Murder in Abbot's Folly Read Online Free PDF

Jen?’
    â€˜Yes, I’ll just get the key.’
    Jennifer seemed glad of the excuse to leave them while she dashed back into the house, and Tim jumped down to the lawn to join the folly party. Dora, apparently oblivious to the trouble they were causing, hurried down the steps and gaily chattered on. ‘Of course, dear Jane Austen visited Stourdens frequently, and she must have known Abbot’s Folly and the Retreat. That’s the name of the garden that Laura has so beautifully restored. Stourdens, according to the records, was lying empty when Edward Austen, later Knight – Jane Austen’s brother, of course – first moved to Godmersham Park. The third baronet had just died, and the title went to a brother who disliked Stourdens – dear me, how could he? – but then he died, and his son, the fifth baronet, and widow left it some years before they moved here. That’s why there are no references to Stourdens in Jane’s surviving early correspondence. After the Great Tragedy, she might not have wished to visit it . . .’
    Dora rattled on infuriatingly as they waited for Jennifer to return. Eventually she did so, looking more composed, and Tim led the party off with a distinct air of ‘let’s get it over with’. Grim determination had replaced his initial burst of social welcome.
    Someone had to break the silence that fell as they followed in Jennifer and Tim’s footsteps, however, and it might as well be her, Georgia thought. ‘I notice Abbot’s Folly doesn’t seem to appear on the plan of the garden we’ve been given,’ she said.
    â€˜It’s closed to the general public, that’s why. We can’t afford the insurance,’ Jennifer said, turning round to explain. ‘We will in due course, once—’
    â€˜When all the excitement begins,’ Dora finished for her mysteriously, ‘but I can tell that—’
    â€˜Not till after four o’clock,’ Tim reminded her pleasantly. He had one of those bland faces that could produce emotions smoothly as required, Georgia thought. He would make a good politician.
    â€˜Oh, of course,’ Dora agreed hastily. ‘My lips are sealed.’ To prove the point she placed a forefinger over them.
    â€˜We do have plans for Stourdens.’ Tim relented a little. ‘You’ll see in the programme that Laura will be making an announcement this afternoon. Press, TV, you name it.’
    Georgia noticed that Jennifer remained silent, which reinforced her feeling that all was not well with the Fettis family.
    Dora seemed about to let forth again, but Tim forestalled her. ‘The folly is on the far side of Abbot’s Retreat, which we’re just coming to.’
    Georgia recognized from her previous visit where she was now, as the path left the main lawns and she could see the garden on the right. As they reached its gateway in the red-brick wall she could glimpse the small sunken garden that she remembered. It had a mock cloister round three of its walls, mostly covered in roses, and a spectacular fountain in the midst of a central flower bed with roses and lupins. At the far end was an arbour watched over by stone angels. There had been a peace and delight about this garden, and she would certainly come back to it alone later today, when she didn’t have her mind on either follies or Elena.
    â€˜Who was this Abbot?’ Elena asked.
    â€˜The youngest brother of the third baronet,’ Tim replied. ‘He was eccentric to say the least. He never married, lived here with his brother’s family and died in 1790 not long before the third baronet died. The story goes that he was too mad even to be given that sinecure for younger sons, becoming a parish priest. Result: he called himself an abbot, built his folly and holed himself up here.’
    â€˜It would be nice to think,’ Jennifer chipped in, clearly with some effort, ‘that