to set it aside, which I've done. For years, she refused to bequeath the rest to anyone.”
“Was that wise?” asked Longfellow.
“Hardly. She was a woman who rarely listened to good advice! Then, a little more than a year ago, a will was made in favor of a sole individual…”
“Whose name you won't give us just yet,” Longfellow finished for him.
“This I can tell you—seven weeks ago I received another packet from Catherine Knowles. It contained a new will. Like the last, it was barely legible—but that came as no surprise, for I knew she could hardly see. Her signature, too, had greatly deteriorated, but it is one I've grown used to. And it was signed by a witness: Alexander Godwin. I decided that if Catherine signed it again in my presence, I would be more comfortable. However, after discussing it with a colleague, I believed it would stand.”
“Seven weeks ago?” Longfellow interrupted.
“We have all been busy in Boston lately, with many insisting their business be concluded before the revenue stamps arrived.”
“Of course,” said Longfellow. “But will you tell us who the final will names as her heir?”
“Soon… very soon,” the lawyer replied. His smile did not seem altogether happy. “There are things I must learn first. The interests of others are bound to be involved.”
“Perhaps we can help. You realize this situation could have a bearing on a murder,” Longfellow added, watching the lawyer's face carefully.
“Soon,” Reed repeated gently. “It's all that I'll promise, at the moment.”
“But the second will,” said Diana. “Do you suspect Catherine Knowles might not have sent it to you?”
“I think that she did, Mrs. Montagu; but I would like to question Magdalene on this point, as well. When she is ready.”
Longfellow rose and walked to the tall window that faced west, toward the village. Tonight no light was visible, but by the reflected glow from the house he could see snow eddying as it came over the rooftop, and around the corners. To the east, he imagined, it would be even worse.
“This is all very interesting,” he said finally, “but I suspect we'll get no further tonight. And there is no improvement in the weather,” he added to John Dudley. The constable leaped to his feet.
“I must be going. I may have to stay in the village after all.”
“As I've offered Mr. Reed a bed here, you might take his, John, at Reverend Rowe's.”
“Or I might make my way to the Blue Boar. That would save the preacher trouble.”
“And make Phineas Wise glad, I'm sure,” Longfellow returned. “I'll see you out.”
Moses Reed stayed with Diana, although he respected her silence with his own. When his host returned, the attorney left sister and brother to sit together, saying he would speak with Lem in the kitchen and give him the latest news.
“Someone will pay for Godwin's murder, I suppose?” Diana then asked, her voice weary.
“If we can find him,” said Longfellow. He, too, found the thought an unpleasant one.
“Richard, I hoped earlier that I could be of some help to you, in seeking some sort of justice. But after all that I've seen today, it seems to me I've had too much of death lately. All that I truly wish—”
“I know, Diana. I know. It's anything but easy. Yet whatever happens next, we'll face it together. Until something better comes along.”
“I hope it won't be long. If only Edmund—”
She suddenly seemed to fade, as she'd often done in the last week. He was about to say more to distract her, when his eyes shifted.
Had something moved, out in the snow?
There, through the dark window, he saw the ghost of someone coming along, making a path through the new drifts. Who could have come out of his barn on a night like this?
“Diana,” Longfellow said with a twisting smile, “I think we're in for another surprise.”
“Oh, what now?” she asked, trying to restrain her tears.
She might soon shed a bucketful if she wished, her brother told himself. “I'll be back in a moment,” he added aloud, leaving her.
Diana sank back into her chair once more, and drew a handkerchief from her bodice. Down the corridor, she heard the front door open. From the entry hall came a muttering of voices and her brother's ringing laughter, which jarred her. Neither did whoever had entered share his mirth—but that did not stop it. Another peal broke out, and then she heard Richard's heels clicking as he came toward the study. Behind him, someone shuffled feet that were far heavier.
Longfellow