13 - The Midsummer Rose Read Online Free PDF Page B

wife said warningly. ‘He is the head of the household, after all.’
    Margaret gave a derisive snort. ‘If he believes that, he’ll believe anything. And he’s not the head of
my
household. I can tell him the truth.’
    ‘Not under this roof,’ Adela answered quietly, before adding, ‘Besides, there just might be something in his story.’
    ‘What do you mean? What’s changed your mind?’ I stuttered.
    ‘You’re humouring him,’ Margaret accused.
    ‘Nothing’s changed my mind, and I’m not humouring him. But …’ She paused long enough to encourage the children, who had finished eating, to run away and play. The elder two thundered upstairs, where they charged around like stampeding horses. The noise did my headache no good at all, but I did my best to ignore it. Adam performed his crab-like crawl and shuffled off to a corner of the kitchen, where he beat out a tune on the stone-tiled floor with his spoon. I ignored that as well.
    ‘But?’ I encouraged my wife, while Margaret looked sceptical.
    ‘It’s nothing, really.’ Adela took a deep breath and clasped her hands together on the table. ‘It’s just that a week ago, while you were still on the road, Robin Avenel’s widowed sister came to stay with him …’
    Here, Margaret interrupted, anxious to fill in details which someone who had had the misfortune not to be born in Bristol might not know.
    ‘Bess Avenel married into the Alefounder family. Her late husband’s uncle is Alderman Gregory Alefounder. Well, you can’t help but know who he is. Owns the biggest brewery in the city. But, more than that, her sister-in-law, that little fly-by-night Robin Avenel married, is Gregory Alefounder’s daughter. Jeffery, Bess’s husband, wasn’t interested in the brewing business. He preferred to lead the life of a country gentleman. His father, Gregory’s older brother, indulged him and let Jeffery live at home on the family manor near Frome. When he died, Jeffery inherited the house and lands, and Bess, in her turn, inherited them from him. She still lives there, no doubt queening it over her tenants and the local peasantry.’ Margaret’s tone was acerbic. Elizabeth Alefounder was plainly no favourite of hers.
    ‘Thank you, Mother-in-law,’ I said gravely and raised my eyebrows at Adela. ‘So, what about this Bess Alefounder, sweetheart? What does she have to do with me?’
    ‘As I was saying, she arrived in Broad Street to stay with Master Avenel while you were away. I think it was the Saturday before you were brought home. Her maid came with her and they must have been there now for almost a fortnight. I’ve seen Mistress Alefounder around on several occasions. It was Richard who first pointed her out to me.’
    ‘Go on.’ I nobly refrained from enquiring what she was doing in the company of Richard Manifold. (A chance meeting, of course. Really, I knew that without being told.)
    Again, Adela hesitated. ‘Oh, I don’t know!’ she exclaimed at last, with a shrug of her shoulders. ‘It’s just that your description this morning of the woman in brown sarcenet reminded me a little of Elizabeth Alefounder.’
    ‘Aha!’ I shouted, disturbing Adam, who stopped banging his spoon on the floor and shuffled across to embrace one of my legs in an iron grip.
    ‘There’s no “Aha!” about it,’ my wife reproved me. ‘I said it reminded me
a little
. Now, sweetheart, please don’t go leaping to conclusions.’
    ‘I should think not, indeed!’ Margaret protested. ‘What on earth would a respectable woman like Bess Alefounder be doing mixed up in a murder? What nonsense it is! Why don’t you admit you were delirious, Roger, and simply dreamed it all?’
    I could tell from Adela’s expression that she was reluctant to say anything further that might bolster my belief in my story, but her natural instinct to see justice done made her go on.
    ‘You forget, Cousin,’ she said gently, ‘that for the past year, ever since last summer, the