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

killed the old man to protect her sisters. They fled, after that.”
    “Then who are the ghosts?”
    Jasper’s grip tightened on the book, and he glared at Algernon like he was considering a murder of his own. “I don’t know who the ghosts are!”
    “So if the girls weren’t murdered, and they all fled, then it is perfectly plausible that Tabitha moved to Nottinghamshire and married under a different name.”
    Jasper’s eyes narrowed. “No, it isn’t.”
    Rolling his eyes toward heaven, Algernon turned away and went to work on a different section of the library.

    Jasper
    W hen Jasper returned to Wealdhant Manor the next day, he brought a basket which squirmed persistently in his grip and made him grateful for the securely fastened basket lid. He was shown into the morning room, where the maddening and yet intriguing Mr. Clarke was breakfasting. Striding into the room, Jasper deposited the basket in Mr. Clarke’s lap. “I brought you a cat.”
    A displeased howling noise emerged from the basket.
    Mr. Clarke blinked at it. “You brought me a disgruntled basket.”
    “With a cat in it,” Jasper said.
    “I don’t suppose anyone ever proposed to you alternate methods of cat transportation,” Mr. Clarke said. He got up, placed the basket on an empty portion of the table and gingerly opened it.
    A black cat with a single grey ear emerged from the basket and hissed at them. Unruffled, Mr. Clarke introduced it to the plate of kippers, which was accepted as a suitable offering.
    “It won’t be much of a mouser if you feed it,” Jasper pointed out.
    “Nor will it be much of a mouser if it feels unwelcome and runs off,” Mr. Clarke said. He patted the cat, which made an irritable little yowling noise. “Thank you for bringing me a cat.”
    Jasper tensed, not wanting Mr. Clarke to think that this was any overture of friendship. He was merely seeing to the necessary mouse-maintenance of Wealdhant. “I didn’t—”
    “Yes, yes, I know. The cat isn’t for me. The cat is for the defence of the books and bedding of Wealdhant. Thank you anyway.”
    Annoyed by Mr. Clarke acting like the gracious lord of the manor, Jasper scowled.
    Mr. Clarke put his chin into his hands and offered a cheshire smile. “May I ask, Mr. Waltham, why you have relatively little of the local accent?”
    “I’e it aplenty,” Jasper drawled at him, satisfied at the way Mr. Clarke’s eyes widened. “We may be country people, Mr. Clarke, but we’re intelligent and much in contact with other shires. I assure you that you’d find me half incomprehensible if I spoke full Wilston to you. Market day English is more like to be King’s English, but ael ot’er daes wae’ll spaek as we do.”
    Mr. Clarke grinned at the demonstration. “Do join me for breakfast, Mr. Waltham.”
    Jasper shook his head. “I’ve eaten, thank you.”
    Mr. Clarke’s face fell and he blinked a few times in confused disappointment. Drawing himself up, Mr. Clarke replaced his playful good humour with a businesslike frown. “Very well. I’ve just finished, after all.”
    Jasper felt a moment of regret at having spoiled Mr. Clarke’s good mood. Aside from his presence as an interloper and his stubborn gall about it, Mr. Clarke seemed to have a friendly and charming demeanor which Jasper found almost magnetic.
    Tossing down his napkin, Mr. Clarke got to his feet and walked past him into the main hall. “I have a mind to see the grounds of Wealdhant today, Mr. Waltham. I would be very much obliged if you would be willing to conduct a tour, since it is clear that you are the unparalleled expert on that subject.”
    Jasper hesitated, accepting his hat and coat once again from the hands of the butler. He didn’t want to indulge Mr. Clarke’s requests, he wanted him to simply leave. But if Mr. Clarke was going to stay, it was preferable that he should know the basics about the estate in order that he should not do anything especially stupid out of ignorance.
    Besides