Read Jane Austen Mysteries 08 Jane and His Lordship's Legacy for Free Online

old linen was swung upwards from the cellar hatch. At the departure of the corpse, a few boys made to follow it into Alton; but the majority of our neighbours dis-persed, hastened on their way by the magistrate's abjurations.
    My mother, after an appropriate shriek and fainting fit, had suffered herself to be supported the length of the Prowtings'
    long gravel sweep under the eyes of the entire village--and hugely enjoyed her role as tragic heroine. There could be noth-ing like the Austens' descent upon their new home, I thought with some exasperation. First, a delegation of solicitors bearing mysterious chests; and then a dead man in the cellar--all in the space of a single afternoon! We should provide the village with 32 ~ Stephanie Barron
    matter for conjecture sufficient to endure a twelvemonth, and feed young Baigent's claims that our household was indeed cursed.
    Mrs. Prowting made my mother comfortable for an hour in a spare bedchamber; calmly bade her daughters leave off star-ing out the front windows; and observed that there was nothing like a body to drive folk from their work. She was a lady of sig-nificant proportions, her countenance placid; a woman whom even Death could not disturb. I observed, however, that she clutched a black-bordered square of lawn firmly in one hand throughout dinner--in expectation, perhaps, of being momen-tarily overcome by the Awfulness of the Event.
    "I have lived in this country nearly all my life, Mrs.
    Prowting, with the exception of an interval in Bath," my mother declared in answer to her polite enquiry. "I do not count my childhood in Oxford--for that was decidedly long ago--and though Southampton is quite southwards, it is nonetheless Hampshire."
    It had required several lessons in geography to impart this certainty to my mother's mind; I thanked Providence the point no longer admitted of doubt.
    "And you are soon to be joined here in Chawton by two other ladies?"
    "My elder daughter is, as we believe, already on her road from Kent; and our dear friend Miss Lloyd--who has formed a part of our household since the not entirely unexpected death of her mother a few years since--is presently visiting her sister at Kintbury. We look for both ladies every day--and Mr. Edward Austen as well."
    "Mr. Austen is expected in Chawton!" ejaculated Mr.
    Prowting. "That is news indeed! We shall have to organise a party of welcome for the Squire. We shall indeed, my dear."

    Jane and His Lordship's Legacy ~ 33
    "Mr. Austen is always welcome in this house," rejoined his wife comfortably. "He is often in the country, as you must know, Mrs. Austen, for the settling of his tenant accounts. He is wont to engage a room at the George for that express purpose each quarter, and all his folk come and go to pay their respects--and their rents."
    "We are quite the family party in this corner of the world,"
    my mother sighed, as though rents and their accounting were all the joy she asked of life. "My eldest son, Mr. James Austen, is rector at Steventon, but a dozen miles distant; my fourth son, Henry, maintains a branch of his London bank--Austen, Gray
    & Vincent, perhaps you know it?--so near as Alton; and the wife of my fifth son, Captain Francis Austen, has lately taken a house in the same town."
    "So many sons," observed Mrs. Prowting. "And which Alton house does the Captain's wife rent, ma'am?"
    "Rose Cottage, in Lenton Street."
    "I know it well! That is excellent news; you shall have a daughter within walking distance."
    "I had almost considered removing to Mrs. Frank," my mother faltered, "on the strength of this dreadful business--I know I shall not sleep a wink in such a house--a house of death . . . but Mrs. Frank is indisposed at present, and I cannot presume upon the kindness of one in her condition. Her first child nearly killed her, you know."
    "You are most welcome to remain with us, ma'am," Mrs.
    Prowting said warmly. "I should not think of sending you back to the cottage this evening."
    My