Page 11 of The Curious Story of the Missing Lady
“They think it’s his heart, M’Lady. I been told Lady Emily ought to come down and assist.”
“I will,” said Emily, lifting the hem of her dress to speed her progress out the door.
Madeline made her way towards the door as well, when the man lifted a huge arm to stop her.
“What is this?”
“If you please, M’Lady. I was instructed to summon none other than Lady Emily to her father’s aid and was told to keep a watch o’er Lady Madeline and her maid, you see. They said ...” he closed his eyes as if recalling specific instructions to the letter. “Right, they said, ‘Ain’t no one but Lady Emily, for we don’t want the bride going so as to besmirch her beautiful dress.”
“Oh dear,” said Madeline, putting her hand to her mouth. She paced the room frantically while Lisbelle looked on.
“I’ll take a look, My Lady, and report back to you at once.”
“Oh, Lisbelle, would you? You dear woman. What would I do without you?”
Garret cleared his throat. “Er, um, I was told the Ladies ought to remain up here as well, so as to ...” Here he closed his eyes again. “See to it the Lady does not want for nothing while she waits.”
“Nonsense,” said Lisbelle. “My mum didn’t raise a lay about. Move your fundament, man, or I’ll send you back to your butcher as paté.”
“Right,” said Garret, and took out a cigarette.
“You will not smoke in here,” said Lady Madeline. “I order you to leave at once.”
The man let the cigarette fall from his fingers. He looked over at Lisbelle.
“Would you mind picking that up? I’m afraid wielding the mallet has left me with a troublesome back.”
Lisbelle retrieved the cigarette. “Of all the impertinence.”
She barely got the phrase past her lips when the stranger let his massive arm drop on her back as she bent before him.
Madeline gasped, unbelieving. Lisbelle wasn’t moving.
Garret smiled at her. “They go down so easily, them’s that has a tongue bigger than their head.”
And he came toward her, his arms outstretched.
Chapter 6
Lady Emily held her chest as it heaved. Imagine, Papa felled by his heart, and on the day of his daughter’s wedding! It would have been a scene in some comedy of errors if it wasn’t so horrible. It was positively unreal.
The large house, decorated as it was for the wedding festivities, seemed as if deserted in the midst of revelry.
“Mama!” she called out, only to gain silence in return.
Meandering through the house, she fought back desperate tears. There had to be a soul somewhere in the middle of this awful desolation. She rounded a corner and headed into the library.
She found him there, poring over a volume of Erasmus.
“Papa?” she said, trying to blink away the impossible vision.
He kept his nose in the spine of the book. “I’m trying to trace a quote that I wanted to use in my speech today. I can’t for the life of me find the blasted thing.”
“Papa ...”
“Oh, I know it’s a trivial matter. But you know how these things are once they get hold of you.”
“But, they said ...” Her mouth had gone numb.
