Murder at Midnight by Katharine Schellman EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Author:Katharine Schellman
- Language: English
- Genre: International Mystery & Crime
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2 MB
- Price: Fre
Hertfordshire, 1816
The snow began to fall just as the guests were arriving.
It was nothing more than a light dusting. But after a year with such
uncommon weather, everyone glanced at the sky as they emerged from their
carriages in their winter finery, swathed in yards of wool and fur to ward off
the chill of the evening. The torches lining the drive of the country house,
whipped into a frenzy by the bitter wind, illuminated the tumbling
snowflakes briefly before they disappeared into the flames.
But after an uneasy glance upward, the guests turned their faces toward
the glowing doors and windows ahead of them, lit from within by dozens of
candles and hung with the cheerful splendor of holiday greenery. Laughter
filled the air, and strains of music could be heard every time the front door
opened to admit another guest.
Lily Adler, normally the sort of woman to take in every inch of her
surroundings with a critical eye, barely noticed. Instead, even as she
accepted her brother-in-law’s hand and let him help her down from the
carriage, her attention was fixed on the vehicle arriving just behind theirs
and the two people emerging from it.
The first, a plump, stylish woman whose age was north of fifty but
otherwise undisclosed, was laughing heartily as she alighted from her
carriage. The second was the man making her laugh, tall and handsome,
with one sleeve of his stylish driving coat pinned up over the spot where his
arm was missing below the elbow.
“I ought to have told you Mother was inviting him for the week.”
The comment made Lily start and drew her attention back to the man at
her elbow. “I am amazed you kept the secret, John,” she replied, giving her
late husband’s brother a wry look. Sir John Adler looked a great deal as his
younger brother had, and it always gave Lily a wistful pang of memory to
meet his eyes. But the resemblance between them was almost entirely
physical. Freddy had been of a more cheerful nature than Lily, but his
personality had been equally determined and driven. Sir John, on the other
hand, was easygoing, a little absent-minded, and always eager to please the
person with whom he was currently in conversation.
“It was not so much kept as forgot,” he admitted, looking embarrassed
as they waited for his mother, the dowager Lady Adler, and her guest to join
them. “I kept meaning to write you, but …”
“There are many demands on your time, I am sure,” Lily replied, her
voice low.
“She means …” John hesitated. “That is, she wishes …”
“Your mother is hoping Mr. Spencer and I will make a match,” Lily
said, saving him the awkwardness of having to be the one who said it out
loud. The sideways look she gave him was not entirely without humor.
“How did you know that?”
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