Read Online Devil May Care by Elizabeth Peters - Free Book Online
Authors: Elizabeth Peters
Tags: Fiction, General, detective, Suspense, Psychological, Romance, Mystery & Detective, Women Sleuths, Mystery, Witches, Mystery Fiction, American Fiction, Mystery & Detective - Women Sleuths, Fiction - Mystery, Virginia
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husbands and sending them downstairs to confront burglars who are presumably desperate, possibly armed, and probably high on something or other."
Ellie brought the coffee to the table and sat down.
They drank in silence for a time, both thinking their own thoughts.
"You do think it was supernatural, don't you?" Ellie asked, at last.
"It makes such a lovely story," Ted said dreamily.
"First the couple--man and woman--gliding across the lawn, obviously in haste. Then the man in pursuit --dark, menacing--the outraged husband? A hundred years ago there was a road to the West. A carriage might wait there, for someone who wanted
82 Elizabeth Peters to make a getaway from one of these houses, through the woods ... "
Ellie put her cup down with a clatter.
"There's a story," she exclaimed. "Out with it, Ted."
"It's more than a story, it's fact. One of those escapades I mentioned last evening, when we were talking about the hypocritical residents of the county. He--the young man--was the brother of one of my ancestors. The woman was the wife of his neighbor, Jeremiah Mcgrath--one of those selfrighteous, prim-lipped, Bible-reading town dignitaries, a sanctimonious swine any woman--or man--would want to escape from. He had three wives after her; killed all three of them with overbreeding and mental torture."
"Good Lord," Ellie said, genuinely shocked. "But how could he marry again if she--" "Oh, she never made it," Ted said gently. "She and her lover were found the following spring--what was left of them. Only bones, and enough fragments of clothing to identify them. The conclusion was that they had been set on by animals--wolves, bears--in the woods."
"There weren't any bears in this part of the country a hundred years ago," Eliie said.
"Very true." Ted sipped his coffee. "But there were juries open to bribery."
"Are you implying that her husband--"
"He claimed he didn't realize she had left him until he discovered her note the following day," Ted said. "But suppose he found out earlier--in time to pursue them? What you saw tonight suggests--"
"Ted, stop it!" "I'm not trying to frighten you," Ted said. "Don't you see, Ellie, if this is true, you simply saw a replay of an event that happened a century ago--shadow figures, as unaware of you as they were conscious of DEVIL-MAY-CARE 53
their own paradoxical survival. Nothing threatening about that, is there?" "Oh, I don't know," Ellie said wearily. "I'm too tired to think. You must be exhausted, Ted. Go home to bed--unless you want to sleep here for the rest of the night. Don't do it on my account, though. It's near dawn, and I'm not at all nervous."
"Okay. Don't hesitate to call. I'm absolutely fascinated, Ellie--or I would be if you weren't worried about it."
"That's what is so funny," Ellie said. "I'm not. And I wonder if I shouldn't be."
Ill Tired as she was, the sun awakened her next day before noon. The air coming in through the open window was balmily warm. When she sat up Ellie was confronted with a row of expectant, waiting forms. The cats looked like a row of schoolchildren, trained to await the ringing of a certain bell. Blue eyes, green eyes, and eyes of all shades of yellow, from amber to citrine, were fixed unwinkingiy on her face. Ellie laughed and swung her legs out of bed, and the cats broke formation, bouncing ahead of her down the stairs and bunching up near the door. The sun had returned, and they were anxious to greet it.
Eilie let them out and then went to the kitchen.
Last night's coffee cups still stood on the table. Apparently the Beaseleys were not due until later. They might not come at all that day; their schedule was one that even Kate had never tried to figure out.
As Ellie stood waiting for the water to boil she considered the Beaseleys as suspects. In spite of Ted's theories she was determined to regard what she had seen as a trick, designed and carried out by
54 Elizabeth Peters human agents. Were the Beaseleys capable of such a trick,
Ellie brought the coffee to the table and sat down.
They drank in silence for a time, both thinking their own thoughts.
"You do think it was supernatural, don't you?" Ellie asked, at last.
"It makes such a lovely story," Ted said dreamily.
"First the couple--man and woman--gliding across the lawn, obviously in haste. Then the man in pursuit --dark, menacing--the outraged husband? A hundred years ago there was a road to the West. A carriage might wait there, for someone who wanted
82 Elizabeth Peters to make a getaway from one of these houses, through the woods ... "
Ellie put her cup down with a clatter.
"There's a story," she exclaimed. "Out with it, Ted."
"It's more than a story, it's fact. One of those escapades I mentioned last evening, when we were talking about the hypocritical residents of the county. He--the young man--was the brother of one of my ancestors. The woman was the wife of his neighbor, Jeremiah Mcgrath--one of those selfrighteous, prim-lipped, Bible-reading town dignitaries, a sanctimonious swine any woman--or man--would want to escape from. He had three wives after her; killed all three of them with overbreeding and mental torture."
"Good Lord," Ellie said, genuinely shocked. "But how could he marry again if she--" "Oh, she never made it," Ted said gently. "She and her lover were found the following spring--what was left of them. Only bones, and enough fragments of clothing to identify them. The conclusion was that they had been set on by animals--wolves, bears--in the woods."
"There weren't any bears in this part of the country a hundred years ago," Eliie said.
"Very true." Ted sipped his coffee. "But there were juries open to bribery."
"Are you implying that her husband--"
"He claimed he didn't realize she had left him until he discovered her note the following day," Ted said. "But suppose he found out earlier--in time to pursue them? What you saw tonight suggests--"
"Ted, stop it!" "I'm not trying to frighten you," Ted said. "Don't you see, Ellie, if this is true, you simply saw a replay of an event that happened a century ago--shadow figures, as unaware of you as they were conscious of DEVIL-MAY-CARE 53
their own paradoxical survival. Nothing threatening about that, is there?" "Oh, I don't know," Ellie said wearily. "I'm too tired to think. You must be exhausted, Ted. Go home to bed--unless you want to sleep here for the rest of the night. Don't do it on my account, though. It's near dawn, and I'm not at all nervous."
"Okay. Don't hesitate to call. I'm absolutely fascinated, Ellie--or I would be if you weren't worried about it."
"That's what is so funny," Ellie said. "I'm not. And I wonder if I shouldn't be."
Ill Tired as she was, the sun awakened her next day before noon. The air coming in through the open window was balmily warm. When she sat up Ellie was confronted with a row of expectant, waiting forms. The cats looked like a row of schoolchildren, trained to await the ringing of a certain bell. Blue eyes, green eyes, and eyes of all shades of yellow, from amber to citrine, were fixed unwinkingiy on her face. Ellie laughed and swung her legs out of bed, and the cats broke formation, bouncing ahead of her down the stairs and bunching up near the door. The sun had returned, and they were anxious to greet it.
Eilie let them out and then went to the kitchen.
Last night's coffee cups still stood on the table. Apparently the Beaseleys were not due until later. They might not come at all that day; their schedule was one that even Kate had never tried to figure out.
As Ellie stood waiting for the water to boil she considered the Beaseleys as suspects. In spite of Ted's theories she was determined to regard what she had seen as a trick, designed and carried out by
54 Elizabeth Peters human agents. Were the Beaseleys capable of such a trick,
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