. She was such a terror when we were younger – I suppose all older sisters are!”
“Goodness, was she? She seems such a quiet, reserved lady now.”
“Oh, I suppose life has not been kind to her. She never recovered from being married and widowed. Marriage rather beat her down, you know. Literally,” he added in a dark voice.
“You mean...?”
“Yes. Her husband Jacob was a filthy animal, and I do not beg your pardon in saying so. He was a mean brute who ought to have been shot.”
Adelia didn’t mind his strong words at all. This was the first time Percy had been roused out of his passivity. “What happened to him?” she asked. She knew the rumours and the gossip but she wanted to hear it confirmed from the lips of one who had seen it first-hand.
“He died when he was young but not young enough – he had had time to thoroughly cow and destroy my sister. And poor Oscar too, he’s like a boy in some ways.”
“Yes, we had both remarked upon it. Now I understand.”
“We?”
“Theodore mentioned it. Oscar seems to have latched onto my husband and is keen to follow him everywhere.”
“Yes, that sounds like Oscar. He does it to me when I am here, and I do my best to like him, but there is something about him that makes my skin prickle. Now that is an unworthy thought and I do have to beg forgiveness for it. It is a terrible thing to say and I am ashamed of it but when I look at the lad, I see his father, and my feelings are hard to control.”
“How perfectly terrible for everyone,” Adelia said, and she wondered who Lady Katharine saw when she looked at her son. Did she see the cruel ghost of Jacob looking through her son’s eyes? “Was this Jacob Brodie a commoner? I seem to remember so...”
“His family were wealthy and well-connected but he brought no title to the marriage so she remained as Lady Katharine. Indeed, he brought very little wealth to the marriage and I often wondered how it had been allowed to happen at all. The Countess supported it, so no one else had a choice I suppose. Anyway, nothing will go to Oscar.”
“Except the lands, surely?”
“What little Jacob brought with him, he sold; it was all sold for drink and gambling and who knows what else. I’ve paid for Oscar’s education and I’ll pay to set him up in a career but he cannot decide what to do. I know that he doesn’t want to leave his mother alone, and that is to his credit. She is so very inward-looking and my heart breaks for her.”
“Was there anything between Oscar and Hartley Knight? Antagonism, arguments?” Adelia asked bluntly.
Percy shook his head. “Goodness, no. Why would there be? And do not tell me that you, too, are investigating alongside your husband!” He smiled with an indulgent air.
She bristled. No one knew how much she had contributed to all the previous cases. She wanted to tell everyone but she also had to preserve a certain air of decorum. And she also thought, how would Percy know if anything was between Oscar and Hartley or not? Friendship, enmity, whatever it might be: it was all unknown to Percy. He was never here. She tried a small smile in return and said, “I am merely curious and surely you must be, too? What was he up to?”
“Very well.” Percy heaved a deep sigh and began to cross the large room, picking up the newspaper as he headed to the door. “Yes, I am curious. I don’t want to make too much of it, though, and cause Felicia more alarm. It seems to me that the best thing to do is move on, swiftly, and act as if nothing is wrong. Yet ... you are correct. I am interested and I understand why you both are, too. So if your husband wishes to make very careful and discreet enquiries into the matter, then he may do so – but I trust that he will do nothing to upset Felicia’s delicate mind any further.”
“He would never harm her in any way and her wellbeing comes before the matter of Knight’s death.”
“Good.” Percy opened the door but before he could leave, he made a noise and took a step backwards into the breakfast room. “Oh.”
“Who is it?” Adelia heard voices and she went to his side. “Ah! This is early, Mrs Carstairs. And good morning, Captain Everard.”
Percy greeted them equally politely.
“Lord Buckshaw, I am sure you forgive our intrusion,” Mrs Carstairs said, using a tone of voice that essentially informed him that he was forgiving her whether he liked it or not. “We are here, of course, to speak business.”
“To me? Goodness.”
“Oh, no, but thank you for the offer. I may take you up on that.”
“What offer? What business?” Percy was getting panicked and he said in a low voice to Adelia, “What have I committed to?”
Mrs Carstairs rumbled on. “We are here to speak to Lady Calaway, of course, about the Floating Ball. The time fast approaches! And your support will be most welcome. I shall send you a note outlining a few things that you can assist with, with my most heartfelt thanks. Now, where might we settle ourselves so that we can go over the plans for the food?” She addressed that final sentence to Adelia, as if she were in charge at Tavy Castle.
Percy made a strangled noise and melted back into the breakfast room. Typical of the man, Adelia thought. She smiled brightly at Mrs Carstairs and Captain Everard, who
