A Mischief in the Snow - By Margaret Miles Page 0,79

the corner, where he'd found it natural to stand.

“I—” he began to protest. The words he wanted wouldn't come.

“Lem Wainwright, what have you done?” asked Mattie, voicing for every woman in the village a question nearly as old as mankind.

Chapter 27

SHORTLY BEFORE NOON, Charlotte and Lem were met by Cicero outside Richard Longfellow's door, where they shook snow crystals from their clothing, and clumps of heavier stuff from their boots. Taking up cups of tea, they went to sit by a welcome fire. There, Orpheus chewed at the pads of his feet, before enjoying what was left of a beef knee brought to him from the pantry.

“A profitable morning?” Cicero asked, his face wreathed with pleasure at seeing a woman who appeared to have nothing seriously wrong with her.

“We'll see,” Charlotte answered mysteriously. “I don't know yet, myself, but I think so. What have you to report?” “Mrs. Montagu and Miss Knowles have been together most of the time, lately in the study. Diana took Magdalene on a tour of the house before they settled on amusing one another at the pianoforte.”

“Really? I hadn't realized—and where is Mr. Reed?” “Retired to his room. He mentioned correspondence.” “We've been busy, ourselves.” Was Cicero aware of what had been discussed earlier that morning? It turned out that Edmund Montagu had already spoken of the shillings with his wife, while the old man was dusting behind a door. He'd heard, too, of Jonathan Pratt's pain at his discovery of the counterfeit coins. It was news to him, however, that Hannah bore up reasonably well under her sciatica; Cicero shook his head, and described the state of his own rheumatism.

Lem next took a turn, telling of their first stop after leaving the house. They'd paid a visit to Christian Rowe, and Mrs. Willett had asked the minister to arrange for the removal of Mrs. Knowles's body later that day. He'd said he would see what he could do—but what would be done with it? It didn't seem right to place a respectable dame from a wealthy family in a cellar, especially with a young man who'd been murdered. Rowe finally decided that until the ground could be prepared, Mrs. Knowles would be placed much as the Montagus’ child had been, her coffin left to wait for spring, in a quiet corner by the respectable stones of village ancestors.

The minister went on to say he'd called for a general meeting of the village on Saturday, in two days’ time. By then he supposed all who'd attended the ice harvest, and any others who had something to tell, would be able to make their way to the meeting house. Lem and Charlotte had promised to attend.

Now Longfellow came home, leaving a sleigh whose muffled bells jingled as it continued up the hill. He reported that nearly half the roads for which Bracebridge was responsible were passable, after fresh teams had come out to relieve the first oxen and their drivers. There had been a blaze in the home of one of the elders who lived by the common; it was quickly smothered by neighbors who'd flung carpets full of snow onto a padded settle.

He would say little about his visit to the Blue Boar. Yet he did propose to Charlotte that they talk alone, some time before dinner. He excused himself, and went up to speak with Moses Reed.

Knowing he might not be long, Charlotte felt a rising sense of pleasurable excitement. Would he tell her what he'd learned? Or had he something else to say to her? Would he ask of her own quest for information? At least in discussing the shillings, Richard had again taken her into his confidence. Aglow at the thought, she went to the study to find Diana and Magdalene looking over a stack of magazines.

Mrs. Montagu pondered what she might wish to buy for her new home in Boston. But Magdalene seemed stunned by a world she'd nearly forgotten. Not for the first time, Charlotte wondered what the effect of a rebirth might do to such a simple woman, and whether she would be likely, at last, to find happiness.

“Miss Knowles,” she asked, “would you like a fresh cup of tea? Perhaps in your room, while you rest before dinner?” Magdalene rose with apparent stiffness, but seemed relieved to go.

Indicating to Diana that she would return, Charlotte accompanied the older woman to the kitchen, and then up the stairs. After that she returned to the study, to find out what