A Death in the Loch Read Online Free Page A

she won’t let anyone call me Merry. She says I have a Christian name and it’s my Christian duty to use it.’
    ‘That does seem a bit silly,’ I admitted. ‘But from the two plates on the tray I assume she is allowing you to eat with me today. That was kind.’
    ‘Pah,’ said Merry again.
    ‘And a small decanter of wine. Shall I pour?’
    Merry rummaged in her apron and thrust a small packet out at me. ‘It’s not much,’ she said roughly.
    ‘A present,’ I said in delight. Unwrapping it I revealed a small, hand-worked needle case with room for a few threads. It was exquisite, and I said so.
    ‘I know you probably get better things from shops, but I thought being a lady you might have the occasional problem with your gown when you were out, or Richenda might, seeing how clod-hopping she always is.’
    ‘I love it,’ I said sincerely, ‘and it means all the more to me that you made it for me. I’m afraid I bought your gift.’ I handed her a small packet. Merry’s face lit up when she found it contained a large number of colourful ribbons. I knew she couldn’t afford many personal clothes and often liked to use ribbons to brighten up or change her small wardrobe.
    Impulsively Merry sprang up and hugged me, almost impaling us both on my new needle case. Harmony once more restored we sat down to share our Christmas meal. As it remained primarily my Christmas meal we had portions from the family table. Mrs Deighton had excelled herself. Merry, who was quite unused to good wine, was distinctly tipsy by the end. In all too short a time she staggered off downstairs, the dishes on the tray sliding ominously from side to side. I chose not to show her Richenda’s gift to me as I was quite certain that she wouldn’t be able to carry the tray for laughing.
    Bertram dropped by and gave me a small mother-of-pearl brooch, shaped like a cat curled into a small contented ball. I thanked him and gave him the gentleman’s travel clothes brush I had bought him. He laughed and said, ‘This is for when I come in from shooting covered in mud, isn’t it?’
    ‘You have been leaving quite a trail after you,’ I said, smiling, ‘and what should I make of you giving me a cat?’
    ‘I thought it would remind you of home,’ he paused, ‘you know, all vicarages have cats, don’t they?’
    We had kept a mouser for the outhouse, but my mother loathed cats and none had ever been allowed inside the house. I suspected a cat was the only creature on God’s Earth that could outstare her and she knew it. Aloud I said, ‘Of course, how thoughtful of you.’ Bertram beamed. Like Richenda he always responded well to praise, no matter who it came from. Their childhoods had been far from idyllic.
    And so another Christmas Day passed. I thought of my mother and little brother and wrote them a very long letter. Merry returned later with a light supper, but this time she couldn’t stay. ‘Lord Stapleford is like a cat on hot bricks,’ she explained. ‘That Gilbert Barker’s brought important news from Peterfield.’
    ‘What news?’
    ‘As if I care,’ said Merry. ‘Merrit’s back and I’m going to wish him a very
    Merry
    Christmas!’

Chapter Four:
    Should auld acquaintance be forgot (and sadly they rarely can be, no matter how hard one tries)
    The time between Christmas and New Year passed very slowly for me. But for everyone else it flew. Richard’s New Year party had the staff scurrying in all directions. Every single bedchamber in the house was to be opened up. Merry told me that further guests were to stay at a local tavern only a short drive away. ‘This house won’t ever have seen so many people,’ she said one morning when she came to collect my tea tray. ‘I do hope the ballroom floor is up to it. Far as I know it ain’t ever been tested. And Mrs Deighton doesn’t know if she’s in heaven or hell. She’s got the finest produce for once. No expense spared. But a mountain of work to do. She’s even got to