An Act of Evil Read Online Free PDF Page B

bright room filled with afternoon sun pouring through the window which looked down to the Verta over the slope of the Abbey hill.
    “ You can, of course, draw the curtains in the evening and, wonder of wonders, behold, modern plumbing,” said Maltravers as he pulled open the door of a built-in cupboard to reveal a washbasin and mirror. “The lighting’s not marvellous, I’m afraid, but excessive making up will not be necessary. Anything else you need?”
    Diana smiled and shook her head swiftly. “No, that’s fine.” She fluttered her hands betraying some inner excitement. “That Chapter House is magical, you know the feeling? It’s going to work, Gus.” She suddenly threw her arms around him like a happy child.
    “ Come on,” he said. “I’ll show you the rest of the cathedral while we’re here.”
    He took Tess’s hand as they returned down the slype towards the south transept, smiling with pleasure at Diana’s joy. As they passed through the cloister arches, a man walking on the opposite side heard their voices and glanced across at them. His eyes caught sight of Diana’s fair hair shining in the sunlight and he stopped and stared fixedly at her until they disappeared from sight.

 
    Chapter Three
     
    THE THREE FACES of the Chapter House to the south and west flamed as the early evening sun pulled down all the colours of the world. The grey armour of St George shone like silver amid a mosaic of ruby, emerald and gold; the shell-pink features of the child-saint Etheldreda glowed about eyes of periwinkle blue; the mazarine robes of the Virgin were shot with light. The colours were held in the windows which, pitted by centuries of weather, no longer permitted them to flood to the inside, which received only a pale, bright lemon haze. Over the hour and a half of Diana’s performance the light would imperceptibly fade, the audience’s eyes adjusting without notice until they were watching the climax in lavender gloom. Maltravers had counted on the additional dramatic effect, with its changing emphasis on glass and stone, which he had first observed some years earlier when he and Melissa had sat in the Chapter House one evening, quietly talking about the death of their father. Melissa had warned him that it depended on the vagaries of the weather but he had remained confident.
    “ There are no Test matches on the day so rain is highly unlikely,” he had said. “Anyway, I’m sure that you and Michael can put in a word to the Almighty.”
    As the audience gathered in the cockpit of chairs, he nudged Melissa’s arm and nodded to the vivid windows.
    “ Thank you for your prayers,” he whispered.
    “ Don’t be irreverent. You know how Michael is,” she hissed back.
    “ I’m just going to check with Diana. Keep my seat.”
    He made his way out through the entering people and walked down the slype, safely cut off by ushers. Subconsciously, he trod softly as he approached the door. He opened it to see Diana sitting on a straight wooden chair, very still and with her eyes closed. Shutting the door quietly, he stepped past her to the window and looked through a gap in the curtains across the gravel path and down the Cathedral Field into the golden and powder blue summer evening. After a few moments he heard Diana relax behind him and he turned and smiled at her.
    “ You know you could play this audience on two cylinders,” he said.
    “ But I can’t play me on two cylinders,” she replied. “And you can’t do anything less than beautiful in a building like that. What are they like? The audience.”
    “ Plentiful and anticipatory. And distinguished in Vercaster. Full turn out of clergy, of course, and I just saw the Mayor and his stunningly beautiful wife arrive with… prepare yourself…Lord Verta himself. But don’t worry, I’m sure he’s deaf.”
    Maltravers was being deliberately flippant. Diana had a routine of behaviour before any performance which was not superstition and certainly not