Grave Consequences Read Online Free PDF

can annoy both parties on opposite sides of the debate and stir up the New Age types, I’ll never know. Yes, I do; you simply can’t mix ley lines with saints, is all.”
    Before I could ask him to explain that, he went on. “And apparently one of her students has gone missing to boot. Not that any of this is her fault, mind, but she does seem to be in the thick of it all.”
    I digested this all for a moment. “And now they’ve come up with a suspicious burial as well.”
    Jeremy put his cup and saucer down. “Suspicious? You mean a murder?”
    I shrugged. “Something’s not right on the site. Greg didn’t tell me much about it, only that it appeared modern, and very fishy, and that the police were involved. Poor Jane.”
    “Poor Jane indeed. Well, perhaps—”
    “Well, perhaps we’d be getting to look at that picture you’ve been teasing me with, Pooter,” Dora interrupted. “My time here is too short to be worrying about poor Jane.”
    Jeremy shot Dora an exasperated look. “You are perfectly horrible, aren’t you? Still, Mother’s party is tomorrow and if you’re going to see the thing before you bounce off to Italy, it had better be now. Perhaps Emma would also care to have a squint?”
    Before I could open my mouth, Dora answered for me. “Emma’s seen Raphaels before. She’s got to be going, or so she’s been telling me all along.”
    For once, I had to agree with Dora, although I would have given my eyeteeth to see a privately owned Raphael. “I’m afraid I really must be going—”
    “I’ll have Palmer bring you back to town, but you must promise to come back and look at my bits of things and we’ll sneak you in to look at the picture while Mother’s asleep. She’s so deaf, dear thing, she’ll never notice. Still, she’s eighty tomorrow and that’s something.”
    “Thank you so much for everything, Jeremy.” I really hadn’t expected, or wanted, to like him but I found myself charmed by his kind and frank manner. I set my teacup and plate aside with a smothered sigh of relief; despite my worst fears, they were still intact. It suddenly occurred to me that these were Jeremy’s things, though; his household stuff. He lived with them every day.
    We walked out to the hall and Jeremy and I shook hands again. “Here, now,” he said suddenly. “You’re very fit, aren’t you?”
    “Excuse me?”
    “Fit. Healthy.” He gave me an appraising look, up and down. “I suppose like so many Americans, you exercise like fury.”
    “Well, I run, but I—” I stammered, not knowing what was going on.
    “Dear Pooter, always thinking of sport,” Dora said.
    I began to get really worried.
    “Well, I’m sure you’ll do fine,” Jeremy announced. “You must come next hunt, you’ll do splendidly.”
    “Ah…er…” I had no idea what was transpiring, but I wasn’t at all convinced that I wanted any part of it. It sounded baroque and decadent and way out of my league. One heard stories about the jaded aristocracy, of course, but one never expected—
    “We don’t actually ride to the hounds, there are no horses, no guns, and we don’t kill any foxes,” his lordship said. “I could never stand the sight of the poor things struggling, long before the animal rights people came along and made it trendy. We don’t even use a fox these days, we just send Palmer tearing off with a bit of burlap soaked in fox piss and then we just chase along, following after the dogs, baying like mad. The dogs, I mean, not us, but if you had the urge to bay, I’m sure no one would object. Dear, lovely things, the dogs, but not a spoonful of brains amongst fifty of them. It’s really good fun, fresh air, brilliant food. Say you’ll come.”
    I was so relieved to understand finally what he was going on about that I thought I would collapse. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” But no horses? Ma would be devastated when I told her that I was invited to a fox hunt by a sure-enough lord and there