hope must be that any stranger arriving unannounced in the village might be that young man.’
‘Well, Viscount Wombourn was dark, as I recall. Take a twig and push back what remains of his lips.’
Revolted but intrigued, I did as I was told. The teeth I revealed were surprisingly strong and even.
‘Many a rich man would envy them,’ Jem said. ‘They’re well nigh perfect.’
Dr Hansard sighed. ‘I recall young Wombourn falling off his horse at the last hunt before he joined the army. He broke no bones, but chipped a front tooth, not badly enough to turn the tooth black, but enough for me to tell you that this is not he.’
‘Thank God,’ I said fervently.
‘Amen. So I can please her ladyship and irritate that pipsqueak Sir Marcus,’ he said, with a grim smile. ‘A court case to oust her ladyship from the Court and remove her to the Dower House, indeed! What does your Lady Dorothea think of the idea?’
‘She is not my Lady Dorothea and we have not discussed the matter.’
Jem shot a reproving glance at me. As usual, he was right. Edmund was an old friend and I should not have been so curt. ‘In fact,’ I added by way of an apology, ‘she is always so closely chaperoned it is impossible to exchange more than commonplaces – should she want to.’
‘Well, I fear that if he means to embark on what will nodoubt prove a drainingly expensive court case, he will need his sister to make a profitable match, with a very interesting settlement – from what my London friends tell me he has precious little in his own coffers. More than this poor man, perhaps,’ he conceded, returning to his task. ‘Perhaps he sat down to rest and the cold finished him and then the waters rose and carried him off.’
‘The cold?’ I was unexpectedly relieved. ‘No human had a hand in this?’
‘I can see no obvious injury, but that is not to say there was none.’
‘I was thinking,’ I confessed, ‘of the moan that so upset me – the one I feared was a ghostly rebuke. In fact,’ I mused, ‘Lady Bramhall asked me on one occasion if the churchyard was haunted – perhaps she heard the same sound.’
He peered at me over his spectacles. ‘So another heard it?’
I hung my head. ‘Indeed. I would have instituted a search, there and then, but for the weather.’ The blame must be mine, not Simon’s.
‘Ten to one you would have found no more than a corpse and had half the village down with the influenza,’ Hansard said mildly, but I felt Jem’s reproachful eyes upon me. ‘When did Lady Bramhall mention the haunting?’
‘One day at the church. And Sir Marcus certainly did not like such talk.’
He mocked me gently. ‘And since then your attachment to Lady Dorothea drove it out of your head?’
‘Temporarily. But the floods and my poor flock… Truly, Edmund, I have had other things to think of than the product of what I believed was my fevered imagination.’
‘It may be that that groan was the product of a dying man,Toby – have you thought of that?’ Jem asked bluntly.
I nodded.
Hansard intervened kindly. ‘The rain was torrential, like the monsoons I experienced in India. It is most unlikely he would have been found alive.’
‘But why should he moan so loudly?’ I asked.
‘I suspect that your memory has amplified the sound. Enough of speculation. Now, what evidence do we have here?’ Then he bent again to look at the boots. To my horror, he eased one off. I turned lest I see a sight I could not bear.
‘See! The poor man had stuffed this paper into it to keep out the cold and wet,’ Hansard said, prising open the folds. But the paper was sodden, and he desisted. He passed it to me. ‘No, don’t drop it, man! Take care of it, if you please. That is so far our only clue as to where he came from and when he set out. The date, man, and the place the journal was printed!’ He raised his eyes heavenwards in exasperation.
Holding it at arm’s length, I wrapped the soaking wad in my
‘Well, Viscount Wombourn was dark, as I recall. Take a twig and push back what remains of his lips.’
Revolted but intrigued, I did as I was told. The teeth I revealed were surprisingly strong and even.
‘Many a rich man would envy them,’ Jem said. ‘They’re well nigh perfect.’
Dr Hansard sighed. ‘I recall young Wombourn falling off his horse at the last hunt before he joined the army. He broke no bones, but chipped a front tooth, not badly enough to turn the tooth black, but enough for me to tell you that this is not he.’
‘Thank God,’ I said fervently.
‘Amen. So I can please her ladyship and irritate that pipsqueak Sir Marcus,’ he said, with a grim smile. ‘A court case to oust her ladyship from the Court and remove her to the Dower House, indeed! What does your Lady Dorothea think of the idea?’
‘She is not my Lady Dorothea and we have not discussed the matter.’
Jem shot a reproving glance at me. As usual, he was right. Edmund was an old friend and I should not have been so curt. ‘In fact,’ I added by way of an apology, ‘she is always so closely chaperoned it is impossible to exchange more than commonplaces – should she want to.’
‘Well, I fear that if he means to embark on what will nodoubt prove a drainingly expensive court case, he will need his sister to make a profitable match, with a very interesting settlement – from what my London friends tell me he has precious little in his own coffers. More than this poor man, perhaps,’ he conceded, returning to his task. ‘Perhaps he sat down to rest and the cold finished him and then the waters rose and carried him off.’
‘The cold?’ I was unexpectedly relieved. ‘No human had a hand in this?’
‘I can see no obvious injury, but that is not to say there was none.’
‘I was thinking,’ I confessed, ‘of the moan that so upset me – the one I feared was a ghostly rebuke. In fact,’ I mused, ‘Lady Bramhall asked me on one occasion if the churchyard was haunted – perhaps she heard the same sound.’
He peered at me over his spectacles. ‘So another heard it?’
I hung my head. ‘Indeed. I would have instituted a search, there and then, but for the weather.’ The blame must be mine, not Simon’s.
‘Ten to one you would have found no more than a corpse and had half the village down with the influenza,’ Hansard said mildly, but I felt Jem’s reproachful eyes upon me. ‘When did Lady Bramhall mention the haunting?’
‘One day at the church. And Sir Marcus certainly did not like such talk.’
He mocked me gently. ‘And since then your attachment to Lady Dorothea drove it out of your head?’
‘Temporarily. But the floods and my poor flock… Truly, Edmund, I have had other things to think of than the product of what I believed was my fevered imagination.’
‘It may be that that groan was the product of a dying man,Toby – have you thought of that?’ Jem asked bluntly.
I nodded.
Hansard intervened kindly. ‘The rain was torrential, like the monsoons I experienced in India. It is most unlikely he would have been found alive.’
‘But why should he moan so loudly?’ I asked.
‘I suspect that your memory has amplified the sound. Enough of speculation. Now, what evidence do we have here?’ Then he bent again to look at the boots. To my horror, he eased one off. I turned lest I see a sight I could not bear.
‘See! The poor man had stuffed this paper into it to keep out the cold and wet,’ Hansard said, prising open the folds. But the paper was sodden, and he desisted. He passed it to me. ‘No, don’t drop it, man! Take care of it, if you please. That is so far our only clue as to where he came from and when he set out. The date, man, and the place the journal was printed!’ He raised his eyes heavenwards in exasperation.
Holding it at arm’s length, I wrapped the soaking wad in my
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