01 - Murder at Ashgrove House by Margaret Addison Page A

said Lady Belvedere grinning with obvious
delight; it was not a pretty sight.
    ‘It’s a pity Edith is going to be here,’ said Lavinia more to herself than
to her mother, ‘although I suppose Aunt Connie will keep her occupied. She’ll
probably wonder about in the gardens daydreaming and go to bed early, thank
goodness, her sort always do. I just hope that she doesn’t behave all silly
over Cedric again, it was too embarrassing last time. If you had been there,
Mother, you’d have been absolutely horrified.’
    ‘Edith?’ said Lady Belvedere sharply. ‘Edith Settle, that was? Edith
Settle is coming to Ashgrove this weekend?’
    ‘Yes, but she’s Edith Torrington now, Mother. I think she married a bank
manager or someone like that. She quite often comes to stay with Aunt Connie. I
think Aunt feels sorry for her, you know, after everything that’s happened to
her. It is rather sad, after all. I suppose we should be charitable….’
    ‘Edith is coming here ?’ Lady Belvedere repeated the question
slowly to herself and seemed suddenly oblivious to her daughter’s
presence. 
    Lavinia eyed her curiously, somewhat alarmed, for she was not used to
seeing her mother behave in such a way.
    ‘What is it, Mother? I know it’ll be a bit awkward and we’d both rather
she’d not be here. But she is an old friend of Aunt Connie’s and Aunt’s bound
to occupy her and keep her away from Cedric. I bet Constance’s as worried as we
are that there might be a repeat performance of Edith’s behaviour the last time
she laid eyes on Cedric. I’m sure she’ll do everything in her power to prevent
it from happening again. She’s probably roped in poor old Stafford and Uncle
William –.’
    ‘Be quiet, child, let me think,’ snapped Lady Belvedere.
    ‘What about, Mother? I’m sure everything will be all right. I know Aunt
Connie is a bit absentminded and flaps around a bit, but I expect between her
and Uncle William they have got everything sorted out. I know you’ve never
liked Edith very much and I have always wondered why, what with you all being
at school together when you were young and everything.’
    ‘What makes you think I don’t like Edith, Lavinia?’ the countess said
sharply, eyeing her daughter suspiciously, as if she thought she might have an
ulterior motive for saying what she had done.
    ‘Well, I don’t know exactly, I just well assumed you didn’t, Mother,’
replied Lavinia, beginning to feel uncomfortable under her mother’s unflinching
gaze. ‘I mean you never speak of her, or ask her to stay, even though she is
some sort of distant relative of ours and quite poor in comparison to us. Why
else would she have married a bank manager of all people?’
    ‘You’re right, Lavinia,’ said her mother, noticeably relaxing a little.
‘I didn’t like her very much when we were children. Her family hardly had two
pennies to rub together and yet she was always going about giving herself airs
and graces and saying as how we were all related and so must be friends. You
know what Constance is like. She was totally taken in by her. I think she felt
rather sorry for her even then, even before … but I could see right through
her, I can tell you, I knew exactly the type of person she was and what she was
after right from the start.’
    ‘And what was that, Mother?’
    ‘What?’ Lady Belvedere looked up quite startled.
    ‘What did she want? What was she after?’
    ‘Oh … em, well nothing, nothing important anyway,’ replied the countess,
hurriedly and she started to change the subject, reprimanding Lavinia again for
working in the dress shop and bringing ridicule on her family. But her
reactions had not been quick enough, for Lavinia had caught a look on her
mother’s face, and although it had been there very briefly, seconds at most,
she recognised it for what it was. It was a look that she had rarely, if ever,
seen before on her mother’s face. And as she tried to take in its significance,
for