Page 16 of Storm over the Caribbean
“So,” I enquired in a cheery tone, “good news?”
“Not. As. Such.”
Wow. Three words in a row. Hehadto be pissed off.
I could have asked him to tell me more. I also could have whacked him over the head with a cudgel made from cheesecake. Both methods most likely would have been equally successful. So instead, I just moved up behind him, put a gentle hand on his shoulder, and waited.
Three…
Two…
One…
“I received a letter from home.”
Bingo!
“By ‘home’, I gather you don’t mean the Emerald Meadow Racetrack Hotel & Casino?”
“No. Battlewood Hall.”
I blinked in surprise at the name of Mr Rikkard Ambrose’s ancestral home. The place where his mother and sister lived.
“Why are you upset about that?” I asked. “Don’t you want to see Adaira and your mother again?”
A pause.
“I might, potentially.”
Yep, he definitely misses them.
Another pause.
“Though I will naturally deny having said anything of the sort.”
“Naturally.
“However…”
“Yes, Mr Ambrose, Sir?”
“This letter did not originate from my mother or sister.”
And, in typical Ambrose fashion, he silently held up the crumpled remains of the letter, tapping the signature at the bottom.
William Alexander Ambrose, Fifteenth Marquess Ambrose
I swallowed. “Oh.”
“Oh indeed, Mrs Ambrose.”
Leaning over, I go at a closer peek at the letter. What I read didn’t exactly bode well.
“Um…” I cleared my throat. “Is my memory faulty, or did you and your father not really get along very well?”
“Correct, Mrs Ambrose.”
“So…why does he suddenly want to see you now?”
