The Dower House Mystery Read Online Free PDF Page A

Berry, do tell me all about it.”
    â€œMy dear Mrs. Grey, you shock me!” said Mr. Berry with mock severity. “You shock me extremely. What a proposition! A client’s confidence—”
    Amabel laughed.
    â€œDreadful, isn’t it?” she said. “But if people will make confidences while they are standing in open doorways,—besides, it wasn’t a confidence, you know it wasn’t; he was asking you to find him a tenant for his house. Mr. Berry, you have found him a tenant.”
    â€œStop, stop,” said Mr. Berry. “What’s all this?”
    â€œI’m going to be the tenant,” said Amabel. She leaned back with an air of finality.
    â€œBut you’ve got a house—and besides—”
    â€œOh, I’m going to let mine. Clotilda Lee would take it to-morrow.” She gave him a charming smile, and then said quite seriously, “Mr. Berry, I want that two hundred pounds.”
    Mr. Berry frowned, tapped on the table, shifted some papers.
    â€œMrs. Grey, you know Ethan was my oldest friend. If you would let me be of any service to you—”
    The colour sprang into Amabel’s cheeks.
    â€œYou’re the best friend anyone ever had,” she said. “If I could borrow from anyone in the world, it would be from you. But I can’t—I’m just made that way. You see, I could never pay it back, because two hundred a year doesn’t leave me any margin; and I should be thinking about it all the time, and not sleeping at night; and—you do see, don’t you?”
    When Amabel Grey looked at him like that, Mr. Berry invariably felt himself to be trembling upon the edge of a pleasant precipice. He was a bachelor of sixty years’ standing. He had never asked a woman to marry him in his life, and he never meant to; but once a year, when Amabel sat in his office and smiled at him, he experienced some dangerous sensations. The precipice allured him—undoubtedly it allured him. Later in the day he would feel the satisfaction which comes from temptation safely resisted; but for the moment he was certainly being tempted.
    â€œIt is good of you,” said Amabel. “You’re always so good to me. But I want to earn this money. He did say he would give two hundred pounds to anyone who would stay six months in the Dower House, didn’t he?”
    â€œHe did,” said Mr. Berry, “but—”
    She shook her head.
    â€œThere aren’t any buts. From this moment I’m George Forsham’s tenant. Why, do you know, I was coming here to-day to ask you if you could think of any way in which I could earn just that sum of money. You’ll give me a good character, won’t you?”
    Mr. Berry looked grave.
    â€œNo, no, I don’t like it,” he said. “It’s not the sort of thing for you at all.”
    â€œWhy not?”
    â€œNot at all the sort of thing for you—fishy sort of business—don’t like the idea of it for you at all—silly stories about the house being haunted—tenants leaving one after another in a hurry. There’s a screw loose somewhere.”
    â€œWell, yes, I suppose there is,” said Amabel soberly. “I didn’t expect to earn two hundred pounds just for nothing; and I don’t suppose George Forsham is offering two hundred pounds just for the pleasure of giving it away.”
    â€œI don’t like it,” said Mr. Berry again. “The house has a very bad name.”
    â€œIt used not to have,” said Amabel. “I stayed at Forsham with the Berkeleys when I was a girl—their place is next door, you know. The two old Miss Forshams were at the Dower House then—such kind old ladies. Joan Berkeley and I used to run in and out. It was a delightful house, sunny and charming; and the old ladies were dears. What a shame to say it’s haunted. Is there any story about it? Did he tell you?”
    â€œHe says