The Two Lords of Wealdhant Manor by Katherine Marlowe Read Free Book Online Page A

laugh.
    “Where do we start?” Algernon asked.
    “I’ve no idea. I’ve never seen so many books in all my life.”
    “I think it might take you a lifetime to read them,” Algernon said. A massive old globe to one side of the room caught his attention. It was a century out of date, with peeling paint and cracking wood, and Algernon couldn’t resist giving it a spin.
    He regretted it at once as the globe gave a torturous creak, spun out a massive cloud of dust, and then produced an alarming cracking noise.
    Jasper glared at him. Algernon put his hands behind his back and stepped away from the globe.
    The next thing that caught his eye was a massive tome set upon a display stand to one side of the room. He went over to it, blowing the coating of dust off of the pages and leaning over to look. The letters were formed in old-fashioned script which Algernon could barely read, and each page was beautifully illuminated with red and gold ink. “What is this, a grimoire?”
    “A grimoire ?” Jasper repeated. He sounded deeply exasperated, and came over at once to investigate. “Exactly what sort of profligate, godless life do you live in London? It’s a Bible. Have you never seen a family Bible?”
    Algernon bristled. “In London, Bibles come in perfectly normal sizes that fit on normal bookcases.”
    “It’s an heirloom,” said Jasper. “Don’t touch it.”
    As soon as Jasper moved away to inspect a different part of the library, Algernon touched it.
    The pages were crisp and heavy, different from any paper used in the modern printing presses that Algernon knew. He flipped through it, preparing the excuse that he was checking for damage from bookworms, and found blank pages at the very back which puzzled him. They were preceded by several pages that listed names in a variety of tight, old-fashioned hands.
    Upon closer inspection, Algernon realised that he was looking at a family genealogy. Many of the names were difficult to interpret, but he was easily able to find the last four entries, all names that he recognised.
    “Didn’t I tell you not to touch that?” Jasper asked.
    “Look, it’s my great-grandmother Tabitha,” Algernon said. “Tabitha Mills Allesbury. And her older sisters, Sarah and Ruth. None of them with a listed wedding or death.”
    Jasper pushed him out of the way in order to take a look. “Her name wasn’t Mills. It was Millicent.”
    “It wasn’t!” Algernon objected. “It says right here, Tabitha Mills.”
    “It’s abbreviated,” Jasper said. “M-I-L-L-C, period.”
    Algernon looked closer, finding that the S did indeed seem to be a C with a period after it. He scowled irritably about being corrected.
    Jasper moved away again.
    “So they were the ones who were all murdered?” Algernon asked, following after him.
    “What? Who was murdered?”
    “The three sisters and their father. Only I suppose Tabitha can’t have been murdered, if she got married and became my great-grandmother.”
    “She isn’t your great-grandmother, and they weren’t murdered.” Jasper took down a book from a shelf and slapped it into Algernon’s hands.
    Algernon checked the title. “A New Compendium of the Whole Art of Practical Navigation.”
    Jasper ignored him. Algernon flipped the book open to check for bookworms. It seemed intact. He knocked the dust off of it and replaced it on the shelf.
    “What happened, then, if they weren’t murdered?”
    “Who told you they were murdered?”
    Algernon took down the next book and checked it. “A knowledgeable local.”
    “They weren’t murdered.”
    Algernon sighed and knocked the dust off against Jasper’s side. “Then what happened?”
    Pausing, Jasper looked over at him and then down at the dust now covering the side of his coat. His nostrils flared.
    “What,” Algernon said, putting back the book and taking another one, holding it threateningly as if he might knock more dust onto Jasper, “happened?”
    Jasper confiscated the book. “Ruth