the room that used to belong to Alkmene’s aunt? That was a little unconventional to say the least. No wonder the butler had tried to protest.
The maid retreated two steps. ‘If you need anything, you can ring.’ She turned and hurried off.
Alkmene frowned. When a servant accompanied a guest to a room, it was common for them to open the door, show the room, ask if anything was wanted. They didn’t take off like something scary was at their heels.
Or rather, waiting for them, inside of that room?
Having just encountered Helena’s venomous nature in the tea spill, she wondered if the room held another unpleasant surprise for her.
Alkmene put her hand on the door handle and took a deep breath. Her neck tingled with anticipation.
Or was it sweat?
Then she pushed the handle down.
The room was large but still seemed cramped because of everything that was in it. A huge four-poster bed, a dressing table with a chair in front of it. A side table beside the bed, a writing desk along the wall, a bookcase.
And boxes.
A lot of boxes stacked into rows of three or four on top of each other. It looked like a storage room instead of a guest room. Why had Helena put her in here?
Alkmene walked to the window and pulled the curtain aside to look out.
The view was of the back of the house, with a formal garden to the right, the stables to the left. A groom was walking a bay horse, patting it on the neck as he went. Someone had put the black horse that the youngest son had ridden home in a fenced-off area where it walked up and down, shaking its head restlessly. A dog lay lounging in the sunshine, ignoring the bustle about it.
Alkmene dropped the curtain back into place and studied the room again. She now saw her bags, which Jake had deposited on the other side of the bed. She wondered what he had thought of this room, of the many boxes in it.
She went over to them and opened the lid of the top box of one of the stacks. It was filled with clothes. Of the finest fabric with delicate lace, embroidery. A vague scent of lavender wafted out, mixed with stale perfume. Alkmene closed the lid again. She was not supposed to pry into things stored here, but instead needed to get out of her wet skirt.
She had just changed into something else when there was a knock on the door. She called, ‘Enter,’ and Jake appeared carrying a tray with a bowl of steaming water on it. ‘I heard from the butler that your skirt got stained in a little tea mishap,’ he said. ‘I insisted on taking water up to you to clean it at once.’
‘That is not your task. You will attract attention this way.’ Still she was relieved to see him and desperate to chat for a few minutes and alleviate the tension that hummed around her like an irritating mosquito.
Jake put the tray down and looked around. ‘Strange place to put a guest.’
‘This was actually my aunt’s room. Those must be all of her things transferred here after her death in India.’ Alkmene gestured at the boxes. ‘I am not sure why Helena gave me this room. She is the new Lady Winters, wife of the eldest son Albert. You met him when you came down the stairs. The house is so big that there must be other rooms available. Why of all those did she choose this room for me?’
Jake frowned as he surveyed her. ‘You look pale. Does it worry you that this is your deceased aunt’s old room?’
Alkmene straightened up. ‘Why should it worry me?’ Her heart was still beating in an irregular rhythm, but if she confessed any of her confusion to Jake, he’d just laugh at her. Think she was a rabbit, like he had thought before in Dartmoor.
She fetched the ruined garment from the bed and began to wet the tea stains over the bowl. ‘I agree it is odd, but it doesn’t bother me at all.’
Jake shrugged. ‘There seems to be a strange tense atmosphere in this place in general. I don’t think most ladies when pouring tea spill it all over their distinguished guests. She must be shaky somehow.’
‘I think she did it on purpose.’
‘What?’ Jake surveyed her with a frown. ‘Why?’
‘Either she wanted to end our cosy little tea party before it had begun, perhaps because of the questions I was asking about the death, or she wanted to get even with me for some reason. It felt like a child’s way of retaliating. Kicking into somebody, you know, throwing something all over him?’
Jake tilted his head. ‘Seems far-fetched to me. She is used to high society engagements. Whether she likes somebody or not, she can’t just go and ruin people’s clothes.’
‘You’d think not,’ Alkmene agreed. ‘Well, maybe it was just a way to avoid further conversation. I felt like I was just getting somewhere. She admitted she was up that night, walking about in the house, before Lord Winters died. She came to the study because she saw a light under the door and then found your friend standing over the dead body.’
Jake shook his head. ‘That is not right. Mac told me how he found the room. It was pitch dark. He stumbled over the body. He used a lighter to see around the room and noticed the safe was open and empty. Then people burst in and he was arrested. The light from his lighter can never have given so much light that it was visible under the door.’
Alkmene pursed her lips. ‘So Helena lied about having seen the light. She went to Lord Winters’ study for another reason. Maybe there is something to be discovered there?’
She dropped the stained skirt with a sigh. ‘I am no good at this. Take it along to the kitchen downstairs and ask some maid or the cook or whoever does the laundering here to look after it. Their new mistress stained it, so they should clean it up.’
Jake laughed softly. ‘At least now you admit to your deficiencies.’
Ignoring him, Alkmene looked at the boxes again. ‘It is odd that my aunt’s entire life is packed into those boxes that are now standing here in my room. Her clothes, her personal belongings. I never knew much about her. Now I am suddenly almost on top of her.’
Jake had picked up the skirt and was already at the door. He glanced back at her. ‘Are you sorry you came? Is it a problem?’ He didn’t sound teasing, but like he was genuinely concerned.
That actually made her own unrest worse.
Reluctantly, Alkmene shook her head. ‘It is not a problem. It is just a strange sensation, you know. For all of my life she has been like a shadow. I knew she existed but she was always so far away. Now she is suddenly here in my life. Or rather I am here in hers.’
Jake made a dismissive gesture with his free hand. ‘Don’t think too much about it. She is not important to us. We have to figure out which one of these people killed the late Lord Winters and framed my friend Mac for it.’
He held her gaze with a frown. ‘If I discover something worthwhile and want to share right away, I will sneak up here and put a note with the information…’ He glanced around for the perfect hiding place.
‘Don’t put it under my pillow or any place a servant might have any business with in my room.’
Jake
