as she made her way there. There didn’t seem to be any other patrons at the moment, luckily enough for her since it gave the woman time to talk.
The librarian followed Jillian to the table, taking the seat across from her with a clear view to keep an eye on the door. “I’m Emma, by the way,” she said, introducing herself.
“I’m glad to meet you,” Jillian said honestly. “The folks at Sutton Hall haven’t been all that talkative.”
“I’m not surprised,” Emma confessed. “The folks up there have always kept to themselves. Has to be odd for them to have strangers around.”
“I can understand that. But I’m still fascinated by the place and would love to find out everything I can about it.”
The librarian pursed her lips, considering. “All right. Well, let’s see...Sutton Hall was built in 1874 by Hugh Sutton, a manufacturing tycoon who owned a number of factories throughout New England. Jacob Sutton, the last owner before the current ones, was Hugh’s great-grandson. He was an only child, and he and his wife never had children, which is why the place was inherited by Adam and Meredith, who are descendants of one of Hugh’s other sons.”
“I heard Jacob’s wife died in a car accident,” Jillian said.
“That’s right. About twenty-five years ago. It was during a winter storm. Her car went right off the road and over the edge of the mountain. It took some time to reach the car and get her body out. Jacob blamed himself. They were supposed to be traveling together. He should have been in the car with her.”
“Did he think he could have done a better job driving in the storm?”
“Or he thought he could have died with her. It often seemed like he wished he had. The way he lived the rest of his life, I’m not sure he didn’t.”
“What do you mean?”
“He never really left Sutton Hall after that. He sold off most of his business interests. As far as I know, he didn’t work. He didn’t have to, of course. Between his investments and the family fortune, I’m sure he had more than enough to live on for far longer than he did.”
Jillian had already thought Jacob Sutton’s story was sad, but the more she heard about him the more tragic it seemed. “Rosie mentioned that he seldom had guests. I guess I didn’t realize just how reclusive he’d become.”
“He hadn’t been seen in town in more than twenty years, though a few people who went up to the house for various reasons saw him. They said he was practically wasting away, a shadow of the man he’d once been. I don’t think anyone was surprised to hear he’d died.”
“I heard he might have gone a little...crazy in his last few years?”
The woman’s eyes narrowed shrewdly. “I’m guessing you heard that from Zack.”
“How’d you know?”
Emma grimaced. “If anyone was liable to tell you that, it’s him. The rest of them up there are all too loyal, and Zack likes to talk. Most of what I’ve heard about Jacob in the last years of his life started with Zack talking here in town and word getting around. But, yes, from what I hear Jacob spent most of his days sitting on the balcony of one of the tower rooms, the one that looks out over the road leading up the mountain. He’d just sit there and stare, as if he was still watching for her, waiting for her to come back.”
The balcony of the tower room that looks out over the road leading up the mountain. Jillian didn’t need her to tell her which one that was, as a prickle of unease raised goose bumps on her arms. It was the one with the best view in the house.
The one that Courtney had fallen from...
No wonder Zack hadn’t wanted to tell her about it.
“He must have really loved her,” Jillian managed to say.
Emma smiled sadly. “I’d say so. A few years after Kathleen died, someone in town asked him if he’d considered finding a new wife. He said, ‘A Sutton man loves forever.’ I guess that’s true. All the Sutton men going back to old Hugh were only married once and stayed married to their wives until one of them passed away.”
A Sutton man loves forever. Jillian wondered idly if that was really true for all Sutton men, including the one currently living there....
As soon as she realized where her thoughts were going, she put a quick end to them. Adam Sutton’s